Afreximbank offers helping hand to Botswana
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday March 30, 2026 14:12
Mmegi: Kindly share on Afreximbank’s strategy or approach to partnering with Botswana?
Nwugo: Since its inception in 1993, Afreximbank has grown significantly, with a balance sheet approaching $45billion, primarily dedicated to loans and advances that drive critical sectors across the continent.
Botswana remains a valued long-standing participating member of Afreximbank, and we have recently intensified efforts to ensure the country fully leverages our programmes and facilities, specifically designed to fast track the development of critical sectors and bolster African economies.Afreximbank was set up as the trade finance bank for Africa with funded and unfunded interventions geared towards economic/export diversification, trade facilitation, industrialisation (particularly commodity-based industrialisation via value addition and local processing) and financing of trade enabling infrastructure. Afreximbank in effect espouses the concept of transformation of Africa through trade (intra-and-extra Africa).
Our approach in Botswana therefore is to work with both public and private sector institutions in support of their immediate requirements that will help improve their productivity, competitiveness and scale.
Botswana has huge potential in mining, agriculture, tourism, logistics etc which could help in diversifying the economy. Afreximbank is looking for opportunities in these areas to assist in overcoming the current economic challenges being faced by the country
Mmegi: The Government of Botswana is running a significant budget deficit and has indicated that it is seeking credit partners for various projects. What kind of support is Afreximbank able to offer in this regard?
Nwugo: I am pleased to highlight that during his visit to Botswana a couple of years ago, the immediate former President of the Bank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, announced a $1.5billion Botswana Country Programme.
The Memorandum of Understanding giving effect to this country program was officially executed by the Vice President/Minister of Finance of Botswana, His Excellency Ndaba Gaolathe recently. The Afreximbank team visiting Botswana last week, which I was part of, had the honour of meeting with the Vice President to discuss amongst other things, how Afreximbank can support the country through the current economic situation. We also discussed potential support for the projects identified in the current year’s budget and are now exploring these.Afreximbank is widely recognised as a counter-cyclical institution because our intervention and impact are mostly felt especially during challenging times such as what many African countries are facing now. A good example is the role the Afreximbank played during the Covid-19 Pandemic; where it facilitated the procurement of vaccines for African countries on a pooled procurement basis which would not have been possible otherwise.
We also launched our Pandemic Trade Impact Facility (PATIMFA) which enabled member countries stay afloat at the height of the financial crisis. We did the same during the 2009 global economic crisis through our COTRALF (Countercyclical Trade Liquidity Facility) used to provide liquidity to member countries in times of crises. The government’s plan to fast track its call and drive for economic diversification and private sector led growth, is quite laudable as we can see tangible action. One such example is the Botswana Economic Transformation Program (BETP) which is housing, incubating and developing transformative projects carefully selected by experts based on viability and impact. We are in constant discussions with stakeholders in the Ministry of Finance of Botswana to identify the projects that align with our mandate and this will greatly help the government navigate current times.
Mmegi: In the past, Afreximbank has offered support to Botswana via a $1.5 billion package, but negotiations ultimately did not succeed. Are there any indications that the Bank could be open to restarting these talks?
Nwugo: As mentioned earlier, the MoU has now been executed by the Minister of Finance of Botswana and we are very much pleased with this progress. We are now moving towards implementation of the key elements of the MoU. The country programme amount indicates a wallet which Afreximbank pre-approves to enable us to intervene in certain member countries in a programmatic fashion. What this means is that funding is only made available on a project-by-project basis and not to the treasury for budget support.The implementation phase of this program now means jointly identifying the critical sectors or transactions or projects that can be financed under the program. So, we are confident that very soon our footprint in Botswana will grow exponentially.
Mmegi: Afreximbank also expressed interest in participating in the planned Mmamabula-Lephalale railway development. Kindly provide any update you can on this initiative?
Nwugo: A key objective of our recent mission to Botswana was to engage Botswana Railways on how Afreximbank can support the development of the Mmamabula-Lephalale railway project. In 2022, we signed an MoU with a renown railway developer to facilitate the development of railway infrastructure and equipment across Africa. In that MoU Afreximbank is to provide financial support whilst the partner provides technical expertise. This partnership is being made available to the Government of Botswana to be utilised in the development of this landmark rail project.
Mmegi: What is Afreximbank’s advice to a country like Botswana which is undergoing fast tracked economic transformation, following decades of dependence on a single commodity? What is the best practice to follow in stabilising the fiscus while moving to other sources of growth?
Nwugo: The government is doing a lot to diversify the economy. The extended downturn in the demand and prices of diamond occasioned by synthetic diamond and changing consumer preferences is a major wakeup call to all the players within this space. Our partnership with Botswana provides a platform upon which the country can leverage the products and facilities of the Bank to support the Botswana Economic Development Programme which seeks to bolster critical sectors of the economy. Once implemented in the near term, Botswana will become a more balanced and diversified economy devoid of dependence on a single commodity.
The following are some of the programmes and products that Afreximbank has deployed which can be used to support the private sector led initiative of the Government of Botswana:
1. Afreximbank Africa Trade Gateway (ATG): A digital trade platform that enables manufacturers and traders to identify counterparties and opportunities across Africa, understand country-specific regulations, and conduct due diligence digitally. This will greatly facilitate the participation of Botswana’s business in Africa under the context of AfCFTA. 2. Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS): Facilitates cross-border payments in local currencies for intra-African trade. 3. Export Trading Company Initiative (ETC): Integrates small-scale manufacturers and farmers into export value chains via aggregators supported by Afreximbank. 4. Construction and Tourism Linked Relay Facilities (CONTOUR): Supports development in the tourism sector, a key growth area in Botswana. 5. Project Preparation Facility: De-risks projects and addresses the infrastructure gap. This helps to finance early-stage requirements for project development 6. Export Development Programme: Supports Special Economic Zones, export manufacturing, agro-processing, and industrial parks. 7. Project Finance Facilities: For water, energy, mining, logistics and infrastructure projects. 8. SME Development Programme: Provides targeted support for Botswana’s MSME sector including financing, market access and policy advocacy
Mmegi: Kindly share on any efforts Afreximbank has made in securing more Botswana partners to sign up to the PAPSS?
Nwugo: PAPSS is in discussions with the Bank of Botswana, mirroring similar engagements with other central banks across the African continent. PAPSS is currently live in 20 African countries, including three Southern African states namely; Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.We anticipate that more Central Banks from the region will join the network over the course of the year, potentially expanding its presence to 35 countries by year-end.