Author

Mbongeni Mguni
Financial Journalist

Twitter: @MboBW

Email: [email protected]
  • Operations kick off at bigger Mmadinare solar plant

    In a statement this afternoon, the firm said the power plant will generate predictable revenues from a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Botswana Power Corporation. Scatec owns 100% of the project, but expects to reduce its long-term...

  • BDC mandate extends to creatives

    Last Monday, the state investment agency unveiled support for full studio production, project management, digital distribution preparation, and promotional rollout.Speaking at the event, BDC managing director, Oteng Keabetswe, said the...

  • Household arrears to banks remain stable

    According to the central bank figures, household arrears to commercial banks were measured at P3.89 billion in September, from P3.8 billion in August, indicating stability in the key banking indicator.Despite the tighter economic conditions, which...

  • Gambling flagged as suspicious transaction reports rise

    By law, banks, bureaux de change, car dealers, microlenders, attorneys, and others must file suspicious transaction reports with the FIA.The agency defines a suspicious transaction as one inconsistent with a customer’s known legitimate business,...

  • The Sanballats and Tobiahs of economic rebuilding

    President Duma Boko and Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe, have tended to employ or invoke Biblical verses and imagery in describing the challenges facing the country’s economy, and in their rally calls for recovery.In keeping with that approach, here...

  • Yield demands climb at gov’t debt auctions

    According to figures published by the Bank of Botswana (BoB), which is government’s agent in the capital market, the highest bid received for the various bonds offered in the monthly auctions has been ticking up over the months.Whilst the central...

  • De Beers’ new owner should be the one who can fix it

    It has become generally known that at least three entities are bidding for Anglo American’s 85% stake in De Beers. These include former De Beers’ executive-led consortiums, as well as sovereigns, being Botswana and Angola. Namibia, which was...

  • Banks reap fruits of forex framework changes

    Following the July changes to the exchange rate framework made by the Bank of Botswana (BoB), commercial banks have had greater room in the margins they charge both buyers and sellers of foreign currency (forex).In July, the BoB increased its margins...

  • Govt eyes P3.6bn debt

    According to a notice on the central bank’s website, the auction will feature the three and six month treasury bills seeking a total of P3 billion, as well as the 2031, 2035 and 2043 bonds raising the balance of the P3.6 billion sought. The...

  • Food inflation ticks up

    Statistics Botswana figures show that an index tracking the average prices of meat rose to eight percent in October, from 7.3% in September. Meat carries the second heaviest weighting in the basket of items measured by Statistics Botswana to produce...

  • Kimberley Process reaches its sink or swim moment

    Forget, for a moment, the argument that natural diamonds are dead. Botswana exported P28.5 billion worth of the stones in the first seven months of this year, compared to about P25 billion over the same period last year.Now, that’s due to a number...

  • G20 adopts proposals on debt sustainability

    Debt sustainability is a particularly prickly issue for many countries in Africa, which have complained of unfair treatment by credit ratings agencies, which price their debt at rates far higher than the rest of the world. Many African states are...

  • Govt moves to ‘in-house’ local data

    He was speaking this morning at the launch of Bofinet’s Delta Digital Data Centre in Gaborone.“I want the Act to compel businesses operating in Botswana to store their data in Botswana. This is the data sovereignty of the people. “There is...

  • BBS seen leading race for StanChart unit sale

    Both BBS Bank and SCBB have dismissed the reports, describing them as “market speculation” and “rumours”. However, BusinessWeek is informed that BBS Bank has approached the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) for funding to support...

  • How SA hosting the G20 boosts Africa’s image

    The negative global perceptions of Africa are not harmless or something to brush off or live with. They have a real cost to the continent; about $75 billion annually in disproportionately high interest rates on loans Africa seeks from the world....

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