The southern African nation’s biggest mobile network operator has lost more than $100,000 worth of lithium batteries in the past week alone.
Some households use lithium batteries for solar lighting, while light industries rely on them.
Amid a surge in global demand for the battery in electric vehicles, Botswana’s authorities have reported increased lithium battery thefts from mobile phone towers. The southern African nation’s biggest mobile network operator has lost more than $100,000 worth of lithium batteries in the past week alone.
Diteko Motube, Botswana’s police spokesperson, said most of the stolen batteries are being smuggled across the border to Zimbabwe. In addition, five suspects from Zimbabwe and a Botswanan national were arrested this week while possessing batteries worth more than $100,000. These batteries were stolen from Mascom, Botswana’s leading mobile network service provider.
Mascom’s spokesperson Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego noted that the thefts had derailed service delivery. In addition, He said, “This issue is certainly a crisis, and it is affecting our quality of services ambitions. We are working closely with the relevant law enforcement offices and other administrators, including the community, to find sustainable solutions to arrest the situation”.
Zenzo Moyo, A Zimbabwean-born UK-based economic and political analyst, said thefts in Botswana could be the result of the frequent power outages experienced in some southern African countries. In addition, he noted that “It is not surprising that these lithium batteries are in high demand now mainly because of the load shedding that is being experienced in southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Some households use lithium batteries for solar lighting, while light industries rely on them”.