Investor Mail

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Welcome to Investor Mail, your trusted premier source for in-depth analysis and news on investments, opportunities and financial markets in Botswana. We strive to provide insightful and up-to-date information that empowers both local and international readers, guiding them through the intricacies of this dynamic and burgeoning economy. Our

Our Vision: To be a leading trusted source of premier in

formation for investors, regulators, researchers and DFIs. Our Mission: Our mission is to empower both local and international readers through integrity, professionalism, and insightful analysis, fostering prosperity in this dynamic nation. At Investor Mail, we're dedicated to delivering timely, unbiased information on Botswana's investment news, opportunities and financial markets. We are driven by a vision to be the trusted beacon for readers seeking to explore and capitalise on the wealth of opportunities in Botswana. With a rapidly growing economy, a stable political environment, and a robust infrastructure, Botswana stands as an investment destination of immense potential. We aim to shed light on this potential and foster a deeper understanding of the market landscape within the region. Values: Impact, Trust and Wealth

Our Readers:

Investors:

Individual investors looking for information to make informed investment decisions. Institutional investors such as hedge funds, mutual funds, and pension funds. Business Professionals:

Executives and decision-makers seeking insights into market trends and economic developments. Entrepreneurs and business owners looking for financial strategies and market intelligence. Financial Advisors:

Wealth managers, financial planners, and advisors seeking updates on market conditions and investment opportunities for their clients. Students and Academia:

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Professionals in government and regulatory bodies monitoring economic and financial trends. Policymakers seeking information for economic decision-making. General Public:

Individuals interested in personal finance, budgeting, and understanding economic trends that may impact their daily lives. People with a curiosity about financial markets and investment opportunities. Technology and Fintech Enthusiasts:

Those interested in the intersection of technology and finance, including developments in financial technology (fintech). International Investors:

Individuals and organizations interested in global markets and cross-border investment opportunities. Retirees and Pre-Retirees:

Individuals planning for or already in retirement seeking financial advice and updates on market conditions. Real Estate Professionals:

Professionals in the real estate industry interested in the impact of economic trends on property markets. What We Cover: A Comprehensive Insight into Botswana's Investment World

Investor Mail is your one-stop destination for a wide array of topics related to Botswana's investment and financial market landscape. Market Insights: Stay informed about the latest developments in Botswana's stock exchange, listed companies, Private Equity, Commodity markets, and currency fluctuations. We provide real-time market data and in-depth analysis to help you make informed investment decisions.

2. Investment Opportunities: Our team scours Botswana for the most promising investment prospects in the financial markets. We aim to bring you detailed insights into these opportunities.

3. Economic Analysis: Our expert writers enlist economists and financial analysts and industry experts and regulators to offer comprehensive reports on the economic conditions and policies shaping Botswana's investment climate. We delve into fiscal and monetary policies, trade agreements, and more.

5. Regulatory Updates: Stay up-to-date with the latest regulatory changes and legal aspects related to investments in Botswana. Our reports ensure you are well-informed about compliance and the legal framework.

6. Listed companies: We cover the performance of listed companies, be it share price or financial performance.

7. Pension Funds and Asset Management: We provide comprehensive and insightful reporting on various aspects related to pension systems, their management, and their impact on individuals and the broader economy.

8. Non-banking: We report on various non-banking financial services, including insurance companies, asset management firms, fintech companies, microlenders, and other alternative financial institutions.

9. Property and Infrastructure: Infrastructure involves providing comprehensive and insightful reporting on the real estate market, listed property companies, construction projects, urban development, and related topics. Why you should Join Us on Your Investment Journey

At Investor Mail, we believe in the power of knowledge. Whether you are a layman, investor, CEO, regulator or someone new to the world of finance, our platform is designed to be your go-to resource for navigating Botswana's finance and investment landscape. Follow us on social media to receive the latest updates and insights that will help you make informed investment decisions.

Returns on Cash Running Wild. Will the Music Stop Next Year?Pension funds and unit trust investors have been earning mor...
09/12/2025

Returns on Cash Running Wild. Will the Music Stop Next Year?

Pension funds and unit trust investors have been earning more money for most of 2025.

Returns on cash investments (deposits, bonds, t-bills) are high because:

• Broke government needs to borrow more money,
• Banks and government are competing for cash
• Banks have increased interest on deposits (averaging 15-20%) while the government has increased returns on bonds and T-bills (averaging 7%-12%).

This has helped people in pension funds and unit trusts get better returns. But experts warn this will not last for long. Banks also aren't sure if these high rates are a new normal or just temporary.

At the Bifm Breakfast Seminar, CEO Ms Clair Mathe-Lisenda asked three simple questions:

• How long will these high rates last?
• When will things change?
• When will the “music” stop?

Bank of Botswana’s Mr Boago Kebaitse said, “We want the music to stop soon because this is not good for the economy.”
He emphasized that the Bank is seeking a more accommodative stance, aiming to bring rates down so that credit is accessible at a lower cost.

For a long time, government (fueled by diamond revenues) was the main source of cash for banks. But as those revenues sl...
07/12/2025

For a long time, government (fueled by diamond revenues) was the main source of cash for banks. But as those revenues slow down, banks are suddenly competing harder for deposits.

📈 Economist Dr. Keith Jefferis notes that some banks have been offering 15%–20% to attract big investors. This including unit trusts which handles large amounts of money for retail investors.

Because banks were scrambling for cash, asset managers were able to negotiate better interest rates, especially on short-term deposits.

📊 Recent Bifm unit trust factsheets highlight this shift:

➡️ Deposits under one year are paying much higher interest than those locked in for longer.

➡️ This has boosted returns for money market unit trusts, which mainly invest in fixed deposits.

03/12/2025

Botswana now requires pension funds to invest 50% of their money locally by 2027.

At first, investors worried because this money was invested in fast-growing companies overseas like Tesla and Amazon. Bringing it back home felt risky.

But the timing helped.
When the money started returning in 2023, Botswana had a cash shortage. When there isn’t enough money in the system, interest rates go up.

Higher interest rates mean investments like government bonds and bank deposits start paying more money.
So instead of losing out, pension funds are now earning good returns from local fixed-income investments.

Investment pros at Bifm Botswana are warning investors not to panic every time the market shakes. Reacting to short-term...
27/11/2025

Investment pros at Bifm Botswana are warning investors not to panic every time the market shakes. Reacting to short-term noise can knock you off your long-term goals and cost you future returns.

Selling when you’ve reached your personal target? That’s fine.

But trying to outsmart every market move?

“You are actually missing out on certain opportunities that could give you more value in the long term,” says Ms Bhina Botlhe-Tshukudu, Bifm CIO.

This year, global markets have been jumpy. Geopolitical tensions, especially from the US under President Mr Donald Trump, caused brief sell-offs after tariff comments, but markets later bounced back.

“So in effect, it does mean that the market has already priced in this particular risk,” Ms Botlhe-Tshukudu adds.

Here at home, Botswana’s market moves differently. It reacts more slowly because there are fewer investment options and a lot of money chasing them. Plus, many shares are held by big institutions investing for pensioners, so they naturally think long-term.

Bifm’s message: whether markets move fast or slow, long-term thinking wins. Companies adapt. Trends come and go. Staying focused beats panicking.

Stock prices don’t always bounce back the same way. Some recover fast. Others take years. And some never recover at all,...
26/11/2025

Stock prices don’t always bounce back the same way. Some recover fast. Others take years. And some never recover at all, meaning buying more can actually deepen your losses.

A big example of long recovery:

During the 2008–2009 financial crisis, Bank of America’s share price fell almost 90%. According to Trading Economics, it only hit an 18-year high 15 years later. Long wait.

Closer to home, think of G4S on the Botswana Stock Exchange. The company shows why “buying the dip” can be risky if you don’t look deeper. New laws hit its man-guarding business, and competition squeezed other units. SimplyWallStreet says its earnings have been shrinking by about -59.5% a year.

Imara Capital even rated G4S a “Sell” last year because the outlook looked weak. And from January to September 2025, the share price fell 62.9%, BSE data shows.

The lesson?

A low share price doesn’t automatically mean “cheap.” Sometimes it’s a sign that the company is struggling, maybe leadership issues, tough competition, or customers shifting away.

That’s why experts say buying the dip only works well when you’re following a long-term buy-and-hold mindset. Rushing to pick up falling stocks in a day is rarely a winning strategy.

Back in 2018, an S&P Global study found that when big investors like pension funds own a company’s shares, those shares ...
21/11/2025

Back in 2018, an S&P Global study found that when big investors like pension funds own a company’s shares, those shares usually recover faster after a price drop, especially if the company is strong and doing well.

Here’s the simple idea. Institutional ownership means how much of a company is owned by large investors who don’t panic easily. These investors act like an anchor when markets get rough. In Botswana, this has been easy to see.

Pension funds and insurance companies have helped support major “blue-chip” companies, especially because the new pension rules require pension funds to invest at least half of their money inside the country.

As this money returned to the local market, most of it went into the big, well-known companies on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE). But more money in the market doesn’t mean all share prices go up. Fund managers have been selective.

Just as S&P research showed, these investors look for real value, companies that have strong profits, good cash flow, and a clear future.

Experts say the strategy of buying shares when they temporarily fall in price (buying the dip) only works if the company is still strong and the price drop is not caused by a real problem inside the business.

It works best when a good company’s share price falls because the whole market is scared, not because the company itself is in trouble.

20/11/2025

Share prices can shake anyone’s confidence. When the market drops and screens turn red, the natural reaction is to panic or pull back. But that same chaos can also create chances, if you understand what you’re looking at.

At a recent Bifm investor session, Chief Investment Officer Ms Bhina Botlhe-Tshukudu put it simply: markets don’t fall politely. "When the market dips, it does so indiscriminately," she said. In other words, when investors start selling broadly, even strong and well-managed companies get caught in the fall.

We saw this during the COVID-19 years. Some sectors on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) experienced price drops, pulling the whole market down. But a few years later, many of those same shares recovered.

Ms. Botlhe-Tshukudu said these drops can actually help investors spot value. “There will be good companies that we believe we can then pick up at more reasonable prices.”

That’s essentially what people mean when they talk about “buying the dip”: taking advantage of moments when the market temporarily undervalues quality companies.

18/11/2025

At the recently Bifm Botswana Breakfast Seminar, the asset manager’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Ms. Bhina Botlhe-Tshukudu explained that Botswana’s stock market is generally inefficient, meaning that “it does not always reflect the fundamentals of the underlying companies.”

By extension, fundamentals are determined by the overall health of the economy, which in this case is expected to contract.

“A lot of these companies are doing well on the listed side, but if you look at their fundamentals, they’re quite weak,” Debswana Pension Fund’s Acting Chief Investment Officer, Mr Mbakise Gopolang, said during the breakfast seminar.

Ms Botlhe-Tshukudu said it usually takes time for fundamentals to transmit into the stock exchange.

💰 When the Government Earns Less, Listed Companies Feel ItWhen government spending slows down, it’s not just projects th...
05/11/2025

💰 When the Government Earns Less, Listed Companies Feel It

When government spending slows down, it’s not just projects that stop — businesses feel it too.

Botswana’s biggest source of money has been diamonds. But diamond sales have dropped, meaning there’s less money flowing through the economy.

Because cash is tight, the government has been borrowing more, even from the same investors that banks borrow from. That made it more expensive for banks to get money — some now borrow at around 15-20% interest, according to economists.

This hit profits hard. 💥

👉 Some banks, like Absa Bank Botswana, had to pay higher interest to borrow money and this caused their profits to drop by 25% in the first half of 2025.

Meanwhile, government payment delays have hurt other companies, too.

📞 BTCL said its rising unpaid bills were “largely due to the situation we saw with government, especially after September (2024), where there was a slowdown in payments of bills, which continued all the way to the end of March (2025).”

🛒 Sefalana also had to cut its dividend from 65 thebe to 50 thebe to keep its cash safe.

“There was a time when we had some large debtors due to us, government debtors,” said Finance Director Mohamed Osman.

When the government has less money to spend, the whole economy slows down — companies get paid late, banks earn less, and even investors get smaller dividends.

The slowdown ripples through listed portfolios.

Price of NewPlatinum ETF has increased 78.5% this year➡️ The NewPlatinum ETF has gone up from P125.75 in January to P2...
29/10/2025

Price of NewPlatinum ETF has increased 78.5% this year

➡️ The NewPlatinum ETF has gone up from P125.75 in January to P224.50 by October 29, 2025.

➡️ That means its value has grown by about 78% this year. 📈

➡️ This instrument is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and follows the price of platinum metal.

➡️ So, when platinum prices rise in the world market, the NewPlatinum ETF price also goes up.

Why Share Prices Are Rising on the Botswana Stock Exchange 📈If you’ve been watching the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), y...
28/10/2025

Why Share Prices Are Rising on the Botswana Stock Exchange 📈

If you’ve been watching the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), you’ve probably noticed that share prices have been climbing.

But what’s behind the rise?

➡️ Strong company performance
➡️ Good dividend payouts have helped push prices up.

But that’s not the whole story.

➡️ A lot of the fuel behind this rally is actually coming from pension funds money.

Here’s what’s happening:

Botswana’s pension funds are now required to invest at least 50% of their money within the country by 2027. Because of that rule, they’ve been bringing billions of p**a back home, looking for local investment opportunities.

By June 2025, pension funds had invested 55% of their total P158 billion assets outside the country, according to official data.
This means that Botswana investments are at 45% and a lot more money still needs to be redirected into local assets — including companies listed on the BSE.

As Bifm Chief Investment Officer, Ms. Bhina Botlhe-Tshukudu, explained during the Bifm Breakfast Seminar:

“With you bringing in additional assets (money), you then go look for where you can place these funds.”

And right now, those funds have been flowing into listed companies. Market participants observed that investors are sometimes buying even overpriced shares just to have a place to invest.

“We are seeing that the demand is really driving the asset prices,” said Ms. Botlhe-Tshukudu.

"We note that the prices will go up on very small trades, which just shows… that someone is willing to pay up to get those securities, no matter the cost," Ms Botlhe-Tshukudu said.

And if you happen to own shares in some of those BSE-listed companies — that wave has been quietly lifting your wallet too.

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