Author

Mbongeni Mguni
Financial Journalist

Twitter: @MboBW

Email: [email protected]
  • Analysis paralysis and the approaching fiscal storm

    The gap between knowing what to do and doing it, has been the proverbial thorn in the side of public sector policymakers and the reforms they have attempted to make over the decades since the discovery of diamonds.For those tracking the numbers, the...

  • Gov’t aims for P3.5bn in fresh debt bid

    Government is counting on its domestic debt programme to primarily support the forecast P22.1 billion deficit for the 2025–2026 financial year, with external loans playing a smaller role.However, bidders at the monthly auctions of the government...

  • FIA notes spike in tax evasion

    The findings are contained in a report released by FIA this week on suspicious transaction reports between January and June 2024.FIA researchers found that Zimbabweans were mainly involved in tax evasion, accounting for about P30.8 million, followed...

  • Budget crisis: The stress of not worrying

    In a popular sitcom from the 1990s, the main character once wrestled with how to handle a crisis. As a deadline approached and the pressure mounted, the character did his best to project confidence. Ultimately, he betrayed the raging panic below the...

  • Maun researchers scoop P1.4m for scent-based predator control project

    In the country’s north-west, farmers and their livestock have fought a perennial war for survival against carnivorous predators, which all sides have been losing. Lives have been lost on both sides with farmers perennially counting the cost of...

  • More lending rates to rise on liquidity squeeze

    This week, BBS Bank and Access Bank joined Absa Bank Botswana and Stanbic Bank Botswana in increasing their prime lending rates, the first time commercial banks have uncoupled from the Bank of Botswana’s interest rate guidance since the freedom to...

  • Banks increase lending rates on liquidity crunch

    Absa Bank Botswana, Stanbic Bank Botswana, and BBS Bank raised their lending rates by between 75 and 100 basis points, as the impact of a long-running liquidity crunch in the local capital market came to bear.Since April 2023, banks have been able to...

  • The rebirth of hope at Tati

    The people of Francistown have every right to be sceptical. The tale of the economy of the northern city is one of bright but broken promises, hopes built then dashed, the kind of situation that makes citizens become resistant to hope.Francistowners...

  • Firms optimism less optimistic in H1

    The Business Expectations Survey (BES) for March shows that firms are however more optimistic about business conditions in the 12-month period to March 2026, compared to the first and second quarter of 2025, which could be attributed to government...

  • Tariffs jeopardise 200,000 American diamond jobs — World Diamond Council

    The WDC, the US-based umbrella body representing the natural diamond value chain, estimates that thousands of jobs could be lost across the industry from manufacturing to independent jewellers.On April 2, a day he called Liberation Day, President...

  • Gov’t misses debt target again

    Figures from the central bank show that bidders for the government treasury bills and bonds on offer at the April 24 auction, were particularly reluctant to take up notes at the longer end of the spectrum, potentially signalling some concerns about...

  • Austrian investor plans P2.8bn to resurrect Tati

    NIU snapped up Phoenix last year for $15 million (P205 million), after an extended period of the liquidators and government looking for takeover partners for the operation. Phoenix’s sister operation, Selkirk, was purchased by Premium Nickel...

  • HB Antwerp founders bow out

    In a brief statement yesterday, the two founders said the company’s direction had shifted away from its original mission, but did not provide details.“When we founded HB, our ambition was clear: to build a new blueprint for the diamond industry...

  • Aussie contractor leaves Khoemacau

    Mark Norwell, the CEO of Perenti which majority owns Barminco, was quoted this week as saying the company’s returns from the Khoemacau contract were less than target. Norwell reportedly said Barminco must maintain its” commercial discipline to...

  • Trump tariffs: IMF, World Bank lower Botswana growth forecast

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is today (Friday) expected to brief on its expectations of how the economies of sub-Saharan Africa will likely perform in 2025. This area of the globe is in a form of economic stasis, after US President, Donald...

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