06 May 2020

Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) remains highly alert to the sustained global economic uncertainty and the potential exogenous shocks that always transcend into the local economy.

In a statement on BSE Annual Report 2019, Board Chairperson Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire said the year under review experienced slowdown in listings, which happened to be a global phenomenon in 2019.

Evidently, he said there has generally been a downward trend in new listings in recent years and most markets have fallen below their peak years in respect of new listings.

“According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, the numbers of new listings in global equity markets are at their lowest level in three years and between 2018 and 2019, global Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) fell by 13.2 per cent,” he said.

He noted that one of BSE’s priorities in the year under review was to approve the new equity commission structure and make assessments of the impediments of the old structure to trading activity and investor participation.

Lt Gen. Masire said the traditional business of stock exchange is being challenged now more than ever before, in the context of a challenging economic environment heightened but well-deserved capital markets regulation and increased competition from global alternative trading platforms and private suppliers of capital.

To be resilient, he said the BSE is in the process of transformation, re-invention and introspection with a view to seeking new opportunities for endurance in this landscape from many fronts.

He said the BSE is steadfast on adapting to the changing environment to protect the viability of its mandate. ENDS