Botswana-based tycoon Jonathan Gibson gains $14.4 million in 2023

Botswana-based businessman Jonathan Gibson has firmly established himself as a leading player on the Botswana Stock Exchange, boasting an impressive gain of more than $10 million this year alone from his stake in Chobe Holdings.

Data gathered by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Gibson’s stake in Chobe Holdings has surged by BWP218.04 million ($14.36 million) since Jan. 1 as investors on the local bourse raise their stakes in the Gaborone-based group.

Chobe Holdings operates 12 ecotourism lodges and camps on leased land in Northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia under the Desert & Delta Safari brands, Chobe Game Lodge, Ker & Downey Botswana, and Sedia Riverside Hotel.

It also controls Safari Air, a wholly-owned air charter operator providing air transport services to the group’s camps and lodges, as well as North West Air Proprietary Limited, a wholly-owned air maintenance operation that provides maintenance services to the group’s aircraft and third parties.

Gibson, the deputy chairman of Chobe Holdings, who ranks as one of the richest investors on the Botswana Stock Exchange, holds 31,830,406 ordinary shares in the Gaborone-based tourism group.

Since the start of the year, the share price of Chobe Holdings has increased by 86.60 percent, from BWP7.91 ($0.5740) on January 1 to BWP14.76  ($1.072) at the time of writing, thus leading to gains amounting to millions of dollars for its shareholders, including Gibson.

As a result of the double-digit percent bump in the group’s share price, the market value of Gibson’s stake has increased by BWP218.04 million ($14.36 million), rising from BWP251.78 million ($19.74 million) to BWP469.83 million ($34.10 million) at the time of writing.

This substantial increase in Gibson’s stake further solidifies his status among Botswana’s elite billionaires and positions him as one of the most affluent investors on the Botswana Stock Exchange.