Air Botswana’s missing millions
Lewanika Timothy | Wednesday May 13, 2026 06:00
At Monday’s Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and State-Owned Enterprises, where Air Botswana was the first to appear, it was revealed that for the financial years between December 2021 and December 2025, the airline was supported by the government with over half a billion pula, whilst also receiving additional bailouts from the state and loans that were never used for their intended purpose.
“Peak revenue was P330 million at the end of 2024, whilst the highest net loss stood at P230 million. “This organisation has been a cash-losing machine each of these years,” Air Botswana General Manager, Bao Mosinyi, said.
At the centre of the financial mismanagement scandal is a P230 million loan advanced by the government in 2018, specifically for the purchase of two aircraft. However, only one aircraft was eventually procured at a cost of around P130 million, leaving roughly P100 million unaccounted for under its intended purpose.
The airline's management said the funds were used for operational expenses, but in a rare rebuttal, the Auditor General publicly stepped in during the hearing, clarifying that the claim that the P100 million was used for operational expenses was not fully justifiable, as reports showed that there was no sufficient trail on how it was used.
Auditors on the airline's books reportedly raised red flags after failing to obtain satisfactory evidence explaining how the remaining funds were utilised.
“My concern is that the airline did not fully comply with the grant requirement, ' Keneilwe Senyarelo, the Auditor General, said. “The P230 million was to be used exclusively for the jets procurement. “However, only P130 million was used for jet procurement, and P100 million was used for operations as claimed. “Even then, the auditors pointed out that they did not receive appropriate evidence on what the P100 million was used for.”
The loan, which has now ballooned to P304 million with interest, has become effectively unrecoverable, with Air Botswana pleading with the government to convert the debt into equity.
“We have explained to the Minister of Finance that this airline cannot pay back the loan and have requested that the loan be converted into equity,” Mosinyi said.
In a startling admission, the airline’s current leadership also described the original P230 million funding as a reckless loan from the onset.
“In my view, it was an irresponsible loan from both the government side and the airline. There was no way the airline could have paid back this loan,” the GM said.
The revelations come amidst widening concerns over governance failures at the airline, which has reportedly operated for long periods without a fully constituted board. The GM is currently understood to be the only substantive member of the executive committee.
Meanwhile, Air Botswana’s staffing structure has also come under scrutiny. The airline currently has 30 pilots on its payroll, yet only nine are actively flying following resignations and operational disruptions.
“We have 30 pilots. Nine resigned this year. Twenty are at home and remain home whilst being paid by Air Botswana and that has been ongoing for a long time,” Mosinyi said.
Earlier this year, the national carrier suspended three recently introduced regional routes after incurring losses of about P44.5 million on the services, underscoring the deepening financial strain at one of the country’s most troubled state-owned enterprises.
The discontinued routes, which are Gaborone–Durban, Gaborone–Windhoek and Maun–Cape Town, were part of an expansion drive launched in late 2024 aimed at strengthening regional connectivity and boosting revenues for the struggling airline. Instead, the services have added to the airline’s financial pressures, forcing the government to reassess the viability of some of its route networks.
Addressing Parliament during the Committee of Supply, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Noah Salakae confirmed that the routes had been discontinued as part of a broader restructuring strategy designed to stem mounting losses at the airline.
“The strategy clearly outlines immediate, medium and long-term interventions aimed at reclaiming the airline’s position as the regional airline of choice and a strategic partner for other economic sectors,” Salakae told legislators.
“To mitigate the ongoing losses, the new strategy also led to the discontinuation of three routes that had been introduced and operated between November 2024 and July 2025. These routes incurred net losses of P44.5 million during that period,” he said.