The New Botswana City: reading the project beyond the ribbon-cutting

On 5 June 2026, President Duma Boko broke ground on the New Botswana City project, a 126-hectare development at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport Special Economic Zone valued at approximately US$1.9 billion. The Botswana Development Corporation contributes land valued at P198 million. AIBaddad Group of the UAE carries the full construction cost. Edition 05 of The Capital Brief examines what sits beneath the headline figures: the land valuation basis, the concession terms that determine what Botswana actually receives in return for decades of land use, and the sequencing problem at the centre of the MICE economy argument. A convention centre is necessary but not sufficient. The ecosystem of air routes, hotel stock, visa facilitation, and a functioning convention bureau has to be built alongside it. The test starts after the ribbon-cutting.