KEY POINTS

• Botswana granted citizenship to 2,947 Zimbabweans since 2018, the highest number among foreign nationals.

• Zimbabweans accounted for 49.5% of 5,957 citizenship grants, followed by South Africans at 22.3%.

• Marriage was the most common route to citizenship, although the figures do not specify how many Zimbabweans qualified through it.

Zimbabweans have emerged as the largest group of foreign nationals granted citizenship in Botswana since 2018, accounting for almost half of all successful applicants during the period.

A total of 2,947 Zimbabweans acquired Botswana citizenship, compared with 1,327 South Africans, according to figures disclosed by Botswana’s Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General (Retired) Pius Mokgware.

The minister provided the figures in a parliamentary response to a question from Kgosi Khama IV of Ga-Mmangwato.

Botswana granted citizenship to 5,957 foreign nationals during the period covered by the response, with Zimbabweans accounting for approximately 49.5% of the total.

South Africans rank second

South Africans were the second-largest group of foreign nationals granted Botswana citizenship, with 1,327 successful applicants, representing about 22.3% of the total.

Indians ranked third, with 320 people acquiring citizenship, followed by Zambians with 209 and Angolans with 142.

Other successful applicants came from Malawi, which recorded 103 citizenship grants, and Lesotho, with 101. The Democratic Republic of Congo had 66, Namibia 64, Kenya 62, Pakistan 53 and Britain 50.

Zimbabweans and South Africans together accounted for 4,274 of the 5,957 citizenship grants, representing approximately 71.7%.

The figures underline the significant number of people from Botswana’s neighbouring countries who have obtained citizenship in the southern African nation.

Marriage accounts for most citizenship grants

Mokgware said most citizenship acquisitions during the period were linked to marriage.

Under Botswana’s Citizenship Act, foreign spouses of Botswana citizens can apply for citizenship after meeting specified residency requirements.

In August 2025, the government-owned DailyNews reported that Mokgware had told Parliament that foreign spouses generally needed to have lived in Botswana for at least five years before becoming eligible to apply.

However, the residency requirement may be waived or reduced under special circumstances. Applicants must also undergo assessment by a Citizenship Committee and satisfy the conditions set out in the law.

The latest figures do not specify how many of the Zimbabweans who acquired Botswana citizenship did so through marriage, meaning the precise number who qualified under this route remains unclear.

Economic pressures and migration

The report’s headline links Zimbabweans’ movement to Botswana with the economic crisis in their home country. However, the published figures do not establish the individual reasons applicants sought citizenship.

The data instead provides a picture of citizenship approvals by nationality since 2018, with Zimbabweans forming the largest share by a substantial margin.