About the only similarity it bears with SWFs proper is that it is meant for long-term investments and is not used for direct domestic investments. Otherwise, it has more peculiarities than commonalities with your regular SWF. For starters, the Pula Fund is not a corporate person with its own Balance Sheet. It is an investment vehicle that is an integral part of the Central Bank’s Foreign Exchange Reserves.”
Magang, in all probability, had hoped that the government of the day (then), the BDP, would take the cue and forthwith move to decouple the Pula Fund from the Bank of Botswana and fast-track the establishment of an SWF Pty in its own right. It turned out that the then-president Ian Khama and his finance minister Kenneth Matambo had not bothered to lend him an ear as the Pula Fund remained tethered to the Bank of Botswana, which, paradoxically, had not done that spectacular a job in its management. Khama’s successor too seemed indifferent to the tips Magang had proffered in the book: needless to say, he too did not act on any single one of the correctional measures he had set down. Not so with the incumbent President, Advocate Duma Boko. Boko seems to have an eagle’s eye for the merest hint of a potentially viable course of action to resuscitate our now beleaguered and possibly moribund economy. Every time he spots a gem of a tip, he squares up to act on it. He’s no procrastinator to all intents and purposes. Thus, last week, I was exhilarated to learn that his administration, which is only one year in power, has operationalised the formation of the Botswana Sovereign Wealth Fund Ltd (BSWFL), which, to me, is 45 years too late.
