Visits by Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi to Germany in September 2023 and June 2024 and a state visit to Botswana by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in November 2018 emphasise the good political relations between the two countries. The German Embassy in Gaborone opened in 1975, and Botswana has had an Embassy in Berlin since 2013.

Trade between Germany and Botswana is modest, as is German direct investment in the country. Raw materials are Botswana’s main export to Germany, while Germany’s principal exports to Botswana are electrical engineering products and machinery. Botswana sources the majority of its imports from South Africa, including many German products that do not, however, appear in the bilateral trade statistics.

Owing to its classification as an upper middle income country, Botswana is no longer a recipient of bilateral German development funds. However, projects still do take place with German involvement, for instance within the framework of the Federal Government’s International Climate Initiative. Botswana receives support, including in the areas of water management and wildlife protection, in the context of cooperation between the EU and Germany and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), whose secretariat is located in Botswana.