The BNSC board chairperson, Marumo Morule, said a detailed geotechnical investigation was undertaken and the recommendation is that the site is not suitable for the construction of a filling station business. “We have entered into an agreement with a developer for the construction of the filling station and a drive-through forecourt. We are currently working with the developer to assess an alternative site,” he said. Morule said the commission has identified a developer for the construction of the BNSC head office through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
He said the project is at the contract negotiation stage, for a building that will house the secretariat, some National Sport Associations (NSA) as well as space for lease, for revenue generation purposes. Morule said the BNSC will contribute land as equity to the project and a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed by the parties to develop the project. An SPV is a separate legal entity that is created for a specific business purpose or activity. SPVs are often used to manage investment in a particular project, such as in early-stage real estate. Morule told MmegiSport that they have consulted and continue to consult all stakeholders and the initiatives are a result of the ongoing engagements. “Kindly note we do not have funds for the development of these projects, we are seeking development partners. The diversification therefore is part of our income generation plans of expansion,” he said. Meanwhile, Morule said the BNSC board would like to increase and improve engagement with the NSAs without interfering with the existing protocols. “This initiative will allow all board members to engage and interact with the NSAs and collectively our contact hours will increase,” Morule said.
Reacting to the new developments, the Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) president, Kudzanani Motswagole, said anything good for the sustainability of sport in terms of revenue streams is a welcome idea and if the projects are confirmed to be market viable they can be tried and see if it may be a game changer for sport. “Because depending on the government grants is not sustainable as we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, that we are one the first sectors to be affected when there are national budget cuts,” Motswagole said.
For his part, the Botswana Golf Union (BGU) president, Derrick Musa, said it is a good development since profits received will augment funding received from government and eventually make the BNSC self-sustainable. “The commercial project is part of an integrated sport facility that includes indoor facilities, a high-performance centre, and parking for the National Stadium. I do not think the commercial project will impact any requirements to upgrade the National Stadium. If anything, it should complement future development of sporting facilities,” Musa said. Meanwhile, in 2017, the BGU was to embark on a P100 million project to upgrade the Gaborone Golf Club, a project that did not see the light of day. Things took a twist when an agreement between the two parties that were involved in the project, the Gaborone City Council (GCC) and the BGU fell apart. GCC and BGU were at loggerheads with the former challenging the redevelopment and the latter eager to terminate a lease agreement with the club to pave the way for the developments. “The project has been impacted by the BNSC Sports Master Plan and we will review the project. We are just waiting for official communication from the BNSC and we will start engaging our stakeholders,” Musa said.
