Tana eyes BSE listing
Lewanika Timothy | Monday November 9, 2026 09:19
Government has revealed that the project will start in Gaborone before expanding to Francistown, with existing local transport operators receiving priority to become shareholders. The initiative combines a modernised fleet with digital payments and technology to monitor services, as government seeks to address rising transport costs and poor service standards.
Transport and Infrastructure minister, Keoagile Atamelang, recently revealed during a public engagement that the plan was to overhaul the country’s transport system, aiming to enhance efficiency, digitalise, and enforce quality control within the industry.
“We want Tana to list on the BSE and Batswana can buy shares and become shareholders,” he said. “Our overall mission is to implement in Gaborone first, then take it to Francistown and overhaul the local transport system. “We are giving local operators priority to become shareholders in Tana.”
The proposed listing would open the enterprise to investors beyond the operators already earmarked for participation. Atamelang did not disclose when Tana would approach the bourse or how much of the business would be offered to the public.
Tana is envisaged as a connected public transport system, with an initial electric bus service and ambitions to eventually incorporate passenger trains. Its introduction would bring changes to a sector currently served by individual bus, combi, and taxi operators, making their participation in the ownership structure an important part of the rollout.
Atamelang said the overhaul was necessary against deteriorating transport infrastructure and increasingly expensive travel.
“We are currently seeing an increase in transport costs. We also have a dilapidated fleet of transport infrastructure alongside very low public transportations standards,” he said.
Recently, Mmegi reported that government had piloted Tana in Gaborone using four buses, allowing members of the public to experience the service. The demonstration attracted mixed public reactions, including concerns about the implications for existing transport businesses and their workers.
Globally, major cities around the world have metro buses and internal transport systems controlled by the state to improve efficiency and standard controls.
Bus operators’ representative, Tirafalo Mponang, said existing operators had been offered a 35% shareholding. He presented the arrangement as an opportunity for existing businesses to participate in the new system rather than be displaced by it.
“In one of our consultations, it was agreed upon that we will be given a 35% stake shareholding for Tana, and this means we will have profits from this project,” he said.
Mponang said consultations had also covered fares, as the electric buses offered the prospect of lower operating costs. He indicated that the longer-term ambition extended beyond buses to trains, with operators retaining a stake in the project as it developed.