20 Pula

The 1997 series marked a significant redesign for Bank of Botswana notes, with Thomas De La Rue executing the work as they had for the country's issues going back to independence. Mogae's signature here is notable — he was serving as Minister of Finance at the time and would go on to become President in 1998, meaning his tenure on this note is relatively brief before his signature was replaced by his successor's.

Botswana's currency has remained among the most stable in sub-Saharan Africa, partly owing to diamond revenue that gave the Bank genuine reserves to back its issuance policy. That stability shows in the note's procurement history — no emergency overprints, no wartime modifications, no hyperinflationary successor series.