08 Jun 2022

Botswana  Stock Exchange intends to transform towards trajectory growth in the next  five  years.

“For the  next five years, we intend to focus  on four main strategic  intents namely;  increase profitability, grow listed securities, increase market  liquidity and create an  enabling  environment,” BSE  chief  executive  office , Mr Thapelo Tsheole has said.

These elements, Mr Tsheole said includeed in them a balance of being a good public stock exchange while also pursuing commercial value creation for shareholders.

He said BSE strove for an in-depth focus on digitisation and digital value services while lobbying for reforms and supportive policies, and aimed to create platforms for engagements with investors and for streamlining access to capital as well as world class regulatory environment that promoted integrity and investors protection.

In implementing the new strategy, Mr Tsheole said BSE would leverage on the experiences of the past years, especially the recent two years of the pandemic. 

Much of the resilience, he said, was anchored on the strength of BSE business continuity plans as well as the market infrastructure and the culture within the organisation.  

“We have completed our 2017-2021 strategy period, whose strategic plan was transformational in many facets such as financial performance, technology infrastructure, regulatory environment, governance and human capital,” he said.

He said one of the emphasis of the ended strategy was leveraging on the demutualisation of the BSE to transform into a world class securities exchange, adding that several milestones had been achieved in this regard.

“In the new strategy, this emphasis continues as we look to complete the process of demutualisation by undertaking self-listing on the BSE and we expect this to elevate the BSE into an elite group of stock exchanges operating with the highest international standards, especially when coupled with the prospects of graduating from affiliate to full member of the World Federation Exchanges (WFE),” he said.

With regard to equity market performance, Mr Tsheole stated that the performance of local equities reflected, to a larger extent, the trajectory of the local economy’s growth projections.

He said from a return perspective, Domestic Company Total Return Index (DCTRI) appreciated by 11.1 per cent while the Domestic Company Index (DCI) gained 1.9 per cent, compared to a decline of 3.6 per cent in the DCTRI and 8.2 per cent in the DCI in 2020. This, he said, was an indication that the stock market recovered from its lows of 2020, which were largely influenced by the pandemic.  

“Evidently, majority of companies sustained dividend payouts and this supported the bullish sentiments in share prices that we observed in 2021, particularly from April 2021,” he said. 

Mr Tsheole said the 1.9 per cent appreciation of the DCI, during the first quarter of 2021 was attributable to the positive performance of five of the 10 sectors. 

“Our analysis reveals that the financial services and insurance, property and agriculture sectors had the largest positive contribution to the DCI, contributing 1.5, 0.7 and 0.4 per cent respectively to the overall 1.9 per cent increase.

He further noted that the recovery was also reflected in foreign companies as the Foreign Company Index (FCI) registered a marginal  0.2 per cent growth in 2021 compared to a one per cent decline in 2020. BOPA