Chairperson’s Statement

I am pleased to present to you, our dear stakeholder, the 2021 Annual Report, which covers performance for the financial year 2020/21. The Report reflects a trajectory of continued success and growth that emanates from the company’s drive to excel in implementing its mandate, not only as a commitment to the ICT sector, but also to the socio-economic wellbeing of this country.

"In line with this, we have been aggressive in the deployment of the national backbone infrastructure.

These Localities have been connected through fibre and high capacity microwave radio network"

206

Localities

connected to the national backbone infrastructure

CHAIRPERSON’S STATEMENT

CONTINUED

The report is of great importance to us as a company because it portrays how we have performed in the first year of our compelling Strategy, UNLEASH 2025.

BoFiNet, a company owned by Government through the Ministry of Transport and Communications, operates in a very unique and delicate market environment. Through its wholesaler mandate, it is expected to facilitate other ICT operators in delivering not only connectivity but a myriad of communications products and services that advance the goals of the country’s ICT landscape. However, the operators are, in many respects, also the company’s competitors who are at full liberty to provide the same wholesaler services and products and can also source such from alternative service providers inside and outside the country. This peculiarity puts BoFiNet on a delicate pedestal.

We have, however, focused our energies on the opportunities presented by this arrangement, among them the push to evolve and continuously improve our offerings, leveraging our strengths and those of our partners to remain resilient and sustainable and enabling our fellow players to advance their goals.

Through our new transformative, outward-andforward-looking and compelling Strategy, UNLEASH 2025, we look forward to a bright future, both in the business of the company and the ICT landscape. The Strategy takes over from where another of our great strategies, Strategy 2020, left off. Key in the development of the Strategy was the fact that it took effect at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a factor which has a significant bearing on the goals of the Strategy. At the core of the Strategy is digital transformation, which is now the key enabler of socio-economic aspects of our livelihoods.

MAITLAMO ICT POLICY AND NATIONAL BROADBAND STRATEGY MILESTONES

BoFiNet continues to implement its mandate alongside the guiding principles of the Maitlamo National ICT Policy (Maitlamo) and the National Broadband Strategy (NBS). The goals of Maitlamo are (a) creation of an enabling environment for the growth of an ICT industry in the country and (b) provision of universal service and access to information and communication facilities in the country. We have endeavoured, over the years, to align to and support the fulfilment of these goals, in a number of cases, working together with other stakeholders.

The NBS is unequivocal on the objectives of developing the National ICT infrastructure to enable and facilitate services, applications and content for Botswana’s economic and social transformation. In line with this, we have been aggressive in the deployment of the National backbone fibre technology infrastructure, in the process covering in excess of 10,600km, across 206 localities in the country. These localities have been connected through fibre and high capacity microwave radio network. Funds permitting, the plan is to cover all the 399 established localities by the end of our UNLEASH 2025 Strategy.

This deployment has ensured that residents of the localities have access to high-speed network infrastructure enabled by a network of local access infrastructure, namely Fibre-To-The-Business (FTTB) - targeting businesses, educational institutions and Government buildings, and Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) access network infrastructure – aimed at providing high broadband access to residential/home users. As at the end of the year under review, a total of 6,956 commercial, Government and residential premises had been connected with FTTB and FTTH infrastructure in Gaborone.

Notwithstanding the above milestones, much more still needs to be done in building and enabling the broadband ecosystem. There are, among others, issues of ensuring access by deploying high-speed networks to communities, businesses and farming areas; minimum download speed targets for the different services to be accessed; and development of local content; in line with the NBS targets and goals. Despite limited resources, BoFiNet is committed to, and will continue to play its part in ensuring that the above targets and goals are achieved.

DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL DATA CENTRE

Through its commitment to the development of the National ICT landscape, BoFiNet has undertaken to develop a National Data Centre - located at the Botswana Innovation Hub - the construction of which commenced in the last quarter of the 2020–2021 financial year and will be ready for use by April 2022. It will be a Tier III category Data Centre and will be accredited by the Uptime Institute, a highly ranked and reputable Institute that administers the globally known and recognized Tier Standards for designing, managing and operating data center infrastructure. The Data Centre will play a key role in ensuring that National data and content reside within the country and closer to the users. This will go

a long way in advancing not only the ICT landscape, but the country’s dream of a digital economy and a knowledge society by enabling key Government services like e-Government, e-Health, e-Education and facilitating eCommerce services.

BANDWIDTH SPEEDS AND COSTS

High connectivity costs for the country remain our concern as the Board of Directors and as an organisation. We continue to experience high transit backhaul costs, owing to the country’s land-locked nature, which have a direct bearing on the high bandwidth and associated ICT costs nationally.

As we depend on the landing stations in neighbouring countries, we have had to take steps aimed at reducing costs. One such step is the continued exploration of partnership opportunities with other ICT players in the neighbouring countries, to reduce costs. We have already established a partnership with Paratus Telecom in Namibia on the Mamuno–Swakopmund and Ngoma–Sesheke fibre connection route. In South Africa, we have partnered with Broadband Infraco on the Tlokweng–Johannesburg fibre route. Engagements are ongoing to explore the Yzerfontein-Cape Town and Mtunzini-Durban routes. We will continue to engage the partners on more cost-effective options to drive down the costs.

OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

I am pleased to announce that BoFiNet defied the odds and closed the financial year on an impressive financial performance, adding to a trajectory that spans four (4) consecutive years outside of Government support for its operational expenditure. What is more pleasing is that we have been able to use a very significant amount of our savings to fund key projects like the Data Centre project, the FTTH rollout and, to a large extent, deployment of Wi-Fi infrastructure around the country. This consistent financial performance is a result of the strategies that we have developed and successfully executed over the years. Key among the goals of Strategy 2020 was financial sustainability, which has now become a competency we want to keep nurturing. We continue to develop, review and enhance our corporate governance framework, supported by a healthy employee culture. This has set the company on a strong path to success.

Whilst we boast of this success, we can never be complacent, for there is so much to be achieved on our mandate for the country’s ICT sector and the economy as a whole.

CONCLUSION

As I conclude, let me express my deepest gratitude, and that of my fellow Board Members, for the continued and unwavering support you, our stakeholders, have accorded us. I implore you to keep supporting and guiding us to serve you and the country better. To the BoFiNet Executive Management and Staff, we appreciate your great efforts in representing us well. As one of our Values goes, let us keep doing the right thing; our UNLEASH 2025 Strategy is a journey for us to travel with pride and commitment.

Thank you.

Ms. Pelani Siwawa-Ndai

BoFiNet Board Chairperson