Reimagining the energy sector, Puma’s bold digital move
Lewanika Timothy | Thursday July 30, 2026 15:43
For Puma Energy Botswana, the response has been to double down on infrastructure investment, embrace technology and reposition as an integrated energy logistics business rather than merely a filling station operator.
Puma GM, Tendai Mwewa explains more in the interview.
Mmegi: The oil, gas, fuel space is one with a lot of major and minor players, depending on where in the value chain you play. How does Puma Energy maintain its competitive advantage and how does it stay ahead of the curve?
Mwewa: From our side, we value competition. We think that competition is good for the consumers, for the end consumers. From the Puma Energy perspective, we're very comfortable and we're very confident in our brand, in what we stand for.
Currently in Africa, we're in over 16 markets. Globally, we're in over 34 markets. So what you are seeing is that we are able to leverage on what we learn in other markets, the technologies that we have, the products that we offer in other markets, and be able to bring those for the benefit of the Botswana customers that we serve.
At the very centre of what we are doing is we are investing in energy infrastructure. We're investing in working with other partners, be it local partners, whether it is transporters or people who do maintenance for us, also helping them to raise the bar to be at the level that you see in other international companies.
Mmegi: You talk about staying competitive, staying ahead of the curve, and I want to know how digitalisation comes into play within your strategy there. How you are really leveraging it to stay ahead of the competitors and give yourself that push?
Mwewa: So what happened this year around April, is that we launched our Puma Pris digital loyalty app programme. This has been revolutionary. It's the first of its kind here in Botswana. In Africa, Puma Botswana was the third country to launch Puma Pris. Puma Pris is, is not just a loyalty programme, but rather, what it does is enhance the customer experience to understand the customer. What are the customer needs?
In Latin America, we have over 1.7 million people who are on Puma Pris and on this programme that we have, if you come to our service station, you buy fuel, you buy lubricant, or you go into a shop. We then reward the customer for their loyalty with some points. After that, the customer is then able to come and redeem those points and buy again with the fuel, go into the shop, buy lubricant. All of that is being done digitally. It's not a manual thing. And then customers are then able to experience what we have to offer and get a better value proposition.
Mmegi: Let's talk about the global changes that we are seeing, and how Puma Energy is positioning itself to coping with the changes?
Mwewa: We understand that the environments we work in are always going to be changing. But we are very resilient and very robust group. So what we have focused on is understanding that our systems, our technology, the way we respond to customers, will always evolve in line with the changes that we have. We are going to have changing operating environments, that is a given.
But the mission that we have, which is to energise communities, which is to deliver services reliably, safely to our customers, that's not changed. What might change might be the response, which is acceptable because you have to change with the times. But our mission itself has not changed. So we have been able to respond to global shocks. We've been able to respond to those and ensure that with everything that is happening, our customers are still able to get the fuel, to get the services that they need when they come to a Puma service station
Mmegi: In 2024, we saw legislative changes that happened and we saw Botswana Oil being given a 90% import quota. I want to understand from an industry perspective how that has affected Puma, whether it's been for the upside or downside. How you have really managed to keep the business going and growing given these changes that have happened?
Mwewa: What is important for Puma is that we continue to be a strategic energy partner in Botswana. That mandate has not changed for us. What is also important for Puma is that we ensure that we meet the fuel needs for our customers, and we continue to do that. We continue to invest in Botswana.
Botswana continues to be a key market for us that we are investing in. What we see, obviously, in any given time, there may be changes in operating environments. That is acceptable, and that is something that we need to be aware of. But our mission should not change in terms of delivering the service to the customer. What really works well in any given country is that in any operating environment, we as a private sector should be working well with our regulators. We need to work well with the government and ensure that we hold engagements as and when we need.
And that we've been doing very well and having very constructive engagements as and when we need to do those. Yeah, so in the broader sense, you have really managed to adjust and stay flexible to the changes and be able to continue.