Abstract

This paper investigates the extent of compliance by 16 state owned enterprises (SOE)/parastatal corporations in Botswana with international best practice corporate governance principles. In particular the study examines the extent of compliance by SOEs with best practice corporate governance principles as recommended under the King Code of South Africa. The King Code (2002) of Corporate Governance is generally considered as a benchmark for best practice corporate governance not only in the Southern African region but also across the African continent.

Using a compliance checklist of 53 provisions from the Code, the study finds that 68.7% of Botswana SOEs have a compliance score of 51% and above while the remaining 31.3% applied less than 50% of the provisions in the King Code checklist. The study also finds that compliance with the Code increased from an average of 57% in 2009 to 60% in 2012. Further the study finds that SOEs tended to comply more with provisions on risk management and less on provisions on integrated sustainability reporting.

The results of this study have implications on governance practices of SOEs in Botswana in general. For instance, the results may possibly indicate that, even though governance structures of SOEs in Botswana are crafted through Acts of parliament, on the whole they adhere to international best practice corporate governance principles. The results could also be a signal to local and international investors that Botswana SOEs are not lagging behind in terms of compliance with good governance practices.

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