HATAB conference calls for tourism policy review
Business
Guest Speaker at the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) 2018 Conference and University of Botswana Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris has emphasized the vitality of proper and comprehensive research in developing Botswana’s Tourism industry to a world-class sector that competes globally. The annual Conference was held in Maun last weekend.
Prof Norris is of the view that research is key in providing knowledge to management and policy decision makers. He observed that properly quantified data on tourism was lacking and very limited especially from within African countries. He highlighted that only holistic and overview studies were conducted by international organisations that were not even based in Africa. According to Norris, in the worst case scenario, the data was either unreliable or even non-existent owing to the fact that businesses worried more about cost implications than benefits thereof.
As such, the Professor called for a comprehensive approach that brought together all stakeholders for a value chain analysis and proper knowledge management. The University of Botswana Boss also stated that the importance of research broadens to inform the sector if the Botswana’s tourism industry had marginalised, closing out the poor and even whether the industry players were doing enough to promote other areas of tourism apart from wildlife.
He said robust research methodologies to address these questions need to be undertaken if any significant progress as far as inclusive growth in this lucrative sector is to be achieved. The sector currently contributes billions and over 25 000 indirect and direct jobs to Botswana’s economy.
According to Professor Norris, available research findings by institutions such as Okavango Research Institutes (ORI) were unfortunately not taken up to inform policy crafting by industry stakeholders . In terms of this conference theme “Communication, Information and Education: Power lines of Tourism Development –communication of research findings was still a problem in Botswana, research data that is compiled by for instance ORI on a number of areas in the tourism sector is not utilized by the industry,” he said.
ORI Director, Professor Joseph Mbaiwa criticised Botswana’s 28 year Old Tourism Policy terming it outdated and misinformed to current global industry trends and requirements. He said it retarded the growth of the industry. Mbaiwa said review of the policy was long overdue because it was no longer serving the interests of the industry. “Botswana might be deceived that its tourism industry was growing, but comparatively it was suppressed given that over the years there had been a decline in tourism arrivals while the country’s global share in the industry remained very low,” he said.
He argued that the outdated policy hinders a chance for industry growth saying Botswana had not adequately taken advantage of its tourism potential owing to the old policy that does not inform evolved economic trends.“Through the revised policy, the industry could also respond to issues of diversification, sustainability, economic efficiency as well as social, environmental and cultural challenges to eventually put Botswana in a competitive mode,” said Professor Mbaiwa. Further, he highlighted that such was not the government’s role alone but that of all industry players as well.
HATAB Chairperson Dr Thapelo Matsheka told attendants that Botswana Government was not consultative on issues of Tourism sector decision making. He accused the government of being selective in engaging the private sector. Dr Matsheka said government makes unilateral decisions on key issues affecting the industry.
“The decisions actually affect the private players in this sector directly but the latter are not fully consulted and engaged by government and this was hindering the unleash of the lucrative industry to the fullest,” he said
He also noted that government needed to privatise some tourism events that Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) organises with taxpayers’ money. “Some of these events can be better hosted by the private sector, money should be hived from there, not just in sponsorships that are later unaccounted for because BTO’s account also pours in chunks of funds towards these event,” reiterated Matsheka.
Human Resource Development Council Chief Executive Officer, Dr Raphael Dingalo, emphasised the need to strengthen the tripartite alliance of the private sector, government and academia in the development and growth of the tourism industry. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Felix Monggae noted that the Tourism Training levy was unutilized as uptake by industry players was low. He said the levy account was sitting at over 17 million pula available for use by relevant and eligible persons and companies.
“There are issues of sub-standard service in the tourism industry yet the training levy is aimed to help tourism operators address such by offering training in various skills in tourism and hospitality,” he said. In response to grievances that that locals and indigenous Batswana were left out in this lucrative sector, Monggae told delegates that government tourism licensing encourages citizen participation and hence, about 1 600 licensed tourism entities were recorded by January this year with 1 177 citizens only, 256 joint ventures and 254 non-citizens.
The tourism industry continues to be one of Botswana cardinal economic sectors, literally one of the anchors of the county’s fiscals, contributing significantly to government revenue and creating a whole value chain of Small Medium Enterprises and supporting other macro businesses that account for significant shares in Botswana ‘s economic setup.
The World Tourism & Travel Council (WTTC) has projected that the industry’s direct contribution to the country’s GDP will grow by 5.8 % in 2018, information contained in the organization’s Annual Research report indicates. The report states that the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to Botswana’s GDP was BWP7, 129.6 million in 2017. The WTTC further revealed that the sector’s total contribution to the GDP was BWP21, 496.5 million (USD2, 072.9mn) in 2017 accounting for 11.5% of the GDP, further suggesting a rise of 4.9% in 2018, and a rise of 4.5% p.a to BWP34, 874.2 million 11.7% of GDP in 2028.
The HATAB conference is one of Botswana’s Tourism industry premier policy discussion and views exchange event. This year the meet underscored a number of issues that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The HATAB Conference gathers academics, tourism industry players, travel and tourism industry stakeholders as well as other complementing economic drivers to discuss travel & tours, hospitality and the entire Tourism industry. The Tourism sector is Botswana’s second largest foreign income earner and GDP contributor after the mining sector, spearheaded by the lucrative diamond industry.
Business
Grit divests from Letlole La Rona
Grit Services Limited, a member of the pan African real estate group, London Stock Exchange listed Grit Real Estate Income Group is divesting from Letlole La Rona Limited (LLR), a local real estate company established by government investment arm Botswana Development Corporation over a decade ago.
The Board of Directors of Letlole La Rona Limited this week announced in a statement to Unitholders that Grit Services Limited (‘Grit’) has informed them of its intention to exit its investment in the company.
Grit has been a material shareholder in LLR since 2019. On 07 March 2023, Grit sold 6 421 000 linked units, representing 2.29% of the Company’s total securities in issue, at a market value of BWP 22 537 710.
This trade follows previous sales of 6.79% in December 2022, as communicated to Unitholders on 10 January 2023, as well as a further sale of 4.78% (representing 13 347 068 linked units) on 24 February 2023 to various shareholders.
In aggregate, Grit has sold 13.9% shareholding in the Letlole La Rona between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in current shareholding of 11.25% in the Company.
Letlole La Rona said in the statement that the exit process will take place in an orderly manner so as to maintain stability of the Company’s share price.
The statement explained that Grit’s sale of its entire shareholding in LLR is in line with its decision to exit investments where it does not have majority control, or where it has significant exposure to currencies other than US dollar, Euro or hard-currency-pegged revenue streams.
“Grit has announced similar decisions pertaining to certain of its hospitality assets in Mauritius recently. The Company would like to advise Unitholders that it remains focused on long-term value delivery to all stakeholders” LLR said
In July last year as part of their Go-to-Africa strategy Letlole La Rona acquired an initial 30% equity stake in Orbit Africa Logistics, with an option to increase this investment to 50%. OAL is a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Mauritius, owning an industrial asset in a prime industrial node in Nairobi, Kenya.
The co-investment was done alongside a wholly owned subsidiary of London listed Grit. The Orbit facility is situated on a prime industrial site on Mombasa Road, the principal route south of Nairobi center, serving the main industrial node, the port of Mombasa and the industrial town of Athi River and is strategically located 11 kilometers south of the international airport and 9.6 kilometers from the Inland Container Depot.
Grit shareholding in Letlole La Rona was seen as strategic for LLR, for the company to leverage on Grit’s already existing continental presence and expand its wings beyond Botswana borders as already delivered by Kenya transaction.
Media reports have however suggested that LLR and Grit have since late last year had fundamental disagreements on how to go about the Go-to-Africa strategy amongst other things, fuelled by alleged Botswana government interference on the affairs of LLR.
Government through LLR founding shareholder – Botswana Development Corporation has a controlling stake of around 40 percent in the company. Government is the sole shareholder of Botswana Development Corporation.
Letlole La Rona recently released their financial results for the six months ended December 2022, revenue increased by 4% to P50.2 million from P48.4 million in the prior comparative six months, whilst operating profit was up 8% to P36.5 million. Profit before tax of P49.7 million was reported, an increase of 8% on the prior comparative six months.
“We are encouraged by the strong results, notwithstanding a challenging economic environment. Our performance was mainly underpinned by annual lease escalations, our quality tenant base and below average market vacancy levels, especially in our warehouse portfolio,” Kamogelo Mowaneng, Letlole La Rona Chief Executive Officer commented.
LLR reported a weighted average lease expiry period of 3.3 years and escalation rates averaging 6.8% per annum for the period ended 31 December 2022.Its investment portfolio value increased by 14% year-on-year to close the period at P1.4 billion, mainly driven by the acquisition of a 30% stake in OAL in July 2022.
The Company also recorded a significant increase in other income, predominantly due to foreign exchange gains on the OAL shareholder loan. “We continue to explore pipeline opportunities locally, and regionally in line with our Go-to-Africa strategy and our interest remains on value-accretive investments,” Mowaneng said.
An interim distribution of 9.11 thebe per linked unit was declared on the 6th of February 2023 for the half-year period to 31 December 2022, comprising of a dividend of 0.05 thebe and debenture interest of 9.06 thebe per linked unit which will be paid to linked unit holders registered in the books of the Company at the close of business on 24 February 2023.
Business
Stargems Group establishes Training Center in BW
Internationally-acclaimed diamond manufacturing company StarGems Group has established the Stargems Diamond Training Center which will be providing specialized training in diamond manufacturing and evaluation.
The Stargems Diamond Training Institute is located at the Stargems Group Botswana Unit in Gaborone.
“In accordance with the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS) which holds the principle that through education and skills development as well as the strategic alignment between national ambitions and individual capabilities, Botswana will become a prosperous, productive and innovative nation due to the quality and efficacy of its citizenry. The Training Centre will provide a range of modules in theory and in practice; from rough diamond evaluation to diamond grading and polishing for Batswana, at no cost for eight weeks. The internationally- recognized certificate offered in partnership with Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School presents invaluable opportunities for Batswana to access in the diamond industry locally and internationally. The initiative is an extension of our Corporate Social Investment to the community in which we operate,” said Vishal Shah, Stargems Group Managing Director, during the launch of the Stargems Diamond Training Center.
In order to participate in this rare opportunity, interested candidates are invited to submit a police clearance certificate and a BGCSE certificate only to the Stargems offices. Students who excel in these programs will have the chance to be onboarded by the Stargems Group. This serves as motivation for them to go through this training with a high level of seriousness.
“Community empowerment is one of our CSR principles. We believe that businesses can only thrive when their communities are well taken of. We are hoping that our presence will be impactful to various communities and economies. In the six countries that we are operating in, we have contributed through dedicating 10% of our revenues during COVID-19 to facilitate education, donating to hospitals and also to NGOs committed to supporting women and children living with HIV. One key issue that we are targeting in Botswana is the rate of unemployment amongst the youth. We are looking forward to working closely with the government and other relevant authorities to curb unemployment,” said Shah.
Currently, Stargems Group has employed 117 Batswana and they are looking forward to growing the numbers to 500 as the company grows. Majority of the employees will be graduates from the Stargems Diamond Training Center. This initiation has been received with open arms by the general public and stakeholders. During the launch, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Honorable Lefoko Moagi, stated that the ministry fully endorses Stargems Diamond Training and will work closely with the Group to support and grow the initiative.
“As a ministry, we see this as an game changer that is aligned with one of the United Nations’ Six Priority Sustainable Development Goals, which is to Advance Opportunity and Impact for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). What Stargems Group is launching today will have a huge impact on the creation of employment in Botswana. An economy’s productivity rises as the number of educated workers increases as its skilled workmanship increases. It is not a secret that low skills perpetuate poverty and widen the inequality gap, therefore the development of skills has the potential to contribute significantly to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and helping the country become more competitive. We are grateful to see the emergence of industry players such as Stargems Group who have strived to create such opportunities that mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy,” said the Minister of Minerals and Energy.
Business
Food import bill slightly declines
The latest figures released by Statistics Botswana this week shows that food import bill for Botswana slightly declined from around P1.1 billion in November 2022 to around P981 million in December during the same year.
This content is locked
Login To Unlock The Content!