Africa-Press – Botswana. The Bank of Botswana has listed cyber risks “among the top five national security risks” and identified money laundering, a downturn in the economy and disruptions in electricity supply as Botswana’s key threats.
Botswana’s banking sector still dominates the filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs), submitting 94.5 percent of all STRs between April and September 2024.
This is revealed in the Bank of Botswana’s (BoB) Financial Stability Report of May 2025.
“Sixty percent of STRs were related to illegal deposit taking whereby funds were solicited from the public for purported ‘investments’ by unlicensed entities,” says the report.
Predicate crimes
It notes that STRs on illegal deposit taking amounted to P25.8 million while those related to large cash deposits totalled P40 million.
The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), which receives and investigates STRs, “attended to 42 requests for financial information to support financial investigations on money laundering and associated predicate crimes”.
These included cases involving corruption, economic crimes, and possession of illicit substances.
The FIA continues to work with law enforcement and the judiciary to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations.
Virtual assets and fintech
While the domestic virtual assets market is still developing and poses “limited risks to financial stability”, the report raises caution over potential vulnerabilities in the financial technology space.
It notes that “cyber risks arising from financial technology (fintech) are also considered minimal but may rise with increased technological complexity and interconnectedness”.
However, “cyber risks overall remain among the top five national security risks”, making “development and adoption of appropriate laws, regulations, frameworks, and surveillance tools crucial to the early detection and prevention of cyber threats”.
A volatile future
“The financial cycle indicators portend a volatile future trend as macroeconomic conditions continue to falter,” says the BoB report. The indicators showed “a downturn at the end of 2024, projected to extend into 2025,” which could affect investor sentiment and pricing of assets like land, property and equities.
“The market is expected to face stringent lending standards as financial institutions adjust their risk pricing and appetite,” the report states. It warns that tightening financing conditions may follow unless “appropriate responses and clear forward guidance” are provided by regulators to avoid worsening financial stress.
Load shedding concerns
The report flags recent developments in the energy sector as potential risks to the economy. “The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) started electricity load management in March 2025, citing maintenance issues at the Morupule B power station,” it notes.
The report warns the outages are “expected to further dampen economic activity and prospects for the macroeconomic recovery”, noting that “a resultant fall in private sector activity would lead to a reduction in tax revenue, which has the potential to worsen the fiscal deficit”.
The report warns that power disruptions may “impair the implementation of government projects, with adverse consequences, including with respect to financial sector liquidity”.
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