The audacity to be a unicorn
Friday, April 19, 2024 | 370 Views |
Black gold: Minergy is one of the MDCB’s investments through a convertible loan. The coal mine is eyeing a turnaround in fortunes this year PIC: MINERGYCOAL.COM
Executives at the Minerals Development Company Botswana (MDCB) seem to particularly enjoy the use of graphs. Given that the many of the officials at the state-owned minerals investment firm have backgrounds either in mining or investment, the preference is understandable.
One graph in particular elicits both hope and apprehension. Frequently shown at MDCB’s public presentations, the graph shows both the gloom of a post-diamond future and the opportunity for new revenue or growth streams to emerge for the country.
When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building...