Botswana used car market


Located at the heart of Africa, Botswana offers vast business opportunities in the area of automobiles and agriculture. Over the past many years, the country has one of the best performing economies in the world. Botswana offers very pleasant and business like atmosphere to traders. Like many other African countries, new vehicle market in Botswana is quite limited, thus giving fair opportunities to used car exporters to invest in the market. Many people in Botswana prefer to purchase a Japanese used vehicle as one gets a good and reliable vehicle with prices almost half at that of the cost price of new vehicles.


Easy importation of vehicles in Botswana has increased the population of vehicles on the road. Motor vehicles per thousand people in Botswana have increased in comparison to previous data. As per the statistics of the World Bank, during 2005-2009, numbers of vehicles were 159, however, during 2009-2014, it has reached to 168. The motor vehicles include cars, buses and freight vehicles, but not two-wheelers. It has been forecasted that in 2015, the vehicle sale will grow by 3%, with commercial vehicles performing the best. The number of used car dealers in Botswana is twice as that of new car dealers. These dealers in Botswana are found mainly in Gaborone, the capital city.

Namibia-Walvis Bay and Durban are major ports for importing Japan used cars in Botswana. These ports provide straight forward clearing procedures and outstanding security for the used car and its content. Since traffic moves on the left side of the roads, right-hand-drive cars are recommended in Botswana. Importation of used vehicles in Botswana is quite simple due to lower duties.

Duties and Taxes:-
  • A free entry is only allowable if vehicle is imported within 6 months of the date of issue of the Work Permit. Thereafter VAT of 10% applies.
  • Only one car per family is duty free. Subsequent entries or more than one car per family are subject to 15% - 20% VAT of CIF Value.

The car will not be sold or otherwise disposed of for 2 years from date of importation. Value Added Tax (VAT) at current rate is assessed on the imported value of the car.

In the past few years, demand for used vehicles in Botswana has risen immensely especially for personal cars. Automobile makers ruling the market of Botswana are Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai and Kia. German automobile makers Volkswagen has also made its place in the market of Botswana. Botswana is one of the Africa’s truly prosperous nations with a stable economy. And with the increase in demand for Japanese vehicles, the country gives ample opportunities to small and big businesses to make a fortune.

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