Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana

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Beyond Palapye the main road passes through stands of mopane woodland before reaching the eastern turn-off to the mining town of Selebi-Phikwe 88km southwest of Francistown. Many visitors to Botswana in the past have missed this town, located just over 50km off the main road, but it has grown into the third-largest urban centre in Botswana. With the completion of the tarred road from the Martin's Drift border post, Selebi-Phikwe is now a convenient half-way stop-over between Johannesburg (via Ellisras) and Botswana's northern tourist attractions.

Originally there were two tiny places called Selebi and Phikwe, which straddled a large undiscovered deposit of copper and nickel in the area. When the mineral wealth of the area was discovered in the 1960s a mine and township was built in the woodland between the places with the combined name of Selebi-Phikwe.
With a population of almost 70,000, this centre owes its development primarily to the presence of the copper-nikel mine, which employs over 4,850 people, making it the single largest employer in the country.

Selebi-Phikwe is today an excellent example of a success story in the government's efforts to create employment opportunities as well as to diversify the economy by boosting the manufacturing sector. The town was chosen as a priority center for regional industrial development and is a principal location for large-scale light manufacturing.
The mining operations at Selebi-Phikwe have not been as successful as expected and the economy of the area has diversified into areas such as textiles, manufacturing and commerce. A power grid terminal was opened here in 1996 to carry electricity from South Africa through to Zimbabwe - the first stage of the Southern African Power Pool.

Selebi-Phikwe is one of Botswana's four mining towns - the others being Orapa, Jwaneng and most recently Sowa - Selebi-Phikwe was established in 1967 as part of the infrastructure for the BCL (Bamangwato Concessions Ltd) copper nickel mine. This was the country's first modern commercial mine.
Phikwe has tarmac roads leading to the town and within the town, libraries, parks, petrol stations, shopping malls, a golf course, sports and hobby clubs, service organizations and growing industrial complexes. An airport, which is being upgraded to cater for the equivalent of Boeing 737 aircraft, provides services for internal flights operated by Air Botswana and Okavango Air Services. Good roads connect Selebi-Phikwe with major centres to the north and south, and there are car facilities in the town.

Phikwe is useful if you are travelling to or from eastern Botswana, but is not a tourist destination in itself. More info on: www.botswana-tourism.gov.bw

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