Other countries in the region, such as South Africa and the Rhodesias were issuing licences for postal meter marks as early as the 1920’s. However, the lack of development and industry meant that Botswana had no need for large volume mailings and there was no demand for meter franking machines.
However, with the opening of the largest diamond mine in 1971 and the world’s richest diamond mine in 1982, the economy of Botswana took off. The population grew and became more literate and government, companies, and other organizations developed volumes of mail that were sufficient to warrant the use of postal meter franking machines.
These articles on different sectors of the economy are not meant to be a complete listing of all the organizations that contributed to the growth of the country, but are rather a snapshot of some of the organizations that happened to use meter marks, primarily with logos, to denote payment for their mailings.
The first article discussing the development of the financial sector was published in issue 100 of Forerunners, the Journal of the Philatelic Society of Greater Southern Africa. A copy of the article can be found here.
The second article illustrating the establishment of major private companies in the country was published in issue 103 of Forerunners. A copy of the article can be found here. This article has the honour of being recognized as the best article in the journal in 2022. A copy of the certificate can be found here. This article was also announced as an “Article of Distinction” by the American Philatelic Society in their April 18, 2023, newsletter. A link to the page listing this accolade can be found here.
Articles on other sectors of the economy will be added as they are published.