As 2025 drew to a close, Botswana’s business community approached the final quarter with cautious restraint, mirroring widespread uncertainties shadowing the national economy. This portrait emerges from the Bank of Botswana’s most recent quarterly Business Expectations Survey (BES), which canvassed 100 firms spanning 13 pivotal sectors, from Manufacturing and Construction to Finance and Agriculture. The survey captures not only current business conditions but also projections for the coming quarters and the full year ahead. The...

Botswana stands at a pivotal crossroads in its economic journey. For decades, the nation’s prosperity has been tightly intertwined with its rich diamond mines, a relationship that has fueled growth but also left the economy vulnerable to the shifting tides of global commodity markets. Now, as the world changes and the limits of this reliance become clearer, Botswana’s government is signaling a bold pivot: placing the private sector firmly at the center of its economic...

First National Bank Botswana (FNB Botswana) and Petrohyper have formalised a strategic partnership aimed at unlocking access to funding for citizen contractors operating within the fuel and logistics value chain, in a move positioned to strengthen local enterprise participation in one of the country’s most critical sectors. The Memorandum of Agreement establishes a structured financing framework that enables citizen suppliers and transporters contracted by Petrohyper to access working capital from FNB Botswana, supported by secured...

First National Bank Botswana (FNB Botswana) is pleased to announce the introduction of the FNB Motshelo Savings Account, a solution designed to support and enhance one of Botswana’s most cherished and longstanding cultural practices, motshelo, the tradition of communal savings. For generations, motshelo has been a trusted way for Batswana; from young professionals, top executives, masika, ditsala, our parents and grandparents to pool resources, support one another, and achieve shared common goals. This spirit of collaboration and community sits at...

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTC) has officially introduced Voice over LTE (VoLTE), an advanced solution that enables voice calls to be transmitted over the long-term evolution (LTE) network, also known as 4G. Traditionally, the LTE network has been used exclusively for data and internet services only, however with the implementation of VoLTE, customers can now enjoy enhanced voice call quality that leverages this high-speed network. This next-generation technology brings several significant improvements to the calling...

In a recent report released this week, local research firm Econsult cautioned that the government’s anticipated increase in borrowing from commercial banks and pension funds to finance budget deficits could exacerbate liquidity pressures within the financial sector and further constrain credit availability to the private sector. The 2025/2026 fiscal year is projected to record a budget deficit of P9.2 billion, equivalent to 3.3 percent of GDP. For the 2026/2027 fiscal year, the deficit is forecasted...

The Botswana government has been urged to ground its final 2026/2027 budget in realistic projections of revenues, expenditures, and deficits. Keith Jefferis, a Botswana-based economist and Managing Director of Econsult, issued this counsel earlier this week, just days ahead of the 2026/2027 budget speech scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2026. While acknowledging the inherent challenges of forecasting the upcoming budget, Jefferis emphasized the critical need for Finance Minister Ndaba Gaolathe to present a fiscal plan...

Botswana’s digital credit sector is witnessing rapid expansion, propelled primarily by mobile lending and fintech innovations. Yet, a pressing question looms: who holds regulatory authority over these emerging financial services? Traditional banks remain under the scrutiny of the Bank of Botswana and the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), but many mobile lenders and fintech platforms operate in a nebulous legal zone. This regulatory ambiguity exposes consumers to significant risks, including excessive indebtedness, fraud, and...

  Allows a broader ownership coalition that can stabilize and grow De Beers Botswana is contemplating a move that could reshape its economic destiny and the global diamond industry. The government of Botswana, already a 15% owner of De Beers, the world’s most iconic diamond company, is considering expanding its stake as Anglo American, the current 85% majority owner, prepares to divest. This potential acquisition has sparked a heated debate, inside Botswana, across boardrooms in...

Botswana’s fiscal landscape at the close of September 2025 presents a striking narrative of cautious optimism amid global economic headwinds and domestic challenges. The country’s budget deficit, a key barometer of fiscal health, stood at P4.25 billion, an impressive narrowing far below the initially projected P22.18 billion deficit. This surprising fiscal restraint signals a complex interplay of revenue dynamics, government spending discipline, and shifting economic currents that deserve close scrutiny. In a region where economic...