Twenty-five years after the government launched the privatisation programme, the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency says it should not be judged by the slow pace of reform, arguing that it was created to recommend change, not implement it, even though only one major privatisation has been completed.
Responding to questions from the Business Weekly & Review, PEEPA said implementation of approved reforms rests with shareholder ministries, state-owned enterprises and other government institutions after Cabinet decisions are made.
It noted delays reflected competing ministerial priorities, fiscal constraints, leadership changes, institutional readiness and resistance to change, rather than weaknesses in its recommendations.
“The challenge has not been the quality of PEEPA’s recommendations,” Corporate Communications Manager Mosikare Mogegeh said, adding that implementation “rests primarily with shareholder ministries, SOEs and other implementing agencies.”
Twenty-five years later, BTCL remains the only major completed privatisation.
According to PEEPA, reform proposals affecting National Development Bank, Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board, Air Botswana, Botswana Meat Commission, Botswana Savings Bank, Botswana Accountancy College and Botswana Railways were either deferred, remain under consideration or are still in the reform pipeline.
PEEPA noted that privatisation is only one measure of the agency’s performance. It highlighted BTCL’s listing, Rationalisation Strategy II, the recently approved State-Owned Enterprises Ownership Policy, shareholder compacts, board reforms, annual SOE performance reviews and the approved unbundling and corporatisationof Botswana Power Corporation’s generation business as evidence that reform continued beyond outright asset sales.
“Collectively, these reforms provide objective evidence that Botswana’s SOEs are governed under a more coherent governance framework, subject to stronger performance oversight and greater accountability, while creating the conditions for improved operational efficiency, fiscal sustainability and long-term enterprise value,” Mogegeh said.
PEEPA acknowledged that many of its recommendations stalled after Cabinet approval, saying implementation rests with shareholder ministries and state-owned enterprises because the agency has no statutory enforcement powers.
It further noted that fragmented ownership arrangements, changing policy priorities, leadership transitions, fiscal constraints and stakeholder resistance have also repeatedly slowed implementation.
PEEPA said its recommendations extended well beyond BTCL. They included a proposed 49% Botswana Stock Exchange listing for NDB, strategic partners for BAMB, Air Botswana and BMC, private-sector participation at BSB, divestiture of government’s stake in BAC, unbundling Botswana Railways and further disposal of government’s remaining BTCL shares.
“The implementation challenges encountered should not be construed as evidence that reforms did not occur,” the agency said, adding that implementation depended on “multiple institutions beyond PEEPA’s statutory mandate.”
The 2000 Privatisation Policy envisaged greater private sector participation to improve efficiency, reduce government’s commercial role and allow the state to concentrate on regulation and policymaking. PEEPA was created the following year to evaluate public enterprises and advise government on restructuring, commercialisation and privatisation.
The agency’s claims could not be independently verified, as it cited annual SOE performance reviews as evidence that delayed reforms imposed fiscal and operational costs and improved governance, but it did not provide the reports to the Business Weekly & Review.
PEEPA maintains that its record should be judged on the quality of its advice rather than the number of completed privatisations. It argues that reform should not be viewed solely through the sale of state assets, but also through improvements in governance, accountability, commercialisation and the introduction of private sector participation where appropriate.
“Success should not be measured solely by the number of enterprises privatised,” Mogegeh said.
The agency says that despite the implementation gaps, it has fulfilled its statutory role by evaluating enterprises, recommending reforms and securing policy approval where required.
