24 Jan 2023

Botswana Savings Bank (BSB) has issued a new P1 billion bond from their note programme under the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).

Speaking at the BSE bell ringing ceremony on Monday, BSB chief executive officer, Mr Nixon Marumoloa, said the successful entry of the BSB bond issuance meant the expansion of banks’ horizons in raising capital. 

Mr Marumoloa said the issuance would also ensure means and opportunity for further growth of the organisation.

“This is in line with our Lesedi 2025 strategy and cements the pathway towards the attainment of our vision, which is to be the leading Botswana owned integrated financial services provider,” he said, adding the bond issuance represented opportunity and a means for sustainable growth for the bank.

 The listing, Mr Marumoloa said, would assist in opening the floor for more active participation in the domestic market and ensure that Batswana played a meaningful and active role in the shaping of the national economy.

He said the listing further solidified BSB’s brand equity in the market through reaffirming their commitment to the community and country as a trusted financial partner.

Mr Marumoloa noted that BSB reported a total asset book growth from P144 million in 2005 to P2.7 billion in December 2022.

“We have evolved from a traditional bank to a 21st century financial institution and our footprint today stands at 11 branches now, with six branches having been opened during the last four years and a further 18 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country,” he said.

Mr Marumoloa  said the bank’s strategy defined its new long-term direction which aimed to set it on the path of being a fully digital and financially inclusive bank and to become the leading Botswana owned, integrated financial services provider.

BSE chief executive officer, Mr Thapelo Tsheole, said BSB bond issuances served to reaffirm the role that the BSE played in providing long-term sustainable finance to various entities for business expansion. 

“BSE performs a crucial function of facilitating the formation, allocation and mobility of capital. As with many other exchanges, the BSE is an organised and regulated marketplace where equity and debt securities are listed and subsequently traded on a continuing basis,” he said.

 Mr Tsheole explained that unlike money markets, capital markets provided an opportunity for long-term funding at the point of issuing the securities for the first time and at any other point henceforth.

 As such, he said BSE aimed to address the needs of issuers seeking finance at reasonable cost and of investors willing to provide the finance according to their perception of risk and return.

He said it was crucial to highlight that companies and investors alike tend to prefer a public platform such as the BSE, due to the oversight provided and enforced on listed entities and market participants using the regulatory tools of the exchange.

“As a regulatory entity, the BSE ensures that the capital raising and investing activities are conducted in a fair, transparent, efficient and secure manner as regards to the clearing, settlement and custody of securities through the Central Depository System (CSD),” he said.

With regard to market performance, Mr Tsheole stated that a total turnover of approximately P3.1 billion was recorded in 2022 compared to P4.5 billion in 2021.

He said equity turnover in 2021 was significantly high and attributed the growth to the historic transaction regarding the acquisition of a majority stake of 78.15 per cent in BancABC, by Botswana by Access Bank amounting to approximately P1.1 billion.

Mr Tsheole noted that bond trading activity during the past year amounted to approximately P1.9 billion in comparison to P2.6 billion traded during the corresponding period in 2021. “This was mainly on account of trading activity in government bonds, which accounted for 94 percent of total turnover,” he said, adding that corporate bond trading activity amounted to P124.0 million, relative to P440.5 million during 2021. ENDS