The Banking Industry in Botswana 2021

Botswana’s Banking industry is an increasingly important sector in terms of the supporting role it plays in the development of other sectors of the economy. The banking industry in Botswana is composed of commercial banks and a single building society and development finance and microfinancing institutions. All of the licensed commercial banks are majority foreign-owned, and five large banks dominate the sector. With eight licensed commercial banks, and less than 200 branches and 542 ATMs, most analysts see opportunities for growth and expansion. However, there have been no new banks licensed since 2013.

Microlending

The microlending sector, including microlenders, pawnshops, financing and leasing is growing, as is evidenced by the almost 10% increase in the number of licensed players between 2019 and 2020. There is scope for growth in the microlending sector as more people seek financial inclusion.

Financial Inclusion

The Government of Botswana developed the Financial Inclusion Strategy that runs from 2015 to 2021, through a multi-country initiative, Making Access Possible, and was committed to reducing the percentage of financially-excluded people from 24% to 12% by end of 2021. The strategy’s priority areas include the payment ecosystem, access to low cost saving products, the working of the credit market, accessible risk mitigation products, consumer empowerment, and protection and financial literacy.

Report Coverage

This report on the banking sector in Botswana covers financial institutions including banks, other credit granting, lease financing, and loyalty and reward programmes, as well as central banking. It includes information on the state and size of the sector, regulation, developments and corporate actions.

There are profiles of 23 companies including ABSA Botswana, African Banking Corporation of Botswana (trading as Banc ABC), First National Bank of Botswana, Stanbic and Standard Chartered, government-owned developmental finance institutions such as Botswana Savings Bank, National Development Bank and Botswana Development Corporation and savings and credit cooperative societies such as Maitlamo, Motswedi and Thuto.