BMC gets P300m injection
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday December 19, 2022 06:00
The money will be used to finance the commission's growth strategy, the Meriting Strategy.
This comes after BMC approached the government in July with a request for financial assistance to undertake reforms through its Meriting Strategy.
The financial support which was approved through presidential directive drive CAB 18 (2022) dated August 1 included the extension of a Public Debt Service Fund (PDSF) loan amounting to P120 million which has already been disbursed to BMC.
Previously the Commission had obtained a guarantee from Standard Chartered Bank of Botswana but it lapsed on October 8.
The new guarantee was also to be opened up to allow for the participation of other financial institutions. Briefing the National Assembly, Minister of Finance Peggy Serame said following the approval, BMC embarked on an exercise to secure appropriate facilities to drive the strategy. “The desired arrangements include a revolving facility or invoice factory facility.
The invoicing factory facility allows BMC to drawdown funds that will enable it to prepare cattle for slaughtering and eventually export to the European Union and other markets,” she said. Upon receiving repayments on the export invoices, Serame said BMC pays funds borrowed and draws on the facility again when the need arises.
BMC also requires the use of an overdraft facility as working capital as well as long-term loan and guarantee facilities. She further said BMC is considered a strategic asset whose revival could greatly benefit the agricultural sector and beef market in particular.
Serame said one of the benefits of a healthy meat commission is promoting the interests of the livestock production of Botswana and in particular ensuring that as far as reasonably possible all livestock offered or available for sale in Botswana to BMC are purchased at competitive prices. Among others, the strategy emphasises the production of premium meat and product sustainability for the global market in collaboration with all players in the beef value chain. It also aims for the commission to remain a business attractive to private investments and for joint venture collaborations.
“BMC has been facing acute financial problems over the years which we are actively striving to overcome,” she said. The BMC Meriting Strategy maps out the direction the state-owned meat exporter will take to fulfil its mandate as well as meet its strategic goals driven by desired principles of self-sustenance, sustainability, and commercial.