Author

Brian Benza
  • Sese power plant to cost P15bn

    The project comprises 600MW power station and a 2.5 million tonnes per annum coal mine. Speaking at the 13th Resource Sector conference on Wednesday, African Energy managing director Fraser Tabeart said First Quantum is increasing its stake in the...

  • Lerala Mine accident claims one life

    The company said that the employee, who is from the Lerala Village, was engaged as part of the care and maintenance team. “All activities at the Lerala have ceased pending a full and comprehensive review of operating and health and safety...

  • Khoemacau gets copper mining licence

    The company, which is owned by Barclays-backed Cupric Canyon, plans to mine 3.6 million tonnes of ore per annum to produce 50,000 tonnes of copper concentrate. Speaking at a mining conference, Khoemacau Copper Mining regional manager Johannes...

  • Four units back on stream at Morupule B

    Speaking at the Capital Resource sector conference in Gaborone yesterday, Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources Kitso Mokaila said the problematic boilers at the Chinese-built power station would constantly undergo repairs over the next 10...

  • BPOPF moves to acquire Bramer Life

    Information gathered by BusinessWeek reveals that negotiations are at an advanced stage for new investors to takeover Bramer Life after the insurance business, currently under statutory management, was shaken by a financial scandal at its Mauritian...

  • BoB rejects Russian bank licence application

    Although the central bank could not divulge reasons for the rejection, BoB Head of Communications Andrew Sesinyi told BusinessWeek that the central bank last year granted a conditional approval to Alnivor Botswana trading as Russian African Bank, but...

  • Reforms needed to avoid middle income trap � BoB

    Botswana, which attained Middle Income Country (MIC) status as far back as 1992, has seen slowing growth, while productivity has declined in recent years leading to fears that the country has been locked in a MIC trap. While still positive, economic...

  • Banks penalised for breaching liquidity thresholds

    At a press briefing held by the central bank this week, it emerged that at the peak of the liquidity squeeze, some banks fell below the minimum liquidity threshold and were subsequently penalised by the BoB. The Banking Act prescribes that...

  • ODC sales fall 20% on weaker market

    ODC, which has held four tenders in 2015, is expected to sell 14 percent of Debswana’s production through auctions this year as Botswana seeks to develop its own price book through the independent window outside of De Beers’...

  • AFDB mulls floating Pula bonds

    In the Botswana 2015-2019 Country Strategy Paper (CSP) released last week, the development bank said it would explore the possibility of issuing Pula-denominated bonds to support deepening of the financial market. “This would help to somewhat...

  • Liquidity squeeze halves BoB�s interest expenses

    Due to a prolonged period of rapid credit growth, which was ushered in by the central bank’s cap on BoBCs, commercial banks last year found themselves short of loanable funds with their total investments in the mopping instruments often falling...

  • Govt suspends royalties for copper miners

    “A decision has been taken to defer the payment of royalties for the copper mining companies. The decision will be reviewed after a year then we will decide whether the market has recovered enough for copper mining to become viable again, then...

  • Talks to cushion diamond cutters reach business end

    Due to depressed polished prices set against high rough prices, cutting and polishing companies globally, are facing difficulties with the local industry’s situation exacerbated by the comparatively higher labour costs. In an interview with...

  • BoB shuts down Kingdom Bank

    KBAL, which has no resident depositors based in Botswana, was placed under temporary management by Bank of Botswana (BoB) two months ago due to acute liquidity constraints that resulted in depositors failing to withdraw their monies while workers...

  • De Beers accused of breaking beneficiation promises

    According to analysts that claim to have intimate knowledge of the ten-year 2010 agreement, the diamond manufacturers’ plight might be lessened if De Beers keeps its promise of supplying local companies with ‘suitable’ stones that...

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