South-East District, Botswana
Custom ERP and billing, AI agents, web applications and SaaS for mining and jewellery businesses in Gaborone. Built by Flip Retail in Jaipur, India, and delivered remotely, with working software every two weeks.
01 — Local economy
Rough diamonds from Botswana's mines are sorted and sold here: De Beers moved its global sightholder sales from London to Gaborone in 2013, and Debswana, the Okavango Diamond Company and cutting and polishing firms in the Diamond Technology Park keep the trade local. Banks, insurers and state-owned enterprises fill the new Central Business District, and most consumer goods arrive by road from South Africa through wholesalers and distributors.
English and Setswana
02 — Industries
What we would build first for the industries Gaborone is known for.
03 — Compliance
What an ERP, billing system or AI agent has to respect here.
| Indirect tax | VAT, standard rate 14%VAT stays at 14% (the Value Added Tax Bill 2025 that re-enacted the VAT law kept that rate), with registration required above BWP 1 million. The 2025-2026 reforms also brought non-resident suppliers of remote and digital services into VAT. |
|---|---|
| E-invoicing | Planned · BURS electronic billing system (Tax Administration Act)The new Tax Administration law requires taxpayers to issue electronic invoices through a BURS-approved electronic billing system, but this is not yet operative; secondary sources report it starting around April 2027. |
| Data protection | Data Protection Act, 2024 (Act No. 18 of 2024)In force since 29 October 2024 and overseen by the Information and Data Protection Commission; controllers must notify the Commissioner before automated processing, report breaches within 72 hours where feasible, and transfer data abroad only to adequate or designated countries or with authorisation or another legal basis. |
| AI rules | No AI-specific statute; AI deployments that process personal data are governed by the Data Protection Act 2024. |
| Systems we migrate from or connect to | Sage 50 (Pastel), Sage 200 Evolution, Xero, QuickBooks, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, SysproMasters, ledgers, stock and open balances move across and are reconciled before cutover. |
| Payment rails for web apps and SaaS | Orange Money, MyZaka (Mascom), Smega (BTC), DPO Pay |
| Also worth knowing | South African accounting and ERP products dominate. Vendors should plan for BURS electronic billing integration and the new VAT invoice-content rules from the 2026 VAT reforms. |
General information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed October 2026. Rules change, so we confirm current requirements during discovery; your tax adviser should confirm anything that affects filings.
Sources consulted:
04 — Working together
Jaipur is 3 h 30 min ahead of Gaborone all year. A 09:00 start there is 12:30 in Jaipur. Standard 09:00–18:00 office days overlap by 5 h 30 min, which is enough for live calls, demos and same-day answers.
Local time, standard time.
Pranjal was very professional with excellent communication and transparency.
50+ projects for 30+ clients in 11 countries over six-plus years.
05 — FAQ
Yes, remotely. Flip Retail is a software studio in Jaipur, India, with no office in Gaborone; discovery happens on video calls and you get working software every two weeks.
Jaipur is 3 h 30 min ahead of Gaborone all year. A 09:00 start there is 12:30 in Jaipur. Standard 09:00–18:00 office days overlap by 5 h 30 min, which is enough for live calls, demos and same-day answers.
Yes. Invoicing is built for Botswana's VAT (standard rate 14%). On e-invoicing: The new Tax Administration law requires taxpayers to issue electronic invoices through a BURS-approved electronic billing system, but this is not yet operative; secondary sources report it starting around April 2027. When the mandate takes effect, a custom ERP can connect to BURS electronic billing system through its official API or an accredited provider; we design for it from the start.
You choose: your own cloud account in a region that suits you, or your own servers. Access inside the system is role-based, and during development we work on test or masked data wherever possible. In force since 29 October 2024 and overseen by the Information and Data Protection Commission; controllers must notify the Commissioner before automated processing, report breaches within 72 hours where feasible, and transfer data abroad only to adequate or designated countries or with authorisation or another legal basis.
Yes. Masters, ledgers, stock and opening balances move across and are reconciled with your accountant before cutover, ideally at a year-end or quarter-end.
For English, yes: current language models handle it well, including mixed-language messages. Support for Setswana is more limited, so we test with real customer messages before committing to it, and route anything the agent is unsure about to your team.
Usually one module that fixes the most expensive problem first. For mining & minerals that is often weighbridge integration and grade & stockpile tracking. It goes live early, and the rest of the system follows in two-week increments while your team is already using it.
Contact
Tell us about the process you want fixed. We reply within one working day.