Alternative investments in Botswana: Building a future beyond tradition

Seeing alternatives: Isaacs
Seeing alternatives: Isaacs

Botswana’s investment space for an average pension fund has historically been anchored in traditional asset classes, including listed equities, fixed income (bonds and cash), and local property. These investments have provided stability and predictable returns. However, with the introduction of the Pension Fund Investment Rules, 2023 (PFR2, 2023), the local investment landscape is undergoing a significant transformation.

Botswana institutional investors are regulated by NBFIRA and deploy investments within the limits on Pension Fund Rules 2 (PFR2). The updated rules introduce new allocation limits and timelines for repatriating offshore funds.

The initial PFR2 limited pension funds to investing not more than 70% of their capital offshore, while the revised version mandates a minimum domestic investment threshold of 50% to be implemented in a phased manner and to be completed no later than December 2027. The aim is to support sustainable domestic economic development by channelling pension capital into local capital markets and reducing over-reliance on international markets for returns.

Editor's Comment
Public servants deserve better than union infighting

‘The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds’.- Abraham LincolnUntil then, the Council’s operations remain suspended, delaying critical decisions affecting thousands of public sector employees.The current standoff is between the Manual Workers Union on one side and the Six Cooperating Trade Unions, namely BONU, BOPEU, BTU, BDU, BOSETU and...

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