Author

Mbongeni Mguni
Financial Journalist

Twitter: @MboBW

Email: [email protected]
  • Govt tables P552m supplementary budget

    The request for additional funding comes after Serame had, in her February budget speech, said her ministry would not be inclined to accept any supplementary budget requests this financial year.“The recommended supplementary estimates meet the...

  • Masisi wants fairer debt deals

    Masisi, some Cabinet ministers, and senior government officials were in the American capital for the US Africa Leaders Summit called by President Joe Biden involving more than 40 other African heads of state.Masisi gave a lecture at the Brookings...

  • EU wants to partner Botswana’s green transition

    At the recent global COP27 climate summit in Egypt, the EU reportedly drew a line in the desert sands.The world’s most influential body politic threatened to walk out of the Egypt talks in frustration over weak climate commitments, including...

  • Botswana selected to host next US Africa Business Summit

    "The Summits are the premier platforms to bring together African heads of state and other senior U.S. and African government officials with top African and American senior business executives," reads a statement from the Council. "The...

  • BoB sees risks as inflation drops from peak

    The central bank raised interest rates three times this year in response to climbing inflation, sparking outrage from ordinary Batswana.From 14.6% in August, which represented a 14-year high, inflation has since declined to 13.1% in October, as...

  • Global turbulence shaves billions from pension funds

    Much of the losses in pension funds this year are associated with investments in the international tech sector, where downtrends in global giants such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google (known as FAANG) have led market turbulence.Last...

  • Gov’t pursues P5bn in budget support loans

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) separately says its board has approved a $179.7 million (P2.3 billion) loan to help Botswana “restore post-pandemic fiscal stability and economic recovery”.While the AfDB loan is the second tranche of a...

  • Lucara expects profit jump

    For this year, Lucara executives expect revenues to range between $195 to $225 million (P2.5 billion to P2.9 billion).In a notice last week, the diamond company’s president and CEO, Eira Thomas said up to 425,000 carats were expected to be...

  • The splitting headache of poor implementation

    Implementation challenges have dogged government for decades, costing the country billions of Pula in direct and opportunity costs, but more importantly denying citizens of services and forestalling their economic aspirations.At its heart, poor...

  • Yields stabilise as gov’t raises P1.3bn debt

    At the November 25 auction, three of the four notes offered by the Bank of Botswana (BoB) to bidders recorded increases in their stop yields of just five basis points or less. However, the yield on the six-month treasury bill rose by 37 basis...

  • Jindal wins race for gov’t’s last 300MW coal contract

    In a recent announcement, the Minerals and Energy ministry confirmed that Jindal had beaten other shortlisted firms, who include Minergy Limited and Sese Power, to a contract which is conservatively estimated at more than $1 billion (P12.9...

  • Nata-Maun road revamp gets P580m boost

    According to an appendix to the draft Transitional National Development Plan, government intends to spend P260 million rebuilding the road in 2023-24 and another P320 million in the 2024-25 financial year.The transitional NDP, which has been tabled...

  • Show us the money, Africa says at COP27

    United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champion's special advisor, Bogolo Kenewendo, reports that at the Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt climate change summit, a trend was seen amongst some of the activists.“There is actually a badge that has been...

  • World Bank to consider P1.9bn loan to gov’t

    The loan will be the second and last in a series which produced the $250 million (P3.2 billion) funding in June 2021, a rare instance of direct budget support from the World Bank to Botswana. Both sets of funding are known as “development policy...

  • Tough choices loom for SADC after CITES

    At the time of writing, Environment and Tourism minister, Philda Kereng and her team would have been wrapping up their debates at the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) and preparing to pack their bags to return...

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