Stanbic MD rates Botswana as unequalled

Staff Writer | Thursday June 12, 2008 00:00

 

Kennedy, who has been in the country for the past five years, said in some instances, Botswana was ahead of his native South Africa, which was competing for the same foreign direct investment (FDI). He said his experience as a banker in Botswana had been one of a pleasant surprise regarding the accessibility of cabinet ministries 'who can even come to the office for a cup of coffee'.

Presenting a paper titled Running a Business in Botswana, the South African Perspective, Kennedy told the one-day forum at the GICC in Gaborone that the banking regulator, the Bank of Botswana (BoB), was also accessible. He illustrated this by the promptitude with which BoB had facilitated the transaction when Stanbic Bank Botswana bought Investec Bank Botswana from Investec Holdings Botswana in 2003.

'We had a positive response from the local authorities within weeks,' Kennedy said, 'whereas in South Africa (RSA), approval took three weeks.' He criticised his country's regulator, the Reserve Bank of South Africa, for having delayed its approval of the deal that was worth in the region of P92 million.

However, Kennedy said the major challenge for Botswana remained the need to diversify its economy, while creating the country's space and role in the regional economy. In this view, Kennedy was supported by Dr Keith Jefferis, the Managing Director of Econsult, who said perceptions were that the Botswana economy was not sufficiently diversified as per the government wish. Jefferis said the current unemployment rate of between 20 and 30 percent was not healthy; it was worsened by the diamond sector which was not creating enough jobs. But there was consensus that there was growth in the non-mining sector in the financial year 2006/07. Services stood at 14 percent, textile at 6 percent, and manufacturing at 5 percent.

Figures for mining were 54 percent for diamonds, 19 percent for nickel, and 2 percent for other minerals. Kennedy noted 'positive developments' in the economy like diamond beneficiation that would lead to the creation of over 3, 000 jobs and generate considerable foreign exchange for the government.