Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) will list on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) in April next year, according to the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo.
Giving a keynote address at the BTCL Initial Public Offering (IPO) launch in Gaborone on Monday, Mr Mabeo said the process of privatising BTCL had reached the final stage and shares would be available in the stock market early 2016.
The minister said all BTCL shares would be specifically reserved for Batswana at a price of P1 per share, adding that this citizen-centric design will give Batswana more avenue to buy BTCL shares.
"I am privileged to stand here today and set in motion the final steps towards a privatised BTCL, a first of its kind in Botswana. Government has had this privatisation vision for many years and now we are the first of its fruits," Mr Mabeo said.
Mr Mabeo said privatising BTCL had been a long hard task, which commenced about a decade ago and necessitated the development of new laws and reconstruction of the former Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC).
"I am delighted to inform you that we have completed the process and overcome the obstacles along the way. Nearly a decade of hard work, sweat, dedication, skill and passion has been sown into privatising BTCL," Mr Mabeo said.
Mr Mabeo stated that by availing all shares to citizens only, government wanted to increase direct participation of Batswana in owning more national assets which is in line with the privatization policy.
"We are optimistic that investors from all walks of life including the youth, women, small, medium and big entrepreneurs will view this as an affordable opportunity to purchase shares, trade them later and use their profits to inject into their businesses," he said.
He said citizens would be able to obtain hard copies of application forms and prospectus from all BTCL offices, Botswana Post Offices, and Barclays Bank branches on 11 January, while the offer closing date has been set for 4 March 2016.
The project of privatising BTCL was managed by the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA), and PEEPA chief executive officer Mr Kgotla Ramaphane said the launch of the IPO was both exciting and humbling.
"There is no doubt that the journey has been long. However, we are very happy to have reached the final stages. The privatization of BTCL stems from the privatisation policy of Botswana which was adopted in 2000. The main aim of the policy is to implement a programme that would increase private sector participation in the economy and improve the efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of the public sector in delivering public services and infrastructure," Mr Ramaphane said.
He said government adopted a structure for privatization of then BTC in 2010 with 49% to be made available to citizens while government was set to retain 51% shareholding.
BTCL managing director, Mr Paul Taylor, who described the journey to the corporation's privatization as 'a remarkable one', said privatisation allows entities to stand on their own feet and grow organically.
Mr Taylor explained that they were established in 1980 and have since grown into a leading telecommunications provider in Botswana.
