Author

Brian Benza
  • When the hunted becomes the hunter

    With the industry facing shortages of loanable funds due to a prolonged period of over-extended lending without commensurate growth in deposits, banks have embarked on a deposit rummage offering unusually high returns for savers. Sitting on over P10...

  • Rethink development strategy, AFDB urges Botswana

    In a Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for the period 2015-2019 approved by the Bank this week, the Tunis based AFDB says there is a need to accelerate the transformation from primary sector-driven economy to advanced manufacturing and services as the...

  • Huawei�s ICT drive to make cities �safer and smarter�

    Through innovative ICT infrastructure and solutions such as video surveillance, eLTE broadband trunking, Unified Communications and video conferencing systems, Huawei said African cities would be ‘smarter’.  They add that the...

  • Prime property rentals sink to ten-year low

    The prime rent, usually quoted in US dollars, is defined as an average rent of the top 3-5 percent of all lettings in each submarket. According to the Knight Frank Africa 2015 report, the supply of office space in Gaborone currently outstrips demand...

  • Debswana output flat in bearish market

    A first quarter production update from parent company, Anglo American says Debswana’s output decreased by two percent to 5.6 million carats compared to the same period in 2014, on the back of a decline in grade at Orapa. “The Orapa...

  • De Beers� sightholder affiliate in fake jewellery row

    KGK Jewellery vehemently denies the accusations. KGK Diamond Group, which is one of the largest diamond manufacturers and Jewellers in the world, recently opened a factory in Botswana after being selected by De Beers as one of the new Botswana...

  • IMF raises Botswana growth forecast

    According to the IMF’s bi-annual World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released on Wednesday, Botswana economic growth is estimated at 4.5 percent in 2015. The new forecast is marginally northwards of the 4.2 percent growth forecast for 2015 the...

  • Debswana�s Letlhakane dumps to produce 16m carats

    Addressing the media in Gaborone last week, managing director, Balisi Bonyongo said the switching of operations from the mine to the ‘waste’ material would save the 386 jobs at the mine. “Currently Debswana is building another...

  • Flagging economy needs robust credit growth

    Last week, Statistics Botswana announced that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.4 percent in 2014, the lowest growth rate recorded in the post 2009-recession period. Government had estimated an economic growth rate of 5.2 percent in 2014, while...

  • Economy grows at slowest pace since recession

    According to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics, the 4.4 percent growth is less than half the revised growth rate of 9.3 percent registered in 2013. The country’s economic back bone, mining, slowed down sharply to register a growth...

  • Adjusting to the new normal

    BusinessWeek: How did you manage to turnaround the bank’s fortunes in 2014? van der Merwe: It was a combination of both teamwork and implementation of a strategy that was anchored around digitalisation, improving transactional volumes and...

  • Barclays raises P500m from bond market

    In a bid to meet corporate funding requirements, Barclays listed the P2 billion bond programme in July last year before liquidity tightened in the market. In an interview with the BusinessWeek, Barclays managing director, Reinette van der Merwe said...

  • Debswana to cap output at 26m carats

    Addressing the media in Gaborone yesterday, the company’s managing director Balisi Bonyongo said the company plans to produce between 23-26 million carats in the near future. “It is better to keep the goods in the ground than to just...

  • Mauritian financial scandal shakes Bramer Life

    The Authority’s decision came after it emerged that the Mauritian parent company, BAI Co was being liquidated after a P6.7 billion financial scandal was unearthed at its sister company.  BAI Co, which owns 80 percent of Bramer Life, was...

  • Mmamabula project acquisition gets nod

    Through a special purpose vehicle (spv) specifically created for the transaction, Jindal will offload 74 percent in what is potentially Botswana’s largest coal energy and mine project to South Africa’s Glendal Trading. In a statement...

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