BETP turns in its six-month report card
Mbongeni Mguni | Wednesday September 16, 2026 10:42
While holders of capital continue weighing the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP), the first review of the six-month-old initiative indicates that early wins are being scored, just six months into the initiative. Many of these are in the overhauling of redundant, outdated or repressive policies in the business operating environment.
The BETP is a ten-year, state-supported, largely private sector-led initiative housing more than 180 projects which will require investment of about P514 billion. It is the primary instrument for delivering government’s True North, which is defined as a future that is digitally enabled, export driven, people-centred, economically diversified where every single citizen is empowered, is employed and is fulfilled.
Recently senior Finance Ministry officials unveiled the first review of the initiative since its adoption by Parliament last November, indicating progress made.
While most eyes are on the mobilisation of capital for the projects, which is where growth and associated jobs will come from, some of the earliest wins seen in the review appear to be around the refinement of policies.
Developed under the Big, Fast Results methodology, the BETP is focussed not just on transformative projects, but more particularly the policy foundations required for success across the economy.
The recently released review indicates that the financial services sector is steaming ahead with policy enhancements designed to support the business operating environments required for the various projects.
“This sector saw several reforms move from approval into live operation, with an extended clearing window, Simplified Due Diligence guidelines and Electronic Payment Services amendments all now in effect, lowering barriers to onboarding for the informal sector and expanding digital payment acceptance for merchants,” the review reads.
On the ground, Batswana have seen the accelerated roll out of basic bank accounts by several commercial banks, targetted at the informal sector, SMEs and previously unbanked individuals. The accounts feature simplified opening and maintenance procedures as well as low or waived fees, amongst many features.
The extended clearing window is being touted as an example of how a simple policy change can have resounding benefits. Analysts have said the policy move is an example of how the BETP is breaking down the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset behind much of the policy intransigence in government and the private sector.
“For years, Botswana’s payment day effectively ended in the early afternoon,” the review noted. “Transactions submitted after the 15:00 clearing window would not settle until the following working day. “For a business paying suppliers before a weekend, or a worker waiting on wages, that delay carried a real cost. “From 1 February 2026, the Bank of Botswana added a 17:00 clearing window on weekdays, extending the hours during which payments can settle. “Banks are now also required to credit beneficiaries within sixty minutes of settlement, down from a wait of up to 16 hours.”
The extension of the economic day has been impactful, with more than P23 billion cleared through the additional session between February and April 2026.
According to the review, policy success has also been scored in facilitating access to land, one of the major bottlenecks spotted by consultants who developed the BETP. The BETP, working with the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture, has established the Land Labs, an investment land facilitation platform created to resolve the cross-sectoral land issues that have long delayed projects from reaching the ground, officials said.
“Land access has consistently been among the most persistent obstacles to investment in Botswana, with projects stalling despite securing funding and partners, held back by fragmented approvals, competing land-use designations and slow administrative processes,” the review noted.
In its short six months since approval by Parliament, BETP officials estimate that P510 million in potential investment has been unlocked and cleared to proceed through the smoother land access procedures.
“The platform works through three linked reforms: an escalation route for land allocation and acquisition issues, a weekly problem-solving meeting that brings the relevant ministries together in one room, and a shared action plan that tracks each issue through to resolution. “It is currently facilitating 18 projects across tourism, education, infrastructure, energy and agriculture, giving Botswana’s institutions a structured way to clear land bottlenecks and move investment from approval into delivery,” the review notes.
Senior policy advisor in the Finance Ministry and BETP Secretariat head, Naledi Madala, said besides the progress on policy, the transformational initiative was gathering momentum in terms of matching projects with funding.
In responses to Mmegi during a recent roundtable on the review, Madala pushed back against some market sentiment indicating that financiers are reluctant to back projects in the BETP because many are early stage or start-ups, without government guarantees.
“It goes back to what we've always said, that we never intended for transformation to just be about people who already have,” she said. “That is why we never shied away from greenfields and we are very much aware that you cannot expect a commercial bank to put money into a greenfield. “You obviously need a funder with patient capital and the strategy has always been to take a project into the BETP because it is strong and it is transformative.”
Madala revealed that BETP authorities and project owners had held “a lot of discussions” with patient capital holders.
“A lot of pension funds have come forward and they are looking at BETP projects. “We are actually going all out to engage with impact investors. “Just yesterday we were in a meeting with an impact investor, but I can't mention them because at this point we still don't know where the conversation will land. “But I'm just trying to demonstrate that for the greenfield projects, we are really going all out to ensure that we draw in a pool of impact investors who have patient capital and who will be comfortable to put their funding into greenfields. “There's a whole strategy around that.”
Madala said the BETP was never about brownfields or established projects, but rather citizen powered impact projects that would power the transformation of the economy away from its traditional moorings in diamond mining.
“If you want quick results, go for projects that are brownfields, but then that would mean that someone like Naledi who maybe doesn't have P4 million and above or all of that, would not benefit from the BETP. “Right now I can assure you that in the BETP we have an average Motswana who came with a very strong idea, but doesn't have the money and we are making sure that we are walking that journey and we will not let them go until we have put them before an impact investor who's willing to partner with them in those kind of projects.”
Madala said the BETP’s projects were gathering significant interest from the banking sector and international investors. She added that the BETP and its partners in the Ministry of Finance, across government and in key agencies such as the Botswana Stock Exchange, were stepping up efforts to woo capital to the initiative.
Part of this includes roadshows and engagements such as the upcoming Botswana Day set for the London Stock Exchange on September 18. Vice President and Finance Minister, Ndaba Gaolathe, is scheduled to headline the event which will feature key engagements between local policymakers, private sector captains together with investors and asset managers in the United Kingdom.
Gaolathe this week was in South Korea for an engagement where he also called on investors in that country to engage on the BETP.
Madala said work was also ongoing within the project owners themselves to ensure that they are ready to work with investors when approached. She was responding to concerns expressed by the market that some project owners are unwilling to relinquish equity control of their projects and insist on only debt financing.
“We are partnering and there are already programmes in place through projects such as the Tshipidi Mentorship Programme at the BSE. “In terms of readiness with all these project owners, we will continue to just put them with the right government institutions to handhold them,” she said.
The BETP represents the country’s single greatest push for economic diversification and structural transformation since Independence. Its ambitious goals are being made only more difficult and urgent by the ongoing fiscal constraints, which are linked to decades-long rolling deficits and long delayed structural reforms to the economy.