Author

Mbongeni Mguni
Financial Journalist

Twitter: @MboBW

Email: [email protected]
  • One-sided match against inflation reaches injury time

    How high will inflation rise?The answer depends on who you ask. At Kgori Capital, analysts expect that inflation will average 11.3% this year, a figure which if realised would be the highest average since 2008.Researchers at First National Bank...

  • KP focuses on reforms as Russia debate flops

    Russia, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds, is a member of the Kimberley Process, together with Ukraine and more than 80 others who comprise producing nations, major markets, industry bodies and civic society monitoring groups.The...

  • BPOPF nominees breeze through in Letshego board shake-up

    Voting results issued to the Botswana Stock Exchange this evening indicate that the BPOPF’s nominees, unionist Ketlhalefile Motshegwa, chartered accountant Chris Mokgware and prominent public finance professional, Emmanuel Botlhale, all sailed...

  • Controversial “spy bill” stokes rare public debate on civic surveillance

    Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Kagiso Mmusi introduced the Criminal Procedure and Evidence (Controlled Investigations) Bill, 2022, to a special sitting of Parliament on a certificate of urgency in late January, explaining that...

  • Chairman quits as battle for Letshego goes to the wire

    By Press time on Thursday, voting in the AGM was ongoing where the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund is seeking three seats on the board, while asset management firm, Allan Gray had four nominees it wanted voted in.Letshego is a homegrown...

  • Food imports surge to P2.9bn in Q1

    Food imports in the first quarter of this year ranged from a low of P845.7 million in January to a peak of P1.2 billion in March, compared to a low of P720.8 million in February and a peak of P881.2 million in the first quarter of last year.The data...

  • BURS bemoans low response as tax amnesty nears end

    The tax agency calculated that it was owed a total of P6.8 billion comprising P2.5 billion in principal tax as well as P4.3 billion in interest and penalties.Under the amnesty, which kicked off on June 30 last year, taxpayers with outstanding...

  • Inflation returns to 13-year high

    Inflation was measured at 9.6 percent in April, having come down from 10% in March and 10.6% in both February and January.Data released by Statistics Botswana this morning (Wednesday) indicates that the biggest contributor to the latest inflation...

  • Gov’t reserves bounce back on diamond revenues

    The reserves, managed by the Bank of Botswana (BoB), dropped to a record low of P3.3 billion in December 2020 due to withdrawals by treasury to finance the pandemic response. The reserves were measured at P18.3 billion in April 2020 when the virus...

  • BoB considers introducing a ‘digital pula’

    A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital form of central bank money that is widely available to the general public. Instead of only printing money, a central bank like the BoB would issue electronic coins or accounts backed by the full...

  • Battlelines drawn ahead of Letshego AGM

    The country’s single largest investment fund, the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF), holds 30.9% equity in Letshego and wants three new nominees on the microlender’s board. Meanwhile, the country’s largest and most diversified...

  • Pressure piles on Russia ahead of Kasane meeting

    Russia’s ambassador to Botswana, Andrey Kemarskiy, was scheduled to leave for Kasane on Thursday ahead of the week-long meeting of a top diamond industry organisation, whose members include both Moscow’s friends and foes, as well as the ongoing...

  • BTCL shares record slight recovery

    The telecomms group, the trading of whose shares is limited to citizens, plunged to the record low of 65 thebe at the beginning of May, continuing a general downtrend since it listed at P1.15 in 2016.However, in the past month, BTCL’s share price...

  • Inflation returns to 13-year high

    Inflation was measured at 9.6 percent in April, having come down from 10% in March and 10.6% in both February and January.Data released by Statistics Botswana this morning (Wednesday) indicates that the biggest contributor to the latest inflation...

  • SADC reignites fight to sell ivory, but to who?

    North Korea. This is the only country a leading elephant conservation biologist says would be the sole target market in the world for any ivory Southern Africa states may want to sell.The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species...

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