The streets of Selebi Phikwe in northeastern Botswana no longer teem with trucks and once-busy shop assistants and bank tellers wait for the rare customer. Since state-owned mining company BCL closed its loss-making copper and nickel operation, which was the economic lifeblood of the area two months ago, the settlement of 50,000 has become a virtual ghost town. The government says it cannot afford the 8-billion pula ($748m) needed to recapitalise the mine. Instead, it has asked former central bank governor Linah Mohohlo to oversee a plan to rescue the region. "There is despair, anguish and sorrow," said Dithapelo Keorapetse, one of the town’s two members of Parliament. "The future for many is uncertain. For some there is no future." The mine closure is symbolic of the malaise among Botswana’s metal producers that bore the brunt of the commodity price rout. The copper and nickel industries have been decimated as a result of the BCL shutdown and the earlier closure of shafts owned by ...
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