Pula Fund
Company typeState-owned
FoundedNovember 1993; 30 years ago (1993-11)
AUMUS$4.1 billion (2023)
OwnerBank of Botswana
Websitewww.bankofbotswana.bw/content/pula-fund

The Pula Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Botswana. As of October 2023, the fund has US$4.1 billion in assets under management.[1]

History

The Pula Fund was established in November 1993, to invest surplus revenues from diamond exports.[2][3]

In 1997, the fund was re-established in its current form, under the Bank of Botswana Act 1996 with the objective of providing greater flexibility in the management of international reserves, and greater certainty in the forecasting of annual “dividend” payments to the government from the Bank of Botswana.[4]

In 2008, the fund agreed to the Santiago Principles, a series of guidelines on best practices for sovereign wealth funds.[5]

As of 2015, the fund has assets valued at $7 billion.[2]

Prior to May 2019, the fund was restricted to investing in United States dollars, Pound sterling, Japanese yen, and euros. In May 2019, the Bank of Botswana eased these restrictions, increasing the number of eligible currencies to 17.[6]

In July 2020, the Bank of Botswana announced it would be seeking legislation to limit access to the fund, as the fund was being accessed by governments to meet budget deficits, leading to a steady fall in the fund's reserves.[7]

Corporate Governance

In order to achieve its statutory objectives, the Bank of Botswana is directed by a board of directors. All departments and the division are responsible to the governor through the chief operating officer, the general Counsel and the deputy governor. The Bank's executive committee meets fortnightly and is chaired by the Governor. The work of the bank is also coordinated by a number of committees.[8]

Board of Directors

The board of directors is composed of the members listed below:[9]

Executive Committee

The executive committee is composed of the members listed below:[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Pula Fund (Pula Fund) - Sovereign Wealth Fund, Botswana - SWFI". www.swfinstitute.org. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  2. ^ a b Alsweilem, Khalid A.; Cummine, Angela; Rietveld, Malan; Tweedie, Katherine (2015). A comparative study of sovereign investor models: Sovereign fund profiles (PDF) (Report). Harvard Kennedy School. pp. 11–16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  3. ^ Nyambura-Mwaura, Helen (13 February 2014). "African nations race to build sovereign funds". Reuters. Johannesburg, South Africa. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  4. ^ Kojo, Naoko C. (2015). Small Countries with Volatile Revenue: Botswana and Bhutan (PDF) (Report). World Bank. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
     This article incorporates text by Naoko C. Kojo available under the CC BY 3.0 license.
  5. ^ Ntibinyane, Ntibinyane; Letlole, Olebile (4 February 2016). "Botswana repeatedly raids preservation fund". Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  6. ^ Mguni, Mbongeni (21 May 2019). "Botswana to Invest Diamond Wealth More Widely". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  7. ^ Benza, Brian (14 July 2020). "Botswana central bank seeks law to preserve shrinking sovereign wealth fund". Reuters. Gaborone, Botswana. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Organisation | Bank of Botswana". www.bankofbotswana.bw. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  9. ^ "Board of Directors | Bank of Botswana". www.bankofbotswana.bw. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  10. ^ "Executive Committee | Bank of Botswana". www.bankofbotswana.bw. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
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