Author

Mbongeni Mguni
Financial Journalist

Twitter: @MboBW

Email: [email protected]
  • Trade deficit reaches P37bn in 2024

    The trade balance, or the relationship between imports and exports of goods, has been in negative territory since at least September 2023 when diamond sales began to slow down and eventually sank due to factors including Chinese market weakness and...

  • CoA greenlights P18m Pula Steel sale

    Last October, VRI Metals won a High Court ruling overturning the sale to Sherashiya, with Justice Zein Kebonang upholding arguments that the deal had improperly favoured the winning bidder.VRI won a previous bidding round in 2022 for Pula Steel, but...

  • Banks face ‘unprecedented’ liquidity crunch

    The Bank of Botswana (BoB) released about P1.8 billion to banks in December, as liquidity dried up in the market because of a slowdown in government spending related to the prolonged diamond slump.The situation has not abated this year and could...

  • BOTSAT-1 delayed but ready to launch

    The lift-off has been delayed by technical issues affecting a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launch which occupies the rocket launch right before BOTSAT-1. NASA is the American space agency.In a brief interview with Mmegi this...

  • Rolling deficits push budget into tricky waters

    The golden rule of debt is that you should only borrow what you can afford to pay. One of the country’s financial regulators requires lending institutions to warn clients that “borrowing more than you can afford to repay could lead to severe...

  • BoB allays ‘crowding out’ risks as gov't debt appetite balloons

    The Ministry of Finance plans to finance the forecast deficit from the domestic capital market, as well as from external funders. The bulk of the funding is expected to be sourced through the domestic note issuance programme, a P55 billion multi-year...

  • Lucara revenues jump to P2.8bn

    According to the financials shared with investors recently, the Canadian firm sold a total of 399,215 carats last year, with the revenues received including a $44 million payment for the 1,080-carat Eva Star diamond and 549-carat Sethunya...

  • Premium Nickel to raise P350m for BCL revival

    In a notice this week, the Canadian firm said it would offer a combination of shares and, warrants to potential investors in a private placement that will close in early March 2025. Premium Resources intends to offer up to 120 million units at 30...

  • Mobile money transactions top P33bn

    Mobile money services, currently offered by Orange, Mascom, Botswana Telecommunications Limited, and BotswanaPost, are amongst the fastest growing solutions in the financial sector, witnessing increasing transaction values on an annual basis.The...

  • BPC secures an additional P1.2bn subsidy

    In the original Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP) which was due to run from April 2023 to March 31, 2025, the BPC was due for a subsidy of P1 billion. However, the Corporation in August 2023 secured an extra P1.18 billion through...

  • Segoditshane River: Gaborone’s problem child

    On Wednesday, Segoditshane River did what it has frequently done over the years – breach its banks, run over its old, low-lying bridges, and flood the capital city.Frustrated Gaborone residents found themselves stuck and stranded wherever they...

  • BoB leans towards ‘looser’ interest rate policy

    The accommodative monetary policy stance is made possible by the Bank’s projections that inflation this year will trend either below or within the three to six percent objective range.“Inflation is expected to remain within the medium-term...

  • Govt mulls off-grid solar for remote villages

    Government has a long-term Rural Electrification Programme, which began in 1975 and has been the cornerstone of the country’s rural development strategy. By last August, 462 out of 565 villages were connected to the national grid, with detailed...

  • Debswana probes fronting in P21bn CEEP programme

    “Debswana is currently in the process of sourcing for a consultant for the provision of anti-fronting investigation for Debswana,” Agatha Sejoe, senior Corporate Affairs Manager (Brand and Stakeholder Relations) said in a written response to...

  • Gov't greenlights new Sovereign Wealth Fund

    Whilst the country currently has the Pula Fund acting as a fiscal buffer and a store of reserves for future generations, experts have said the fund has structural weaknesses, which include the lack of commitments around deposits and poor control of...

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