Tycoon Gibson loses $5.6 m as Chobe shares decline

Chobe operates 12 ecotourism lodges and camps on leased land in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia.

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Botswana-based businessman Jonathan Gibson has seen the market value of his stake in Chobe Holdings, a Botswana-based tourism group, decline by BWP65.9 million ($5.6 million) since the start of the year.

The value loss came off a double-digit decline in the group’s shares, as investors sold off their stakes due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry and the ripple effect on the operations of its subsidiaries.

Chobe Holdings Limited operates 12 ecotourism lodges and camps on leased land in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia under leading brands and subsidiaries under its control.

The Bostwana-based tourism group is led by one of the country’s leading executives Jonathan Gibson, who holds a substantial ownership interest amounting to 31,830,406 ordinary shares.

As of press time, Nov. 28, shares in the Botswana-based group were trading at BWP7.36, 14-basis points lower than their opening price on the Botswana Stock Exchange on Fri., Nov. 26.

Chobe shares have lost more than one-fifth of their value as a result of the sustained sell-off, as shareholders react to the Botswana-based tourism group’s bland financial performance in 2020 and the losses that it posted in the first half of its current financial year.

Since the start of the year, the group’s stock price has fallen from BWP9.43 ($0.8058) per share on Dec. 31, 2020, to BWP7.36 ($0.629) per share on Nov. 28; while its market capitalisation on the local bourse slumped from BWP843.4 million ($72.1 million) to BWP658.3 million ($56.2 million) as a result of the price decline.

Research by Billionaires.Africa revealed that the market value of Gibson’s stake has dropped from BWP300.2 million ($25.6 million) at the start of the year to BWP234.3 million ($20 million) as of the time of writing, accruing total losses of BWP65.9 million ($5.6 million) for the businessman since the year began.