Botswana: residence and citizenship

Botswana's citizenship by investment is not yet law. President Duma Boko signed an exclusive MoU with a private investment-migration firm at UNGA on 26 September 2025. The enabling Citizenship (Amendment) Bill No. 30 of 2025 passed second reading on 17 December 2025 and went to committee stage, but no assent could be verified as of 15 July 2026. Anyone taking your money for Botswana CBI today is selling a Bill, not a programme. The claimed 60-day processing and Q1 2026 launch are agency claims, with no government source behind them.

Nobody officially knows. The widely quoted USD 75,000-90,000 range has no government source. It comes from the private promoter's own registration portal, on a non-government domain. When the Bill was tabled, the Minister told Parliament plainly that he was not in a position to state the amount, which would be determined by stakeholders. Any figure you are quoted today is an agency's invention. And the private promoter's reported 1,000+ investors in the first month refers to registrations of interest on a marketing portal, not actual applications.

There is no statutory investor-residence programme. The official residence-permit page lists only Dependants, Immigrants and Spouse of a Citizen. Investors use an ordinary work permit, which expressly permits a non-citizen to invest in Botswana for profit, with no statutory minimum capital. The BWP 1,000,000 figure that agencies quote has no legal basis. BITC, routinely cited as the gatekeeper, actually runs a one-stop facilitation desk and grants no residency at all. There is likewise no retirement visa. Retirees use the generic Immigrants permit.

Botswana does tax inheritances, despite the common claim that it does not. Capital Transfer Tax reaches gifts and inheritances at 2% on the first BWP 100,000, 3% on the next 200,000, 4% on the next 200,000 and 5% on the balance (companies 12.5%). Unusually, the beneficiary is liable, not the estate. Spousal transfers are exempt, and foreign-situs assets are exempt where the beneficiary is domiciled outside Botswana. It is mild, but advisers who tell you it does not exist have not read the Act.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 23 of 2024 is widely reported as allowing Botswana citizens to hold dual citizenship, and for people born Batswana that is true. But the Act's own definition of a dual citizen covers only citizens by birth or descent. The substituted section 18(4)(b) still lets the Minister demand that a naturalised or registered citizen renounce any other nationality on pain of deprivation, and section 18(4)(e) allows deprivation of a naturalised citizen resident outside Botswana for seven continuous years. Commencement is also unconfirmed. The Act states that it takes effect on notice, and no such Order could be located.

Residents have paid tax on worldwide income since the new Income Tax Act took effect on 1 July 2026, with a credit for foreign tax paid, and the system was territorial until then. The top personal rate is 27.5% above BWP 400,000, and there is no wealth tax. The fiscal backdrop matters. The economy contracted 2.8% in 2024 and 0.4% in 2025 on the diamond downturn, and that stress is the engine behind both the 2026 tax rises and the CBI push. Expect further increases.

Setswana or a language spoken by a tribal community in Botswana. English does not satisfy the requirement, which is a material obstacle for anglophone families. Section 13(2A) allows a ministerial waiver in special circumstances. The residence bar is also high. Naturalisation requires roughly 11 years: 12 months' continuous residence immediately before application, plus 10 years' aggregate within the preceding 12 years. That is far longer than the marketing implies.

The IFSC regime is still active, contrary to a widespread belief that it was abolished after the OECD review. It was narrowed, not repealed. The qualifying-activity definition is now restricted, with proper regard given to BEPS initiatives, and the 15% rate applies only to approved financial transactions with non-residents and other IFSC entities. Everything else is taxed at 24.5%, the standard corporate rate since 1 July 2026.