07 Jun 2022

 Botswana is anticipated to be one of the leading African economies in terms of economic output having experienced growth rate of more than nine per cent in 2021.

In delivering the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) 2021 annual report, CEO, Mr Thaphelo Tsheole said the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2021 grew by 0.7 per cent, compared to a contraction of 4.6 per cent, during the corresponding 2020 period.

“The GDP for the second and third quarters of 2021 followed a similar trajectory registering growth rates of 36 per cent and 8.4 per cent, compared to a deep contraction of 26 per cent and 4.5 per cent in the same periods in 2020,” Mr Tsheole said.

 The improved performance of the economy  reflected continued efforts to reopen businesses and relaxation of COVID-19 regulations amidst the rollout of vaccination, according to Statistics  Botswana. 

He noted that the Ministry of Finance and National Development projected Botswana’s economy to grow by 9.7 per cent in 2021, from a contraction of 8.5 per cent in 2020, which was driven mainly by a healthy rebound in diamond  sales.

Mr Tsheole further said the global equities performance in 2021 was phenomenal, fueled by the vaccine-powered global economic recovery over the year. 

“The effects of the global recovery became observable on the domestic equity market, with the stronger pace of growth in BSE indices with the Domestic Company Total Return Index (DCTRI) appreciating by 11.1 per cent, while the Domestic Company Index (DCI) grew by 1.9 per cent,” he said.

He said the DCTRI appreciated by 2.1 per cent while the DCI depreciated by 6.4 per cent mainly as a result of the depreciation of the pula against the American dollar by 8.1 per cent in the period under review.

In terms of market activity, Mr Tsheole said the BSE closed the year in a better position than 2020.

He also said the number of listed instruments increased to 80 from 79 in 2020, hence the total turnover went up to P4.5 billion from P3.6 billion in 2020.

Mr Tsheole said total average daily turnover across all instruments went up by 26.6 per cent from P14.3 million to P18.1 million.

“In particular, the domestic equity market experienced remarkable recovery with the average daily turnover rising almost three-folds from P2.8 million to P7.3 million a day,” he said.

This, he said, was mainly attributable to the record single day turnover of P1.1 billion on account of the acquisition  of  BankAbc Botswana Limited, by Access Bank Limited.  

Further, Mr Tsheole said 2021 could be credited with a lot of positives, even amid the challenges posed by COVID-19, since BSE never had to close the market at any point in time since the pandemic outbreak.

He said BSE anticipated to materially reap the benefits of the investment in technology in 2022, as they  intend  to  launch  the  new  computerised system and stock market, which would transform the landscape in terms of investor activity and participation across various products.