Botswana possesses substantial coal deposits of 212 billion tonnes, the majority of which are low grade. Under favourable conditions, and until solar
power becomes a feasible option for supplying baseload electricity, this coal could be either exported or used for
local regional electricity production and consumption. Electricity shortages impose a considerable constraint on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.This strengthens the argument for local production of coal-fired electricity. However, coal extraction for either export or local production is environmentally costly despite advances in technology.