Features :: Mmegi Online

Friday, June 12, 2026

Homegrown microlender, Letshego Africa, is selling five of its East and West African subsidiaries, taking a loss of P281 million on the deal. An ambitious expansion strategy that began in 2005 has suffered the perils other titans faced when ‘doing business in Africa’. MBONGENI MGUNI writes

Mbongeni Mguni | 12 June 2026

Slimming down: Letshego is recalibrating into a lean, mean machine PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG

Partnerships: Coke-Hamilton (left) met with senior government officials recently, including Trade and Entrepreneurship minister, Tiroeaone Ntsima PIC: ITC

Expanding Africa’s trade frontiers

As global trade becomes increasingly fragmented by geopolitical tensions, tariffs and shifting supply chains, Africa finds itself at a crossroads.

Lewanika Timothy | 12 June 2026

Targetted: Beef and agro-processing are some of the sectors seen as high potential for the Chinese market

BITC capacitates better exports for Chinese market

The recent removal of Chinese import tariffs on qualifying Botswana products marks a decisively progressive shift in the country’s trade landscape. For local producers, this is more than a policy adjustment, it is a welcome development in the growth of export trade.

kutlo moagi | 12 June 2026

Brainstorming: Parliament is designed to collate national problems and direct solutions PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO

Finding the well of solutions

While the country wrestles with both economic and social challenges, a nuanced debate has emerged over who shoulders the responsibility for producing solutions. President Duma Boko has challenged Parliament to move beyond problem identification and focus on remedies. The opposition counters that the UDC came to power on the strength of its promised solutions. Caught between the two positions are citizens who following years of hardship, are waiting not for another debate, but for results. TIMOTHY LEWANIKA writes

Lewanika Timothy | 05 June 2026

Eyeing opportunities: Van Vranken sees room for greater partnership with Botswana

US sees enduring value in Botswana relationship

US Ambassador to Botswana, Howard Van Vranken, speaks to Mmegi Staff Writers, MBONGENI MGUNI & PAULINE DIKUELO, on shared values, critical minerals and the health deal recently agreed between the two countries Mmegi: Kindly share on the state of Botswana/US relations, given the dynamic nature of global geopolitics? Van Vranken: Yeah, I would characterize our relationship with Botswana as very strong.

Mbongeni Mguni,Pauline Dikuelo | 05 June 2026

Victory: The CoA decision means the liquidator can resume talks with the winning bidder, towards a possible final sale

Mineworkers’ relief as Mupane dust settles

The Court of Appeal last week decisively ended the Mupane Gold Mine takeover saga, with an emphatic judgment that described the main respondent as a “grumpy loser”. Talks with the winning bidder now resume and former workers, who initiated the liquidation, eagerly await their P49m dues. MBONGENI MGUNI writes

Mbongeni Mguni | 05 June 2026

Public Relations has a trust problem; And some of it is self-inflicted

Someone said something to me recently that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. “Donald Trump either has phenomenally good PR, or he is very good at his own PR.”

Taazima Kala | 03 June 2026

Concrete jungle: Graduate unemployment is one of the country’s greatest urgencies PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG

An economy haemorrhaging jobs

Botswana’s economy is expected to bleed jobs, elevating unemployment to historic highs while also seeing diminishing returns on its mainstay economic sectors. Researchers at the central bank now say the little jobs created through public sector employment in 2024 will likely be reversed by job cuts from the private sector.

Lewanika Timothy | 03 June 2026

Entry barriers: Citizens have struggled for meaningful handholds in the poultry industry

Poultry sector shake-up signals new era for citizen entry

Botswana’s poultry industry may be entering a turning point as government moves to dismantle structural barriers that have long limited citizen participation, one of the country’s most commercially viable agricultural sectors. PAULINE DIKUELO writes

Pauline Dikuelo | 22 May 2026

Grenada alumni drive impact across Botswana’s health sector

For many doctors working across Botswana today, the path into medicine has taken them far from home before bringing them back again. Over the years, St. George’s University (SGU), School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies has become one of the institutions shaping that journey. For a growing number of Batswana pursuing medical training abroad, SGU has offered not just an education, but a different way of understanding healthcare; one that many are now applying within Botswana’s own system.

Dr Phuswane Katse | 22 May 2026

A P1bn food security hole

Mbongeni Mguni | 15 May 2026

The ROI of hosting the Debswana World Athletics Relays

Thuso Palai | 15 May 2026

How do they perform their craft?

BONGI D D M RADIPATI* | 15 May 2026

Tough new mission for diversification dynamo

Mbongeni Mguni | 08 May 2026

Of protests, petitions and the right to march

Lewanika Timothy | 08 May 2026

How the Diacore Gaborone Marathon is helping feed Botswana’s children

staff writer | 01 May 2026

Batswana, Zimbabweans tensions worry Mogoditshane police

Police in Mogoditshane have expressed concern over escalating tensions between Batswana and Zimbabwean nationals following a series of violent clashes allegedly linked to rising crime in the area.

Kgosi Omphitlhetse Manyeneng. PIC PHATSIMO KAPENG

Pension pay-day ‘girlfriends’ cautioned

The old men of Mokatako village worked the lands and the cattle posts their entire lives. Now, on pension pay-day, they cannot walk from the pay point to their homes without a young woman half a century their junior clinging to their arm, pointing at hawkers’ goods and smiling for all the wrong reasons.

Moagi-linked card allegedly exposes P4.7 m scandal

Lefoko Moagi’s corruption trial commenced on Monday at the Broadhurst Regional Magistrate’s court, with a bank card allegedly used in the commission of a crime taking centre stage.

Dr Moeti said she is seeking leave to intervene as a friend of the court

UB law academic seeks to intervene in same-sex marriage case

The University of Botswana (UB) law lecturer, Dr Onthatile Moeti, has filed an application before the High Court seeking permission to participate as an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, in a landmark case concerning the recognition of same-sex marriage in Botswana.

The applicants, Tsholofelo Kumile and Bonolo Selelo, contend that the government's refusal to process a same-sex marriage application infringed rights

Gov’t defends refusal to recognise same sex marriage

The Botswana government has defended its refusal to process a same-sex marriage application. It argues that the country's laws do not permit marriages between people of the same sex and that officials acted lawfully when they declined to publish banns for the couple's intended union.

Botswana Air Access initiative bears fruits

Botswana Air Access has been hailed for playing a crucial role in facilitating airlines to establish new routes and expand since its launch two years ago.

For illustration, Robbery at knife point.PIC.SHOUSELAW.COM

Couple robbed at knifepoint in Mogoditshane

A 32-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were robbed at knifepoint while parked by the roadside in Mogoditshane on Saturday night, in an incident that also saw the man's vehicle stolen before it was later recovered abandoned in Gaborone.

Our digital safety is in our hands

That sounds like good news. But the report also warns that this may simply be because our digital economy is still young, not because we are safe. As more people shop, bank and pay online, criminals will follow.We Batswana do not need a report to tell us that danger is real. Many of us have heard of or fallen victim to KYC scams. A caller impersonates your bank or mobile money provider. They say they need to “verify” your account. They ask...

The Monitor Editor | 16 June 2026

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