18 Mar 2025

 The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) will this year launch a dedicated Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Fund that will enhance access to capital for businesses that fall in that category.

The BSE board chair, Ms Neo Mooki announced during a High-Level Business Engagement Forum today, saying the initiative aligned with Botswana’s broader economic diversification agenda of fostering business growth and strengthening local entrepreneurship. She said the fund would serve as a catalyst for business expansion, innovation, and operational sustainability.

Leveraging on the success of the BTC shares which propelled ordinary Batswana into ownership of shares, Ms Mooki said BSE was keen on listing SMEs to ease dependence of such entities on government funding.

Ms Mooki noted that the BSE understood its role in assisting government’s efforts to diversify the economy, highlighting the need to democratise wealth. Owning shares she said should not be reserved for a select few hence the need to create community based retail options to ensure wealth creation through capital markets.

“I also commend government for recognising the potential the BSE has to help drive the much needed economic turn around which will be powered by diversifying away from diamonds,” she added.

Ms Mooki said the BSE was not just a platform for trading shares and bonds, but also a podium for economic transformation and a place that entrepreneurs, SMEs, cooperates and government should untilise to raise capital. With a market capitalisation of over P750 billion and 32 listed companies, Ms Mooki said the BSE was the ideal place to raise capital.

She said the BSE was profitable owing to Botswana’s capital markets being strong and robust, thus pleaded with many SME’s to list with the stock exchange for their own growth and job creation.

“We have a vision to attract multi national capital to fuel our economic growth and transform the BSE into a truly Pan-African financial hub and become the premium capital rising hub for Africa,”she said.

To achieve the aforementioned vision, Ms Mooki indicated the BSE was expanding access to the debt market to allow Batswana and multi national investors to fully participate in the markets.

Office of the President chief of staff, Dr Oupa Tsheko said collaboration between government and the private sector was a significant driver of sustainable economic development. Dr Tsheko expressed government’s commitment to drive economic transformation which he said required assistance from the private sector. ENDS