Data-center law in Botswana

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-04

Botswana has no data-center-specific land-use, environmental-review, energy-grid, water-utilities, construction, or air-operations statute; a data center would be sited and permitted under the country's general regulatory apparatus, or under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2015 (Act No. 13 of 2015) if it locates inside a designated special economic zone.

That Act establishes the Special Economic Zones Authority and a land-use process for declaring a zone: the Authority identifies suitable land in consultation with the ministry responsible for lands and the relevant local authority, submits a proposal for the local authority's approval, and the Minister then declares the area a special economic zone by notice in the Gazette (section 29).

A zone may be developed as a free trade or commercial zone, an export processing zone, an enterprise zone, a free port, a single-factory zone, or a specialised zone (section 30(2)), a category the Act's interpretation section defines to include a science or technology park (section 2), broad enough to reach a data center, though the Act names no data-center-specific category.

An applicant seeking to operate within a zone needs the Authority's approval, and the Authority's evaluation criteria include any applicable environmental protection standards, alongside the development plan, minimum land area and finance, minimum infrastructure requirements, and targeted investment, export, and employment outcomes (section 32); this is the Act's only environmental-review touchpoint, and it is a discretionary evaluation factor rather than a standalone environmental-impact-assessment regime.

The Act does not itself state a tax rate or other specific investment incentive; it authorises the Minister to make regulations for the development and management of special economic zones (section 40), so specific incentive rates are set by subsidiary legislation rather than by the Act's own text.

Instruments on record

1 instrument on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Land use

Who decides whether a data center may occupy a site, and through what approval?

Special Economic Zones Act, 2015 (Act No. 13 of 2015)

In force

Special Economic Zones Act, 2015 (Act No. 13 of 2015)

Effective 2016-05-02 · Applies to private

Establishes the Special Economic Zones Authority and the process for declaring and licensing a special economic zone, passed by the National Assembly on 7 August 2015, assented to on 29 September 2015, and brought into force on 2 May 2016.

The Authority identifies suitable land in consultation with the ministry responsible for lands and the relevant local authority, submits a proposal for that local authority's approval within 60 days, and the Minister then declares the area a special economic zone by notice in the Gazette naming its location, boundaries, and the activities to be promoted there (section 29).

A zone may be developed as a free trade or commercial zone, an export processing zone, an enterprise zone, a free port, a single-factory zone, or a specialised zone (section 30(2)), a term the Act's interpretation section defines to include a science or technology park, petrochemical zone, logistics park, or airport-based zone (section 2).

Any person wishing to carry on business in a zone must obtain the Authority's approval, and the Authority evaluates an application against criteria including the development plan, minimum land area and finance, any applicable environmental protection standards, minimum infrastructure requirements, and targeted investment, production, export, and employment outcomes (section 32); it is Botswana's closest approach to an environmental-review gate for a zone-sited facility, though it is one discretionary licensing factor rather than a dedicated environmental-impact-assessment statute.

Contravening the licensing requirement is an offence carrying a fine up to P100,000 or imprisonment up to five years, or both, for an individual, or a fine up to P500,000 for a body other than a natural person (section 31(4)). The Act authorises the Minister to make regulations for the development of special economic zones infrastructure and their management (section 40), and does not itself state a tax rate or other specific investment incentive.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.