BAMB rakes in P70m profit

Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) has bounced back from a huge loss the previous year to make a profit worth P70.7 million in 2019 against a budgeted profit of P3.2 million.

The Board Chairperson of BAMB Dr Gloria Somolekae said – in the company’s 2018/19 Annual Report – that the profit signals recovery from a P65 million profit loss suffered in the year that ended 31 March 2018.

Dr Somolekae said BAMB enjoyed a 16 percent revenue growth for the year ended 31^st March 2019 reaching P312 million against prior year’s sales revenue of P259 million.

The board’s administrative costs grew by 3% but remained within 10% tolerance level annual target.

This big increase in revenue according to her is attributable to focus being placed on financial efficiencies and strategies which were more customer-centric in order to improve the business.

She said a key highlight towards the volume contribution was the border closure initiative which resulted in the purchase of local farming produce in higher amounts.

“The Board’s balance sheet ratios improved significantly as the Board focused its efforts on reducing its gearing through repayment of its borrowing facilities with financial institutions. Cash flows also strengthened as the Board was also able to recover significant revenue from major debtors. This performance exhibits an overall improvement in BAMB operations,” she said.

BAMB CEO Leonard Morakaladi said their revenue surged due to strengthened relationships with key customers and intensified marketing strategies.

During the 2018\19 harvesting season, Morakaladi pointed out that a total of 41, 107.93 tonnes of grain were bought to uphold Strategic Grain Reserves sustainability.

SGRs in fees have contributed 5% to the total Board’s revenues and were above budget by 114%.

In the middle of COVID-19 pandemic farmers and experts fear that the agriculture sector will be impacted more especially the commercial side that deals with food.

The pandemic, according to Director of Food and Agriculture Resources at SADC Dominiqos Gove, is expected to throw the region into serious food crisis likely to affect 43 million people.

Gove said this recently at the signing of SADC protocol launching the SADC Seed Centre in Botswana. He reiterated that farming produce for current harvest season needs sustainability.