List of companies of Botswana

Botswana's economy is dominated by the partly or wholly government-owned monopolies on diamonds (Debswana) and beef (Botswana Meat Commission).

Debswana

Diamonds are by far the most important source of income for Botswana. The discovery of diamonds in 1967, after a protracted search of twelve years, dramatically changed the pace of development in Botswana. Debswana has three diamond mines, Jwaneng in the southern Kalahari, and Orapa and Letlhakane in the central Kalahari, whose combined earnings have accounted for 77% of the total export earnings and 45% of the GDP. These mines are jointly owned by the Debeers mining company and the Botswana government. In 1989 diamond exports totalled US$ 1.41 billion. By value of diamonds, Botswana is the biggest producer in the world, with an annual output of 15 million carats (3,000 kg). [http://www.gov.bw/business/]

The Morupule Colliery is also operated by Debswana.

Botswana Meat Commission

The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) was established by the Botswana government in 1966 to be solely responsible for the slaughter and marketing of all beef exports from Botswana.

Air Botswana

The national air carrier, Air Botswana is also government-owned. Its planned privatisation was stalled by the world downturn in commercial aviation in 2001, but is still planned. [http://www.airbotswana.co.bw/content.asp?page=About%20Us&id=SU105]

Bamangwato Concessions, Ltd

International and Multinational Private company

Gold, copper and nickel mining company.

BCL, which operates a copper-nickel mine at Selebi-Phikwe, has had a troubled financial history but remains an important employer.

Botswana Power Corporation (BPC)

Electricity generator and distributor. Morupule Power Station in Palapye supplies 80% of domestically generated electricity. Most (70%) still comes from South Africa.

Other government-backed companies

The soda ash operation at Sua Pan, opened in 1991 and supported by substantial government investment, has begun making a profit following significant restructuring. It produced 283,000 tons of soda ash in 2002. BCL is expected to significantly reduce operations within the next ten years.

Coal bed methane gas has been discovered in the northeastern part of the country, estimated by the developers at a commercially viable quantity of convert|12|Tcuft|km3. Development of the gas field, financed by the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, began in mid-2004.

Private investment

Private firms with substantial interests in the country include Heinz.

Hyundai operated a car assembly plant in Botswana from 1994 to 2000. [http://www.gov.bw/economy/index.html] The Motor Company of Botswana built Hyundai's and Volvos at the CKD plant in north Gaberone from 1997 to 2000, before it was liquidated [http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20000113] .

MTC

MTC stands for Marketing research, Travel and cultural Exchange programs, and Credit management. MTC is organized as a three core business unit. It is a Botswana Registered company incorporated in 1997, with offices at the Gaborone International Commerce Park.

The Market Research Division undertakes a wide range of research services and these are: Product Market Surveys, Media Research, Ad Hoc Socio-Economic Studies, The Au Pair USA Program, The Au Pair Europe Program, Camp USA Program, Work/travel USA program, Career Training and development program USA, Language Camps.

TransUnion ITC

TransUnion ITC is the only risk information company operating in southern Africa. Also, as part of TransUnion, it draws on the group's international experience in emerging markets in more than 30 countries worldwide.

It develops solutions and services to tackle the specific challenges of managing risk in local markets where many consumers have little, if any, credit histories.

See also: Economy of Botswana