Gamefarms for sale in Africa

Botswana is a Southern African country which main economic investments are generated from mining, tourism and farming

Botswana is a landlocked country in the Southern part of Africa and along with Angola · Botswana · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Lesotho · Madagascar · Malawi · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · South Africa · Swaziland · Tanzania · Zambia ·  forms part of the SADC (Southern African development community.
Botswana was a former Btitish colony called Bechuanaland, but was changed to Botswana when it recieved its independence on September 30 1966.
Borders of Botswana is South Africa in the south, Namibia to the west, Zambia to the north and Zimbabwe.

Botswana is devided into 9 districts or regions namely: Central District , Ghanzi District , Kgalagadi District , Kgatleng District , Kweneng District , North-East District , North-West District , South-East District , Southern District

General

The best option for any foreigner to buy a farm / property in Botswana is on the 90 year lease system. We register the farm in a dormant company and the previous owner then signs a contract that transfers his 100% to the new owner(s) of the company in which the farm is registered. Its a normal shares transfer. When the lease period is coming to an end the current owner(s) has first option to renew the lease period for a further 50 years. If you want to sell the farm it is once again just a share transfer transaction.

The only other cost is that you have to pay 70 Thebe per hectare per year to the government for the use of the farm. There are no transfer duty to be paid on the 90 year lease system. Only attorney fees.

Property Registration

Registration of a company is about between P2,500 and P3,500 per company and about P100 per extra function you want to register.

During the registration process the client's money lies in his own business bank account. As soon as the registration is complete we organise a bank guaranteed cheque for the attorney. The money in the account serves as a guarantee for the attorney.

Interest on money in Botswana bank accounts is at about 12% per year. Attorneys in Botswana do not get any interest on trust money. You have to have a turnover of P300,000 to qualify for taxation.

Permits

As soon as you invest P50,000 into your companies account, you and your family automatically qualify for residential and working permits. It usually takes about 6 weeks after the transaction for the permits to be ready. Dependants (18 years and younger) does not qualify for a working permit. When the age of 18 is reached the person's employer can apply for him/her for a working permit OR the director can sign 1% of his shares off to this person so that he/she can qualify for a working permit.

If you apply at immigration for the permits it costs about P1,500. We use a consultant who worked at Labour and Immigration for years. This person asks P4,500 per director, but then it is basically guaranteed that you will get the permits. Any dependant pays only P500. Permits are valid for 5 years. After ten years you can choose between citizenship or to only be a permanent resident.

Import Taxes

Import tax is 10% on all new goods. Old goods are also 10% but you have to make a "dummy invoice" that declares the value of the goods, so it basically depends on you.

Loans

You have to buy the farm cash, and then we can get you about a 100% loan on that amount at about 16 % interest per year, over 15 years. The first two years you only pay back the interest. Loans are done through National Develop bank in Botswana. When the loan is fully paid off the buyer gets back the title deed, because the title deed will serve as guarantee for the loan.

Cattle

Commercial cattle are widely available. The average rainfall in the north is between 600 and 800 mm. The government injects the cattle free of charge three times a year for illnesses. The best area to farm with cattle is the Maun / Ganzi area.

Hunting

An open game farm (a farm that isnt closed off with game fence) gets a POT licence. On such a farm you are only capable to hunt a certain amount of game per year from the second week in March to the second week in September.

Where as if you close the farm off with game fence, you are entitled to hunt any amount, any time of the year and qualify for exemption. Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos and Buffalos need permit even if you have exemption on the farm. You will only get one permit for a lion every two years. Buffalos can only be hunted in the Okavango Delta.

Permit prices:

Leopard P10,000
Elephant P20,000
Buffalo P20,000
Lion P30,000
Building Cost

Building cost is round about P3,000 per square meter.

Cattle fence: 1.4 meters high with 5 strands - about P5,000 per km, which includes the labour and materials. Game fence: 2.4 meters high with 21 strands - about P15,000 per km, which includes the materials and labour.

Salaries

Salaries for farm workers are about P900 per month per worker. P600 is paid in cash and the other P300 is usually given in maize, tea, sugar, coffee and tobacco.

Private sector development and foreign investment

Botswana seeks to further diversify its economy away from minerals, which account for a third of GDP, down from nearly half of GDP in the early 1990s. Foreign investment and management are welcomed in Botswana. Botswana abolished foreign exchange controls in 1999, has a low corporate tax rate (15%), no prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies, and a moderate inflation rate (7.6% November 2004). The Government of Botswana is currently considering additional policies to enhance competitiveness, including a new Foreign Direct Investment Strategy, Competition Policy, Privatization Master Plan, and National Export Development Strategy.

With its proven record of good economic governance, Botswana was ranked as Africa's least corrupt country by Transparency International in 2004, ahead of many European and Asian countries. The World Economic Forum rates Botswana as one of the two most economically competitive nations in Africa. In 2004 Botswana was once again assigned "A" grade credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. This ranks Botswana as by far the best credit risk in Africa and puts it on par with or above many countries in central Europe, East Asia, and Latin America.

U.S. investment in Botswana remains at relatively low levels, but continues to grow. Major U.S. corporations, such as H.J. Heinz and AON Corporation, are present through direct investments, while others, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken are present via franchise. The sovereign credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's clearly indicate that, despite continued challenges such as small market size, landlocked location, and cumbersome bureaucratic processes, Botswana remains one of the best investment opportunities in the developing world. Botswana has a 90-member American Business Council that accepts membership from American-affiliated companies.

Due to its history and geography, Botswana has long had deep ties to the economy of South Africa. The Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa, dates from 1910, and is the world's oldest customs union. Namibia joined in 1990. Under this arrangement, South Africa has collected levies from customs, sales, and excise duties for all five members, sharing out proceeds based on each country's portion of imports. The exact formula for sharing revenues and the decision-making authority over duties - held exclusively by the Government of South Africa - became increasingly controversial, and the members re-negotiated the arrangement in 2001. The new structure has now been formally ratified and a SACU Secretariat has been established in Windhoek, Namibia. Following South Africa's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Botswana also joined; many of the SACU duties are thus declining, making products from outside the area more competitive in Botswana. Currently the SACU countries and the U.S. are negotiating a free trade agreement. Botswana is currently also negotiating a free trade agreement with Mercosur and an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union as part of SADC.

Aerial view over Okavango Delta Botswana's currency, the pula, is fully convertible and is valued against a basket of currencies heavily weighted toward the South African Rand. Profits and direct investment can be repatriated without restriction from Botswana. The Botswana Government eliminated all exchange controls in 1999. The Central Bank devalued the Pula by 7.5% in February 2004 in a bid to maintain export competitiveness against the real appreciation of the Pula. There was a further 12% devaluation in May 2005 and the policy of a "crawling peg" was adopted.

Most (70%) of Botswana's electricity is imported from South Africa's Eskom. 80% of domestic production is concentrated in one plant, Morupule Power Station near Palapye.
Gaborone is host to the headquarters of the fourteen-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), a successor to the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC, established in 1980), which focused its efforts on freeing regional economic development from dependence on apartheid South Africa. SADC embraced the newly democratic South Africa as a member in 1994 and has a broad mandate to encourage growth, development, and economic integration in Southern Africa. SADC's Trade Protocol, which was launched on September 1, 2000, calls for the elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade by 2008 among the 11 signatory countries. If successful, it will give Botswana companies free access to the far larger regional market. SADC's failure to distance itself from the Mugabe government in Zimbabwe has diminished the number of opportunities for cooperation between the U.S. and SADC.