inBUSINESS Issue 14

Francistown’s Spaghetti Road a Major Beacon
Words: Modiri Mogende
Botswana’s second city has been
in the doldrums lately. Francistown,
which has had a fairly vibrant
mining sector for almost a
century, was almost brought to
its knees by the closure of Tati Nickel Mine as
part of a larger BCL provisional liquidation in
the last quarter of last year.
A combination of poor commodity prices
and BCL’s inability to service its debt led to the
abrupt shutdown of BCL’s operations. A significant
section of the city’s population was hit hard
as employees were laid off in a chain reaction
that affected suppliers, retailers, transporters,
landlords and vendors.
But the gloom enveloping Francistown is beginning
to lift, giving way to optimism in the
construction sector where the building of Botswana’s
first suspended traffic intersection is
underway.
In the wake of the mine’s closure, the Mayor
of Francistown, Sylvia Muzila, told the city
council that the focus would go its Vision 2022
that envisages transforming the city into an investor-friendly
destination. The ‘spaghetti road’
project would be harnessed to take the city out
of its current economic malaise, she added.
“Our aim is to promote our city and its independent
businesses, shops and market stalls to
draw people in,” the Mayor said. “Francistown
is a unique and thriving community where visitors
enjoy our tourism attractions. We want to
help grow businesses and increase employment
for our people.”
The suffocation of the city did not spare
SMEs. One of them is Ogno Ndlovu, the owner
of a welding business that used to service equipment
for some of the mine’s contractors. “We are
seeing a significant decrease in client activity,”
Ndlovu told inBusiness this week. “I’m worried
because mines used to come under care and
maintenance for short periods, but I don’t think
that is the case now. There is just bad news all
over the place.”
Even so, Ndlovu is stubbornly optimistic:
“I’ve been in this business for a long time and
there has always been a comeback. I believe with
time we will emerge from this a lot stronger.”
Taxi driver Badisa Keokontse is worried that
people may be relocating from a city that he
loves. “These are tough times,” he said. “We have
been charging the same fare for a long time, and
when you add mine closure to that, it is just bad.
That mine gave us our biggest client base.”
BTC Announces Positive Year End Results
Words: Tuduetso Tebape
Botswana Telecommunications
Corporations Limited’s (BTCL) total
revenue for the financial year that
ended in March this year increased by
8% compared to the previous financial
year. The increase was by growth in fixed
data and mobile revenue.
Cash balances shot from P390million
to P516million and were boosted by
the capital raised during listing in 2016.
Additionally, cash generated from
operations increased by 32% from P254
million the previous year to P335million.
Total assets increased by 19% from
the prior year’s P1.9 billion to current
year’s P2.3 billion. Properties, plants
and equipment grew by 23% due to the
rollout of mobile network expansion,
billing platforms and other strategic
programmes.
“The BTC‘s strategy of transformation
and growth is to create a viable business
and shareholder value, focusing on
business development, customer
experience, operational efficiency,
innovation and a culture of high
performance,” said BTCL Managing
Director, Anthony Masunga, recently
when he presented the company’s
financial results during a BTC store
opening at Railpark Mall in Gaborone
recently.
Masunga said the telecommunications
landscape continues to evolve with
further liberalisation of the market.
BTCL thus remains “very optimistic”
about its future prospects as it continues
to leverage on its unique product
offering and wide network coverage
to consolidate its position to become
a market leader in communication
services.
“The company will continue to make
significant investments in its network
and people in order to provide quality,
reliable and affordable services to
customers, while creating value for
shareholders,” Masunga said.
www.inbusiness.co.bw | Issue 14 | 2017 7