Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newspaper.
Botswana is relying on a controversial new “golden passport” scheme as it aims to boost government coffers that are being depleted by declining diamond sales.
The Golden Passport, which requires foreigners to pay a one-time investment of up to about $100,000 in exchange for citizenship, puts Botswana on a growing list of countries that offer passports in exchange for cash, which also includes St. Lucia, Malta and Grenada. US President Donald Trump also announced a $5 million “Gold Card” in 2025 that will offer residency.
Armand Arton, chief executive of Arton Capital, the financial advisory firm marketing the scheme, said potential applicants appeared to be “attracted by Botswana’s political stability, opportunities and rule of law”.
Diamond production has made Botswana, once one of the poorest countries in the world, one of the richest countries in Africa over the years. As home to De Beers’ major diamond mine, it depends on the export of precious stones for one third of GDP and almost all foreign export earnings.
But the government has been forced to find alternative sources of revenue following the collapse of the natural diamond market, which is expected to cause the economy to shrink by 1 percent in 2025, according to the IMF.
Legislation for the government-backed golden passport proposal must now pass through Parliament, with a vote expected to take place in early 2026.
Arton said about 1,000 people have registered their interest so far, with the top three being applicants from the US, Zimbabwe and India. He said the aim was to attract 5,000 families and generate $500 million over five years.
He said the level of interest from G7 countries was surprising, as the company had expected participation primarily from China and Arab countries.
However, industry experts have expressed doubts over whether the passports will attract a large number of applicants.
“I don’t think it will be popular,” said Collins Bogatsu, an immigration consultant based in the capital, Gaborone. He said the government has not yet issued guidelines on how the process will work. “It’s all about politics, so politicians can have their own people they want to (attract).”
Botswana’s president did not respond to a request for comment.
Another professional in the citizenship-by-investment industry said Botswana would be “by far the lowest” in terms of countries offering passports.
artan’s own passport index Shows that Botswana’s passport provides visa-free access to 51 countries, mostly in Southern Africa and the Caribbean. In contrast, Singapore provides access to 137 countries, including the European Union.
Sarah Kunz, a lecturer specializing in migration studies at the University of Essex, previously told the FT that “it doesn’t benefit the real economy” from these passport schemes, adding that governments often use the money to pay “running costs”.
Artan said his firm does not know how the government intends to use the funds, but “low-income housing projects are very important to the government as part of the election promises”.
He said that “financing entrepreneurship” with the earnings of the visa scheme was another priority of President Duma Boko’s administration.
Boko’s government, which in 2024 ousted the party that had ruled Botswana since independence in 1966, came to power on populist promises, including a promise to create 500,000 jobs over five years.
The government’s bid to acquire a majority stake in De Beers – in which it currently holds 15 per cent and supplies 70 per cent of its rough diamonds – has been difficult. The six-decade-old relationship between the world’s largest diamond company and the government has turned sour as talks have dragged on.
In July, Boko said Botswana was “broke” because De Beers was “not doing its job”. The market downturn forced Botswana’s health ministry to delay non-essential operations, while the government, the biggest employer, announced a freeze on new hires and public procurement.
Countries have long offered citizenship or residence privileges in exchange for a one-time investment, but critics say the programs open the door to corruption, tax evasion and money laundering.
In May 2025, the European Court of Justice struck down Malta’s citizenship-by-investment programme, which had allowed people to obtain a Maltese passport – and by extension, EU citizenship – in exchange for a lump sum payment of €600,000 and buying or renting property. The ECJ said the scheme, developed with immigration consultancy Henley & Partners, made “the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction”.
Arton said his firm had stressed that the government’s own verification services would not be sufficient to check the backgrounds of individuals and had recommended that two UK-based due diligence companies be involved when processing applications.
He further said, with those additional investigations, he believes the likelihood of a sanctioned individual or someone with a criminal record would be “impossible”.
Additional reporting by Laura DuBois
Data Visualization by Martin Stabe and Aditi Bhandari
