Food prices steadily increasing
Business
The annual inflation rate in July was 2.7%, the same rate it was in the previous month, this is according to the recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by Statistics Botswana. Annual inflation in July 2016 is lower than in July 2015.
Group indices were generally stable between June and July 2016, recording changes of less than 1 percent. According to the latest data from Statistics Botswana, inflation remained flat for several commodity groups, including: health, communication, and education, registering no change in overall prices.
There was a slight increase of 0.1% across the transport, restaurant and hotels and miscellaneous goods and services group indices. The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index was the only group index which fell by 0.1% on the back of declining prices in materials for maintenance and repair of dwellings.
However, this was partly offset by price increases in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group index after recording a 0.3% increase following notable price increases in bread and cereals, fruits, coffee, tea and cocoa. The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group is the main constituent of the CPI at 21.84%.
In the last 6 months the group’s overall price increased by 1.8%. The Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics index group was up also by 0.3 percent as a result of tobacco and alcohol prices slightly increased. The prices in the clothing and footwear index group rose by 0.2 percent.
The All-Tradable inflation rate was 1.5% in July, not showing any change from previous month. The Domestic Tradable inflation was up from 2.5% to 2.8% between April and May. The Non-Tradable inflation remained unchanged at 5.4%. The Imported Tradable inflation declined to 0.7 percent in July from 0.9% in June.
The core inflation, which excludes items that are prone to volatile price movements such as food, petrol and electricity, remained unchanged at 3.8%. Core inflation is thought to be an indicator of underlying long-term inflation.
Botswana has the second lowest inflation rate in Southern Africa after Mauritius. Zimbabwe is the only exception with its negative inflation rate. Southern African countries were hit the most by the El Nino phenomenon which affected agricultural production from late 2015 and extending into 2016.
The drought brought upon by El Nino affected the production of Southern Africa’s staple crops such as maize, pushing up prices. These forced Southern African governments to engage in tight monetary policies to rein in inflation.
Meanwhile in Botswana, the Bank of Botswana has been bucking the trend of increasing bank rates, and instead opted for loose monetary policy to spur economic growth. The lowest inflation rate in more than 3 years has given the country’s central back room to manoeuvre unlike its regional peers.
The bank rate was recently cut by 50 basis points to 5.5% following a Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The recent cut means that Botswana now has the second lowest bank rate in Southern Africa, coming second to Mauritius again.
“The current state of the economy and both the domestic and external economic outlook as well as the inflation forecast provide scope for easing monetary policy to support economic activity without undermining maintenance of inflation within the Bank’s medium-term objective range of 3 –6 percent.
Accordingly, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to reduce the Bank Rate by half a percentage point to 5.5 percent.2Monetary policy is also aligned with the need to safeguard financial stability. In this respect, credit growth is considered to be at a sustainable level and poses no threat to financial stability,” read part of the Monetary Policy Committee statement.
In Southern Africa, Zambia’s economy is struggling as the copper producing country is not only devastated by low commodity prices, putting the country’s inflation rate as the fourth highest in the region at 20%. The country’s bank rate is currently at 15.5%. Malawi which declared a state of national disaster earlier this year over the worsening food crisis has the second highest inflation rate at 22.6% and the bank rate is the highest at 27%.
Mozambique’s inflation is the third highest at 20.68% due to higher food prices, while the interest rate is the second highest in the region at 17.25%. The biggest oil producer, Angola, is still reeling from the fall of oil prices with the country’s inflation rate at 35.30% and interest rate at 16%.
The region’s economic powerhouse and the largest economy in Africa, South Africa, is also trying to contain its inflation which at 6.30% is above the South Africa Reserve Bank’s target range of 3-6%. In efforts to control the spiralling inflation, the reserve bank has since raised the bank rate by 200 basis points since 2014, leaving the current rate at 7%.
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.
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