On Wednesday 3 December 2008, Botswana Insurance Fund Management (Bifm) held their annual stakeholder end of year party at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC). The theme for this year was ‘The Roaring 20s’, the ambience reminisced of a movie set. The d├®cor was magnificently done, with every detail planned down to the tee.
The actors – the invited guests – also did not disappoint! They walked in, fully dressed up for the occasion with the gentlemen in suits and bowties. The ladies also came out to play in their headbands and 20s style dresses. Compounded with classic jazz vocals of the likes of Louis Armstrong and blues grooves from the famous Frank Sinatra. In a flash we had gone back in time to the 20s!
This annual event is meant to provide a relaxed environment where stakeholders can interact with Bifm management & staff, get to know them better and discuss issues surrounding the investment markets in a comfortable setting. Speaking at the event, Victor Senye, the Bifm CEO said he had mixed feelings about the year saying that Bifm had experienced the good, the bad and the ugly. This followed the manner in which the markets had been behaving, that is, their volatility.
Senye added that interaction was therefore very important during challenging times as trustees of pension funds were at the forefront of all the concerns, frustration, and sometimes anger of their membership. However, he assured them that as service providers, Bifm was in it with the trustees and understood what they were going through.
The event through its theme also celebrated the year that was for Bifm, looking back at the developments they had managed to complete for instance Plot 21 and other on-going developments like the SADC Headquarters and Phase 2 of the Fairgrounds Office Park. Other highlights included activities such as the Bifm Botswana Ladies and Legends Golf Open, the Bifm-EU Festival Concert and a Media party they had held recently to name a few.
Another highlight of note for the year was the celebration of the achievements by Bifm staff. Boikanyo Mogami an Investment Analyst at Bifm recently passed level 3 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examinations. This gives the reassurance that at Bifm good is just not good enough; they simply strive to be the best.
