Mmegi

Gov't places P700m bet on Minergy

Troubled: Minergy’s Masama Mine has experienced operating challenges in recent times 
PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
Troubled: Minergy’s Masama Mine has experienced operating challenges in recent times PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG

Whilst international coal market prices remain constrained, government has chosen to swim against the tide by converting its P700 million debt into equity in the troubled local colliery, Minergy Ltd.

Government has chosen to put skin in the troubled game, opting to convert its debt to Minergy into an equity stake that would make government a shareholder through its mining investment agency, the Minerals Development Company Botswana (MDCB).

Currently, Minergy owes government a total of P716 million held through convertible quasi debt instruments between two parastatals being MDCB and the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC). Both interests are the result of loan advances over time to Minergy Coal for operations.

Editor's Comment
Gov't must empower DCEC urgently

As the new Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government takes charge, it must act decisively to equip the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) with the tools, laws, and resources needed to combat graft. The time for half-measures is over. DCEC Director-General, Botlhale Makgekgenene’s, recent address to the Public Accounts Committee paints a stark picture. Over five years, leadership instability, chronic underfunding and weak...

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