SPGC hosts Stanbic Bank golf tourney

Banks do not often go to areas where the economy is troubled. It (bank's move) goes to show that there is still hope for the economy of Selebi-Phikwe," said Moitlhobogi, a golfer of note. A golfing teenage sensation Leroy Pearmain, who appears set to dominate the golfing scene for sometime after managing to win an overall gross at the recent Phakalane Independence tournament, will be in the thick of things once again.

Recently, Stanbic Bank sponsored two golf tournaments - the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) and Botswana Golf Union (BGU) prizes amounting to P50, 000 and P40, 000 respectively.

AB flights to infuse tswana culture

Guest speaker President Ian Khama summed it like this: "It is not just  just about Tourism ... it is more about the country and its diverse economic landscape; its culture and heritage; governance structures; exports and more importantly its people...it is about the citizens of that country, incorporating the civil society, the private sector, rural and urban based institutes in varying sections... it  is not just about the logo and tag-line: it is about who we are and what we stand for... A brand is a promise and we should all live up to the promise and fulfil it".

Botswana's consumer inflation slowed to 6.6% year-on-year in August

Reuters reports that Botswana's consumer inflation slowed to 6.6 percent year-on-year in August, its lowest in more than two years, compared with 7.3 percent in July, the Central Statistics Office said.

Stanchart profits dip on higher expenses

"The increase in operating expenses is attributed to our accelerated investment as the bank spends on service delivery training and customer channels. During the period, the bank opened a new branch at Airport Junction Mall. We also opened a 24-hour full service call centre - the only one in the market," said the bank in a statement that accompanied the results.

Driven by a healthy 11 percent rise in interest income as the loan book grew by 8 percent to P4.5 billion, Standard Chartered's operating income rose from P419 million to P433 million.  Loans and advances to other banks rose significantly from P129 million to P920 million.

In an attempt to manage liquidity, in a market that has to deal with an extra P5 billion due to the central bank's open market operations interventions, Standard Chartered Bank say they have taken a strategic decision to cut down on deposits.

The Bank of Botswana late last year moved to constrain Bank of Botswana Certificates (BoBCS) to P10 billion from as high as P15 billion in 2010,stressing their cost and the need for banks to innovate "alternative bankable projects."

"Deposits from non-bank customers reduced by 19 percent to P7.3 billion, as a result a strategic action to manage excess liquidity and reduced margins. On the other hand corporate and institutional deposits in the first half of the year recorded a 31 percent decrease. The intervention of the central bank late last year resulted in excess liquidity and up to a 200 basis points reduction in rates," read the statement.

AFR tests coal export route with 1,000 tons

The export arrangement with Botswana Railways also illuminated the way for other players in the local 212 billion tonne coal sector to the lucrative Indian and Chinese markets. In a webcast last week, AFR managing director, Frazier Tabeart said the company was evaluating a 1, 000 ton trial shipment in order to "study the optimisation of current rail and port capacity". "We believe that currently, there's a real opportunity for Botswana to become an exporter of coal in the short term," he said.

"We did a successful trial shipment of coal to Maputo and we are looking at how that route can be improved from an operating efficiency point of view." AFR and other advanced coal sector players view Mozambique as the gateway to lucrative Chinese and Indian exports, the two economies being the world's most voracious consumers of the energy mineral.

By ramping up its trial shipment from 25 to 1,000 tonnes, AFR hopes to gradually test the logistics and infrastructure in place for expanding its exports through Mozambique, ahead of the commencement of commercial mining operations at Sese.

Besides the coal export project, Tabeart said tenders for advanced studies on a 1.5 million ton per annum (Mtpa) coal mine had been awarded, with final delivery of the Bankable Feasibility Study due by the end of March next year. The 1.5 Mtpa coal mine is part of the Sese Integrated Power Project, and will fire the initial 300-megawatt power station, for which AFR recently signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with a regional power offtaker.

Bank of Botswana : Inflation falls to 6.6 percent in August

In August, headline inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), fell to 6.6 percent from 7.3 percent in July. Inflation decreased in several commodity groups, including: food (from 8.0 percent to 7.8 percent); housing water, electricity, gas and other fuels (from 7.4 percent to 6.8 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (from 7.4 percent to 7.1 percent); transport (from 11.1 percent to 7.6 percent, where a fuel price increase in August 2011 fell out of the calculation); and miscellaneous goods and services (from 1.5 percent to 1.1 percent). However, this was partially offset by higher inflation for: clothing and footwear (from 6.1 percent to 6.6 percent); recreation and culture (from 5.1 percent to 5.7 percent); and restaurants and hotels (from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent). Inflation remained unchanged for alcoholic beverages and tobacco (7.1 percent), health (6.4 percent), communication (0.6 percent) and education (6.4 percent).

NOCAL Warned Oil Expert Wants Botswana’s Steps Followed

The director of the International Growth Center (IGC), Paul Collier has admonished the Government of Liberia through the National Oil Company (NOCAL) to follow the positive examples of the Southern African state of Botswana in order to succeed from oil deposits.

Mr. Collier, who is currently in the country at the invitation of NOCAL, told a cross-section of entrepreneurs and business executives yesterday that it is important to institute necessary policies that Botswana used in driving her economy to a better standard other than following others that currently face crisis in handling their natural resources.

He stated that in order for Liberia to be successful in the equitable distribution of its oil wealth to all its citizens, NOCAL needs to prioritize the building of private sector capacity, instituting better rules governing the oil sector and continued engagement with local business by developing them.

“Oil is a signal for attracting investment to the country and if you manage its deposits well, you will attract investments from all around the world.”

“You have to put in place the best policies that will govern the sector and implement those policies,” said Mr. Collier.

Implications of exporting to SA

According to the South African Chamber of Mines, "Assuming growth rates of between three and five per cent, the coal used by 2030 - when estimates suggest electricity demand is likely to peak at 75 000 megawatts - together with coal dedicated to future use by power stations either operating or under construction in 40 years' time, amounts to a staggering 30 billion tons, about half of the country's reserves". Even with the growth of the new coal fields in the Waterberg, one can well understand why South Africa would want a supply agreement with Botswana. For many years, President Khama and his predecessor President Festus Mogae, had tried to convince the South African government to allow Botswana to export electricity. CIC Energy, the owner of Mmambula coal deposit until it was sold to Jindahl Steel last week, had long had a business model where it would generate electricity to a power hungry South Africa. Initially, the plan was for a 3,000MW power station which was not going to be acceptable to Eskom.

Shortage of milk looms in Botswana

"The government has found a market for Zone Seven cattle in South Africa. The cattle will be slaughtered at the Francistown Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoir. Before proceeding to the abattoir, the cattle will be quarantined at Sefophe Artificial Insemination (AI) camp," said Molebatsi. The Assistant Minister said the restocking exercise in Zone Seven is still suspended due to drought and it is expected to commence when the conditions improve later in the year. Furthermore, Molebatsi advised farmers to plough more sorghum and beans in the coming ploughing season. He noted that maize is not a good choice because it is not heat resistant.  The Assistant Minister also informed residents that government has increased the price of beans to P700 per 50 kilograms.  He said that it is high time Botswana became independent in food supply. Molebatsi encouraged residents to utilize the government programme of cluster fencing like other villages in Kgatleng. He explained that farmers will be assisted with a fence and a borehole. He pointed out that Batswana must be aware that such programmes only run for a certain amount of time and they must take advantage of them while they still exist.

Botswana, Nigeria oil deal gathers pace

On Wednesday, executives from Spring Well Trade and Investment challenged Trade and Industry Minister, Dorcas Makgato-Malesu to fast-track the proposed P70 million dry port at Walvis Bay in Namibia, as well as lay the necessary policy framework. “We have done the due diligence and we have put together MoUs with oil majors from Nigeria which we have presented to our ministers, but are still struggling to get answers,” the firm’s CEO, Brian Rengasamy told a meeting of Botswana and Nigerian businesspeople. “We urge the minister to look at this because the trade is available but the logistics are not conducive. “We were quite restive with (Botswana ambassador to Nigeria, Clifford Maribe). The concession for the dry port has not been developed and the Trans Kalahari highway, which is the best, is not being fully utilised.”

Rengasamy and company chair, Jackson Nyamambi told Business Week that their due diligence indicated that seaborne oil products from Lagos to Walvis Bay could take nine days, compared to the 21 days and above to Durban, through which nearly all of Botswana’s fuel enters.

“As business, we can do all the business side and create a supply chain, but government must do its responsibility which is infrastructure development and corridors so that there’s a platform for business to trade and invest,” Rengasamy said.

Botswana beef is not marketed globally- Agric Hub

Fitt suggested that Botswana beef should be sold on a special market.

"The beef in Botswana has so many end-market opportunities to enable it to be sold more on the differentiated high-value niche markets.

It is so because the high-value niche markets have high prices which will enable growth in the beef industry of this country," he said.

He said the country must sell its beef on the world stage market, as this will enable it to have a wider range of buyers. "European Union (EU) markets remains a key target, but market diversification will be essential for both product and geographically based needs, which include product consistence such as type or size, year round volumes, quality and others," he said.

Fitt further said the domestic market already has the same size as export market thus this represents a key growth opportunity for communal farmers in particular on the domestic market, which is expected to double in the next 20 years.

"Botswana has a population of two million people, and approximately three million cattle, which gives the country a live cattle export opportunity," he said.

SA plays power games with coal

Zuma is reported to have said that "the bilateral agreement on energy would make meeting energy demands easier for both countries". The grades, types and, most importantly, prices of coal to be exported are not known, but the agreement will strengthen the commercial and energy ties between the countries and, depending on the coal grades to be sold, might solve one of the Botswana coal industry's most intractable problems – what to do with its middlings, the waste from the washing of coal that is necessary to get it up to export quality.

LifeGem - Michael Jackson's Diamond Hair

LifeGem, a company that creates high-quality diamonds from carbon extracts, will convert Michael Jackson's hair into diamonds. The strands of hair, obtained during the shooting of Jackson's 1984 Pepsi commercial, were purchased by jewelry collector John Reznikoff from Ralph Cohen, executive producer of the Pepsi commercial.

 

Reznikoff contacted the Chicago-based diamond company and requested that it turn Jackson's hair into diamonds. "The provenance and authenticity of this lock of hair is impeccable, including the highly publicized video showing the original owner of the hair using his Armani jacket to extinguish Jackson's hair when it caught fire," Reznikoff stated.

 

Reznikoff has worked with LifeGem in the past to create diamonds from strands of hair from Beethoven, which were sold at about $240,000 per diamond. The company expects to produce approximately 10 diamonds from Jackson's hair.

Sarin Ships Diamond-Measuring System to Botswana

Sarin Technologies, a Singapore-listed company that specializes in the evaluation and measurement of diamonds, announced that it has shipped its Galaxy 1000, a system designed to scan and map internal inclusion in rough diamonds, to a new service center in Botswana.

 

The center, which is located in the rough diamond trading hub of Gaborone, is the eighth such facility that Sarin has opened. It operates service center in India, Belgium, Russia, South Africa, and Namibia.

 

Gaborone is gaining a reputation as a growing destination for rough diamond traders, particularly after De Beers announced that it would relocate there from London.

 

“With this new service being offered in Botswana, our customers there too will gain an unprecedented view into the internal features of the diamond, thus truly optimizing the value realized by the stone’s owner,” Sarin CEO Uzi Levami said.

Botswana Diamonds Stock Offering to Boost Africa Explorations

Botswana Diamonds announced that it has conditionally raised £1.51 million British through the selling of its shares to the public.

The company announced that it had issued an aggregate of 37.75 million new shares at a price of £0.04 per share.

The infusion of cash will enable the diamond company to pour more investment into its diamonds exploration projects in Botswana, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe. Botswana Diamonds has zeroed in on a remote region in northeastern Botswana and it is about to launch the second stage of its exploration program in Cameroon, where a bulk sampling on previously identified palaeoplacer conglomerates will determine whether there is a presence of diamonds.

The firm is also awaiting the go-ahead to begin mining for diamonds in Chimanimani and Marange in Zimbabwe.

"The strong support we have received for the placing is a further vote of confidence in Botswana Diamonds' strategy,” said John Teeling, the chairman of Botswana Diamonds.

Indian company to invest in coal mine in Botswana

"In Botswana, Jindal Steel aims to produce about 2.5 million metric tons of coal from the mines to run the proposed 300 megawatt power plant. The company also plans to look at exporting coal from Botswana and work on 'evacuation' facilities in the next five years," said Maroo.

Zizabona can turn around SADC power trade decline

The African Development Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa, the French Development Agency and Stanbic Bank of Botswana have reportedly pledged to fund the Zizabona interconnector. The agreement, signed and ratified by the four countries in 2008 is worth US$224 million. About US$67 million of equity finance is needed, with US$157 million required for debt financing.

 The French Development Agency will provide about US$40million, the Development Bankof South Africa will provide US$50 million and the African Development Bank will meet about 40% of the debt financing.

Consultations with financiers are expected to be conducted in October or December 2012, with intended financial proposals due by March 2013.

When fully operational, the Zizabona will, among other things, make it possible for Namibia to import power directly from Zimbabwe. Currently electricity from the Hwange power station is being routed to Namibia through South Africa.

The project is also expected to help decongest the existing transmission corridor that passes through Zimbabwe.

Letshego bullish on H1 results

“This led to the use of accumulated tax reserves that were approved by shareholders in the prior interim financial period, and resulted in a higher profit after tax base in that period”, a cautionary statement from the company reads.

The company says that the interim results will incorporate the results of Micro Africa Limited (MAL) from 1 June 2012 being the date of the finalisation of this transaction but will not have any significant impact on the profit before or after tax results for the interim period.

MAL is an established company that has been operating in Kenya since 2000 with subsidiaries in Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda and an associated company in Tanzania. Its operations entail the provision of secured and unsecured personal, SMME and Group loans.

Last year the company introduced products involving the perfecting of security, over the counter cash handling for loan transactions and mobile banking technology. The company has a current loan book in excess of P52.1 million, 21 branches and a customer base of over 17,000.

At the same time Letshego’s loan book shot past the P3 billion mark earlier this year following its increase in its African footprint. The company has also diversified its revenue streams away from its traditional cash cow market in Botswana.

Meanwhile BusinessPost understands that the operations of the Central Registries continue as normal and collections remain at historical levels through the deduction at source basis.

The Government’s central registry announced in September last year that it will no longer be the intermediary for collection and payment of credit between civil servants and corporates such as micro financers, which included among them, Letshego. However, the government was later to suspend the move citing reasons of ‘consultation’.

Industry sources say the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed entity’s which now offers macro loans of up to P200,000 over a five-year period collects at least P66 million per month in loan repayments from government employees who constitute 95 percent of its customers.

Letshego has operations in 11 African countries in Southern and Eastern Africa including in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and has indicated plans to expand into other regions.

Lucara Reports Excellent Karowe Sales Results

Mr. William Lamb, CEO of Lucara, noted, "We are pleased with the results of the third sale of Karowe diamonds. The excellent value obtained confirms the high quality of the Karowe production. This is especially significant in the current depressed state of the rough diamond market. The success of the sale complements the ongoing successes at Karowe. For the month of August, design capacity through the process plant was achieved, exceeding our forecast. Infrastructure projects previously reported remain on track and are also contributing to the advances being made on the mine."

The Company expects carat production at Karowe to meet or exceed the previously published forecast for 2012. To ensure consistency of sale parcels, the Company has decided to hold fewer sales of larger sales volumes over the remainder of the year. It is anticipated that two more sales of Karowe diamonds will take place in 2012 with the next sale being held in November.

About Lucara

Lucara is a well positioned emerging new diamond producer. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company's two key assets are the Karowe Mine in Botswana and the Mothae Project in Lesotho. The 100% owned Karowe Mine is in the production. The 75% owned Mothae Project is currently in the trial mining stage.

Qualified Person

Mr. Anthony George, P.Eng., a mining engineer and Lucara's V.P. Development, is the Company's Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101 and has reviewed the technical contents of this news release.

Mount Burgess Mining pinpoints strong zinc lead anomaly in Botswana

The north-east trending geochemical soil anomaly has returned values of up to 236 parts per million zinc and 117 parts per million lead.

The anomaly may represent a parallel repeat of the Kihabe synclinal fold structure in this SEDEX style mineralised area.

Mount Burgess Mining is planning further geochemical soil sampling in the area, south of the Kihabe Resource, once current bush-fires have burned-out.

Soil sampling will be extended northeast to join up with a previously sampled area which resulted in delineation of the geochemical anomaly over what has now been drilled to produce the Nxuu Resource, 7 kilometres to the east of the Kihabe Resource.

Kalahari Copperbelt yields first mine

The new mine targets production of 36,000 tonnes of the base metal per year over a projected 15-year lifespan. It will also pump out 1.1 million ounces of silver per year, being the first large-scale extraction of the precious metal in Botswana's history. Speaking at the launch near Toteng, Khama noted that while the area's copper and silver mineralisation had been known since the 1970s, it was with Discovery Metal's arrival in 2005 that exploration moved to production.

"I ardently hope that the continuing exploration activities will yield positive results (and) I am excited by such prospects because if results are positive and economic to justify development, it means greater benefits for the nation," the President said.

"The development of the Boseto Copper Project brings opportunities for residents of Ngamiland to shift focus to trading in some sectors that the mine in their area would support."

Khama said while the Australian junior miner had become the first to tap into the Kalahari Copperbelt's potential, there were other potential mining projects "not far from this area."

One such project is being developed by New Hana Mining which holds prospecting licences for copper and silver covering 10,653 square kilometres, including the flagship Banana Zone. The Canadian firm recently completed a preliminary economic assessment on the Banana Zone.

Another explorer, Australian firm, MOD Resources, holds licences covering about 10,000 square kilometres of the copperbelt and recently identified 100 kilometres of priority areas for its exploration programme. At Friday's launch, a beaming Discovery Metals' chairman, Gordon Galt said commissioning and ramp up activities were progressing well with a view to strong and sustainable cash flows into the future.

"I'm delighted that the Boseto Copper Project has been officially opened and to be able to report to our shareholders that we have kept our promise and brought this fantastic asset on stream, on time and within budget," he said.

"This will allow us to fully develop the potential value in the new copper frontier that is the Kalahari Copperbelt."

Aviva Corporation chairman describes sales of Kenyan assets as a good outcome - Proactiveinvestors (NA)

He added that in Botswana, consultant Earthtec’s Environmental and Archaeological Impact Assessment for the Mmamantswe Coal Project had not identified any major impediments to the project’s development.

Aviva’s exploration licences for its coal project were also renewed for a further two years and it will continue to consider adding to its coal portfolio in Botswana.

Botswana’s Government had also presented in January 2012 the outcome of the Coal Road Map Review that the company believes provides many positives for the development of Mmamantswe.

Additional Diamonds Discovered in Cameroon | 4-Traders

The directors of Botswana Diamonds are pleased to report that two additional diamonds have been recovered from the on-going sampling programme on the Libongo palaeoplacer project in Cameroon.
 
The current exploration programme involves collecting a 100 tonne sample from each of three areas previously found to have palaeoplacer rock, in order to ascertain if the rock is diamondiferous.  The ultimate objective is to assess whether a deposit similar to the adjacent Mobilong deposit being mined by CNK of Korea exists.
One of the diamonds, a 0.25 carat near gem quality stone, was recovered from a stream flowing through the sample area.  The second, a 1.3 carat industrial quality diamond, was recovered from the crushed sample. The programme is expected to be completed within weeks.
 
John Teeling, Chairman, commented: "This is further evidence that our Libongo licence ground contains diamond bearing rock similar to that being mined close by, and that this project has the potential to deliver value to our shareholders. "The next steps are to undertake a bulk sample to identify grade per tonne and value per carat and to run a scoping study on the feasibility of the project."

Ex-BHP CFO to replace Carroll at Anglo?

Vanselow's Diamond Angle
What would Vanselow's appointment mean for De Beers? From a De Beers perspective, an Anglo American CEO from a mining company that also had a diamond portfolio can only be advantageous. He was involved in all major decisions about BHP Billiton's diamond division during the financial crisis years. He was CFO when the company adopted the unique marketing model that links the BHP Billiton rough diamond-pricing mechanism used in the long-term sightholder contracts to tender prices. He was also actively part of the decision to put the Ekati diamond mine on the market and for the company to withdraw from diamonds altogether.Again, it would be good for De Beers if Anglo American were to have a CEO who is quite familiar with both the challenges of diamond mining and of diamond marketing. There have been suggestions that Anglo American had been looking at a partial purchase of the Ekati mine and maybe, Vanselow as CEO of Anglo American, might suggest that the company takes another look at that opportunity. He would know Ekati from the inside out.

Botswana Consumer Bank International Graduate Programme, Standard Chartered Bank with Milkround.com | The Times Jobs

The Consumer Bank International Graduate Programme is an 18-month broad-based programme designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to quickly move into a leadership position. Whether it’s leading a team, running a budget or delivering transformational change for our customers, we expect you to lead as soon as you graduate.

To prepare you for a demanding role as a leader we’ll teach you everything you need to know about retail banking – from how to identify and mitigate risk to product innovation, to aligning the operations of the business behind our strategic intent. By teaming you up with our best senior leaders, you’ll build the breadth of skills necessary to run the business, shape our agenda and lead diverse teams in some of the world’s most dynamic markets.

Entry Requirements

To apply you must have:

• A Master’s degree, any discipline.
• The legal right to work in the country for which you are applying.
• Fluency in English; a second language is considered beneficial.

If you’re a natural leader driven to succeed and comfortable being a little out of your depth, visit our website for more information about the programme and the opportunity to apply.

STANCHART'S Chandra is banker of the year

"The BIOB plethora of activities provides a forum for banking members and guests to interact on matters of mutual interest and to come up with harmonized strategies to ease the intricacies and iron out any differences we may have in providing banking services," she said BIOB's mission is to promote and develop professionally qualified and competent bankers in Botswana, primarily through a process of training examinations and continuing professional development programmes.

Since its establishment in 1991, the BIOB has been the educator, enabling citizen employees of financial institutions to gain practical knowledge and professional skills and consequently, be able to play a more dynamic role in the banking industry.This year's ceremony was held under the theme, "Stop Fraud." First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) CEO Lorato Boakgomo-Ntakhwana highlighted that financial institutions should safeguard and build the security and integrity of Botswana's financial system:

"Botswana's financial institutions have fully supported the call to combat fraud by engaging in activities such as creating awareness, training staff to identify suspicious transactions and inter-sharing best practices with local as well as international law Enforcement Agencies," said Boakgomo-Ntakhwana. These combined efforts; she noted are critical to promoting legitimate economic activity and growth.

Stanbic Bank launches Agribusiness

“Stanbic Bank is committed to the agricultural community of Botswana. It is our hope that Agribusiness will assist in growing and developing the agriculture industry and help it to reach its full potential,” concluded Mr. Makubate.

Competition in micro-lending industry fast increasing, says Letshego MD

Letshego Holdings, the Botswana Stock Exchange-listed consumer lender, was established in 1998 and has since evolved to become a fully fledged financial services company with a strong foothold in other African markets, including Mozambique, Namibia,Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and most recently South Sudan.