- Access Bank takeover of BancABC Botswana accounted for 59.1% of total equity turnover
- Domestic equity market daily turnover rises almost threefold
- Access, Letshego, FNBB dominate trading activity on BSE
“The number of listed instruments has increased to 80 from 79 in 2020, with a 100 percent increase in the number of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs); total turnover has gone up to P4.5 billion from P3.6 billion in 2020; average daily turnover across all instruments has gone up by 25 percent from P14.5 million to P18.1 million,” the BSE says in its Market Status Report for the period 1st January to 31st December 2021.
This is on account of a 160 percent increase in equity turnover relative to 2021 primarily due to acquisition of a majority stake of 78.15 percent in BancABC Botswana by Access Bank Plc, a Nigerian-listed bank with international footprint. The value of the acquisition amounted to approximately P1.1 billion. Bonds recorded a decline of 6.5 percent in turnover while ETF trading was down by 3.7 percent in 2021.
“Access Bank’s significant contribution to total equity turnover results from a record-breaking trade worth P1.1 billion following their 78.15 percent acquisition of BancABC Botswana on 11th October 2021 notes,” the report says. “The trade represented a historic moment as the BSE recorded the highest turnover ever to be recorded in a day since inception (P1.072 billion). Following the acquisition, there was a formal change of name from BancABC to Access Bank Botswana Limited and trading of the counter as ‘Access” commenced on the 29th November 2021.”
According to the BSE, the domestic equity market in particular has experienced a remarkable recovery, with the average daily turnover rising almost threefold from P2.8 million a day to P7.3 million a day which was also mainly attributable to the acquisition of BancABC by Access Bank. Ranked by their contribution to equity turnover, the top 3 rated companies during the period under review were Access at P1.1 billion, Letshego at P167.2 million and FNBB at P95.1 million.
“The total turnover from these three companies accounted for 80.9 percent of total equity turnover, with the leading counter, Access Bank, previously known as ABC, accounting for 59.1 percent of total equity turnover,” the BSE market report said. In comparison to the same period in 2020, the top 3 traded companies accounted for 47.2 percent of total equity turnover with the leading counter, Letshego, accounting for 24.4 percent, which translated to P170.7 million of total equity turnover.
