The growth, the IFSC says in its 2006 annual report, represents a 67 percent growth and more growth is predicted in the coming year.

Going forward, current IFSC accredited companies are projecting further capital employed of at least US $23 million in the coming financial year.

As a cumulative, Botswana IFSC companies have reported revenue of US $18 million and have paid taxes of approximately US $1.4 million to the Botswana Unified Revenue Service in the year ended March 31, 2006.

A further US $11 million trickled down into the domestic economy through various local companies for consulting and professional services, utilities, security, rent, maintenance and others.

In the report, the IFSC also notes the steady growth in employment with at least 110 people directly employed by IFSC companies.

"Amongst citizens employed in the Botswana IFSC, the mean remuneration is BWP 115,000 per annum, which is significantly higher than the median national wage," the report notes.

However, the Business and Economic Advisory Council (BEAC), a body appointed by President Festus Mogae to advise government on economic diversification says in its report, that the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) has not lived up to its hype as originally expected.

Instead the BEAC says the creation of a Financial Services Village with extended free zone privileges "may revitalise the IFSC venture".

But the IFSC says more companies from Africa and around the world are moving towards the Botswana market and this, it says, is in addition to increased appetite by Botswana owned companies to use the IFSC as a launching pad for their expansion into the continent.

"More companies are now using the Botswana IFSC as a platform for extending their existing competencies elsewhere in the region by setting up an operating company responsible for a range of financial and support services to subsidiaries operating in neighbouring foreign jurisdictions. This is seen as a welcome development to expanding the horizons of locally-owned businesses," the report said.

The companies include, amongst others, Micro Provident Botswana Limited, trading as Letshego, which has operations in Swaziland, Uganda and Tanzania. It is now recruiting for its Zambian operations.

Letshego is establishing retail financial services companies, as subsidiaries that will offer a range of financial services products to employees of government, parastatals and the private sector in a number of African countries.

Another citizen-owned property investment company, Island View, which holds assets in South Africa and Tanzania has already secured facilities to raise US $90 million to fund its first project, Milimani City, a shopping complex in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

"The Botswana IFSC is progressively developing into a regional financial services hub," says the report.

Accredited companies are currently offering services into 11 African countries including Angola, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

"In addition, business plans of accredited companies show that over the next financial year, services will extend into new markets including Ethiopia and Ghana," the report said.

Seven new companies were certified by the IFSC over the past year with six others decertified because of their failure to establish substantive operations.

"Collectively, these Botswana IFSC operations will when fully operational, employ capital in excess $100 million (about P618 million) over the next three years," the IFSC said but pointed out that it has tightened the accreditation process to ensure that certified companies are quality investors and will be able to sustain and grow their operation over time.

The IFSC also says more companies from Africa and across the globe looking to gain access to infant markets but constrained by various factors in their home markets are coming into Botswana for the same.

"More are beginning to gravitate to Botswana as a base for their African operations, drawn to its sound fiscal and monetary policies, respect for the rule of law, socio-political stability and its overall openness to and encouragement of business," states the report.

It also says Botswana is uniquely positioned as the only country in mainland Africa with both a liberalised foreign exchange regime and investment grade sovereign credit ratings, which are a pre-requisite for an international financial services centre.