President Advocate Duma Boko has boldly declared that four of Botswana’s struggling state-owned enterprises Air Botswana, Botswana Railways (BR), Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), and the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) will return to profitability by the end of the year.
In his latest media engagements, Boko reaffirmed his commitment to transforming these key parastatals into economic powerhouses, though he has yet to publicly disclose the strategy behind this ambitious goal.
Currently, all four parastatals face serious operational and financial challenges. While BR, BMC, and Air Botswana have active boards, they are still under caretaker management. BAMB, the only one without a board at the moment, remains in administrative limbo.
Analysts view Boko’s vision as both ambitious and high-risk, given the historical underperformance and political interference that have plagued these institutions for years.
President Boko has previously stated that revitalizing parastatals is part of his broader economic recovery agenda a cornerstone of his administration’s promise to curb unemployment, stimulate domestic production, and reduce dependency on imports.
The nation now waits to see whether Boko’s vision will move from promise to performance, and if these once-proud institutions can be restored to sustainability under his watch.
