Game ranches and hunting land in Botswana
A game ranch in Botswana is held through several separate instruments: a title or lease registered at the Deeds Registry, a game ranching permission from the Director of Wildlife and National Parks, water rights for its boreholes, and, where guests are received, a tourist enterprise license. Each is granted under its own law.
Botswana has held a general election every five years since 1969, the first after independence in 1966. In the election of October 30, 2024, the Botswana Democratic Party, in power since independence, won four of the 61 elected seats in the National Assembly, and the Umbrella for Democratic Change won 36. President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded on November 1, before the official declaration of the result, and Duma Boko was sworn in as president the same day. In its preliminary statement, the observer mission of the Southern African Development Community described the political and security environment as generally calm and peaceful before, during, and immediately after polling day.
Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2026 rates Botswana Free, with a score of 75 out of 100. In Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025, it ranked 41st of 182 countries. The 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which covers data through 2023, ranked it fifth of 54 African countries, and the Global Peace Index 2026 ranked it 50th of 163 countries.
The US State Department’s travel advisory, reissued in June 2026, is Level 2 of four, “Exercise Increased Caution,” because of crime. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in advice last updated on June 1, 2026, does not advise against travel to any part of the country; it notes that attacks on tourists are rare and that violent crime is increasing, particularly in Gaborone, Francistown, and Maun. The main freehold farm areas, named in the land section below, are rural and lie outside all three. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists Ghanzi, Bobirwa, Mahalapye, and Serowe/Palapye among the districts with malaria transmission and recommends preventive medication for travelers to those areas; it reports no transmission in Gaborone.
The pula is pegged to a basket weighted equally between the South African rand and the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights, with a downward annual crawl; after its mid-year review in 2026, the Bank of Botswana kept the rate of crawl at 2.76 percent. Exchange controls were abolished in 1999. In October 2025, Moody’s put diamonds at roughly 30 percent of GDP and 90 percent of goods exports. In September 2026, Moody’s lowered the sovereign rating to Baa2 with a stable outlook, and S&P Global affirmed its BBB- rating with a negative outlook. Both ratings are investment grade.
Land is held under three tenures. The government’s Land Policy of 2015, revised in 2019, put tribal land at about 71 percent of the country in 2013, state land at about 26 percent, and freehold at about 3 percent. According to the US State Department’s 2026 Investment Climate Statement, tribal and state land cannot be sold to foreigners, and freehold can be; non-citizens can hold fixed-term state grants, as well as land board leases on the terms of the Tribal Land Act of 2018, which came into force in April 2022. In December 2023, Vice President Slumber Tsogwane told Parliament that the main freehold farm areas include the Ghanzi Block, in the Ghanzi and Charleshill districts; the Tuli Block, in the east; and the Molopo farms, in Borolong.
Under the Land Control Act of 1975, freehold outside a township counts as agricultural land. A sale, a lease that can run for five years or more, a subdivision, or a dealing in the shares of a private company that owns such land is void if the acquiring party is not a citizen, unless the Minister consents. A company counts as a citizen only where citizens beneficially own the majority of all classes of its shares. The proposed transaction must be advertised in the Government Gazette and a newspaper at least 90 days in advance, with notice of the right of any interested citizen to receive priority. In deciding, the Minister considers any objections, the wish of any citizen to enter into the transaction, the economic development of the land, and standards of good husbandry. Consent is generally refused where the acquiring party is unlikely to farm or develop the land adequately, and the decision is final.
Transfer duty is charged on the purchase price or the value of the property, whichever is greater. Non-citizens, and companies in which citizens do not hold a majority of every class of equity shares, pay it at higher rates than citizens. An issue or transfer of shares that passes control of immovable property is treated as a transaction in that property. The Deeds Registry may not register a controlled transaction without proof of compliance with the Land Control Act, nor a dutiable transfer without proof that the duty has been paid to the Botswana Unified Revenue Service.
In November 2012, the government announced that it would suspend commercial hunting in public and controlled hunting areas indefinitely from January 1, 2014; the suspension, which did not affect hunting on registered game ranches, was lifted on May 22, 2019. Game ranching is governed by section 24 of the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act of 1992. An owner or leaseholder applies to the Director of Wildlife and National Parks for permission, which is renewable and runs for at least ten years or, where less than ten years of a lease remain, for the rest of the lease. Inside a game-proof fence approved by the Director, there is no limit on the number of animals of the species listed in Part II of the Act’s Seventh Schedule that may be killed or captured, unless the Director directs otherwise. Where the fence does not meet the Director’s standard, culling requires the Director’s written permission, which sets the number of animals, and is subject to fees. Protected and partially protected species require the Director’s specific authority, the sale of animals, meat, or trophies requires the Director’s approval, and a live capture business requires separate written permission.
Water is held separately: applications to grant or register a water right go to the Department of Water and Sanitation, and for a private borehole they include the permission to drill and the borehole completion certificate. Receiving tourists requires a tourist enterprise license from the Department of Tourism; its categories name photographic and hunting camps and lodges, and those for guest houses, camp and caravan sites, mobile safaris, road transfers, and motorboating are reserved for citizens or wholly citizen-owned companies. In September 2026, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks said that it is preparing new game ranch regulations to make the sector more business-friendly and that it plans to move permit applications online.
A Botswana conveyancer and a tax adviser familiar with the Land Control Act and the Transfer Duty Act can confirm how each applies to a particular purchase.
Can a non-citizen own land in Botswana?
Yes, freehold land, which is about 3 percent of the country according to the government’s 2015 Land Policy, revised in 2019. Tribal and state land cannot be sold to foreigners, though non-citizens can hold fixed-term state grants, as well as land board leases on the terms of the Tribal Land Act of 2018. Freehold outside a township falls under the Land Control Act of 1975, so an acquisition by a non-citizen, or by a company without majority citizen ownership, needs the Minister’s consent after at least 90 days’ public notice.
How stable is Botswana?
It has held a general election every five years since 1969, and power passed peacefully to the opposition after the 2024 election. Freedom House rates it Free, with 75 out of 100 in 2026; it ranked 41st of 182 in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index and 50th of 163 in the 2026 Global Peace Index. The US State Department rates it Level 2 of four, “Exercise Increased Caution,” because of crime; the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not advise against travel to any part of the country and notes that attacks on tourists are rare.
Is hunting allowed on a private game ranch?
Yes, with permission. An owner or leaseholder may farm, ranch, hunt, and capture game under section 24 of the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act once the Director of Wildlife and National Parks grants permission, which runs for at least ten years. Protected species, sales of animals, meat, or trophies, and live capture each need separate authority.
