**orone is abuzz with certain rumours about the state of affairs at BPC - I emphasise these are rumours at this stage so do not get all high and mighty with rude responses. The sources are people who have more than a reasonable knowledge of goings on in the country and in Govt circles.
BPC is insolvent; it has been for many years actually. But the current state of Govt finances is so dire that BPC is being affected more than most given the high level of Govt support required over past many years. Long serving civil service members of staff have been released because of favours extended to multiple contractors and suppliers across the country. Some of these people were emboldened in recent years because they worked in an environment where, following the example of former Minister of Minerals, everyone mage a grab for whatever they could get their hands onto and into.
Multiple lawsuits are in the process of being drafted and the Office of the President is struggling to keep control of how things are developing.
At BPC, concerns are being raised at the way contracts and tenders were awarded to parties with no industry knowledge or expertise. Terms of contracts were changed after the original contracts had been responded to and awarded to successful applicants - specifically the PPADB is under the microscope again for corrupt practices. Sekaname were awarded a 6MW PPA with BPC back in 2023 and that has been cancelled.
I don't wish to write here what is being said about the Tlou 2 to 10MW PPA, which if true would be a reportable event - so best wait for the company to update latest in their quarterly report due out end July.
Multiple other small scale solar PPAs awarded in past 2-3 years have also been cancelled by BPC. Operators are up in arms; hence the expectation of multiple lawsuits being planned in the near term. Basically the country is broke; has lost 50% of normal Govt incomes from sale of diamonds; has little other sources of income in the short term to fill the revenue gap so cost cutting is akin to Elon at DOGE - jump first and hope for the best.
What continues to not make sense in the electricity landscape in Botswana is Why the Govt continue to buy significant quantities (ie ofter more than 50%) of imported power from its neighbours - mostly S Africa and Namibia - where the cost paid to them is more than double, maybe even triple the cost that would be paid for locally sourced power generation (be that coal, gas or solar). If the argument supporting this is because Govt needs dependable supply sources, then they should fast track local power generation like Tlou / CBM and solar projects. But they consistently refuse to do this (old Govt and so far this new Govt) - so why is that ? The only logical answer i can come up with is kickback arrangements. I wish it wasn't so.
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