BIHL draws hope from Masisi's overtures

Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday September 4, 2018 15:52

 

For several years, BIHL has cited falling household incomes, rising unemployment particularly among the youth and restrained growth of the overall economy, as key operating challenges for the group’s subsidiaries. 

Two of BIHL’s subsidiaries, Botswana Life and Legal Guard, are heavily reliant on the disposable incomes of the formally employed, as are the group’s associated companies such as Botswana Insurance Company and Letshego Holdings. 

This morning, BIHL chair, Batsho Dambe-Groth said Masisi had sent positive sentiments around the key policy changes needed to spur employment, personal incomes and broader economic growth since his ascendancy. 

“There seems to be a feeling of positivity about the economy’s future from the new President, as reflected in the business expectations survey conducted by the Bank of Botswana,” she said at the group’s interim results briefing.

“It is hoped that the liberalisation of policies under the new president will transcend into positive growth.

“It has been two years since the BCL and other shutdowns and we are still seeing the remnants of that period. There’s still squeezed liquidity, strained incomes and low employment, which is a major challenge, especially to retail businesses.” 

Masisi’s tenure, underlined by the ‘Botswana is open for business’ mantra, has focused on a push for jobs, driven by investor-friendly policy shifts and commitments. 

The new President is currently in China pursuing multi-billion pula deals for the transport sector, which he says will anchor employment creation, trade and development.