Botswana Minute

Monday, 7 September 2026

Botswana’s news, on the hour · Est. 2026

Monday, 7 September 2026

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Politics

BDP president Balopi faces fraud charges over CEDA transactions

The News

Balopi, leader of the opposition BDP, faces criminal charges linked to alleged irregular Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) transactions involving millions of pula. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime alleges that CEDA was deceived into releasing P669,842.11 for billboard work never executed, and that Balopi and a co-accused attempted to obtain P1.399 million using false documents.

7 hours ago · Mmegi →

Politics

BDP president Balopi faces fraud charges over CEDA transactions
Balopi, leader of the opposition BDP, faces criminal charges linked to alleged irregular Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) transactions involving millions of pula. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime alleges that CEDA was deceived into releasing P669,842.11 for billboard work never executed, and that Balopi and a co-accused attempted to obtain P1.399 million using false documents.
7 hours ago · Mmegi →
BDP's candidate vetting process divides members before by-election
The BDP's vetting process for primary candidates in an upcoming by-election has sparked internal discontent, with only two of five applicants approved to contest. Some party members are questioning the exclusion criteria and threatening not to support the party in the by-election, citing concerns of unfairness and favouritism in the vetting process.
7 hours ago · Mmegi →
UDC picks Galebotse as consensus candidate for Sefhophe by-election
The UDC selected Galebotse as its candidate for the Sefhophe by-election through a consensus process among three interested members, following the death of former councillor Christopher Motsholapheko. The party is seeking to maintain control of the ward.
7 hours ago · Mmegi →
BCP names ex-councillor candidate for Sefophe parliamentary seat
The Botswana Congress Party has selected a former councillor, Bagwasi, as its candidate to represent Sefophe at national level. The BCP spokesperson noted that Bagwasi previously sought the parliamentary seat in 2019 and views his political history as valuable as the party seeks to rebuild support in the area.
7 hours ago · Mmegi →
DPP rejects Khama's bid to privately prosecute Hubona
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has rejected former president Ian Khama's bid to launch a private prosecution against Jako Hubona, an investigator at the centre of Botswana's P100 billion case.
7 hours ago · Weekend Post →
High Court bars GUC law graduates from Botswana bar exams
Gaborone High Court ruled against Gaborone University College of Law and Professional Studies, barring its law graduates from sitting the Law Society of Botswana bar examinations. The court sided with the LSB, which argued that GUC's franchised Leeds Beckett University qualifications do not meet the Legal Practitioners Act requirement for law practice in Botswana.
6 hours ago · Weekend Post →
Budget deficit narrowed to P16.34 billion for 2025/2026
The Finance Ministry reported a budget deficit of P16.34 billion for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, a significant improvement from the previously projected deficit of P25.48 billion, according to preliminary figures released by the Bank of Botswana.
6 hours ago · Weekend Post →

Business

Botswana's economic freedom score falls sharply
The Heritage Foundation's 2026 Index of Economic Freedom recorded a sharp deterioration in Botswana's economic freedom score, with weak business dynamism threatening diversification beyond diamonds.
7 hours ago · The Botswana Gazette →
BTC targets P1.7bn revenue with AI and network focus
Botswana Telecommunications Corporation is targeting P1.7 billion in revenue and EBITDA above 35 percent through network investment, artificial intelligence, and digital services, following a 1.6 percent revenue decline.
8 hours ago · The Botswana Gazette →
Air Botswana appoints Dubai consultant for aircraft leasing
Air Botswana has announced plans to appoint Dubai-based aviation consultancy ACC Aviation ME FZCO as its aircraft lease consultant through direct procurement.
8 hours ago · Weekend Post →
Standard Chartered Botswana profit expected to rise P22–36m
Standard Chartered Bank Botswana expects profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2026 to increase by between P22 million and P36 million compared with the same period in the prior year, prompting a BSE cautionary announcement.
6 hours ago · The Botswana Gazette →
Dangote urges Africa to finance its own industrialization
At a Capital Markets and Institutional Investors Roundtable in Botswana, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote called on African nations and businesses to lead the continent's industrial development rather than rely on foreign investors, emphasizing that African capital must fund large-scale projects and that the continent must move away from exporting raw materials.
4 hours ago · Weekend Post →
UB launches seed fund to improve innovation coordination
The University of Botswana has identified poor coordination among institutions as the main barrier preventing local innovations from reaching the market, and has launched a Technology Development Seed Fund to support prototyping and testing of innovations while working to create a streamlined pipeline connecting research, infrastructure, funding, and commercialization.
5 hours ago · Weekend Post →
Botswana's new tax rule targets residents' offshore income
A controlled foreign entity rule embedded in Botswana's rewritten Income Tax Act, effective 1 July 2026, requires residents who control low-tax foreign entities to pay tax on qualifying passive income earned by those entities as if the residents had earned it themselves. The rule applies to residents holding directly or indirectly 50 percent or more membership interest in foreign entities.
6 hours ago · Weekend Post →
BETP shifts economic focus from planning to project delivery
Botswana's Economic Transformation Programme has identified 186 priority projects across nine sectors targeting P514 billion in cumulative investment and 512,000 jobs by 2036, with initial efforts focused on removing obstacles to investment execution in areas including land access, financing, regulation, and infrastructure.
6 hours ago · Weekend Post →

Mining & Energy

Botswana launches billions-pula energy overhaul for regional dominance
President Duma Boko inaugurated a 500-megawatt solar plant in Maun in April and declared Botswana's intention to become a regional energy hub. The government is simultaneously refurbishing coal plants, building solar-plus-battery storage, constructing transmission lines to neighboring states, and erecting fuel depots—projects requiring billions of pula—as it seeks to reduce dependence on costly electricity imports that have long constrained the 2.4 million-person nation.
4 hours ago · Weekend Post →

Agriculture & Land

Okavango farmers cite weak market structures limiting horticulture growth
Farmers in Botswana's Okavango region say limited and poorly structured markets are preventing them from expanding horticultural production despite having adequate land, water, and capacity. The Okavango Horticulture Farmers Association, representing more than 60 of an estimated 140 horticultural producers in the district, reports that farmers base production decisions on what they believe they can sell rather than on market demand, forcing them toward lower-value crops like rape instead of higher-value options such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and butternuts.
6 hours ago · Weekend Post →

Society

High Court defers GUC law graduates' LSB registration dispute
The High Court has found genuine factual disputes in a case where the Law Society of Botswana (LSB) refused to register graduates of the GUC/Leeds Beckett LLB programme for the June 2026 Bar Examinations, citing concerns raised by a BQA audit into the programme's delivery and quality assurance. The court did not decide whether the LSB was justified in excluding the graduates, leaving the matter unresolved.
7 hours ago · Mmegi →
Justice dismisses challenge to LSB's rejection of law graduates
A High Court judge dismissed an application by 21 Leeds Beckett University law graduates who were refused registration for the June 2026 Bar Examinations by the Law Society of Botswana (LSB). The LSB says its authority to scrutinise law qualifications comes from the Legal Practitioners Act and Regulations, while the graduates argued the Society exceeded its powers by creating an additional requirement not in the Act.
8 hours ago · Mmegi →
Honey Guide Trust threatens contempt against BDF and police chiefs
Botswana Police Commissioner Dinah Marathe and BDF Commander General Mpho Mophuting face potential imprisonment if Honey Guide Trust's demands are not met, following a dispute over resource-sharing in the NG32 area near Ditshiping village.
8 hours ago · Mmegi →

Culture

Government launches P200 million creative economy fund
The Government is near releasing a P200 million fund aimed at supporting Botswana's creative sector, which has been facing financial pressure despite industry achievements and celebrations.
8 hours ago · The Botswana Gazette →

World & Region

US officials approve assistance package for Botswana
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent have initiated approval of an assistance package worth millions of dollars to Botswana under a 'democracy dividends' program, according to a report submitted to Congress on August 31.
7 hours ago · Weekend Post →
Botswana woman released from Bangladesh death row after four years
Lesedi Molapisi, a Botswana woman who spent more than four years on death row in a Bangladeshi prison, has been released. Two competing narratives—one of diplomatic grace and one of judicial exoneration—surround the circumstances of her freedom.
7 hours ago · Weekend Post →