24 Mar 2024

Government has, on March 2022, approved through a Presidential Directive, the Rationalisation Strategy II which includes the merging and privatisation of some State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

Responding to a question in Parliament on Thursday, Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame said the SOEs earmarked for privatisation included Air Botswana and Botswana Savings Bank (BSB).

She however indicated that no SOEs were privatised in the past five years, but said Privatisation Master Plan II was being revised to align or synchronise its implementation with that of the upcoming National Development Plan 12.

Ms Serame said an attempt to privatise Air Botswana in the past was made in 2016 but unsuccessful as a result of the loss making nature of the entity.

“Currently the entity is going through a process of identifying a strategic partner in preparation for privatisation. The World Bank is providing technical assistance on the implementation of the project,” she said.

Ms Serame added that Air Botswana’s privatisation viability assessment had been completed and that recommendations would be presented to the Project Board for consideration next month.

She said the primary factors causing the process of the privatisation to be relatively lengthier included inadequate technical capacity by implementing ministries, the complex and difficult process of privatisation and extensive stakeholder consultation and engagements.

However, the minister said various measures were being taken to address the challenges, saying those included provision of funding and revamping capacity at Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency, which was the lead agency in driving the process.

Kanye North MP, Mr Thapelo Letsholo had asked the minister to update parliament on the status and progress of privatisation initiatives in Botswana and the potential considerations for specific entities like Air Botswana.

He had also wanted to know which entities were earmarked for privatisation and the associated timelines for each.

Mr Letsholo wanted to know which entities had been successfully privatised over the past five years and what key lessons were derived from past privatisation efforts.

He also asked if there ever had been any consideration to privatise Air Botswana, and if so, how far the process had gone and why it did not reach its conclusion.

Also, he asked what the primary factors causing delays or obstacles in the privatisation agenda were, and what measures were being taken to address the challenges. ENDs