Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Never Tshabang has called for accelerated investment in energy infrastructure, saying reliable, affordable and secure energy will be a defining factor in Botswana’s ability to build a competitive mining sector and drive long-term economic transformation.
Speaking at the Future of Mining Summit, Dr Tshabang told delegates that the global energy environment has become increasingly volatile and unpredictable, reshaping how countries secure fuel, expand electricity access and regulate prices across the value chain.
Botswana, he said, is operating within a period defined by geopolitical tension, supply chain disruption and shifting energy markets, which collectively influence domestic fuel pricing, electricity tariffs and long-term investment decisions in energy infrastructure.
Dr Tshabang said BERA’s mandate sits at the intersection of three high-pressure areas: fuel supply security, electricity system stability and regulatory oversight of pricing and investment conditions. These, he said, are directly linked to the cost base and reliability of key productive sectors such as mining.
The authority is constantly managing a difficult balance between government fiscal constraints, consumer affordability pressures and industry sustainability requirements, all of which pull in different directions when energy pricing and policy decisions are made.
He said energy regulation in Botswana has become increasingly sensitive, particularly because electricity and fuel pricing decisions affect households, industry competitiveness and government fiscal exposure simultaneously.
“We are regulating commodities that affect everyone,” he said.
Turning to fuel security, Dr Tshabang described Botswana’s fuel supply system as structurally vulnerable despite ongoing efforts to diversify import routes and expand strategic storage infrastructure. Botswana currently imports approximately 1.3 billion litres of fuel annually through supply corridors spanning South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia. According to Dr Tshabang, diversifying these routes is intended to reduce reliance on a single corridor and strengthen resilience against regional and global supply disruptions.
He warned, however, that logistics and infrastructure constraints remain a major weakness in the system. Fuel continues to be transported largely by road, while rail infrastructure remains underutilised and discussions around pipeline development are still at an early stage.
A more pressing concern, he said, is storage capacity. Botswana’s strategic fuel reserves currently provide only around 15 days of cover, a level he described as insufficient in an increasingly volatile global market where supply disruptions can emerge rapidly.
To address this vulnerability, government and private sector partners are advancing several storage expansion projects. These include facilities in Francistown with a projected capacity of up to 60 million litres, developments in Ghanzi targeting around 30 million litres, and a proposed 187 million-litre strategic reserve at Tshele Hills near Rasesa under a public-private partnership model.
He stressed that without accelerated investment in storage infrastructure, Botswana would remain exposed to external shocks in international oil markets, including price spikes arising from geopolitical instability along critical shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.
“When there are problems in the Strait of Hormuz, we take the hit on prices. We are faced with heavy logistical challenges, and it is time to build our own resilience,” Tshabang said.
He also addressed public concerns over fuel price adjustments, explaining that domestic prices do not respond immediately to movements in global oil markets because of procurement cycles, shipping lead times and fuel inventories purchased at earlier prices. As a result, international price declines often take time to filter through to local consumers.
On electricity, Dr Tshabang said Botswana is undergoing a gradual transition from a vertically integrated utility model dominated by Botswana Power Corporation toward a more diversified market involving independent power producers and increased renewable energy generation. While BPC continues to oversee generation, transmission and distribution, the entry of IPPs into the generation space signals the beginning of a more open electricity market.
Botswana’s current peak electricity demand stands at approximately 700 megawatts, although reliability challenges remain, particularly at Morupule B, the country’s largest generation asset.
For mining companies, where uninterrupted electricity is essential to production, mineral processing and beneficiation, improving generation reliability and expanding capacity will be critical to lowering operational risk and strengthening investor confidence, Dr Tshabang said.
He said these challenges underscore the need to diversify generation sources while accelerating investment in renewable energy infrastructure to improve system resilience and reduce dependence on a limited number of thermal generation assets.
The country has already begun commissioning large-scale renewable projects, including a 500MW solar project in Maun, while rooftop solar programmes are also being prepared for rollout as part of efforts to decentralise electricity generation and expand access.
BERA’s long-term objective, Dr Tshabang said, is for renewable energy to contribute between 50 and 60 percent of Botswana’s electricity mix by 2030. Achieving this target, however, will require substantial investment in both transmission infrastructure and energy storage systems.
While solar energy is expected to become a major contributor to Botswana’s electricity supply, Dr Tshabang said its intermittent nature presents new technical challenges. Because solar generation peaks during daylight hours while electricity demand is highest during the early morning and evening, investment in battery storage will be essential to ensure a stable and reliable power supply for households and industry.
He said greater private sector participation in electricity transmission infrastructure will also be necessary to strengthen the grid and accommodate increased renewable generation.
BERA is also pursuing reforms aimed at opening Botswana’s energy market to greater private sector participation. This includes a review of the fuel importation framework, which currently allocates 90 percent of fuel imports to Botswana Oil Limited and 10 percent to Citizen Oil Companies.
Dr Tshabang said the review is intended to increase competition, improve efficiency and attract new investment into the downstream petroleum sector, with legislative amendments expected to be tabled before Parliament.
Beyond fuel imports, BERA is developing regulatory frameworks to encourage greater private sector participation not only in electricity generation but also in transmission infrastructure, as Botswana seeks to expand its grid and position itself to export surplus electricity into regional markets.
He said the government alone does not have the financial capacity to fund the infrastructure required for the country’s energy transition, making public-private partnerships critical to future investment.
BERA is also encouraging investment in alternative energy sources to diversify the local energy portfolio. Alongside ongoing natural gas exploration and gas-to-power initiatives, he said the country is seeking investors for coal-to-liquid projects, which would convert abundant coal resources into transport fuels and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products.
These initiatives form part of a broader strategy to strengthen local energy security while creating a more resilient and diversified energy sector capable of supporting industrial growth.
Dr Tshabang said achieving the country’s mining ambitions will depend not only on discovering new mineral resources but also on building an energy system capable of supporting industrial expansion. Strengthening fuel security, expanding electricity infrastructure and creating an investment-friendly regulatory environment, he said, will be essential to ensuring the mining sector remains competitive in an increasingly uncertain global energy landscape.
