The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL)'s share price dropped to 75 thebe earlier this week, meaning the telecommunications group has thus far lost 8.5% since the beginning of the year.

BTCL was among the Botswana Stock Exchange’s biggest losers last year, shedding 13.7% and reaching an all time low of 60 thebe early in November.

From that bruising performance, BTCL began 2021 at 82 thebe, before inching downwards and eventually shedding five thebe in a single day’s trade this week.

BTCL is the BSE’s most retail-investor heavy counter, with about 50,000 individual shareholders, of whom about 26,000 hold less than 2,000 shares each.

Brokers and analysts have attributed BTCL’s wild swings and general downtrend in share price to the heavy presence of these individual investors, who are associated with impulse trading behaviours such as panic selling. 

Retail investors are also known to seasonally “cash out” for holidays, school fees and other expenses. They are also known for acting on speculative advice, such as that circulated via social media and viral trending messages.