Botswana Power Corporation wants to lift revenue from about P9 billion to P25 billion by 2031 by adding fibre, wheeling and regional energy opportunities.
Botswana Power Corporation’s new five-year strategy changes the question surrounding the state utility. The issue is no longer only whether BPC can produce or procure enough electricity at an acceptable cost. It is whether the corporation can turn infrastructure it already controls into a broader commercial platform. Under its 2026–2031 Atlega strategy, BPC is targeting revenue growth from roughly P9 billion to P25 billion, with diversification, renewable energy and new business opportunities at the centre of the plan.
That target is ambitious enough to require a different operating model. Electricity sales remain the core business, but a utility that depends almost entirely on regulated tariffs and bulk power margins has limited room to absorb fuel, generation, debt and maintenance shocks. Fibre assets, network wheeling and regional power trading offer different revenue streams because they monetise the grid itself, not only the units of electricity sold through it.
The first mechanism is fibre. Electricity transmission corridors already connect substations, generation assets and major demand centres. Utilities frequently use fibre-optic communications to monitor and control those systems. Where capacity and regulation allow, that fibre can also support telecommunications operators, enterprises and wholesale connectivity. The commercial logic is straightforward: a network built primarily for power can carry a second infrastructure service without replicating the entire physical corridor.
That matters in Botswana because digital infrastructure is becoming as important to business operations as electricity. Banks, mines, retailers, logistics firms and public institutions all require dependable data connectivity. If BPC can make existing fibre capacity available on commercially sensible terms, the corporation can earn non-tariff revenue while increasing the productive use of assets already embedded in its transmission network.
The second mechanism is wheeling. Wheeling allows electricity generated by an independent producer to move across a utility’s network to a customer elsewhere, with the network owner charging for the use of its infrastructure. This is important as private renewable-energy projects expand. A solar or wind developer does not always need BPC to buy the electricity; it may instead contract directly with a mine, factory or large commercial user and pay to move that power through the grid.
For BPC, that creates an opportunity to earn network revenue even when it is not the energy seller. For customers, it creates more procurement options. For private generators, it creates a route to market. The model can therefore expand investment without requiring the utility to finance every new megawatt itself. But the commercial framework has to be clear. Wheeling charges, grid-access rules, settlement systems and network constraints must be predictable enough for long-term power-purchase agreements to be financed.
The regional component is equally important. Botswana sits inside the Southern African Power Pool, where generation surpluses and shortages move across borders. BPC’s strategy indicates an ambition to participate more actively in regional energy trading rather than remain primarily dependent on imports. That shift would require generation capacity, transmission reliability, trading capability and disciplined risk management. Regional power markets can create revenue, but they can also expose a utility to price volatility and counterparty risk.
Renewable energy sits underneath all three opportunities. Botswana has strong solar resources, and new generation can reduce exposure to imported electricity while supporting wheeling and regional sales. The economic value comes from combining assets rather than treating them separately. A solar plant becomes more valuable when a customer can be reached through a wheeling framework. A transmission corridor becomes more valuable when it can carry both electricity and fibre. A regional interconnector becomes more valuable when BPC can actively trade across it.
The difficulty is execution. A revenue target of P25 billion cannot be achieved by announcing adjacent businesses. Fibre requires commercial customers and service agreements. Wheeling requires regulation and metering. Regional trading requires reliable generation and sophisticated treasury controls. Renewable projects require capital, procurement discipline and grid integration. Each revenue stream therefore comes with its own investment and governance demands.
BPC also has to protect the core network while commercialising it. Transmission capacity is finite. Fibre and power assets are critical infrastructure. New third-party access must not compromise reliability, cybersecurity or maintenance. The utility will need a commercial mindset without weakening the engineering discipline that keeps the system functioning.
For Botswana’s private sector, the strategy could widen the market around BPC. Telecommunications companies may gain new backbone options. Independent power producers could reach customers through wheeling. Engineering and technology firms could work on grid modernisation, metering, cybersecurity and renewable integration. Large consumers could negotiate more flexible energy structures. The utility’s diversification therefore has the potential to create markets around the network rather than only inside the corporation.
The decisive test is whether BPC can convert infrastructure ownership into commercially disciplined services. The P25 billion target is not simply a growth forecast. It is a statement that the utility intends to earn from the network in more than one way. If fibre, wheeling, renewables and regional trading become functioning businesses rather than strategic labels, BPC will have moved from being an electricity supplier toward becoming an infrastructure platform.
