Companies urged to raise capital through listing
Isaac Pinielo | Tuesday February 14, 2017 15:50
The call was made by the Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited (BIHL) spokesperson, Tebogo Keepetsoe last week at a media briefing ahead of the Listings Conference billed for next month.
Keepetsoe stated that there are number of viable opportunities that listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) has to offer.
She said the BSE is a successful bourse to list on as it currently stands as the third largest in the region, in terms of market capitalisation.
“We are confident that BSE’s contribution towards the securities market will continue to mature, and we do see the bourse contributing a greater share to the country’s GDP (gross domestic product), since in just 2016, after the BTCL issue, we saw tens of thousands of new individual local investors enter the market in just weeks,” Keepetsoe said.
BIHL is a major sponsor for the 2017 Listings Conference. She noted that as a long-standing listed financial services group, BIHL got the opportunity to grow the business without taking a debt instrument.
“Listing allowed our group to raise capital which we used to expand our operations, while allowing us to maintain our cost ratios,” Keepetsoe said.
In addition, she said listing has allowed BIHL’s exposure to raise its asset value as well as heightening the group’s credibility as a public listed operation, opening up more opportunities for the group to raise additional capital and grow the business.
Keepetsoe further stated that listing allowed BIHL the opportunity to engage the public and potential investors, noting that through the simple publishing of a prospectus, a company is able to keep the public and potential investors informed on what it has to offer, its history and plans for the future.
“More so, our company became more attractive because listing tells regulators, potential investors, and the public that we are the kind of brand worth associating with,” she said.
“Listing allows a company the kind of profile, experience and stature needed to expand into other country markets.”
She said at the BIHL, they consider themselves as a broad-based financial services group, offering a diverse range of products and services within Botswana and across Southern African.”