3/27/2025 at 5:46:31 AM
So many strong opinions here from commenters who aren’t actually from Botswana. Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here.We think it’s awesome! The establishment of a university of science and technology in Botswana has been a long hard road, and many mistakes have been made along the way. But the fact that Botswana now has the local skill to deploy a satellite and make use of the data it provides to inform decisions blows my mind.
I grew up in the village that now hosts the university. We were so isolated back then that I’d listen to the Voice of America and marvel at the things that were being done in the developed world, and wonder if we would ever be able to participate in that level. The fact that a smart kid can grow up to attend a local university and end up launching a SATELLITE INTO SPACE is incredible!
by scrappyjoe
3/27/2025 at 9:57:43 AM
Congratulations on the successful launch!> .. I’d listen to the Voice of America..
I grew up listening to VoA as a kid as well, I was born in a then not so developed part of the Balkans. Sometimes I have the feeling that the ordinary Americans don't have a clue about the impact VoA had in the countries like ours.
by sokols
3/27/2025 at 2:07:43 PM
> Sometimes I have the feeling that the ordinary Americans don't have a clue about the impact VoA had in the countries like ours.It's not a feeling. They don't know because domestic broadcasts of VoA were prohibited by federal law.
by Dracophoenix
3/27/2025 at 3:15:24 PM
Until 2012.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization...
by itishappy
3/27/2025 at 1:47:18 PM
My father/grandfather were avid fans of international broadcasts. VoA, Radio Nippon, Deutsche Weller, BBC. By our childhood, TV came with 2 channels and in adolescence 60. My son has access to YouTube, Netflix...by blackoil
3/27/2025 at 3:02:35 PM
As an American, I literally have no idea what Voice of America is.by thinkingtoilet
3/27/2025 at 3:11:24 PM
It's America's state-sponsored propaganda network. It wasn't even allowed to broadcast to Americans until last decade. Despite the label, it's been a pretty good source, though admittedly with a pro-US bias. Now it looks like it's been DOGEd.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization...
by itishappy
3/27/2025 at 3:11:32 PM
It is americas foreign propoganda program. is was intentionally made hard for americans to listen to. That it was hard to get at meant the types of people who want to control government propoganda didn't care and so it turned out to be a reasonable source of low bias information.by bluGill
3/27/2025 at 3:16:21 PM
What do you think NHK is? Same thing but Japanese? It seems cool like people fishing for Ayu.by ge96
3/27/2025 at 11:14:33 PM
The difference is that public broadcasters like NHK, BBC etc are usually set up to be nominally independent from the government, usually through a license fee enforced separate from taxes.by kalleboo
3/27/2025 at 4:36:57 PM
Could get that on cable in Ireland, i remember just leaving it on because it was just relaxing to listen to.by lawlessone
3/27/2025 at 5:51:31 PM
Together with "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" - it was the main source of information not controlled by the party for people behind the iron curtain.Radio Liberty was employing variety of native journalists living abroad but with the intention to talk about their native countries and cultures.
The amount of influence it had on the generation is hard to overestimate. It was also shut down recently by the DOGE.
by hkpack
3/28/2025 at 5:13:46 AM
Also there is/was Radio Free Asia.by mmooss
3/27/2025 at 6:23:54 PM
As an American, I wonder how you don't know.And therefore I am guessing it was more obvious pre Gorbachev/Reagan era.
by jjtheblunt
3/27/2025 at 11:29:58 AM
Those in government right now certainly don't, or they don't care.by clarionbell
3/27/2025 at 12:36:25 PM
Where "those in government" is "Trump, Musk, and their minions", yep.The actual bureaucrats are mostly pissed off.
by alistairSH
3/27/2025 at 2:02:40 PM
I am Polish; I didn't grew up during period of Communist occupation, but I've certainly heard of stories of people risking their wellbeing via trying to listen to VoA. It was very much a big crime.by StefanBatory
3/27/2025 at 2:22:25 PM
Radio Wolna Europa was the one that my parents and grandparents listened to more often in communist Poland.by epolanski
3/27/2025 at 8:01:28 PM
I might have been mistaken on that one, I'll fully admit. I am not sure if it was Głos Ameryki or Radio Wolna Europa - but my comment applies to both of them, anyway.by StefanBatory
3/27/2025 at 5:54:44 PM
In my town (in Czechoslovakia), of the people of my generation, only those who listened to the BBC or VoA knew who the Vaclav Havel was, who became the first president after the fall of communism. I can't imagine the chaos that would happen if no one had any true information at the time of the fall of communism.by omega1
3/28/2025 at 5:11:37 AM
Out of curiosity, why VOA and not the BBC or something else?by mmooss
4/2/2025 at 7:13:39 AM
This reply is quite late, but I thought I’d answer it anyway. When I was a child, I enjoyed the VoA more than the BBC Africa service, and when I was a teen my preferences swapped. I had never really thought about why before. And I had never really clicked that the VoA was a propaganda tool.My best answer is that listening to the VoA as a kid was just way more fun than the BBC. And maybe it being propaganda was a big reason for that. Stories were simple, there were good guys and bad guys, science was awesome and we might make it to Mars by the year 2000.
As I got older, I started to see that things weren’t so simple, I wanted unbiased, or at least balanced, reporting about the region I lived in, and then BBC Africa took over.
by scrappyjoe
3/27/2025 at 6:01:28 PM
Trump has defunded VoA. >https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvge4l109r3oGood luck to anyone in a shitty regime that thought they could at least rely on American propaganda to get some useful info from an alternative. Despite VoA being cheap and enormously effective, and being something no Americans care about, he still kills it.
Gee, I wonder who benefits most from VoA dying?
by mrguyorama
3/27/2025 at 6:33:25 AM
Absolutely fantastic!! I love Botswana. I spent quite a lot of time in Gaborone for work. Growing up my home town was 80 kilometres from the Botswana border and we regularly visited friends there. I am so happy to see this news. Botswana has a special place in my heart. Well done Botswana! I can’t wait to see what else comes next.by Swinx43
3/27/2025 at 6:21:19 AM
Congratulations! And thank you for sharing an informed perspective (maybe the only one in this discussion!). As you know, Botswana is also one of Africa's leading democracies.by mmooss
3/27/2025 at 8:52:26 AM
Great to hear the positive note. There was a lot of armchair commentary when India launched its space program and got its satellites in orbit. And your disregard for those voices is exactly how I felt when it happened here in India. Congratulations to Botswana!by noufalibrahim
3/27/2025 at 7:33:00 AM
Don't worry too much about negative opinions, there is usually a strong bias against non-US projects in the English speaking web.A common trick is to have an office in USA and make it hard to figure out where's your project actually based. There's usually some sympathy for the British and Israeli, then you get some envy for the Russian and Japanese based stuff if they are doing something authentic or feeds into the stereotypes. Lastly you can get sympathy based on current culture war or political talking points(EU lately gets some sympathy and heat for being not-Trump for example). They will deny it but it is true, if you read the English-only web you will get the impression that no one outside the US does anything innovative and the rest of the world just lives lives of a caricature.
The last few years many people were involved in fintech assuming that outside the US consumer banking must be horrible or non-existent if its that bad the USA. Many got investment in blockchain BS that will bring banking and online payments to Africa or Asia or something, only to fail once they realized that in many of those places that tech was much more developed and widely used than the US!
No wonder the negativity when you mention Botswana :) You should pair it with something to create a story. Maybe start a Bitcoin national reserves or make Firefox the default browser on government computers, anything that a group of people have opinions(if Botswana is taking on tech giants and launching a satellite, some people will be rooting for Botswana and will write how the company they hate is finished thanks to the Botswana's satellite). Even better if you can incorporate something hot like AI, from an underdog like Anthropic ideally.
by mrtksn
3/27/2025 at 8:29:41 AM
> outside the US consumer banking must be horrible or non-existent if its that bad the USAWhen I read about US consumer banking ("cashing" cheques like its 1975, all kinds of ATM fees, credit scores and having to use weird "you are not really sending money real time but because the app you are sending the payment instruction through is legit you can sort of be assured the money will be paid eventually") and then look at the European payments landscape...I feel happy.
by leokennis
3/27/2025 at 8:38:28 AM
It is a bit baffling how the US is so far behind on basically everything when it comes to money, banking and payments. I'm not sure many American's even realise how god awful their setup is.by esskay
3/27/2025 at 11:01:32 AM
I think of it as second mover advantage. The US basically has the first system that worked. And in terms of the expectations of the 1960s, it works really well. But, because it works “good enough” there is very little incentive to make it work better… or to the level of “better” in 21st century terms. And because we’ve lived with this system for so long, all of the fees and charges have largely been internalized, so we don’t question their existence.by mbreese
3/27/2025 at 12:00:10 PM
I'm not sure that's a good excuse. Most Western European nations adopted the same systems shortly afterwards, and had the same type of legacy (cheques, fees all over the place, slow transfers)... But they haven't stopped there and have kept innovating and modernising. A big part of the innovation, which many Americans will hate to hear, has been enforced by the EU. Fast (seconds) and free transfers, as well as low card transaction fees have all been forced by EU laws and regulations. The banks would without a doubt prefer to be making more money from those things, but nobody is asking them.by sofixa
3/27/2025 at 12:33:30 PM
The first system that worked? I have no idea what you're talking about. Whatever system US banks have, they weren't first, and it barely works. I mean Credit Cards are mostly an American invention, sure. But you've been lagging behind on chip&pin and contactleas payments for decades. Even something as simple as a secure bank transfer is a chore over there. I remember asking an American for their account number so I could pay them, years ago, and they assumed I would use it to rob them. Primitive nonsense.Your banks are robbing you, and no one seems to care.
by elric
3/27/2025 at 3:19:36 PM
You are way out of date on what the us is like. Chips are all anyone uses in the us. I write about 2 checks a year.not that it makes a difference - us law puts the liability on banks. Chip and pin is needed in backwards places where a stolen credit card is the consumers problem. It adds no security to the individual in the us. When banks decided to care chips got rolled out. They don't think pin is useful enough to be worth the hasstle so we don't have the.
by bluGill
3/27/2025 at 1:25:32 PM
That's what they were saying. America had the first credit cards and therefore had trouble moving to chip & pin partly because the existing system worked without it.by AdamN
3/27/2025 at 2:44:45 PM
That makes no sense. The rest of the world also had the existing systems and moved on relatively quickly.The issue is that the US banking system is highly fragmented, making universal change difficult. Most other countries have fewer, larger banks (which does introduce other problems that regulation has to be active with), but it means that they can gather together and agree on standards far quicker. Most other countries also have more active regulation pushing universal standards than the US historically did.
by hylaride
3/28/2025 at 12:14:36 PM
The US credit card system is not highly fragmented - there are just 3 big players and maybe 2 smaller players. There are tons of banks but that's not an issue for chip and pin. Anyway Europe also has a fragmented bank landscape.by AdamN
3/27/2025 at 3:07:14 PM
> Your banks are robbing you, and no one seems to care.Actually I think they do care. That's why they are still using paper checks, because those are processed for free :)
by nottorp
3/27/2025 at 6:05:49 PM
>I'm not sure many American's even realise how god awful their setup is.The vast majority of average americans don't leave the town/city/area they grew up in. They have NO CLUE what the world is like, other than what they glean from hollywood, and "American exceptionalism" is an absurdly effective propaganda campaign.
by mrguyorama
3/27/2025 at 10:11:12 AM
Zelle works well enough for doing small (eg: only a few thousand dollars or less) instant transfers for free, and ACH works well enough for large transfers.Our banking ecosystem is extremely fragmented with thousands of small banks and credit unions, we aren't like Canada where the 5 largest banks control nearly the entire market and can change things relatively quickly.
by simfree
3/27/2025 at 10:47:03 AM
As a counterpoint, there are nearly 4,000 banks operating in the Eurozone. In 2017 a scheme was mandated by the European Central Bank for Instant Payments (actual funds moved between banks within 20 seconds) which currently most banks support, all banks can receive and which by October this year all banks must be able to send out.It is possible in the US. But somehow it's not happening.
by leokennis
3/27/2025 at 12:00:43 PM
Don't forget that Instant Payments are free.by sofixa
3/27/2025 at 12:34:37 PM
Terms and conditions apply there.by elric
3/27/2025 at 1:16:21 PM
Like what?by sofixa
3/27/2025 at 2:25:32 PM
Not every bank supports it yet, and it's not always free. Some offer a limited number of free instant payments. One of my banks charged 1eur per instant payment up until recently. I understand the situation is improving, however.by elric
3/27/2025 at 2:33:40 PM
> One of my banks charged 1eur per instant payment up until recentlyIllegal since 1 January, which is why they stopped. Hence why I'm saying it's free.
As for not all banks supporting it, if I'm not mistaken it will be mandatory by the end of the year, and the majority already do.
by sofixa
3/27/2025 at 3:12:09 PM
Until very recently I worked for an international remittances company. It's remarkable how far behind the U.S. is, and I always tell people the first countries to go (mostly) cashless with mobile wallets are in East Africa... e.g. Kenya had a ton of people using MPesa long before many European/North American/Asian countries had anything analogous.by mosburger
3/27/2025 at 5:34:00 PM
I don't understand why cashless is a goal. You want DOGE to be able to control who you're allowed to pay, directly? And Trump Admin tracks every transaction?I understand that w bills with serial numbers, cash is also trackable, but there's something deeply authoritarian about monetary systems predicated on a fiat currency with no physical representation.
Going to have to start buying little bags of silver coins with which to effect personal trade
by dingnuts
3/27/2025 at 6:13:53 PM
I think the Europeans want to live in a society, have a good life and want all this to be coordinated by a common entity - the government. It’s also socially acceptable to take down the government you really don’t like. Be it by force or political means, government in Europe come and go all the time.Another thing is, Europe tends to have parliamentary democracies, so if your party loses an election it doesn’t mean it’s all over, it means you your say is smaller but still relevant.
So in Europe governments are politically inefficient but the state is usually alright, it keeps working regardless of the political situation. There are instances where there’s is no president or government for years.
Anyway, if you hate your government that much or don’t trust it that much why don’t you fix it instead of making your life hard?
by mrtksn
3/27/2025 at 8:43:25 AM
The world - good and bad, becomes invisible though behind the culture war cliches. They tell you alot about the participants- very little about the world as it is.by InDubioProRubio
3/27/2025 at 12:59:39 PM
Do you see signs of Africa undergoing the developmental transformation we’ve seen in past decades in places like China and Vietnam? I’ve been expecting it for a while.by api
3/27/2025 at 1:19:55 PM
Well, scoped to just Botswana, when my dad was 10, in the 60's, we had just 15km of tar road in the whole country.In the 80's when we moved to the village I grew up in, we didn't have a phone - we had a telegraph address.
In the 90's, to get fresh fruit and cheese, we would drive for 3 hours across sand roads to another country to shop at a supermarket.
In 1998 my village got its first chain restaurant and it was a big deal.
In 2009 I tried to modernise the family business by getting our managers to use email and very few of them could navigate the internet. In 2012, my family's vegetable farming plot was one of many that were claimed by the government to start the BIUST and I couldn't fathom how they would staff it.
And in 2025, the BIUST launched a satellite.
Lots of problems, but certainly progress.
by scrappyjoe
3/27/2025 at 3:23:00 PM
Africa is not a country. Some countries in Africa are doing much better than others. Some are the stereotype of a new revolution every few years bringing in a new corruption. Some are stable and growing.by bluGill
3/27/2025 at 2:26:01 PM
I honestly doubt.Vietnam and China have very stable (albeit dictatures) governments that invest heavily in education and infrastructure.
Most of Africa, except some places like Botswana is very unstable politically. Plenty of conflicts, insane corruption levels.
by epolanski
3/27/2025 at 10:13:21 AM
I wish you all the best brother. May your country be heaven for you, your family and your community. Keep up the progress!Yours, a friend from another developing country
by yard2010
3/27/2025 at 7:22:44 AM
I'm very glad to hear about your experience, it also touches on something deeply human when we can elevate ourselves and reach for the sky =)by NeutralForest
3/27/2025 at 3:48:32 PM
You should be proud. I am happy to see this achievement. I hope it inspires more people in Botswana to pursue engineering. Thank you for sharing.by myheartisinohio
3/27/2025 at 5:41:44 PM
> I’d listen to the Voice of America and marvel at the things that were being done in the developed world,This is extra sad because the Trump administration has just killed Voice of America. Possibly fitting because this administration is also doing its best to eliminate the US being part of the "developed world".
by xnx
3/27/2025 at 6:16:10 AM
Congratulations!by 0xDEAFBEAD
3/27/2025 at 12:05:44 PM
>Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here.Can we have the opinion not from some privileged elites, but of the oppressed majority, who are literally starving to involuntarily under threat of execution finance all this support projects for this disgusting government?
by Ray20
3/27/2025 at 12:33:19 PM
Botswana is a democracy with a higher democracy index (7.63) than some European countries. Even close to USA (7.85). [1]by vodou
3/28/2025 at 9:20:24 AM
And what place they are holding on starvation index and children mortality rate?by Ray20
3/27/2025 at 1:26:53 PM
You have no idea what you are talking about.Until the mid 2000s, if you good good enough grades at _any_ high school in the country, the government would foot the entire bill (tuition, board, stipend) to send you to a foreign university for the entirety of your degree. The only requirement was that you returned to Botswana to work back your tuition cost. Probably hundreds of thousands (and that's a lot in a country of 2 million people) of people benefited from this program.
Is it perfect? No. Do citizens have the same opportunities as an average person from an OECD country? Not even close. But you have to appreciate the incredibly low base Botswana started from, and how the government has spent the entirety of its existence ploughing resources into improving the human capital of its citizens.
by scrappyjoe
3/27/2025 at 2:24:14 PM
I had colleagues who worked in Botswana and they said it was the nicest location of any of our clients - which included London, Boston, Singapore, etc.I got landed with Nairobi which was horrible (at least in terms of my work).
I think some people think all African countries are the same.
by graemep
3/27/2025 at 2:27:51 PM
Don't you feel silly for commenting on things that you know nothing about?Botswana is one of the most developed countries in the world on many aspects like democracy, press and political freedom or gender equality.
by epolanski
3/28/2025 at 9:18:42 AM
>aspects like democracy, press and political freedom or gender equalityWe are literally talking about country, where half the population are starving and 10 percent of children are DYING. But yeah, girls are dying not worse than boys, so amazing gender equality, best place on the Earth. All you need to know about fascists and their statistics.
by Ray20
3/28/2025 at 9:31:06 AM
You're overstating the severity somewhat .. severe food insecurity is not starvation level food shortages, and 3.8 percent is less than 10 percent. At national level 53.29 percent of the population in Botswana was affected by moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021/22
Moderate or severe Food insecurity occurs when a person or household has limited or uncertain access to sufficient and healthy food because of financial limitations or other constraints.
As a result of financial or other constraints, people may have to compromise on the quality and quantity of their diets, but they do not necessarily suffer from extreme hunger or starvation.
* Under-five Mortality Rate: 38.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.
and dropping steadily from 77.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 24 years ago
by defrost
3/27/2025 at 12:08:30 PM
When USSR launched the world's first satellite into space, the enthusiasm was universal. Even among its peasants who at the time were paperless indentured servants.by varjag
3/27/2025 at 12:47:17 PM
>Even among its peasantsNo, it wasn't. This is Soviet propaganda, that existed only because people who expressed different opinions were killed. As far as I understand, the situation in Botswana is much better when it comes to expressing one's opinion. So I am interested in what they think about this issue.
by Ray20
3/27/2025 at 2:07:55 PM
You would not have been killed in Khrustchev times for expressing a dissatisfaction with the space programme, even though it certainly deviated from the party line. Perhaps it's worth considering that what people find inspiring does not necessarily reflect their material condition: humans are complex creatures.by varjag
3/27/2025 at 5:45:00 PM
You are buying Soviet propaganda. Just an example of what what happening in Khrustchev times for expressing a dissatisfaction:by Ray20
3/27/2025 at 7:03:47 PM
I grew up in Soviet Union and have a pretty solid idea what you could and what you could not say, but thanks for trivia.A life anecdote: in mid 1980s my classmate shot the Lenin portrait in the classroom through a straw. His parents were called in and reprimanded. In 1950s they'd been in real trouble; in 1937 they would have been arrested, tortured and likely killed. In 1989 nobody would have cared.
by varjag
3/27/2025 at 5:38:03 PM
just ten years in the gulag archipelago I guess lol, not death!by dingnuts
3/27/2025 at 7:13:14 PM
GULag system was disbanded by same Khrushchev in favor of traditional prisons.by varjag
3/27/2025 at 2:21:52 PM
Are you interested in their opinion when you instantly dismiss one?by StefanBatory
3/27/2025 at 2:29:16 PM
I'm from the former communist block and let me tell you: you have no idea what are you talking about. Zero, none.You seem to be regurgitating stereotypes.
by epolanski
3/27/2025 at 12:19:14 PM
Can we maybe not shit on this parade? The number of non-disgusting governments world in space-capable nations currently sits at zero. It doesn't detract from this achievement, and people are right to celebrate it.by elric
3/27/2025 at 12:55:11 PM
>The number of non-disgusting governments world in space-capable nations currently sits at zero.You are now trivializing institutionalized mass oppression. We're talking about a country where HALF THE POPULATION IS STARVING RIGHT NOW.
by Ray20
3/27/2025 at 1:01:41 PM
I think you might be trivialising the scale on which space-capable nations are causing suffering. But that's not the point. The point is that this is neither the time nor place for party pooping.by elric
3/27/2025 at 2:19:23 PM
[flagged]by StefanBatory
3/27/2025 at 1:52:57 PM
>But the fact that Botswana now has the local skill to deploy a satelliteCongrats, but the article says that the satellite is being deployed by SpaceX.
by DeathArrow
