SECTOR 2 (c) To make Botswana a regional ICT hub so as to make the country’s ICT sector globally-competitive.22 After its adoption, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy was circulated throughout the country, in a process to encourage an open society in which information will be shared. The Botswana Telecommunications Commission (BTC) ‘got everyone excited about the country taking the lead in ICT development on the continent.’ The initial enthusiasm, however, was not followed by action. ‘Government will always come up with excuses about why the next necessary steps cannot be taken.’ Despite Botswana’s wealth in natural resources, especially diamonds, money was only scarcely invested into the development of an internet telecommunications infrastructure. The inherent wealth gap in the country results in wide inaccessibility of the services that have been developed. ‘We always joke that in Botswana when they plan road infrastructure it will take ten years to implement; by the time it is implemented the road is too small for the growing community.’ This sluggish implementation process is also characteristic of Botswana’s ICT environment: a slow-paced development in a rapidly changing sector. In the case of ICT, there are ‘good policies but poor implementation.’ Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓ 2.7 (2005 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = 2.1; 2011 = 4.0; 2014 = 2.2) 2.12 Government does not use its power over the placement of advertisements as a means to interfere with editorial content. In 2014, the government issued a statement saying that ‘they are withdrawing advertising from private media for cost-saving purposes,’ with a few exceptions. 22 Government Paper No 3 Of 2007, National Information and Communications Technology Policy. www.ccardesa.org/ library/documents/17/download/. 36 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2018