The Minister of Transport and Communications says the long awaited Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) Initial Public Offering (IPO) will be done before the end of this year.
Speaking at a press briefing recently, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo said Batswana should come on board to have a stake in BTCL.
"Come on board and buy shares as Batswana and have a stake in running of BTCL and see you involvement turn BTCL into a profitable company, a prosperous company and we can only have this happening if Batswana come on board," he said.
Minister Mabeo said even though there had been postponements before, he wanted to pronounce to Batswana that the launch of the IPO would indeed take place before the end of this year.
"This will be a historic event in Botswana in the sense that it will be the first time government extends a hand to Batswana to be part of BTCL in the sense of owning a part of it," he said.
He indicated that the media had a big role in being the vehicle that the ministry along with the team tasked with delivering the IPO to Botswana will use in reaching and educating Batswana about the IPO.
"We have a component within this team that will solely be tasked with making sure that Batswana are well educated and aware of what the IPO is, and parallel to the launch of the IPO, they will be criss-crossing the country to ensure that each an every Motswana who is capable of buying shares at BTCL will not be compromised," said Minister Mabeo, adding that there was a dedicated budget for this.
Minister Mabeo indicated that the day the IPO is launched; it would take approximately eight weeks for people to show their interest in purchasing shares.
With regards to 49 per cent of the BTCL shares that government will be selling to citizens of Botswana, Minister Mabeo indicated that of that 49 per cent, 5 per cent will be reserved for BTCL citizen employees and there will be a fund that will administer these shares to the employees.
For his part, Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA) chief executive officer, Mr Kgotla Ramaphane said they were working on the preparation of the prospectus.
"A prospectus, as it relates to an IPO, is a legal document which contains pertinent information about a company that enables one to make an informed decision as to whether or not to purchase the shares of that company. Information such as BTCL's mandate, products, markets and past operational and financial performance, its future strategies, plans and projections, as well as the value of the company, the number of shares on offer, the price of the shares, the minimum quantity one can purchase will all be in there," he said.
BTCL managing director, Mr Paul Taylor, said previous reports in the media attributing some comments to him saying he called for yet another postponement of the IPO launch were serious misquotes.
"My comments were greatly misquoted and I want to say that I am behind the launch of the IPO before the end of this year because we have always been working towards the December date," he said.
