18 Feb 2014

A prospectus will be made available to the public for the launch of Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares for Botswana Telecommunications Limited (BTCL) and National Development Bank once privatisation takes full swing, says the chief executive officer of PEEPA.

Speaking at a press briefing in Gaborone, Mr Kgotla Ramaphane said cabinet approved the BTCL privatisation in 2010, through an IPO with up to 49 per cent of shares reserved for citizens and citizen companies, of which five per cent would be strictly for BTCL employees.

“Also approved was the transfer of Trans Kalahari optic fibre network and the Gaborone/Francistown loop to a new infrastructure company under the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) prior to the IPO,” he said.

He said the plan was to launch the IPO process by the end of August this year. About NDB privatisation, Mr Ramaphane said cabinet approved its privatisation in 2011, with 49 per cent of shares through an IPO on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).

“Of the 49 per cent, 30 per cent is for citizens only, five per cent is for NDB citizen employees and the remaining 14 per cent will be open for both citizens and non-citizens,” he said.

Mr Ramaphane said in December, Parliament passed the NDB Transition Bill to allow for the transformation of the bank into a limited liability company under the Companies Act.

“PEEPA has commenced the roll out of the NDB privatisation transaction which includes undertaking a due diligence and valuation of NDB, preparation of a prospectus and launching the IPO,” he said, adding that “this will be done with support of an IPO advisor.”

Touching on other projects that PEEPA was overseeing, Mr Ramaphane said in 2011, the government approved outsourcing of cleaning, gardening and security services. He said during the 2012/13 financial year, there were about 188 ongoing outsourced contracts valued at more than P566 million.

“Privatisation will only be successful when the public is informed,” he said. ENDS