How did the Scramble for Africa contribute to British control of Bechuanaland?

During the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s, the British moved to secure control over Bechuanaland primarily to counter the influence of other European powers and to protect strategic interests in Southern Africa.12

The colonization of German South West Africa created a threat that Germany might link its territory across the Kalahari with the independent Boer republic of the Transvaal. To prevent this, the British in the Cape Colony utilized existing missionary and trade connections with Tswana states to maintain open routes for British expansion toward Zimbabwe and the Zambezi.1

Consequently, in 1885, Britain proclaimed a protectorate over the region to secure these paths and block the expansion of rival powers. This strategic move was further reinforced by the commercial ambitions of Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company, who sought to control the territory as a gateway to potential mineral wealth in the interior.12