The BSE wants deeper markets, more investment and broader ownership as Botswana faces mounting pressure to build growth beyond diamonds.
GAZETTE REPORTER
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) is seeking to expand the role of capital markets in Botswana’s economy through its 10X by 2030 strategy as the country faces growing pressure to diversify beyond diamonds.
Investment Gap
BSE Board Chairperson Neo Mooki said Botswana could not indefinitely depend on government spending, borrowing and diamonds to drive growth.
“Growth without investment is fragile,” Mooki said.
Her comments come after the economy grew 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026, while gross fixed capital formation, a measure of investment in productive assets, fell 10.4 percent.
Mooki said Botswana had substantial capital available but lacked enough credible and well-structured opportunities to absorb it.
Retirement funds managed about P170 billion at the end of 2025, with roughly P75 billion, or 45 percent, invested locally, she said.
At the BSE, listed equities and bonds exceeded P1 trillion by the end of May, but average daily turnover remained about P2.8 million.
Five Pillars
Chief Executive Officer Aupa Monyatsi said the strategy rests on five pillars: talent and culture, technology modernisation, product innovation, internationalisation and force for good.
“We are not an exchange that is in austerity or trying to shrink. We are an exchange that is trying to grow,” he said.
The BSE is pursuing technology modernisation, including artificial intelligence and automation, while exploring new products such as exchange-traded funds. It is also working on reforms that would allow municipalities to raise financing through bonds.
The exchange is seeking greater international participation through initiatives including the Tabadul platform, engagements with the London Stock Exchange and membership of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.
Monyatsi said the BSE’s broader ambition was to position Botswana as a regional capital-markets hub.
Beyond Diamonds
The Botswana Mercantile Exchange is also being expanded to facilitate trading in agricultural commodities and minerals, while warehouse receipts could help producers access finance.
Mooki said diversification was no longer optional.
“The question is no longer whether we diversify,” she said. “We’re backed against the wall.”
Monyatsi said 95 percent of commitments under Horizon One had been delivered, with the exchange now entering Horizon Two.
For Mooki, the ultimate goal is to turn Botswana’s savings into productive economic assets.
“Botswana’s best economic chapter, the last chapter was about diamonds. Our next chapter must convert our savings into institutions, into credibility, into growth.”