IFC funds BBS expansion with over P250 million
Business
Home grown financial institution, Botswana Building Society (BBS) which is on process to becoming the country’s first indigenous bank, has secured a loan amounting to over 250 million pula from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to finance its expansion into financial inclusion products.
According to a statement from the institution dated 13th November, the IFC which is the sister company to World Bank under the World Bank Group will use its debut Kgalagadi Bond to finance the $25 million investment. It is expected that the support will enable the BBS to promote its financial inclusion quest and access to housing finance in Botswana. BBS is a traditional financing partner to ordinary and middle income earning Batswana with products tailored for low earning households and informal small entrepreneurs.
The investment comprises of a senior loan equivalent to $25 million in local currency. As Botswana Building Society demutualizes into a private holding company by shares, the long-term funding will support the transformation of the Society into a full-service commercial bank to enable change of business model to best suit underserved clients, including small and medium enterprises.
According to IFC the Kgalagadi Bond is the first local currency bond issued by a non-resident issuer in Botswana and also the first by a AAA rated institution in the country. “This is the first amortizing bond in the market, and forms part of the IFC Pan African Domestic Medium Term Note Program,” said Director of Treasury Client Solutions at the IFC, Mr. Keshav Gaur at the Bond listing in Gaborone this Wednesday
The Society prides itself in being the leading domestically owned financial institution and the largest residential mortgage lender in Botswana. In its transformation the Pius Molefhe led institution, will ensure that the envisaged bank enhances both its financial inclusion and housing finance initiatives and help it to compete more effectively against other larger local commercial banks in Botswana.
“The IFC investment will help to strengthen BBS’s financial stability and assist the demutualised Society to introduce new products and services for under-served market segments, including Small and Medium Enterprises,” states the press statement. According to Pius Molefe, Managing Director of Botswana Building Society the IFC support couldn’t have come at the right time. He highlighted the crucial importance of such resources as the society moves to be the first home grown commercial bank in Botswana. “We welcome IFC’s support to our transformation strategy. The financing will enable us to offer conventional banking products at more competitive rates, making us a stronger player in the market,” he said.
Oumar Seydi, IFC Regional Director for Africa reiterated that his corporation supported clients by mobilizing private capital to create, deepen and expand markets. “Financial inclusion and growing SMEs are a key focus of IFC interventions, job creation and their significant impact in reshaping markets.”
“IFC financing to Botswana Building Society will improve access to finance for job-creating for small and medium enterprises. The bond issuance will mobilize long-term funds in the capital market and channel them to BBS, consistent with our strategy to create markets that promote growth,” he added.
The executives of the IFC and the BBS underscored that their organizations recognized home ownership as a key source of wealth creation for low and medium income earners, noting that in Sub-Saharan Africa access to mortgages and other forms of financing for purchasing homes was limited. In Botswana, only two percent of the population has used housing finance, as most households still use non-mortgage credit.
IFC is providing long-term funding and eliminating obstacles to the development of an enabling environment for affordable housing by supporting mortgage refinancing companies across the continent. The International Finance Corporation head quartered in Washington DC, United State is a sister organization of the World Bank and a member of the World Bank Group. It is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Latest figures show that the company delivered a record of $19.3 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to help end poverty and boost shared prosperity
The BBS’s demutualization was given the green light by the society members in August this year. The management, led by Molefe was authorized to transform the organization into Botswana’s first home grown commercial bank. It is expected that BBS will, after fully transforming into a private shareholder held company, list on the Botswana Stock Exchange. Established on the 13th of December 1976 the society has grown tremendously to become an indigenous household name for financial services especially amongst low and middle income Batswana.
The exceptional growth of the Society over the past 41 years can best be measured by the phenomenal increase in its reserves, from only P2, 100 in March 1977 to just under P203 million in March 2012. The Statutory reserve alone increased from a mere P200 to almost P2, 460 billion over this period. If funding from key financial institutions like IFC, the demutualization looks set and the Pius Molefe lead team is ready to make history. BBS is expected to be a commercial bank by the first quarter of 2018.
Business
CA SALES revenues rose to R9.5 billion
The Botswana and Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed distributor of fast-moving consumer goods
This content is locked
Login To Unlock The Content!
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.