Botswana: A Case for Co-Operation between Banks And Botswanapost
A recent book on banking in Botswana identifies post offices as a potential tool for increasing the banking footprint throughout the country.
“Enhancing Access To Banking and Financial Services” is written by Keith Jefferis. In it, the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Botswana (BoB) says the relationship between the Botswana Savings Bank (BSB) and BotswanaPost offers great potential to spread banking services more widely.
“Whereas bank branches cover only 45 percent of the population, the existing network of post offices covers a significantly higher proportion of the population (65 percent) than the bank branches and therefore potentially provides a way of improving access to the rural and unbanked population,” the book says.
According to the BotswanaPost website, it has a network of 114 post offices and 75 postal agencies countrywide which are divided into 3 regions, namely, Central, North and South.
Jefferis says worldwide experience shows that providing banking services through the post office network is a viable low-cost option.
He makes a good case for the cultivation of relations between banking components of Botswana’s financial sector and postal services, saying there are strong arguments for ownership linkages between the two.
However, Jefferis raises a concern that neither savings banks nor postal services are run well and that making them effective would require reforms.
Jefferis’ book comes at a time when Botswana’s commercial banks are looking at rural areas for growth opportunities.
