BSE Acting CEO Kopano Bolokwe
Aims to engage CEOs for potential cross-listings
As the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) sets its sights on the upcoming African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) conference, the bourse said it is ready to sell itself as a prime destination for dual listings.
BSE Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kopano Bolokwe recently disclosed that a key focus is networking with key industry officials, aiming to highlight the unique investment opportunities in the southern African market.
The conference will kick off with the ASEA Executive Committee Meeting on the 27th of November, followed by two intensive conference discussions on the 28th and 29th of November at the prestigious Royal Aria Conference Centre under the theme "Fostering Transformation in Capital Markets through Innovation". It will feature a distinguished lineup of speakers from leading global institutions, such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, and member exchanges across Africa. ASEA has 28 members representing 32 African countries. African stock markets capitalisation amount to close to $2.0 trillion, with more than 1,500 companies.
“We expect to tap into new CEOs to forge understandings and agreements for potential cross-listing of companies as well as products and the transfer of skills,” Bolokwe said emphasising that they will be “networking with officials from these companies with the view of attracting dual listings into the Botswana market”.
“If you look at the Southern African market, we have figured out that it presents opportunities for dual listings mainly because SA institutional investors don’t want to invest in JSE listed companies that are not included in certain indices and companies which are of certain sizes,” Bolokwe said.
Currently, 31 Equity listings comprise eight Foreign Companies and 23 domestic companies, according to Thapelo Moribame, the Head of Market Development at the BSE. Moribame was discussing opportunities for leveraging Botswana’s position as a financial hub in Africa during an FX risk management seminar organised by Access Bank Botswana recently.
She said eight of the companies are listed on the foreign board owing to “our strength of the market”, while on the other hand, 12 of the domestic companies listed on the BSE have operations outside of Botswana.
The BSE has facilitated a number of foreign listings being:
Shumba raised P70 million in 2013.
Tlou Energy raised P33 million in 2017.
CA Sales raised P470 million in 2017.
Anglo American – A global mining giant, responsible for growing market capitalisation from P396 billion to P593 billion in one day in August 2023, after trading from P244.95 to P392.00 essentially registering a 50% increase. This milestone catapulted the BSE to be one of the leading stock exchanges in Africa in terms of size.
The total market capitalisation of the BSE sits at over P711 billion. Of that, close to 90% is the mining sector, predominantly the foreign flagships such as Anglo, Lucara, Botswana Diamonds, Shumba, Tlou and Botala Energy which are listed in other international Stock Exchanges (dual listed) and Minergy which is a domestic mining company.
During a mining summit in June, Bolokwe revealed that the mining sector on the BSE was the best-performing sector. Over 18 months to June 2024, he said the sector has grown by close to 90% and has contributed just over 75% to the total growth of the BSE’s equity capitalisation.
“As a foreign companies sector, its overall performance has outclassed that of local companies,” he said adding that “the index tracking this sector, which is largely the Foreign Company Index, grew by close to 60% last year, with Anglo shares rising 92%, Lucara 45% and Botswana Diamonds 14%, to mention but a few”.
Mining companies on the BSE currently use equity financing. There are seven companies listed on the BSE under the mining sector with a collective market capitalisation of P631 billion. Typically, over the years, this number has consistently trailed above 10 pre-COVID-19, according to Bolokwe.
Year | Amount Raised (P Million) |
2023 | 294 |
2022 | 97 |
2021 | 459 |
2020 | 118 |
2019 | 547 |
2018 | 365 |
TOTAL | P1.9Bn |
Moribame said the exchange decided that it was not going to be business as usual and hence put in place initiatives that have ensured that “we attract local and international issuers across the different asset classes”.
Some of the initiatives she mentioned are;
Internationalisation Strategy where the BSE became a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a Partner Exchange of UN’s Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) initiative, a member of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), a member of the Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) and a Recognised Stock Exchange under the UK’s HMRC allowing the exchange to subscribe to strong international benchmarks.
Promotion of the listings framework that includes courting companies that have growth aspirations and want to leverage the stock exchange and sharing the advantages of using the BSE as a springboard to other markets.
International Roadshow in the United States of America & United Kingdom to engage potential issuers and custodians of funds.
Tshipidi Mentorship Programme to attract SMEs, Corporates and family-owned businesses to list.
As the exchange strives to find opportunity even in the midst of changing market dynamics, Moribame said the above examples are clear examples of the power of the stock market and using the exchange as a vehicle to expand products and services.
“This reinforces the message that our market has strong fundamentals such as abundant capital looking for investible assets, no exchange controls allowing the movement of funds across markets, a stable currency and stability.”
With a Market Cap of $52 billion, the BSE is the 3rd largest stock exchange in Africa after the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Casablanca Stock Exchange whose market caps are $1.1 trillion and $69.8 billion respectively.
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