Africa’s leading supplier of Soda Ash and industrial salt, Botswana Ash’s (Botash) profits from their core business have shown an impressive and steady growth over the years with the business’ profit increasing three times between 2017 and 2022. Kangangwani Phatshwane, Botash’s Managing Director told media personnel in a tour of the mine recently that with the introduction of new products in the near future, stakeholders should expect the mine’s profit to double by the year 2027.
In 2017, Botash recorded a P103.4m profit whereas in 2018 the company recorded more than double its profits in the previous year with P257.31m. Last year alone the mine’s profits had reached P527m against a planned target of P470m for the year.
Phatshwane disclosed that for the past five years, Botash has been working on introducing three new products in the market that are expected to further boost the mine’s profitability as well as to maintain its position as Africa’s leading manufacturer and supplier of Soda Ash.
Amongst the new products to be launched is Sulphate of Potash which is currently not being produced in Africa and is a premium fertilizer for high value fruits and vegetables such as grapes. Botash also plans to introduce Sodium Bicarbonate which is largely used in animal feed production and household cooking amongst other uses.
Another product Botash intends to introduce to the market as a way to diversify from its core line of business is Sodium Sulphate that is used in the manufacturing of detergents.
“Over the last five years we have developed three new products, which will be launched at the right time in the future, and we will continue to develop products so that the company has a basket of products to launch in the market,” he said.
The partly state-owned mine – which has been in operation for over 30 years and is not only a supplier of soda ash but food grade salt in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and DRC – has a strategic five-year plan that intends to double sales. Its intention is to sustainably deliver diversified sodium-based product growth through improved logistics, plant operations, new product development and geographical expansion to double earnings before tax by 2027.
Phatshwane highlighted that the plan’s strategic pillars include reliable and predictable production, defend and grow market share, diversified product offering as well as sustainable mining operations.
Leading the mine tour was Senior Processing Engineer Modisagaarekwe Kgaodi who explained to the media that Botash’s raw material is brine which exists underground in the Makgadikgadi pan and further highlighted that there are a total of 155 wells that the brine is being pumped from.
Kgaodi further noted that Botash’s current mining lease runs up to the year 2039 though the resources currently available from the resource evaluation of 2014 indicate that the mine can run up to the year 2050. The resource evaluation which is done every 10 years helps the mine determine the lifespan of the soda ash mine. Kgaodi highlighted that the latest resource evaluation is currently underway and is expected to be complete by November.