15 Jun 2025

Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group) has extended more than P13.3 million (US$1 million) trade financing facility to Ticano Group, which will provide finance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Botswana, in the education, agriculture and food, energy, infrastructure and healthcare sectors. 

Speaking during the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Agreement  (MoA) for the revolving term loan in Gaborone June 12, TDB Group Asset Management chief executive, Ms Gloria Mamba, expressed gratitude for partnering with Ticano Group, saying the group’s strong track record in supply chain finance was impressive.

“We are pleased to extend this facility, the first of its kind in Botswana, to Ticano Group,” she said. 

Ms Mamba said TDB Group was committed to supporting SMEs through tailored financing solutions designed to meet their specific needs, as it recognised the multifaceted role they played in driving inclusive economic growth, job creation and sustainable development across the continent. 

“These solutions not only assist them with overcoming financial barriers, but also enhance their operational capacities and the ability to scale their businesses, so that they can take their place as drivers of growth in the broader economic landscape,” she added. 

Ms Mamba said the TDB Group also had a strong alignment with Botswana’s national agenda to support SMEs, as pillars of inclusive growth. She said SMEs constituted 90 per cent of businesses in Botswana and contributed a substantial portion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, while women made up 60 per cent of the labour force in the country and were also active participants in the SME sector.

In this regard, she said TDB Group intended to support the agenda to empower women and also engage the youth, explaining that one of the strategies the group used to reach SMEs effectively was through partnering with local financial institutions that could intermediate its capital and on-lend to productive and impactful SMEs. 

“As a result, we put significant effort and care into selecting partners. These partners are often the first contact the customers and clients will have with TDB and they are also key in identifying opportunities for us to engage directly in the markets in which we work,” she added.

Furthermore, Ms Mamba explained that TDB Group and Ticano Group’s partnership began over a year ago and TDB Group was immediately impressed by the energy and leadership of Ticano Group executive director, Mr Opelo Motswagae and the commitment that Ticano had to supporting local participation in the economy. 

TDB Group is a multilateral development finance institution established almost 40 years ago, as PTA Bank, to foster trade and regional economic integration. The group encompasses subsidiaries, including the Trade and Development Bank, Asset Management, TCI, which is the captive insurance business and the Trade and Development Fund, as the concessional finance window. 

It is aimed at providing innovative financial solutions for partners across the region, such as trade finance, project and infrastructure finance, pooled debt investments funds, lines of credit, quasi-equity for the public and private sector. For his part, Mr Motswagae expressed pleasure for the partnership, saying it would help Ticano to ensure SMEs’ supply chain was efficient and they also got money on time. 

He said Ticano Group was established in 2015, as a supply chain finance company, to address the need for a supply chain finance for the SMEs in the market. Currently, he said the group had branches in Gaborone, Francistown, Maun and Palapye. As a supply chain finance company, Mr Motswagole said Ticano Group helped SMEs finance purchase orders and other funding solutions faster and reliably.

“We are very passionate about SME development and we don’t want anyone to languish in the rural areas. So, we want to give anyone who is willing to dream a chance and that’s what Ticano is all about,” he alluded. 

The Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) executive director, Mr Temo Ntapu also expressed delight that a local SME, like Ticano Group, had ventured into a partnership with TDB Group, saying it was a good initiative that could contribute to the greater diversification efforts that the country was pursuing.

“Currently, our country is facing a bit of both fiscal and liquidity challenges within local financial institutions. So, when I see something like this I believe it is for the greater good of our SMEs, which are very critical for our economic development,” he said. 

Mr Ntapu said BITC was mandated to help government to diversify the economy by encouraging local companies to scale up and penetrate international markets. The partnership, therefore, he said would be critical to expansion plans of local SMEs, which would help grow the country’s industrial base. 

“Where we are now, as a country, we can no longer just rely on diamonds. We need new drivers for our economy and our SMEs have a great role to play in terms of achieving that private sector led economy,” he added. ENDS