As government prepares to wean away State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from its funding programmes, one of the SOEs, BotswanaPost says it will be exploring new funding avenues with financial institutions in the private sector.
Through looking to the private sector, BotswanaPost hopes for a leverage that will ensure that both cost effective and sustainable financing is achieved.
BotswanaPost’s recent financial statements shows that its sales revenue increased by P29 million, achieving year-on-year growth of 7 percent despite the decline in the traditional mail business.
At the same time, the company noted in its annual report that it realised an average 29 percent reduction in its losses before tax over the last five years and for the year under review, the losses reduced by a further P14 million (51.9percent) to P12.9 million from P27 million.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Cornelius Ramatlhakwane told journalists in the capital Gaborone that a major accomplishment under the operational efficiency improvement plan is the Post’s ability to bring under control the its administrative expenses. The financials shows that during the year under review, the admin expenses fell by P10.8 million reflecting a 7.9 percent decline.
Ramatlhakwane is ambitious of achieving a revenue target P660 million at a cost income ratio of 96 percent by 2020 adding that they have increased staff compliment at Post Offices and operations as well as reducing Head Office head count. He said they optimized mail processes and also introduced system for managing as well as high performance culture
He spoke of 141 opportunities which were identified, adding that for each opportunity they documented the details, the area of business involved, impact and whether it relates to process, tools or training.
“We needed to do something in a short space of time to answer a lot of questions and reposition the company on a path to profitability,” said Ramatlhakwane.
