One of the world's poorest countries in 1966 turned diamonds into riches

Resource-rich developing countries usually grow slower than resource-poor ones, the 'resource curse.' Botswana, among the poorest nations at independence in 1966, instead used diamond revenue, strong property-rights institutions, and fiscal discipline — saving windfalls rather than spending them — to post decades of the world's fastest growth and reach upper-middle-income status.

— Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson, An African Success Story: Botswana — in Dani Rodrik (ed.), In Search of Prosperity, Princeton University Press, 2003