Botswana readies privatisation plan

Botswana’s cabinet plans to approve a plan on the privatisation of Botswana Telecom (BTC) this month, finance minister O.K. Matambo said in his 2010 budget speech.
In a transcript of the speech, Matambo says the government is “still consulting other…

Botswana’s cabinet plans to approve a plan on the privatisation of Botswana Telecom (BTC) this month, finance minister O.K. Matambo said in his 2010 budget speech.

In a transcript of the speech, Matambo says the government is “still consulting other stakeholders on the proposals that have been submitted.”

The privatisation of BTC has been long awaited and numerous deadlines have been set only to subsequently slip. However, an official at the privatisation agency, PEEPA, which drafted the proposal, said that this deadline bore more promise than previous ones. “We hope to publish a definite plan in the following weeks,” the official said.

Also in his speech, Matambo said the government would allocate a budget of P389m (US$57m) for the telecom incumbent this year.

As part of the privatisation proposal, the cabinet will decide whether the telecom incumbent should be split between its wholesale and retail division.

The idea of a separation was brought up last year by the communications minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, who said such a move would help protect national security and ensure competition.

If agreed, BTC’s network would be hived off into a separate entity, which would operate the network on an open basis to BTC and other telecom operators.

BTC’s network is currently used by its mobile arm beMobile as well as Econet Wireless’ Mascom and Orange Botswana.

Privatisation plans drawn up in 2006 envisaged selling a 40-49% stake to a strategic investor. Another 15% would be sold to an investment trust fund and 5% to BTC employees, while the government planned to keep the rest for a possible listing after two or three years.