Mmegi: What are your initial impressions from the 2025-2026 budget speech?WANG: This is the maiden speech of the new government, and there was a lot of anticipation from the public. It is a difficult budget because people always want more than you...
Mmegi: At what moment in your life did you know and realise that conservation was going to be your life and field of work. VINCENT: I grew up in Zimbabwe and spent most of my childhood holidays in Hwange National Park. I knew at an early age that I...
Anyone who listened to Minister of Finance Ndaba Gaolathe’s statement in Parliament last year, on the state of the public coffers would have bet with their lives that the 2025–2026 budget would be a lean affair compared to the historic P102...
Excerpts from the late Baledzi Gaolathe’s last budget speech are strikingly similar to the themes and statements made in more recent years by the country’s finance ministers when describing the generally leaner budget and economic trends.At the...
The 2025-26 budget estimates released in December are just that – estimates. The figures are precariously based on best, worse and base case scenarios for key revenue lines such as mining, Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts and other...
Mark Twain’s famous quote about an umbrella, the bank and rain, is in the minds of some sectors as the economy endures a difficult period.“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it...
South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was uncharacteristically brusque in his condemnation of recent attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which resulted in 13 South African National Defence Force fatalities over the space of a few...
Like in some African countries experiencing post-colonial insurgency, the environment in the DRC has remained dynamic, hostile, fluid and complex. Since the attainment of independence from Belgium in 1960 and after successive governments in power,...
Curious, I opened the attachment. It was a photo of some of the carnage in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – to be precise, the photo of corpses of those killed in the DRC's never ending war, piled like some wastes from a city garbage...
For the 2022/2023 financial year, government expenditure stood at P74 Billion with the largest portion of this amount going civil servants’ salaries and associated expenses, a decades-old trend that has weakened the budgets back. Government has...
Among the notable contributors to this dynamic environment is Sprint Couriers, a company that has emerged as a significant player in the courier and logistics industry. Established in 2006 by two Batswana women, Sprint Couriers exemplifies the...
When Tshokologo Kganetsano speaks, he sounds like the Biblical Noah, exhorting the Israelites to take refuge in the Ark before the flood. The new Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary, however, says he is merely trumpeting a warning. A major threat....
Can we really proclaim that Botswana is a peaceful country when it is purging itself of human life, clearly undermining that self-proclaimed title? Over the past festive season, police recorded 298 reported offences against persons, with 181 of them...
So, when the body wanted to give in after a 10-hour hike up the Elangeni trail with endless, ruthless yet beautiful mountains, something kept reminding me that, behind my backpack is a Botswana flag and just this was motivation enough to keep going....
The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that the continent will need $170bn annually in infrastructure financing by 2025. Multilateral development banks and government-backed lenders contribute significantly, with approximately $100bn to...
Congresswoman, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, says in the global competition for economic ties with Africa, the United States is “probably” fourth. This is despite the US, particularly during President Joe Biden’s term, pledging to become...
Acting governor of the Bank of Botswana (BoB), Kealeboga Masalila, explains that while foreign currency exchange seems like a matter for major firms and entities, many of us interact with it in one way or the other, especially in this modern,...
In 2024, households spent more money on goods and services, while government expenditure also rose supported by the largest recurrent and developmental budget in the history of the country. However, the country’s Gross Domestic Product still...
Mmegi: Kindly give us a brief description of Hollard Life, its history in Botswana, and its position in the marketTau: Hollard Life Botswana (HLB), established in 2011, and licensed by Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) in...
There is nothing utilitarian, appropriate and elegant to wear on a wrist than a watch. By common acknowledgment, a wrist watch is considered to be the most precise and best engineered thing in micro-engineering. For the price of a dinner for two, a...
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