Botswana Pension Fund drive liquidity boom in the BSE by 488% increase

Good morning, let’s get into it!

Spanning over two hours, the President’s address connected the dots between the massive surge in market liquidity, the new Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP), and the urgent need to move from "diamond dependency" to a diversified financial hub.

Here are the four key pillars of the speech you need to know.

1. The "Headline" Number: A 488% Surge

The core of the President's optimism comes from a staggering statistic that defined 2025. He highlighted that in the first half of 2025 alone, equity turnover on the BSE surged by nearly 488%, reaching over P4.7 billion.

• What was said: The President used this figure to prove that the "Steady Path" policy is working. He argued that despite global headwinds, confidence in Botswana’s markets is at an all-time high.

• The Detail: This wasn't magic. He acknowledged that this liquidity boom was driven largely by Pension Fund reforms that forced more capital to be retained locally.

• The Takeaway: The "dry" years of the BSE are over. We are now in a high-liquidity environment, and the government expects this to fund local expansion in 2026.

2. The Pivot: "Beyond Diamonds" is No Longer a Slogan

A significant portion of the speech (likely why it ran long) was dedicated to the "Diamond Shock" of early 2025, where revenues dropped by ~50%.

• The Hard Truth: President Boko was blunt: The diamond volatility we saw this year is the new normal.

• The Solution (BETP): He detailed the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme, launched earlier this year. The focus is shifting aggressively to value chains. He didn't just want mining companies digging in Botswana; he wants them listing in Botswana and manufacturing here.

• Specific Mention: Expect a continued push for the new mining chemicals plant in Palapye (a P1.4 billion investment) to be the model for future projects—local production, local jobs, and hopefully, a local listing.

3. The "Motshelo" to Market Strategy

This was the populist heart of the speech. The President challenged the financial sector leaders in the room on Financial Inclusion.

• The Problem: Despite the P4.7 billion turnover, 93% of that activity came from institutional investors (pension funds, asset managers). The "small man" is missing.

• The Mandate: He called for the financial sector to bridge the gap between informal savings groups (Metshelo) and the formal stock market. The vision is for ordinary Batswana to stop keeping cash in boxes and start owning shares in the companies they buy from every day (like Choppies or Sefalana).

• The Quote (Paraphrased): We cannot have a 'rich' stock exchange and a 'poor' population. The market must work for the Motshelo group in Tlokweng just as well as it works for the asset manager in the CBD.

4. The Creative Economy & The Venue

The choice of Botswana Craft as the venue was intentional.

• The Message: By hosting a high-level financial dinner at a cultural hub, the President reinforced his administration's commitment to the Creative Industry.

• The Policy: He hinted that the next wave of value creation isn't just in minerals, but in exporting culture—music, arts, and tourism. He urged investors to look at "non-traditional" assets and for the BSE to consider how to list or fund creative ventures in the future.

Source

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