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The Customs Union Paradox: Botswana's Fiscal Dependence, Instrumental Regionalism, and the Limits of Integration under the AfCFTA - Farouk Pandor

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:15:29 +0000

The Customs Union Paradox: Botswana's Fiscal Dependence, Instrumental Regionalism, and the Limits of Integration under the AfCFTA

Farouk Pandor

Publication Note

This article is designed for publication on the Botswana Stock Exchange blog and for distribution via Facebook to investment, trade policy, and African development communities. It has been revised for immediate publication with the following enhancements:

Tightened theoretical framework for greater analytical clarity
Strengthened empirical grounding with additional contextual detail
Refined policy implications for investor and policymaker audiences
Improved readability while maintaining academic rigour
Updated references for currency and relevance

Abstract

Botswana presents a paradox in African regional integration. It is a founding member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)—the world's oldest surviving customs union—and an active participant in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Yet this dense architecture of commitments coexists with unilateral trade restrictions that contravene Botswana's regional obligations, most notably the agricultural import bans imposed from 2018. This article argues that Botswana's trade policy is best understood not as a coherent integration strategy but as a fiscal survival strategy in which SACU revenue—contributing between 30 and 40 per cent of government income—and diamond export earnings shape policy in ways that privilege short-term revenue stability over long-term integration. Drawing on customs union theory, the political economy of African regionalism, and empirical evidence on Botswana's trade and fiscal position, the article demonstrates that Botswana's AfCFTA implementation strategy, while formally ambitious, is structurally constrained by the same dependencies that have historically diluted its regional commitments. It concludes that without fiscal diversification away from SACU transfers and diamonds, Botswana's participation in continental integration will remain shallow and instrumental, and the AfCFTA's promise of developmental regionalism will remain unrealised in one of its most creditworthy member states.

Keywords: Botswana, SACU, AfCFTA, regional trade agreements, trade policy compliance, revenue-sharing formula, economic diversification, instrumental regionalism

JEL Classification: F13, F15, F53, O55, Q33

1. Introduction

Botswana is routinely celebrated as one of Africa's economic success stories. From one of the poorest countries in the world at independence in 1966, it achieved average annual growth rates of approximately 9 per cent between 1966 and 1999, and around 5 per cent per annum between 2010 and 2020, driven overwhelmingly by diamond exports (World Bank 2024). It is an upper-middle-income country with a stable democracy, investment-grade credit ratings, and a reputation for prudent macroeconomic management. It is also, by the standards of Southern Africa, deeply embedded in multiple layers of regional trade governance: a founding member of SACU, a signatory to the SADC Protocol on Trade, a participant in the TFTA, a party to the EU–SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and a signatory to the AfCFTA.

This dense architecture of commitments coexists, however, with a troubling pattern of non-compliance. Since 2018, Botswana has implemented bans and restrictions on the importation of certain merchandise from its regional trading partners—particularly vegetables and, subsequently, grain products—in contravention of the SADC Protocol on Trade and the SACU Agreement (Edward 2023; Africa-Press 2025). Although the vegetable ban was phased out in 2025, the episode exposed a structural tension at the heart of Botswana's regional policy: the country benefits enormously from SACU membership while simultaneously resisting the liberalisation that would deepen it. Botswana has also been criticised for pursuing bilateral trade deals that, while beneficial nationally, do not advance regional markets or support intra-African trade (IAI TV 2025).

This article argues that these apparent contradictions are not anomalies but the logical outcome of Botswana's structural position within SACU and its fiscal dependence on diamond revenues. The customs union's revenue-sharing formula, which historically favoured the smaller member states through the "enhancement factor" multiplier of 1.42, has made Botswana fiscally dependent on trade revenue that it does not control (Grynberg and Motswapong 2012). SACU transfers contribute 30–40 per cent of Botswana's annual government income, a share both indispensable to fiscal sustainability and vulnerable to external decisions about tariff structures (Tamasiga et al. 2025). This dependence creates a peculiar incentive structure: Botswana benefits enormously from SACU membership while resisting the liberalisation that would deepen it. The result is a pattern of instrumental regionalism in which Botswana participates in regional institutions to secure access to SACU revenue and to position itself as a gateway to Southern African markets, but resists the deeper integration that would require sacrificing policy autonomy and fiscal revenue.

The article makes three contributions. First, it provides the first systematic integration of Botswana's multiple trade commitments—SACU, SADC, EPA, TFTA, AfCFTA—into a single analytical framework. Second, it advances a fiscal-dependence explanation for Botswana's apparent non-compliance with regional trade obligations, arguing that the revenue-sharing formula creates incentives for instrumental rather than substantive engagement. Third, it draws implications for the AfCFTA, arguing that Botswana's experience illustrates the limits of integration strategies that do not address the fiscal foundations of member state trade policy.

The argument proceeds as follows. Section 2 develops the theoretical framework, drawing on customs union theory and the political economy of African regionalism. Section 3 examines Botswana's trade policy architecture and the compliance question. Section 4 analyses the fiscal foundations of instrumental regionalism, focusing on the SACU revenue-sharing formula and diamond dependence. Section 5 assesses the EU–SADC EPA and Botswana's sectoral interests, particularly beef. Section 6 evaluates Botswana's AfCFTA strategy and its structural constraints. Section 7 discusses the implications for African regionalism, and Section 8 concludes with policy recommendations.

2. Theoretical Framework: Customs Unions, Fiscal Dependence, and Instrumental Regionalism

2.1 Customs Union Theory and the Revenue Problem

The classical theory of customs unions, following Viner (1950), identifies two effects of preferential liberalisation: trade creation, which occurs when high-cost domestic production is replaced by lower-cost imports from a partner, and trade diversion, which occurs when low-cost imports from a non-partner are replaced by higher-cost imports from a partner. The welfare effects of a customs union depend on the balance between these two effects. A customs union is more likely to be welfare-enhancing when trade creation dominates trade diversion, when the common external tariff is low, and when the member states are "natural" trading partners with complementary production structures.

For developing countries, and particularly for small, landlocked states in Southern Africa, the revenue implications of customs unions are as important as the welfare implications. Customs unions pool tariff revenue and distribute it according to a negotiated formula. For member states with limited domestic tax capacity, customs revenue can constitute a significant share of government income. The design of the revenue-sharing formula therefore shapes the fiscal incentives of member states and, by extension, their trade policy preferences. This insight is central to understanding Botswana's behaviour within SACU and its approach to the AfCFTA.

The SACU revenue-sharing formula is distinctive in the degree to which it favours the smaller member states. The 1969 formula included an "enhancement factor" multiplier of 1.42 to compensate Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (now Eswatini) for the price-raising effects of the common external tariff and for the lack of mechanisms to induce investment in the periphery (Grynberg and Motswapong 2012; Africa Portal 2023). The 2002 SACU Agreement maintained the asymmetry, and the recent renegotiation of the formula was even more favourable to the BLNS countries (de la Rocha 2003). The result is a fiscal architecture in which the smaller member states receive a disproportionate share of common revenue, creating strong incentives to preserve the customs union even as they resist the liberalisation that would deepen it.

2.2 The Political Economy of African Regionalism

The political economy literature on African regionalism provides essential context for understanding Botswana's behaviour. Söderbaum (2004) and Bach (2016) distinguish between formal regionalism—the treaties, protocols, and institutions that governments establish—and real or trans-state regionalism—the actual flows of goods, people, and capital across borders. The gap between the two is often wide in Africa, where formal integration commitments coexist with informal cross-border trade, weak implementation, and the persistence of national policy autonomy.

Gibb (2009) argues that African regionalism has been driven by a combination of developmental, security, and diplomatic motives, and that the resulting arrangements are often "regime-boosting" rather than genuinely integrative. Hartzenberg (2011) observes that African countries have accumulated multiple, overlapping memberships in regional economic communities, creating a "spaghetti bowl" of commitments that are often inconsistent and rarely enforced. Krapohl and Fink (2013) distinguish between different "paths" of regional integration, arguing that Southern Africa's path has been characterised by hegemonic leadership (South Africa), institutional weakness, and a persistent gap between formal commitments and actual outcomes.

This literature suggests that regional integration in Africa is often instrumental: governments participate in regional institutions to achieve objectives—access to markets, revenue, diplomatic prestige, or security—that are not necessarily reflected in the formal integration agenda. The concept of instrumental regionalism captures this dynamic. It is distinct from the "developmental regionalism" that the AfCFTA's architects envisage, in which integration is pursued as a deliberate strategy for structural transformation and industrial development. Instrumental regionalism is defensive, protective of sovereignty, and focused on short-term gains rather than long-term transformation.

2.3 The Fiscal Foundations of Trade Policy

The third element of the theoretical framework is the fiscal foundation of trade policy. In countries where customs revenue constitutes a significant share of government income, trade policy is not merely a matter of trade; it is a matter of fiscal sustainability. Governments are reluctant to liberalise tariffs if the revenue loss would be difficult to replace through other taxes. This is particularly true in countries with limited domestic tax capacity, large informal sectors, and high dependence on a narrow range of exports.

Botswana's fiscal dependence on SACU revenue is an extreme case of this general phenomenon. Unlike most developing countries, Botswana does not collect customs duties directly; it receives a share of the common revenue pool administered by SACU. This means that Botswana's fiscal position is determined not only by its own trade policy but by the trade policies of its SACU partners, particularly South Africa, which administers the common external tariff. Botswana's trade policy is therefore doubly constrained: it cannot use tariffs to protect domestic industries without SACU agreement, and it cannot easily replace lost customs revenue with domestic taxes. The result is a structural incentive to preserve the fiscal status quo and to resist liberalisation that would reduce the common revenue pool.

3. Botswana's Trade Policy Architecture and the Compliance Question

3.1 The Multiple Layers of Engagement

Botswana's regional trade commitments are exceptional in their density. The country is a member state of the SADC Protocol on Trade (2005), the SACU Agreement (2002), the SADC–EAC–COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area, the SACUM–UK Economic Partnership Agreement (2019), the EU–SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (2016), the Botswana–Zimbabwe Trade Agreement, and the Botswana–Malawi Trade Agreement, and a signatory to the AfCFTA (Edward 2023). It is also a member of the SADC–EAC–COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area, although as a member of SACU it faces particular constraints in implementing TFTA commitments (Anami 2025).

This architecture reflects Botswana's strategic position as a small, landlocked state that depends on access to regional markets but also benefits from the stability and predictability that regional agreements provide. Botswana's trade policy objectives, as articulated in the 2019 National Trade Policy, include diversification, export promotion, and integration into regional value chains (WTO 2019). The country's development plans—Vision 2036, the National Transformation Strategy, and NDP12—all identify regional integration as an instrument for achieving economic diversification (Business Weekly 2024). Botswana's AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy, developed in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), seeks to "increase exports and enhance regional trade flows" while identifying SACU regional value chain sectors in agro-processing, clothing and textiles, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, automotive, green minerals, and mineral beneficiation (Daily News 2025).

3.2 The Compliance Deficit

Yet this formal architecture of commitment coexists with a significant compliance deficit. Edward (2023) provides the most systematic assessment to date of Botswana's compliance with its regional trade obligations. The study finds that "from the year 2018, Botswana has been implementing bans and restrictions on the importation of certain merchandise from its trading states" and that "the bans and restrictions that Botswana has implemented are in violation of the regional trade agreements that Botswana is a member state of" (Edward 2023, 34–37). The bans, which initially targeted vegetables and later extended to grain products, were justified on food security and import substitution grounds. Botswana's vegetable import ban, introduced in 2018, was only phased out in 2025, with the first phase beginning in February 2025 and the second phase scheduled for April 2025 (GreenAgri 2025).

The bans attracted criticism from Botswana's regional partners. The Western Cape MEC for Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism welcomed the lifting of the vegetable ban as a step that would "encourage increased trade among Southern African Customs Union (SACU) members, who view the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a critical tool for developing regional value chains and enhancing exports" (SA News 2025). The implication was clear: the ban had been an obstacle to regional integration. Critics have argued that Botswana's grain import bans, while pitched as food security measures, "risk higher prices, smuggling, and weakened regional trade" (Africa-Press 2025). The bans have also been described as "bad economics" incompatible with Botswana's stated commitment to regional integration (Tamasiga et al. 2025).

The compliance deficit is not merely a matter of specific policy measures. It reflects a deeper tension between Botswana's formal commitments to regional integration and its actual policy practice. Edward (2023) notes that the study assessed Botswana's compliance with regional trade agreements with specific reference to trade policy and found that Botswana has been "trading in good faith with its regional trading states" only up to a point, but that the bans and restrictions violate the country's obligations. The study concludes with recommendations for Botswana to comply with its regional trade agreements, implying that compliance is currently incomplete.

3.3 The SACU Constraint

Botswana's compliance deficit cannot be understood without reference to its position within SACU. As a customs union, SACU requires all member states to apply a common external tariff. This means that Botswana cannot unilaterally impose tariffs on imports from outside SACU without the agreement of its partners, and that any liberalisation of its external tariff must be coordinated with South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini. The SACU Agreement constrains Botswana's ability to use trade policy as a diversification instrument. As Edward (2023) notes, "a further shortcoming in the legal structures that negatively impacts on the implementation of international agreements is the lack of the power to enforce it between countries" (World Bank 2003, cited in Edward 2023, 23). The SACU arrangement thus creates a paradox: Botswana benefits from the revenue that SACU generates, but is constrained in using trade policy to promote the diversification that would reduce its dependence on that revenue.

The constraint is particularly acute in the context of the AfCFTA. As a customs union, SACU has a common external tariff, which means that Botswana's trade with AfCFTA partner states outside SACU is governed by the SACU tariff schedule rather than by Botswana's own preferences (Tralac 2024). This limits Botswana's ability to use AfCFTA preferences strategically and means that its participation in the continental market is mediated through SACU. The TFTA experience is instructive: as of 2025, five COMESA member states had not fully joined the TFTA, and the agreement was yet to be fully implemented, with tariff liberalisation between SACU and the EAC pending (Anami 2025). Botswana, as a SACU member, is part of this institutional bottleneck.

4. The Fiscal Foundations of Instrumental Regionalism

4.1 The SACU Revenue-Sharing Formula

The SACU revenue-sharing formula is the single most important determinant of Botswana's fiscal position and, by extension, its trade policy. The formula, established in its current form in 1969 and revised in 2002, allocates customs, excise, and additional duties collected in the SACU common customs area to member states according to a negotiated formula. The 1969 formula included an "enhancement factor" multiplier of 1.42 to compensate the smaller members—Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland—for the price-raising effects of the common external tariff and for the lack of mechanisms to induce investment in the peripheral countries (Grynberg and Motswapong 2012; Africa Portal 2023).

The formula has been highly favourable to Botswana. Under the 1969 agreement, South Africa's share of the common revenue pool stood at about 20 per cent in 2001, compared with South Africa's 95 per cent share of SACU GDP (Africa Portal 2023). The 2002 revision maintained the asymmetry in favour of the smaller members, and the recent renegotiation of the SACU revenue-distribution formula was even more favourable to the BLNS countries (de la Rocha 2003). The revenues that Botswana receives from SACU are not merely a transfer; they are a structural feature of its fiscal system.

4.2 The Magnitude of Fiscal Dependence

The magnitude of Botswana's dependence on SACU revenue is striking. SACU revenue-sharing from the Common Revenue Pool—comprising customs duties, excise taxes, and development allocations—contributes 30–40 per cent of Botswana's annual government income (Tamasiga et al. 2025). Diamonds contribute approximately 80 per cent of the nation's export earnings and nearly one-third of fiscal revenues (Tamasiga et al. 2025). Together, SACU transfers and diamond revenues account for the overwhelming majority of Botswana's fiscal resources. The government's fiscal space is therefore doubly constrained: it depends on a commodity whose global market is volatile and declining, and on a customs union whose tariff structures are determined collectively and are subject to external pressure for liberalisation.

The diamond dependence is well documented. Botswana's diamond exports fluctuated from a maximum of US$7.3 billion in 2014 to a low of US$3.8 billion in 2020, and the global diamond market's decline continues to affect the country's financial stability (World Bank 2024). Diamond still accounts for roughly 72 per cent of exports, largely unchanged from three decades ago (Daily News 2026). The International Monetary Fund has flagged deepening growth bottlenecks as Botswana's diamond model comes under strain (PersFin 2026). The government has responded by prioritising economic diversification, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture (Business Insider Africa 2026). But the pace of diversification remains insufficient to offset the potential volatility in diamond and SACU revenues (Tamasiga et al. 2025).

4.3 The Incentive Structure of Instrumental Regionalism

The combination of SACU revenue dependence and diamond dependence creates a distinctive incentive structure for Botswana's trade policy. On the one hand, Botswana benefits enormously from SACU membership: the revenue it receives from the common pool exceeds what it would collect under a purely national tariff regime, and the customs union provides access to the South African market, by far the largest in the region. On the other hand, Botswana is constrained by SACU membership: it cannot unilaterally liberalise its external tariff, it cannot negotiate independent trade agreements without SACU coordination, and it is vulnerable to external decisions about tariff structures that reduce the revenue pool.

This creates incentives for instrumental regionalism: participation in regional institutions to secure access to SACU revenue and to position Botswana as a gateway to Southern African markets, combined with resistance to the deeper integration that would require sacrificing policy autonomy and fiscal revenue. The import bans of 2018–2025 are a case in point. The bans were justified on food security and import substitution grounds, but they also served to protect Botswana's agricultural sector from competition from South African producers—producers who benefit from the same SACU common external tariff that generates Botswana's revenue. The bans were thus a way of having it both ways: Botswana continued to receive SACU revenue while simultaneously protecting its producers from the liberalisation that SACU membership implies.

The same logic applies to Botswana's approach to the AfCFTA. The country has developed an AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy and has identified priority value chains in agro-processing, clothing and textiles, pharmaceuticals, and automotive sectors (Daily News 2025). It has piloted electronic certificates of origin under SADC and has invested in trade-related infrastructure, including the Kazungula Bridge and One-Stop Border Post with Zambia (Daily News 2025). But these initiatives coexist with the structural constraints of SACU membership and the fiscal imperative of preserving revenue. Botswana's AfCFTA strategy is therefore best understood as an attempt to diversify export markets and attract investment without fundamentally altering the fiscal architecture that makes SACU membership indispensable.

5. The EU–SADC EPA and Botswana's Sectoral Interests

5.1 The EPA and Botswana's Trade Interests

The EU–SADC Economic Partnership Agreement, signed in June 2016 and provisionally applied from October 2016, is the most significant North–South trade agreement to which Botswana is a party. The EPA grants Botswana—along with Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Eswatini—100 per cent duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market for all products, with the exception of South Africa, whose access is governed by a separate protocol (European Commission 2025). The EPA includes asymmetric provisions in favour of SADC EPA countries, including the exclusion of sensitive products from liberalisation, flexible rules of origin, and special safeguards (European Commission 2025). Trade between the EU and the SADC EPA countries reached €51 billion in 2024, and since the EPA began provisional application in 2016, trade in goods between the parties has increased by 37 per cent, with SADC exports rising by 50 per cent and EU exports by 21 per cent (European Commission 2025).

For Botswana, the most significant trade interest in the EPA is beef. Botswana's beef export sector is of critical importance to the rural poor, and the EPA's provisions for beef exports to the EU are among the most economically sensitive elements of the agreement. Mbatha and Charalambides (2008) provide the most detailed analysis of the EPA's implications for Botswana's beef export markets. They argue that the interim SADC EPA "may have been economically sensible in protecting Botswana's rural poor, at least in the short run" by maintaining preferential access for beef exports to the EU market. By tracing trade flows from the border to specifically poor sectors of the country, they found that the beef exports sector is of significant importance to poor and rural communities, and that the tariff bands associated with preferential agreements with the EU were "most beneficial in comparison to the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and the South Africa–EU Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) tariff bands" (Mbatha and Charalambides 2008, 410–432).

5.2 The Long-Run Costs of the EPA

However, Mbatha and Charalambides also argue that the EPA "will most likely have far reaching long run costs on regional economic development and institutional integration, within the SADC and Southern African Customs Union (SACU)" (Mbatha and Charalambides 2008, 410–432). The EPA's reciprocity requirements—Botswana, as part of the SACU group, has committed to removing customs duties on around 86 per cent of imports from the EU—mean that Botswana must open its market to EU products, including agricultural products that compete with domestic production (European Commission 2025). The EPA's rules of origin, while more flexible than those of the Cotonou Agreement, still require compliance with specific processing requirements that may be difficult for Botswana's small-scale producers to satisfy.

The EPA thus presents Botswana with a familiar dilemma. It secures access to the EU market for beef exports, which is vital to the rural economy. But it also requires liberalisation of Botswana's import regime, which exposes domestic producers to EU competition and reduces the tariff revenue that flows into the SACU common pool. The EPA's development provisions, which identify trade-related areas that can benefit from funding, have been criticised for limited disbursement and weak implementation (LSE Consulting 2021). The EPA has not delivered the transformative impact that its architects envisaged, and for Botswana, its benefits are concentrated in a single sector—beef—while its costs are diffuse across the agricultural sector and the fiscal system.

5.3 The Rules of Origin Question

The rules of origin under the SADC–EU EPA have been a particular concern for Botswana. The interim EPA's rules of origin provide for "single transformation" requirements for textiles and clothing, more flexible than the double transformation rules that had been proposed (BURS 2007). Botswana's customs officials have undergone training on the EPA's diagonal cumulation provisions, which, once fully applied, "will facilitate intra-regional trade between the SADC-EPA states and enable development of efficient regional value chains" (Business Weekly 2022). Botswana has negotiated for the retention of policy space to impose export taxes for purposes of beneficiation (Daily News 2014).

Yet the rules of origin remain complex and costly to administer. The World Customs Organization has conducted advanced training workshops on rules of origin for Botswana's customs officials, indicating that capacity constraints remain a challenge (WCO 2024). The SADC EPA Network has argued that the EU's proposal for the rules of origin "appears to place a higher priority on EU defensive concerns than on promoting regional integration in SADC" (SADC EPA Network 2024). For Botswana, the rules of origin are not merely a technical matter; they determine whether Botswana's exports can actually access the preferences that the EPA ostensibly provides. The gap between formal market access and effective market access is a recurring theme in Botswana's trade performance.

6. Botswana and the AfCFTA: Ambition Constrained by Structure

6.1 The AfCFTA Implementation Strategy

Botswana's engagement with the AfCFTA is formally ambitious. The country is developing a National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy in partnership with UNECA (Daily News 2024). The strategy seeks to "increase exports and enhance regional trade flows" and identifies priority sectors for SACU regional value chains, including agro-processing, clothing and textiles, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, automotive, green minerals, and mineral beneficiation (Daily News 2025). For the SADC regional value chain, priority sectors include agro-processing, clothing and textiles, and pharmaceuticals, complemented by the AfCFTA automotive strategy (Daily News 2025). Botswana has also invested in trade-related infrastructure, including the Kazungula Bridge and One-Stop Border Post, which have reduced transit times and transport costs (Daily News 2025). The Botswana Investment and Trade Centre promotes exports through initiatives such as the Botswana Exporter Development Programme and outward trade missions to Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and Kenya (Daily News 2025).

Botswana's leading non-diamond export products include ignition wiring sets, meat and meat products, salt and soda ash, citrus fruits, automobile batteries, PVC tanks and pipes, and underground mining vehicles (Daily News 2025). The country is actively seeking to expand trade beyond traditional partners such as the EU (Daily News 2025). It has pitched itself as a gateway for Nigerian businesses seeking access to SADC under the AfCFTA (Business Weekly 2026). SADC's Executive Secretary has urged Botswana's private sector to take the lead in driving AfCFTA implementation, emphasising that "the key question is no longer whether to implement AfCFTA, but how to translate it into tangible commercial outcomes for businesses and citizens" (GIZ 2026).

6.2 The Structural Constraints

Yet Botswana's AfCFTA ambitions are constrained by the same structural factors that have shaped its trade policy historically. The first constraint is SACU membership. As a customs union, SACU has a common external tariff, which means that Botswana's trade with AfCFTA partner states outside SACU is governed by the SACU tariff schedule. Botswana cannot unilaterally offer tariff preferences to AfCFTA partners without the agreement of its SACU partners. This limits Botswana's ability to use AfCFTA preferences strategically and means that its participation in the continental market is mediated through SACU (Tralac 2024).

The second constraint is fiscal dependence. The AfCFTA's tariff liberalisation provisions will reduce the revenue that SACU collects from customs duties, and therefore reduce the revenue that Botswana receives from the common pool. UNECA (2023) has estimated that the overall tariff revenue impact of the AfCFTA is positive in the medium term, as increases in the volume of imports would improve collections even with lower tariffs. But for Botswana, the transition costs could be significant, particularly if the AfCFTA's tariff cuts reduce the SACU revenue pool before the volume effects materialise. Botswana's fiscal dependence on SACU revenue creates a disincentive to support the deep liberalisation that the AfCFTA requires.

The third constraint is the compliance deficit. Botswana's import bans of 2018–2025 were widely criticised as violating its regional trade obligations, and while the vegetable ban has been phased out, the precedent of unilateral trade restrictions remains. The grain import bans, which were still in place as of 2025, have been described as incompatible with the AfCFTA's commitment to free trade (Africa-Press 2025). Botswana's willingness to impose import bans when it perceives a domestic political or food security imperative suggests that its commitment to AfCFTA liberalisation may be conditional and reversible.

6.3 The Diversification Imperative

The underlying challenge for Botswana is economic diversification. The diamond model that has sustained Botswana's growth for half a century is under strain. The global diamond market's decline, combined with the structural challenges of the industry, has exposed the risks of a monolithic economy (Forbes Africa 2026). Botswana's trade policy—its participation in SACU, SADC, the EPA, and the AfCFTA—is ultimately an instrument for addressing this diversification challenge. The AfCFTA, in particular, offers Botswana the prospect of access to a continental market of 1.3 billion people, which could provide the demand necessary to support new export industries.

But diversification requires more than market access. It requires investment, technology transfer, skills development, and institutional capacity. Botswana's AfCFTA strategy recognises this, identifying value chains in agro-processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and automotive sectors where Botswana has or could develop comparative advantage. Yet the private sector has highlighted structural challenges including low industrialisation, high compliance costs, and logistics barriers (LinkedIn 2026). Financing options and inadequate incentives have been identified as key constraints, particularly for the small and medium enterprises that dominate Botswana's business landscape (Business Weekly 2024). Botswana's participation in the AfCFTA will only be transformative if it is accompanied by domestic industrial policy, investment in infrastructure and skills, and a fiscal strategy that reduces dependence on SACU transfers and diamond revenues.

7. Discussion: The Customs Union Paradox and Implications for African Regionalism

7.1 The Paradox Restated

Botswana's experience illustrates a paradox at the heart of customs union membership for small, resource-dependent states. The customs union provides fiscal revenue that is essential to government operations, market access that is vital to export performance, and institutional stability that reduces transaction costs. Yet it also constrains policy autonomy, limits the ability to use trade policy strategically, and creates dependence on decisions made collectively or by a dominant partner. For Botswana, the paradox is particularly acute because the revenue that SACU provides is both indispensable and, in the long run, unsustainable. Diamond revenues are declining, and the global market for diamonds is structurally challenged. SACU revenue is vulnerable to trade liberalisation at the multilateral, continental, and bilateral levels. Botswana's fiscal model is therefore living on borrowed time, but the political economy of SACU membership creates strong incentives to postpone adjustment.

7.2 Instrumental Regionalism and the AfCFTA

The concept of instrumental regionalism helps explain why Botswana's AfCFTA strategy, despite its formal ambition, is unlikely to deliver transformative results in the short to medium term. Botswana's participation in the AfCFTA is mediated through SACU, which limits its ability to use AfCFTA preferences strategically. Its fiscal dependence on SACU revenue creates a disincentive to support deep liberalisation. Its demonstrated willingness to impose unilateral trade restrictions when domestic imperatives demand it suggests that its commitment to AfCFTA liberalisation is conditional. And its diversification challenge requires investments and policies that go well beyond trade liberalisation.

This does not mean that Botswana will not benefit from the AfCFTA. The agreement may increase market access for Botswana's beef, textiles, and other products; it may attract investment in sectors where Botswana has comparative advantage; and it may provide a framework for regional value chain development. But these benefits will be realised only if Botswana addresses the structural constraints that have historically limited its regional engagement. Without fiscal diversification, Botswana's trade policy will continue to be shaped by the imperative of preserving SACU revenue rather than by the opportunities of continental integration.

7.3 Implications for African Regionalism

Botswana's experience has broader implications for the theory and practice of African regionalism. First, it demonstrates that fiscal dependence can be a powerful constraint on integration. The SACU revenue-sharing formula, designed to compensate the smaller member states for the costs of customs union membership, has created a structure of incentives that privileges revenue preservation over liberalisation. This is not unique to Botswana; similar dynamics may be observed in other customs unions and in countries with high dependence on trade taxes.

Second, it illustrates the gap between formal commitments and actual policy practice that characterises much of African regionalism. Botswana is formally committed to deep integration through SACU, SADC, the EPA, the TFTA, and the AfCFTA, but its actual policy practice—the import bans, the reluctance to liberalise, the mediation of AfCFTA participation through SACU—suggests a more instrumental approach. This gap is not necessarily hypocritical; it reflects the genuine tensions between the demands of regional integration and the imperatives of domestic fiscal sustainability.

Third, it suggests that the AfCFTA's success will depend not only on tariff schedules and rules of origin but on the willingness and ability of member states to address the fiscal foundations of their trade policy. The AfCFTA's architects have recognised this to some extent, providing for flexibility and special and differential treatment for countries with revenue concerns. But the agreement does not provide a mechanism for fiscal diversification or for compensating member states for revenue losses. Without such mechanisms, countries like Botswana may remain trapped in a cycle of instrumental regionalism, formally committed to integration but structurally constrained from realising it.

8. Conclusion and Policy Recommendations

Botswana's engagement with regional trade agreements is characterised by a fundamental paradox. The country is one of the most deeply embedded participants in Southern African regional integration, with membership in SACU, SADC, the TFTA, the EU–SADC EPA, and the AfCFTA. Yet this formal commitment coexists with a pattern of unilateral trade restrictions that violate its obligations and undermine the integration project. The explanation for this paradox lies in Botswana's fiscal dependence on SACU revenue and diamond exports, and in the incentive structure that this dependence creates.

SACU revenue contributes 30–40 per cent of Botswana's government income. Diamonds contribute approximately 80 per cent of export earnings and nearly one-third of fiscal revenues. Together, these two revenue streams make Botswana's fiscal position dependent on factors that it does not control: the global diamond market and the collective decisions of SACU member states about tariff structures. This dependence creates strong incentives for Botswana to preserve the fiscal status quo—to maintain SACU membership, to resist liberalisation that would reduce the revenue pool, and to protect domestic producers from competition even when such protection violates regional obligations. The import bans of 2018–2025 are the clearest manifestation of this logic.

The implication for the AfCFTA is sobering. Botswana's AfCFTA strategy is formally ambitious, identifying priority value chains and investing in trade infrastructure. But the structural constraints of SACU membership and fiscal dependence limit what Botswana can achieve. Botswana cannot unilaterally implement AfCFTA tariff preferences; it must act through SACU. It cannot afford deep liberalisation that would reduce SACU revenue; it must preserve the fiscal status quo. And it has demonstrated a willingness to impose unilateral trade restrictions when domestic imperatives demand it. Botswana's participation in the AfCFTA is therefore likely to remain shallow and instrumental, at least in the short to medium term.

Policy Recommendations

For Botswana:

Prioritise fiscal diversification. Reduce dependence on SACU revenue and diamond exports through domestic revenue mobilisation (broadening the tax base, improving tax administration), economic diversification (developing non-resource tradable sectors), and strategic investment in human capital and infrastructure.
Develop a fiscal transition strategy. Prepare for the eventual decline of SACU revenue by modelling different scenarios for tariff liberalisation under the AfCFTA and developing contingency plans for revenue replacement.
Strengthen domestic industrial policy. Use the policy space available under the AfCFTA and SADC to support value chain development in agro-processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and other priority sectors, while ensuring compliance with regional obligations.
Improve trade facilitation. Continue investing in infrastructure (Kazungula Bridge, One-Stop Border Posts) and customs modernisation to reduce the transaction costs that undermine Botswana's competitiveness.
Engage constructively in SACU reform. Work with SACU partners to develop a more sustainable revenue-sharing formula and to strengthen the institutional mechanisms for coordinating trade policy.

For the AfCFTA Secretariat and Regional Partners:

Address the fiscal foundations of trade policy. Develop mechanisms to support member states in managing the revenue transition associated with tariff liberalisation, including adjustment funds, technical assistance, and capacity-building.
Recognise the role of customs unions. Develop a clear framework for the participation of customs unions (SACU, EAC, ECOWAS) in the AfCFTA, recognising that member states' trade policies are often determined collectively.
Strengthen enforcement mechanisms. Address the compliance deficit by strengthening dispute settlement and peer review processes, and by providing incentives for compliance.
Support developmental regionalism. Move beyond tariff liberalisation to support industrial policy, value chain development, and structural transformation in member states.

For International Partners:

Align trade and development cooperation. Ensure that trade-related development assistance supports fiscal diversification, industrial policy, and trade facilitation in ways that are consistent with the AfCFTA and regional integration objectives.
Support African-owned integration. Recognise that the AfCFTA and the TFTA are African-owned initiatives and align external trade agreements (EPAs, bilateral FTAs) with these continental and regional frameworks.
Provide predictable and adequate development finance. Support the implementation of the AfCFTA and the TFTA through predictable, long-term development finance that is aligned with African priorities.

References

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Africa Portal (2023). Economic Development of Botswana. Johannesburg: South African Institute of International Affairs.

Anami, L. (2025). Five countries flagged for holding up Comesa-EAC-SADC mega trade bloc. Zawya, 20 October.

Bach, D. C. (2016). Regionalism in Africa: Genealogies, Institutions and Trans-state Networks. London: Routledge.

Bhagwati, J. (1995). U.S. trade policy: The infatuation with FTAs. Columbia University Discussion Paper Series No. 726.

BURS (2007). SADC–EU Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC–EU EPA). Gaborone: Botswana Unified Revenue Services.

Business Insider Africa (2026). A $3.7 billion loss is pushing Botswana to look beyond diamonds. Business Insider Africa, 20 March.

Business Weekly (2022). Customs officials undergo training in special EPA programmes. Business Weekly, 19 August.

Business Weekly (2024). More needs to be done to rip AfCFTA benefits – BEMA boss. Business Weekly, 12 April.

Business Weekly (2026). Botswana pitches itself as Nigeria's gateway to SADC under AfCFTA. Business Weekly, 10 August.

Daily News (2014). SADC EU concludes negotiations. Daily News, 3 August.

Daily News (2024). National AfCFTA strategy to capitalise on international trade. Daily News, 12 March.

Daily News (2025). Botswana commits to AfCFTA operationalisation. Daily News, 4 November.

Daily News (2026). Govt turns economic adversity into opportunities. Daily News, 16 July.

de la Rocha, M. (2003). The Cotonou Agreement and its Implications for the Regional Trade Agenda in Eastern and Southern Africa. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3090. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Edward, M. K. C. (2023). An Assessment of Botswana's Compliance with Regional Trade Agreements with Specific Reference to Trade Policy. Master of Laws thesis, North-West University, Potchefstroom.

European Commission (2025). EU–Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Brussels: DG Trade.

Forbes Africa (2026). Botswana's trade minister talks diversification strategy as S&P ratings downgrade shows urgency. Forbes Africa, 19 March.

Gibb, R. (2009). Regional integration and Africa's development trajectory: Meta-theories, expectations and reality. Third World Quarterly, 30(4), 701–721.

GIZ (2026). Botswana's private sector mobilised to drive AfCFTA implementation. GIZ, 6 February.

GreenAgri (2025). Botswana eases vegetable import ban: Boost for regional trade and the Western Cape. GreenAgri, 17 February.

Grynberg, R., & Motswapong, M. (2012). SACU Revenue Sharing Formula: The History of an Equation. BIDPA Working Paper No. 33. Gaborone: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis.

Hartzenberg, T. (2011). Regional Integration in Africa. WTO Staff Working Paper ERSD-2011-14. Geneva: World Trade Organization.

Hurt, S. R. (2003). Co-operation and coercion? The Cotonou Agreement between the European Union and ACP states and the end of the Lomé Convention. Third World Quarterly, 24(1), 161–176.

IAI TV (2025). Africa must create a bloc like the EU to have real global power. IAI TV, 20 November.

Kalenga, P. (2012). Regional Integration in SADC: Retreating or Forging Ahead? tralac Working Paper. Stellenbosch: Trade Law Centre.

Khandelwal, P. (2004). COMESA and SADC: Prospects and Challenges for Regional Trade Integration. IMF Working Paper WP/04/227. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.

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LSE Consulting (2021). Evaluation of the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with Eastern and Southern Africa. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mbatha, C. N., & Charalambides, N. (2008). What is really in the economic partnership agreements for the Southern African region? A perspective from Botswana's beef export markets. Agrekon, 47(4), 410–432.

Murray-Evans, P. (2019). Power in North–South Trade Negotiations: Making the European Union's Economic Partnership Agreements. London: Routledge.

PersFin (2026). IMF flags deepening growth bottlenecks as Botswana's diamond model comes under strain. PersFin, 6 January.

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Söderbaum, F. (2004). The Political Economy of Regionalism: The Case of Southern Africa. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Tamasiga, P., Ouassou, E. H., Wambu, L. M., & Onyeaka, H. (2025). Agricultural Import Bans in Botswana: Evaluating Macroeconomic Trade-offs and SACU Revenue Implications Amid Criticism of 'Bad Economics'. Public Policy in Africa Initiative.

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Author's Note

Farouk Pandor is an independent researcher specialising in African trade policy, regional integration, and the political economy of Southern Africa. He is the author of the Botswana Stock Exchange blog, where he provides analysis on Botswana's economic and financial developments. Correspondence may be addressed to the author via the blog.

Acknowledgements: The author thanks colleagues and anonymous reviewers for their constructive engagement with earlier drafts of this article. The views expressed are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the positions of any institution with which the author is affiliated.

Declaration of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.

Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Power Metal to hold additional 58.7% interest in Kalahari Mineral – The Business Weekly & Review

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 06:05:00 +0000

“Thus, the Authority has not established any substantial lessening of competition concerns arising from the merger,” said CCA

Power Metal to hold additional 58.7% interest in Kalahari Mineral – The Business Weekly & Review

Kalahari Key Mineral Exploration (Proprietary) Limited – The Business Weekly & Review

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 06:03:00 +0000

Regulatory body unconditionally approves merger Power Metal’s stake in Kalahari Mineral to increase to 87.71% The Competition and Consumer Authority ...Kalahari Key Mineral Exploration (Proprietary) Limited – The Business Weekly & Review

De Beers taking Minerals Minister to court over bewildering diamond export obfuscation

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Wed, 31 May 2017 15:05:00 +0000

De Beers taking Minerals Minister to court over bewildering diamond export obfuscation

Photo by Duane Daws
De Beers Consolidated Mines taking Minerals Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to court.

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31ST MAY 2017

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African government is refusing to grant an exemption to diamond miningcompany De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) relating to the exportation of diamonds to neighbouring Botswana for aggregation, MiningWeekly Online can today report.

Aggregation is the process of mixing like-for-like rough diamonds from mines in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Canada.

Up to now, DBSA has received exemption yearly and once the aggregation process is complete, rough diamonds of higher value are re-imported back into South Africa for cutting and polishing, a diamond beneficiation exercise that provides jobs and adds value.

But Minerals Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has denied De Beers an exemption to enable this, despite the company exceeding all the legislated criteria for its 2017/18 levy exemption application.

As a consequence, De Beers RSA has approached the Pretoria High Court to set aside the Minister’s decision.

At last week’s annual general meeting of the Chamber of Mines, CEO Roger Baxter made the point that resorting to the courts by the mining industry should be seen as a legitimate process to arrive at outcomes that are in the national interest.

“One thing that you’ll see from the industry side in the last two years is that we’re not shy to engage government in court processes, because courts are there to protect our rights and to enforce our rights,” said Baxter, adding that the same route was also open to government.

While De Beers RSA must sell at least R3-billion worth of rough diamonds, 40% of them to South African diamond cutters and polishers, to qualify for the exemption in terms of Section 74 of the Diamond Export Levy Act, it actually more than trebled the required total sales level to R9.47-billion in the 12 months in question, with 43.3% going to local cutters and polishers – but it has had its levy exemption application turned down in spite of doing far more than the law demands.

De Beers’ South African sightholders employ more than 300 people in their cutting and polishing factories, representing 80% of the total local employment numbers, but sustaining employment at this level is dependent on local companies being able to access higher value rough diamonds from aggregated international production, which facilitates the running of viable businesses.

Section 74 was developed by the South African government to incentivise large diamond producers to support diamond manufacturing in South Africa, which it has succeeded in doing.

But Mining Weekly Online now understands that the enforcement of the 5% export levy, as a result of not being granted the Section 74 exemption, will have a further and dire consequence on DBCM's cash flow challenges.

De Beers – an Anglo American company – is currently investing $2-billion in the development of the Venetia underground diamond mine in Limpopo; through its Shining Light Jewellery Competition it brings new entrants into the South African jewellery industry; and through the establishment of the Kimberley International Diamond and Jewellery Academy it develops cutting and polishing skills.

In addition, De Beers last year launched a programme to mentor five small diamond cutting and polishing businesses, three of which are female-owned, in support of South Africa’s broad-based black economic empowerment objectives.

The company also provides these small cutters and polishers with aggregated rough diamond supply.

News of the bewildering Ministerial obfuscation arises at a time of increased financial stress in diamond mining circles. As reported by Mining Weekly Online, three Northern Cape subsidiaries of the Vancouver- and Johannesburg-listed Rockwell Diamonds are in business rescue after facing a liquidation application; Johannesburg-listed Trans Hex has put its Northern Cape Bloeddrif diamond operation on care and maintenance to alleviate financial strain; and Lace diamond mine in the Free State, held on the London-Aim by DiamondCorp, is in business rescue.

Now cash flow position of DBCM is being reduced by an export levy exemption being unexpectedly declined, necessitating work having to be done on the studying of options to mitigate the impact of the Minister's decision on sightholders, the local diamond beneficiation industry and DBCM itself.

De Beers taking Minerals Minister to court over bewildering diamond export obfuscation

Unusual Activity Spotted in BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L)

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Wed, 31 May 2017 14:56:00 +0000

Unusual Activity Spotted in BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L)

Geneva Contributor | May 31, 2017

Shares of BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L) have seen the needle move -3.13% or -0.05 in the most recent session. The LSE listed company saw a recent bid of $1.55 on 650000 volume.

Deep diving into the technical levels for BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L), we note that the equity currently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of 14.12. Active investors may choose to use this technical indicator as a stock evaluation tool. Used as a coincident indicator, the CCI reading above +100 would reflect strong price action which may signal an uptrend. On the flip side, a reading below -100 may signal a downtrend reflecting weak price action. Using the CCI as a leading indicator, technical analysts may use a +100 reading as an overbought signal and a -100 reading as an oversold indicator, suggesting a trend reversal.

BOTSWANA DIAMONDS’s Williams Percent Range or 14 day Williams %R currently sits at -51.72. The Williams %R oscillates in a range from 0 to -100. A reading between 0 and -20 would point to an overbought situation. A reading from -80 to -100 would signal an oversold situation. The Williams %R was developed by Larry Williams. This is a momentum indicator that is the inverse of the Fast Stochastic Oscillator.

Currently, the 14-day ADX for BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L) is sitting at 17.45. Generally speaking, an ADX value from 0-25 would indicate an absent or weak trend. A value of 25-50 would support a strong trend. A value of 50-75 would identify a very strong trend, and a value of 75-100 would lead to an extremely strong trend. ADX is used to gauge trend strength but not trend direction. Traders often add the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) to identify the direction of a trend.

The RSI, or Relative Strength Index, is a widely used technical momentum indicator that compares price movement over time. The RSI was created by J. Welles Wilder who was striving to measure whether or not a stock was overbought or oversold. The RSI may be useful for spotting abnormal price activity and volatility. The RSI oscillates on a scale from 0 to 100. The normal reading of a stock will fall in the range of 30 to 70. A reading over 70 would indicate that the stock is overbought, and possibly overvalued. A reading under 30 may indicate that the stock is oversold, and possibly undervalued. After a recent check, the 14-day RSIfor BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L) is currently at 50.74, the 7-day stands at 45.27, and the 3-day is sitting at 22.64.

Investors who have stayed on the sidelines may be considering if the markets will continue to rally higher. Staying vigilant and watching for signs of the next bear may prove to be a crucial element for helping to guide certain portfolio moves. Keeping an eye on historical corrections as well as sentiment and technicals, may help provide the proper insight needed. Investors may be mindful of any meaningful pullback or correction, and they may have a certain percentage in mind for when things seem to be getting out of hand. Cautious optimism may prove to be a profit saver when the bearish winds start to blow. Investors may need to figure out a plan for when to take some profit off the table. Conducting thorough fundamental research on stocks even after they have broken out may help the investor understand the reason behind the move, and whether it is likely to continue or if it is just a temporary spike.

Unusual Activity Spotted in BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L) | Geneva Journal

Botswana's Wilderness Safaris to bid for Air Botswana | Reuters

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Mon, 29 May 2017 14:13:00 +0000

GABORONE: 29th May 2017 (Reuters - Editors James Macharia and Jane Merriman)

Botswana's largest tourism company, Wilderness Safaris , plans to make a bid for Air Botswana, the country's loss-making national airline which the government wants to privatise.

Botswana put the airline up for sale in February, part of plans to privatise loss-making state-owned companies. The transport department said at the time it would consider full bids for Air Botswana, as well as joint ventures, ownership, franchising and concessions.

In March, Transport Minister Kitso Mokaila said at least 17 companies had expressed interest in Air Botswana, but he did not name them.

Wilderness Safaris said it planned to make a bid when it published its full-year results last week.

The company, which is also listed in Johannesburg, operates 50 luxury resorts across eight African countries and Wilderness Air operates 35 small aircrafts in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia mainly catering to tourists.

Botswana, whose main source of wealth is diamonds, has more than 30 state-owned enterprises, most of them loss making, in industries ranging from tourism and power to housing and finance.

Air Botswana operates four domestic routes and also provides cargo and air passenger services to Cape Town and Johannesburg from Gaborone, Francistown and the tourism hubs of Maun and Kasane.

The airline's losses, blamed on a large workforce and an aging fleet, prompted a turnaround plan that includes cutting costs and cancelling unprofitable routes.

Botswana's Wilderness Safaris to bid for Air Botswana | Reuters

Metal Tiger Plc ("Metal Tiger" or the "Company") Botswana Update

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 14:34:00 +0000

Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR) the London Stock Exchange AIM listed investor in strategic natural resource opportunities is pleased to note MOD Resources (ASX:MOD) announcement today with regard to the Company’s Joint Venture (“JV”) project with MOD Resources in the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana (70% MOD Resources / 30% Metal Tiger).

Metal Tiger notes that MOD has announced that it expects the results for Metal Capital’s scoping study for a potential open pit mining operation at T3 to be completed and announced during November, one month ahead of when previously anticipated. Metal Tiger notes that the scoping study has been conducted to evaluate the potential for a 9-10 year mine life with an initial 2Mtpa processing plant on site.

A copy of MOD’s announcement can be found here.

Alex Borrelli Chief Executive Officer of Metal Tiger commented:

“I am pleased to note the positive development that the scoping study will be completed nearly 1 month ahead of schedule. I look forward to meeting with our JV partners during their visit to London at the end of November and I am very encouraged by the recent gains in the price of copper and the potential to positively impact demand for copper assets”. SOURCE

Hopes shattered as TNMC caves in

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 09:49:00 +0000

Reacting to the mine closure, the Francistown mayor, Sylvia Muzila said the closure is a wake up call for all to join hands and come up with new strategies that can save the city’s economy.

As TNMC is located on the outskirts of the city, its +/-700 employees resided in Francistown and commuted to their workplace daily.

Muzila said the mines provided a high-income bracket, which elevated their buying power and boosted the economy of the city. She stated that the closure is already impacting on the city’s economy negatively as Francistown had a vision of attracting investors through the mines.

“This dream shattered when the mines closed down. This challenges us to diversify and come up with better ways of saving the city’s economy,” Muzila said.

She said the city’s unemployment rate has increased since hundreds of people were laid off.

Muzila said the closure has had a huge negative impact on businesses and individuals who took advantage of the mines.

“The closure will impact negatively on people’s assets as they might put them for sale or rental hence forcing property markets to drop. This will also affect us as the council because we will be forced to reduce our rates,” Muzila said.

She added: “When the property market drops, it will surely affect the city’s economy”.

She said through their Francistown Investment Forum , the local authority is busy fast-tracking its investment drive to attract quality investors into the city.

“We are calling for investors who are into manufacturing to set up factories here. This sector is labour intensive and as such it will create more openings and more possibilities for locals,” Muzila said.

Botswana Diamonds Starts Drilling at Orapa Pipe

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 09:30:00 +0000

Botswana Diamonds said drilling commenced at one of its kimberlite pipes in the Orapa region of Botswana.

The drilling started at pipe AK 22, within license PL 260, which is part of a 50:50 joint venture between the company and Russian miner ALROSA.

Botswana Diamonds will make a further announcement “as soon as practicable” about the start of drilling at license PL 135 in the Gope region, which is also being explored in partnership with ALROSA

Kalahari Desert drilling starts, says Botswana Diamonds | 20 October 2016 | Stock Market Wire

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 09:12:00 +0000

"The Gope drill campaign is breaking new ground in one of the most remote deserts on Earth. There are no people, even water must be transported long distances and the sand is deep. Temperatures can differ by 50 Celsius between day and night.

"No mining companies have ventured here before to undertake drilling programmes. And yet the preliminary geochemical and geophysical indicators are strongly positive. We are at the cutting edge of diamond exploration and are cautiously optimistic of finding kimberlites."

Metal Tiger plc UK Regulatory Announcement: Botswana T3 Resource Generation Update

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 09:08:00 +0000

Botswana T3 Resource Generation Update

Metal Tiger Plc

("Metal Tiger" or the "Company")

Botswana T3 Resource Generation Update

Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR) the London Stock Exchange AIM listed investor in strategic natural resource opportunities is pleased to advise that MOD Resources (ASX:MOD) the Company’s Joint Venture partner in Botswana has entered into a trading halt on the ASX until 26 September 2016 pending the release of the maiden JORC compliant resource for the T3 target in the Kalahari Copper Belt.

The trading halt temporarily suspends trading in the shares of MOD resources whilst the company processes price sensitive news and prepares relevant market announcements, in this case in respect of the T3 JORC compliant maiden resource. Following release of the price sensitive news, MOD resources will resume trading on the ASX.

The shares of Metal Tiger will however continue to trade on the AIM market in London and the Board of the Company look forward to releasing details of the T3 maiden resource statement very shortly.

For further information on the Company, visit: www.metaltigerplc.com:

Paul Johnson (Chief Executive Officer)		Tel: +44 (0)7766 465 617
Terry Grammer (Non- Executive Chairman)		Tel: +44 (0)207 099 0738
Sean Wyndham-Quin Neil Baldwin Nick Emerson Andy Thacker	Spark Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser) SI Capital (Sole Broker)	Tel: +44 (0) 2033 683 555 www.sparkadvisorypartners.com Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413 500

Notes to Editors:

Metal Tiger plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM Market (“AIM”) with the trading code MTR and invests in high potential mineral projects with a precious and strategic metals focus.

The Company’s target is to deliver a very high return for shareholders by investing in significantly undervalued and/or high potential opportunities in the mineral exploration and development sector timed to coincide, where possible, with a cyclical recovery in the exploration and mining markets. The Company’s key strategic objective is to ensure the distribution to shareholders of major returns achieved from disposals.

Metal Tiger’s Metal Projects Division is focused on the development of its key project interests in Botswana, Spain and Thailand. In Botswana Metal Tiger has a growing interest in the large and highly prospective Kalahari copper/silver belt. In Spain Metal Tiger the Company has tungsten and gold interests in the highly mineralised Extremadura region. In Thailand Metal Tiger has expanding interests over licences, applications and critical historical data covering antimony, copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc opportunities.

The Company has access to a diverse pipeline of new opportunities focused on the natural resource sector including physical resource projects, new natural resource centred technologies and resource sector related fintech opportunities. Pipeline projects deemed commercially viable may be undertaken by Metal Tiger or by an ISDX or AIM partner with whom the Company is engaged.

Metal Tiger also has an Asset Trading Division that holds various financial instruments for trading purposes including equities, warrants and royalty income. The aim of the division is to generate profits to reinvest into the Company’s project based activities.

Short Name: Metal Tiger plc

Category Code: MSCH

Sequence Number: 549951

Time of Receipt (offset from UTC): 20160922T093210+0100

Contacts

Metal Tiger plc

Mount Burgess Mining NL to target additional zinc resources in Botswana - Proactiveinvestors (AU)

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 06:58:00 +0000

Mount Burgess Mining NL to target additional zinc resources in Botswana

Mount Burgess Mining NL (ASX:MTB) has commissioned an exploration drilling program across the Kihabe Zinc Project in Botswana near the Namibian Border.

The 1200 metres drilling program will focus on additional zinc anomalies within the vicinity of the Kihabe and Nxuu zinc/lead deposits.

The Kihabe and Nxuu deposits have a combined resource of 25 million tonnes grading 3% zinc equivalent.

The new program will primarily focus on Target 52, a geochemical soil anomaly identified 2 kilometres southeast of the Nxuu deposit.

Significantly, the geochemical results suggest a possible mineralised strike length of 5+ kilometres, which is more than double that of the combined strike lengths of the Kihabe and Nxuu deposits.

Mount Burgess’ Kihabe Zinc Project has mineralisation occurring from 5 metres to 175 metres below the surface and, as such, could potentially be mined by means of open pit mining methods.

Metallurgical test work has generated zinc recoveries of greater than 90% and zinc and lead concentrates of good marketable grade.

Importantly, zinc is the best performing base metal so far this year and measured from its six-year low struck mid-January, zinc price has increased 58% to $2,336 a tonne earlier this month.

The new drilling program is anticipated to commence in mid-October 2016.

Mount Burgess’ share price has doubled since the beginning of 2016, last trading at $0.01

Precious Metals Mining in Botswana to 2020 - a Focus on the Diamond Industry

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:17:00 +0000

The country’s rough diamond production is expected to reach 25.3 million carats by 2014 and 32.2 million carats in 2020. In 2009, the county’s diamond industry declined sharply due to the global economic crisis, emphasizing the country’s reliance on export demand, leading to a fall in rough diamond production. Botswana’s rough diamonds are mostly exported to the US, Europe and Japan. These three destinations made up 84.7% of the country’s total exports in 2012.

BTC shares bill gets parley thumbs up

noreply@blogger.com (Press Cafe Partner Specials) — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:15:00 +0000

“This therefore calls for the amendment of BTC (Transition) Act 2008 to indicate that the Employee Share Ownership Plan to be established will be exclusively for citizens,” he explained. The details of the Employee Share Ownership Plan are currently being finalised.

In a related development, legislator, Tawana Moremi of the Ngamiland constituency objected saying he was afraid the amendment will tamper with people’s rights, adding that shareholders have a right to sell “to whoever they want.”

Turnstar Holdings Worried About Botswana’s Excess Supply Of Office Space

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 11:31:00 +0000

“There is already evidence of declining base rentals and hardening investment yields due to an oversupply of office space and shopping centres around the city,” the statement added.

Turnstar Holdings which also has business interest in Tanzania said its core business is to invest in real estate property and generate rental income.

The company also said it will also embark imminent expansion projects especially Game City in Botswana and Mlimani City properties in Tanzania.

“Game City will be expanded to include additional retail space including a fashion avenue, restaurant area including a food court, entertainment area and a parkade. Mlimani City will be expanded to include additional retail and commercial space including basement parking, additions to the Conference Centre and a Botanical Garden,” said the company’s report.

Letshego Bank Namibia Limited Gets Banking Licences

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:03:00 +0000

"The provisional licenses for authorisation are effectively valid for a period of six months from the effective date of 15 July 2014. After this period, the bank may issue a certificate of authorisation to these entities to conduct banking business, provided that they satisfactorily fulfilled the readiness requirements before commencing with banking operations," central bank spokesman, Ndangi Katoma said.

Tsodilo Resources: Exposure To Botswana's Undiscovered Mineral Riches - Tsodilo Resources Limited (OTCMKTS:TSDRF) | Seeking Alpha

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:42:00 +0000

Tsodilo Resources Limited (TSDRF), Includes: FQVLF

Summary

JV Partnership with First Quantum Minerals for Copper Exploration.
Xaudum Iron Project with Potential for 5-7 Billion Tonnes.
Botswana-based Prospect Generator with Company-Owned Drill Rigs.

(Editor's Note: Investor's should be mindful of the risks of transacting in illiquid securities such as TSDRF. Tsodilo's Canadian listing, TSD.V, offers an additional alternative, but is also highly illiquid.)

Featured Investment: Tsodilo Resources Ltd (CVE:TSD

Tsodilo Resources (OTC:TSDRF) an exploration/development company with operations in Botswana. The company has uniquely positioned itself as (1) a Botswana-based prospect generator, (2) an iron ore development play, and (3) a promising "carried interest" copper play. With a current market capitalization of ~ $40M, the company offers excellent speculative upside. Additionally, TSD's multi-pronged approach and strong shareholder base provides a decent Margin of Safety at this valuation.

The Partnership has held TSD since inception with an average cost of $0.85 per share. As of July 15, Tsodilo is trading at $1.30. TSD is the second strongest performer of the 7 holdings (out of 25 current holdings) that the Partnership has stuck with since inception in September 2011. Additionally, due to this outperformance, TSD is one of the Partnership's top 3 largest holdings.

In this Featured Investment piece, I start by providing the investment theses for copper and iron ore (the two metals of most interest to Tsodilo shareholders). It is important to keep in mind that Tsodilo has not yet found a copper deposit and is only just starting to define its Xaudum Iron Ore Formation. If the company doesn't ultimately find economic copper or iron ore, then the prospects for these two commodities are irrelevant. Conversely, if the company does end up gaining exposure to a world-class copper or iron ore deposit, then shareholders will be rewarded regardless of the copper/iron ore price (baring a monumental collapse). Regardless, I thought it would be good to share my investment theses on both of these metals for some broader perspective on the Tsodilo Resources story.

I then profile the African country of Botswana - the sole jurisdiction in which TSD operates (though the company does have their corporate office in Toronto). The stability of Botswana both geopolitically and as a viable mining destination is essential to the success of this investment.

I conclude with my investment thesis for Tsodilo, covering the company's background, management team, current operations, and ultimate upside as an investment. I then comment on Tsodilo's Margin of Safety as, with any investment, understanding the downside is just as important as knowing what there is to gain.

Pangolin Diamonds Recovers Macro-Diamond From Malatswae

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 09:59:00 +0000

Pangolin Diamonds Corp. (the "Company" or "Pangolin") (TSX VENTURE:PAN) is pleased to announce the recovery of a macro-diamond from a soil sample on its recently acquired Malatswae project prospecting licence PL247/2014. The project is located in north-central Botswana and is 100%-owned by Pangolin.

A regional soil sample, numbered MSC119, weighing approximately 40kg was collected and then processed at Pangolin's DMS plant in Francistown, Botswana. A concentrate was then independently examined in Gaborone by a specialist consultant who subsequently submitted the stone to C.F. Mineral Research Limited in Kelowna, Canada who confirmed the diamond.

The white diamond weighs 0.005484 carats and was retained on a standard Endecotts sieve with the mesh size 0.600mm. The diamond is therefore classified as a macro-diamond - greater than 0.500mm in at least one direction.

Malatswae Diamond Project

The Malatswae Kimberlite Project covers 1,058km2 and is located 70km southeast of the Orapa Mine. The Project area hosts a number of kimberlite targets. Previous work by Pangolin Diamonds demonstrated that the chemical compositions of garnets recovered in soil samples are distinctly different from the garnets from the Orapa kimberlite field, suggesting that an undiscovered kimberlite may be found within the project area.

Quality Control and Quality Assurances

Quality assurance procedures, security, transport, storage, and processing protocols conform to chain of custody requirements. The diamond results reported here are based on laboratory work completed by C.F. Mineral Research Limited, Kelowna, Canada an independent mineral processing laboratory. Residues are retained and are available for review and audit.

Pangolin exploration programs are carried out under the supervision of Rick G. Bonner, P. Geol., who directs operations in Botswana for Pangolin Diamonds.

More Competition for Banking Sector in Namibia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 09:29:00 +0000

NEWLY licenced banks, Letshego Bank Namibia and Banco Privado Atlantico Europa are expected to increase competition in the banking sector.

The commercial banking space has long been dominated by FNB Namibia, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Bank Windhoek, the largest commercial banks.

Last week, the Bank of Namibia announced that the Botswana based, Letshego and the Portugal based Banco had been granted provisional licences for six months.

Mythri Sambasivan-George, head of corporate affairs at Letshego says the group plans to become a leading African financial services group.

George said future plans include building deposit taking capabilities, diversifying into and microfinance lending.

"The issue of this provisional licence is a key milestone in its transformational journey and will enable the group to meet its commitment to improve lives and financial inclusion in Namibia. This is the third deposit-taking micro financial licence obtained across the group's ten country footprint in Southern and East Africa," said George.

Letshego was formed in 1998 and has been publicly listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) since 2002.

It is a holding company with consumer and micro lending subsidiaries across 10 countries in Southern and East Africa - Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda.

Letshego is the second largest quoted company on the Botswana Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation in excess of US$550 million.

The group offers loans between US$1 000 and US$40 000. In the year ended 31 January 2014 advances increased by 33% to US$500 million and profit before tax for the same period was recorded at US$ 97 million.

CEO of Banco Privado, Diogo Cunha, declined to comment on future plans.

"At this moment we do not have additional comments. We will certainly contact you to share more information once we are nearer to the date of opening," Cunha said. The shareholders of Banco Privado Atlantico Europa are, Surviving Global, Asset Management, SA (72,3%), Banco Millennium Angola, SA (6,7%) and management (21%).

In April, Reuters reported that another bank with Portuguese and Angolan connections, Banco BIC, backed by the billionaire daughter of the country's president and a Portuguese cork tycoon, was planing to ramp up its branch network at home while also expanding overseas to operate in four continents.

BIC opened an office in Johannesburg in February and applied for a licence to operate in Namibia.

Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and who ranks as one of the continent's richest businesswomen, owns a quarter of BIC Angola. Americo Amorim, one of Portugal's richest men, also owns 25%, Reuters reported.

Bisan bets on Botswana graphite - Proactiveinvestors (AU)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 08:11:00 +0000

Bisan Limited (ASX:BSN) will trade higher after proposing to invest in a Botswana graphite project, to be owned by a company to be formed called Pencil Hill.

The company intends to acquire a 30% interest Pencil Hill that will hold a 80% interest in the graphite prospecting licence.

Bisan will also have a first right of refusal to subscribe to additional shares and acquire an additional 21% giving Bisan the opportunity to move to 51% of the issued capital.

Plans are also being made to list the new company as an initial public offering.

The consideration for the additional equity will be based on an agreed value most likely to be the IPO price offered to the public or by an independent expert selected by both parties.

The proposed acquisition will be conditional upon due diligence drilling to be completed by Bisan to verify previous
results, and necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals.

If Bisan does proceed, then the consideration to subscribe to 30% of the issued capital of Pencil Hill is $2 million.

In addition, Bisan currently holds 13.8% of the issued capital of P-Fuel Limited, an unlisted public company.

Bisan will invest a further $150,000 by subscribing for 3,000,000 new ordinary shares in P-Fuel at $0.05 per share to increase its equity interest to 16.06%.

P-Fuel is developing technology to convert plastics into diesel fuel.

P-Fuel also proposes to undertake an IPO under which Bisan shareholders will be given a priority allocation.

Bisan is also proceeding with a placement to raise $549,463 via issue of 36,630,895 shares at $0.015, with free attaching options exercisable at $0.05 and expiry on 31 December 2018.

Six Southern African Nations, EU Conclude EPA Negotiations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 08:06:00 +0000

Chief negotiators of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) have concluded negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), it was announced Tuesday.

The agreement takes into account the differences in the level of development between the EU and its African partners. It will open a long-term perspective of duty- and, quota-free access to the EU market for products from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland.

South Africa will trade with the EU on the basis of improved conditions that build on the existing EU-South Africa Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA).

The EU, in turn, will gain improved access to the SADC EPA market, particularly in the field of agriculture. Also, when SADC EPA countries will be ready to grant more far-reaching concessions to the Europe's main competitors, the EU will be able to claim those same improvements.

The members of the SADC EPA group will continue being able to shield sensitive sectors from European competitors in their domestic market. In addition, they can invoke a number of safeguards incorporated in the agreement.

This will offer them all the necessary flexibility, so that trade can work for and not against development. Following the same logic, the EU has also taken a commitment to refrain from subsidizing its agricultural exports to the region.

The SADC EPA Group consists of 6 out of 15 members of the Southern African Development Community (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) plus Angola, which may join the agreement in future.

The other eight SADC Member States (Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) are negotiating in other regional EPA configurations.

Diamonds.net - Global Diamond Production +11% to $14B in 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 07:06:00 +0000

Diamonds.net - Global Diamond Production +11% to $14B in 2013

Global diamond production by value rose 11 percent year on year to $14.09 billion in 2013, due mainly to an increase in the average price of rough diamonds, according to annual data published by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. By volume, global production increased 2 percent to 130.48 million carats, while the average price of production grew 9 percent to $107.95 per carat.

Botswana’s production rose 22 percent to $3.63 billion with the volume of its production up 13 percent to 23.19 million carats. The average price of Botswana's rough rose 8 percent to $156.36 per carat.

Discovery Metals’ update on recapitalisation proposal with Montsant Partners LLC | Mining & Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Tue, 13 May 2014 16:20:00 +0000

Discovery Metals’ update on recapitalisation proposal with Montsant Partners LLC | Mining & Travel

Tacy LTD - LUCARA EARNS $50.5M FROM YEAR'S FIRST EXCEPTIONAL STONE TENDER

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:48:00 +0000

Tacy LTD - LUCARA EARNS $50.5M FROM YEAR'S FIRST EXCEPTIONAL STONE TENDER

14 April 2014

Lucara Diamond Corp. reports that its first Exceptional Stone Tender of 2014 generated gross revenues of $50.47 million, or $42,347 per carat. The special tender of diamonds from the Karowe mine in Botswana, completed on April 10, 2014, consisted of 20 single stone lots totaling 1,191 carats, all of which were sold.

The highest value stones sold were a 167.-carat diamond and an 86.8-carat diamond, which sold for $12.7 million ($75,821/ct) and $5.1 million ($58,627/ct), respectively. Of the 20 diamonds on offer, 15 of these sold for more than $1 million, including eight, which sold for more than $2 million, notes the TSX-listed miner.

In addition to the exceptional stone tender, Lucara held two regular diamond tenders in the first quarter of 2014. A total of 107,500 carats were sold for combined revenues of $33.6 million. This, together with the exceptional stone tender, brings the total year-to-date revenues to $84.06 million, or $782 per carat.

"Strong regular tenders combined with the outstanding results from the exceptional stone tender continue to demonstrate the quality of the Karowe Mine and firmly establishes Karowe as one of the world's leading diamond producers by value, further reinforcing the updated resource statement issued in December 2013," says William Lamb, President and CEO.

According to Lamb, the company's next exceptional stone tender will be scheduled for the third quarter of this year. "Karowe Mine has, this year, produced a number of high value diamonds which we are considering for this tender, including a 153.5-carat gem quality stone."

Heavy haul rail projects to benefit African Energy’s Botswana coal

noreply@blogger.com (Farouk Pandor) — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:41:00 +0000

Heavy haul rail projects to benefit African Energy’s Botswana coal - Energy Business Review

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) said that in 2015, the construction is
set commence on the 105km heavy-haul coal rail link between Botswana and
South Africa, immediately after the completion of feasibility studies.

The construction is a part of a R300 billion infrastructure investment program initiated by TFR.

Approximately
R40 billion has been allocated by TFR for the construction of this rail
link which will link into existing coal heavy-haul railway lines.

Designed
to carry 40-80 million tons per year, the rail link will transport coal
from Botswana into South Africa for state-electricity generator Eskom,
or exported through the seaborne market.

Gama said, "We are
planning to develop the Richards Bay Coal Terminal to support the
expected [volumes] from Botswana and the Waterberg coalfield in South
Africa."