Botswana Stock Exchange at an Inflection Point

What changed in your business over the past year and what was your biggest achievement? 

The past year marked a strategic inflection point for the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), where long-term vision translated decisively into measurable outcomes. The Exchange moved beyond incremental progress to deliver structural gains in liquidity, confidence and institutional relevance. The most significant achievement was the record market turnover recorded in 2025, exceeding P8.3 billion by October. This milestone represents more than cyclical market activity; it reflects a deliberate repositioning of the BSE as a credible, and increasingly attractive capital-raising platform. 

The surge in equity turnover was underpinned by stronger institutional participation, improved issuer engagement, and enhanced market visibility. Collectively, these factors signalled a maturing market ecosystem and reinforced investor confidence in Botswana’s capital markets framework. 

Equally transformative was the BSE’s admission into the Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance. This strategic alignment places the Exchange within the global movement toward climate-aligned financial systems and underscores our intent to position sustainability at the core of market development. It also reinforces our role as a catalyst for sustainable capital flows, supporting investments in renewable energy, infrastructure, and climate-resilient sectors. Together, these achievements reflect a dual strategic focus: strengthening market performance today while future-proofing the Exchange for tomorrow. 

What is your most important project this year (regulatory or otherwise)? 

The BSE’s most critical initiative has been the launch and early execution of the 10x Strategy, a multi-year transformation agenda designed to redefine the Exchange’s scale, capability, and regional relevance. This strategy is not an incremental extension of existing plans; it is a fundamental re-engineering of how the BSE operates, competes, and delivers value. 

At its core, the 10x Strategy seeks to position the BSE as Africa’s premier capital-raising hub by modernising infrastructure, deepening market liquidity, and enhancing the issuer and investor experience. A key pillar is the transformation of our technology ecosystem. Investments in digital onboarding, e-voting, automated corporate actions, and improved market connectivity are laying the foundation for a more efficient, transparent, and resilient marketplace. 

Equally important is the strategic expansion of market depth and product diversity. Through targeted issuer acquisition, work towards introduction of new asset classes, and broader investor outreach, the BSE is reshaping its value proposition to support domestic and international capital formation. The strategy is also driving internal transformation, building organisational capability, strengthening talent, and embedding a high-performance culture. As such, the 10x Strategy is the single most important project of the year, as it underpins every major initiative and defines the Exchange’s trajectory over the coming decade. 

What are you most excited for in 2026? 

Looking ahead to 2026, several developments have the potential to reshape Botswana’s capital markets landscape. Foremost among these is the anticipated operationalisation of the Botswana Mercantile Exchange (BMX). By establishing a regulated marketplace for soft and hard commodities, the BMX will modernise agricultural value chains, enhance price discovery, and create new income opportunities for producers. Its broader impact will be economic diversification and increased resilience across key sectors. 

Another significant milestone will be the launch of the Motheo National SME Fund. This initiative directly addresses long-standing financing constraints faced by small and medium enterprises, which are central to employment creation and economic growth. By providing structured access to growth capital, the Fund will enable SMEs to scale, formalise, and strengthen governance. Strategically, it will also help build a sustainable pipeline of future issuers for Botswana’s capital markets. 

In parallel, the BSE’s engagement with local authorities around municipal bond issuance is gaining momentum. Enabling municipalities to access long-term funding for infrastructure such as water, transport, and urban development positions capital markets as a central tool for sustainable public-sector financing. Collectively, these initiatives position 2026 as a year where capital markets play a more direct role in national development. 

What are your biggest opportunities? 

One of the most significant opportunities lies in the evolving pension fund regulatory landscape. With pension assets exceeding P150 billion, the sector represents a substantial and stable pool of capital. The anticipated move toward a balanced 50 percent local and 50percent offshore allocation has the potential to redirect significant capital into the domestic market. This shift would materially increase liquidity, strengthen demand for new listings and instruments, and improve the overall depth of the market. 

Another major opportunity is the potential listing of State Owned Enterprises. SOEs operate in strategically important sectors, and their listing would significantly enhance market depth, transparency, and investor choice. Well-structured SOE listings could broaden retail participation, reinforce governance standards, and allow citizens to directly participate in the ownership of national assets. In many markets, SOE listings have acted as catalysts for market expansion, and Botswana is well positioned to realise similar benefits. 

BSE is increasingly recognising the potential of virtual assets and tokenised instruments as well as carbon credit trading as opportunities that could diversify and strengthen its capital markets. Currently the exchange is working on the scope for integrating these financial products as well as the mechanisms that will support the carbon credit market. The future points to a future where digital and environmental asset classes will complement traditional securities offering new pathways for growth. 

Together, these opportunities being pension capital mobilisation, SOE listings, new asset classes, and continued digital innovation create a powerful platform for sustained growth. They reinforce the BSE’s role in mobilising national savings, supporting economic development, and maintaining a modern, inclusive, and globally relevant market. 

What do you see as the key themes and trends for your exchange and market infrastructure in 2026? 

Several strategic themes will shape the BSE and broader market infrastructure in 2026. Digitisation will remain paramount, as exchanges globally continue to modernise trading, post-trade, governance, and compliance systems. For the BSE, automation and integrated digital platforms will be central to improving efficiency, transparency, and investor experience. 

Sustainable finance will also accelerate, driven by global demand for green and impact-oriented investment products. The BSE’s Net Zero commitments and sustainable finance initiatives position it well to support this transition. 

Regional integration will gain momentum through harmonised frameworks and cross-border market access. Through the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP), the BSE will actively participate in deepening regional capital flows and expanding investor reach. Additionally, increased retail participation enabled by digital tools will further diversify the investor base and enhance liquidity. Finally, public sector participation in capital markets particularly for infrastructure financing will become increasingly prominent, reinforcing the role of exchanges as engines of sustainable development.