He was born in Serowe in 1972, but his parents settled in Mahalapye. “However I spent most of my childhood in Lobatse, as my father worked as an accountant at the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC),” he says. He attended Hill Primary School and later proceeded to Ipeleng Community Junior Secondary School (CJSS).
From Ipeleng CJSS, he joined Lobatse Senior School. During this time, he was interested in sports and tried his luck at many sporting codes.
“I played all ball games that I had access to but also tried my hand at debating,” he explains.
After serving in the national service (Tirelo Sechaba), he enrolled at the University of Botswana (UB) for a Pre-Entry Science Course (PESC), but he later realised that he was not a science material.
“I couldn’t cope with the course. I just found it difficult and there was no social life where we could relax,” he adds.
After the first year he changed courses from natural science to social science. He registered for a Bachelor of Commerce and majored in Accounting - following in the footsteps of his father.
Given his debating background from senior secondary school, he was interested in listening to other students engaged issues of politics. Some of such students who liked discussing political issues were the ikes of Duma Boko and Dumelang Saleshando.
“It was really an eye opener for me. I came face to face with real political issues. I was born in Serowe and traditionally my family are pro - Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) my life I grew up knowing about BDP. I had a soft spot for the ruling party, but that changed after listening to various ideological issues of opposition parties,” he says.
“At the end of the day I never aligned with any political party. Even today I do not belong to any political party, I am sitting on the fence. If BDP is reasonable, there is no reason not to support them and if opposition comes up with a better idea, there wouldn’t be any reason for me not to support it. That is how it is,” he explains.
During his studies at the UB, he joined clubs such as Economics Society and International Association of Students in Economics and Commerce (AISEC). The clubs played a significant part in cementing his liking for the world of finance but the major player in contributing to his desire for dealing with money was his father.
He was introduced to the concept of stock exchange whilst doing his attachment at BMC and bought his first shares as early as 1992 when Sefalana parted ways with Metsef.
On finishing his examinations, he started work the very first weekend. In June 1996, he was appointed a Dealer at Stockbrokers Botswana. Stockbrokers Botswana was the only broking firm in the country at the time and division of duties was then a luxury the firm could not afford. They did both broking duties and that of stock exchange. He credits Martin Makgatlhe - the current CEO of Motswedi Securities - for mentoring him as he was his supervisor in the trading department at the time.
During his first month on the job, Makgatlhe went for a course in New York “and I had to do almost everything when he was away. Fortunately I knew a lot about the pressures of work - such as meeting deadlines”.
In 1998, Investec Asset Management Botswana (Pty) Limited was launched and the duties of the stock exchange were transferred to it. “We could no longer be referees and players at the same time. There had to be competition - which is good,” he says.
When recalling the arrival of Investec on the market, he said the firm came in aggressively. It embarked on a top-notch recruitment drive. His former boss, Makgatlhe left Stockbrokers Botswana for Investec and recruited him there. He then had to endure a trade embargo of about two months. This means two months of inactivity whilst drawing a salary.
“When you join a competitor, you have to stay out of trading for some time to avoid trafficking of confidential information,” he explains.
Bakwena and Martinus Seboni were the first Batswana to become certified stockbrokers.
In 2002, Investec suffered management buy-out because the owners felt the company was not making enough profit. This was when Makgatlhe bought the company and Bakwena was left in a state of confusion.
“After the buy-out, I thought of going to Johannesburg but I felt I would be compromising a lot of things as I had already invested a lot in the country,” he says.
He then landed a job with Capital Securities (Pty) Limited where he also worked with his former boss at Stockbrokers Botswana - Rupert MacKinnon. He was in the employ of Capital Securities until one and a half years ago when government decided to set up BSE as a separate entity.
“When the post of Listing and Trading manager was advertised I applied and that is how I landed here,” he says.
He says he is impressed by the level of enthusiasm that has been depicted by the general populace. Capitalisation is now standing at about P10.8 billion from the P200 million that was realised in the mid 90’s. The number of companies has since increased from 10 to 19 and since 1998, only two companies have de-listed. This is a good sign of BSE making its mark. However, his concern is that there is not much taking place in the dual bond.
He is currently studying for his Masters in Business Administration. Bakwena is married with two sons.
“I have a beautiful wife and two boys.
“I like travelling. I am not very particular about where I go but I prefer the bushes”, he says.
