The economy of Botswana has increased extensively
since independence. In contrast to this increase, the construction
industry which is one of the key indicators of a developing nation
continues to be highly dependent on imported building material
products from neighbouring countries of South Africa, Namibia,
Zimbabwe and Zambia. Only two companies in the country currently
blend cement. Even then, the overwhelming majority of raw materials
used in the blends are imported. Furthermore, there are no glass
manufacturers in Botswana. The ceramic industry is limited to the
manufacture of clay bricks notwithstanding a few studios on crockery
and sanitary ware which nonetheless use imported clay.
This paper presents natural resources and industrial waste products
in Botswana that can be used for the development of sustainable
building materials. It also looks at the distribution and cost of other
widely used building materials in the country. Finally the paper looks
at projects and national strategies aimed at a country-wide
development of a sustainable building materials industry together with
their successes and hitches.