Author

Mbongeni Mguni
Financial Journalist

Twitter: @MboBW

Email: [email protected]
  • Inflation declines but pain persists

    Inflation dropped to 13.8% in September, from 14.6%, largely due to the fuel price decrease effected by the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority early last month.However, a breakdown of inflation by Statistics Botswana suggests that the reduction in...

  • Food imports reach P7.8bn

    Comparisons with the trends over the same period are difficult to make as data for two months in 2021 is missing.However, numbers made available this week by Statistics Botswana indicate that from a figure of P871.4 million in May, the country’s...

  • Gov’t ups ante against speculative mineral explorers

    At present, historical and updated information about the country’s mineral resources is stored physically, slowing down the processing of mineral rights applications as officers have to manually check records.The manual system also provides a...

  • BURS presses ahead with contested 'track and trace' system

    The track and trace system involves placing a biometric imprint on all alcohol and tobacco products as they are manufactured or imported into the country, allowing the BURS to check that the correct tax revenue is being paid and that the products are...

  • Alcohol industry rages at BURS tax stamp

    Earlier this year, Authentix, a Texas-based authentication firm, was chosen by the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) to provide a “fiscal marking and inventory solution,” under a 10-year contract for a service known informally as 'track...

  • Gov’t sticks to its guns on veggie import ban

    The cream of South Africa’s farming industry met on Thursday in Pretoria discussing challenges affecting the industry. While not appearing on the agenda and not mentioned officially by the speakers, the matter of the ban on certain horticultural...

  • BoB fines banks for violations

    According to the Banking Supervision Annual Report 2021 the BoB released recently, penalties of nearly P86,000 were made against three banks for violations, while another bank was asked to show cause why a fine of P100,000 should not be levied...

  • IMF further cuts forecast for Botswana

    Last October, the IMF’s eagerly anticipated report, the World Economic Outlook (WEO) projected the local economy would expand by 4.7 percent this year, before cutting this to 4.3 percent in April due to the effects of Russia’s invasion of...

  • BSE offers discounts for green bond listings

    With P70.7 billion or 61% of the country’s pension funds invested offshore as at May, the local bourse believes an opportunity exists for these funds to return home and help meet the country’s sustainable development projects, including those in...

  • Is Lesotho turning the corner?

    The achievement by the six-month old Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) is a rare occurrence in a country where fragile political coalitions have caused political instability and violence in recent years, occasioning the intervention of SADC and...

  • BSE liquidity on the rise

    according to a report emailed this week, the BSE recorded equity turnover amounting to P882.3 million between January and September 30, representing a 91% increase from the same period last year and a 64.3% jump from the corresponding period in...

  • NBFIRA licences Yellow Card exchange

    In a notice on Tuesday, the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) said it had issued a licence to Yellow Card Botswana, the African exchange’s local unit.Under the Virtual Assets Act, passed in February, any operator...

  • BBS expects commercial banking launch by June 2023

    In a statement accompanying the group’s results for the half year ended June 30, directors said BBS Ltd was finalising approval of its commercial banking licence with the Bank of Botswana (BoB).The group previously declared a closed period from...

  • Letshego calls EGM to cut directors’ pay

    An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on the matter is due to be held on October 25 in Gaborone.The homegrown group, which boasts a presence in 10 other African countries, has seen its share price fall by a net of nearly eight percent since January,...

  • Councils look to PPPs as gov’t funding dries up

    As the primary interface between government and communities, various local authorities across the country, particularly in rural areas, shoulder a huge burden of expectations.However, as part of its belt-tightening exercise, the Finance ministry...

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