More Batswana have access to financial services

Botswana ranks fourth in Financial Inclusion at 84 percent after South Africa at 93 percent, Mauritius at 90 percent, and Eswatini at 87 percent, according to the fourth FinScope Consumer Survey 2020.

The survey shows that in 2014, only 50 percent of Batswana were banked while the current results indicate an increase of six percent to 56 percent. The uptake of other formal non- bank financial products has also increased by 20 percentage points in 2014 to 76 percent in 2020.

The uptake of informal financial products has also increased by three percent from 39 percent to 42 percent.

The Survey was a collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and FinScope, an initiative established to promote financial inclusion and access to financial services across the Southern African Development Community ( SADC).

The results of the 2020 FinScope Consumer Survey are expected to shed light on the strides made since 2004 in providing Batswana the opportunity to engage in a wide range of financial services.

The results will also be used to stimulate ideas and guide policy development, not just in Government but also among financial service providers, development partners, NGOs, research institutions, and universities.

Minister of Finance and Economic Development Peggy Serame said this week that the results will give Botswana an indication of the changes in the financial landscape that have been brought by the creative use of innovation and technology- driven by mobile network operators.

“The current FinScope Survey should provide us with information as to whether our policy interventions are working or not and if not where do we need to intervene to achieve the desired goal of 100 percent inclusion,” Serame said.

The results are based on the findings on a sample of 2336 selected households on face- to- face interviews. The survey was conducted between September 2020 and December 2020.

“These results come at the time when the current Financial Inclusion Roadmap and Strategy ( 2015- 2021) is coming to an end. They will therefore inform policy and the next strategy going forward,” Serame said.

Serame further said the collaboration between the financial service providers and the mobile network operators has the potential of starting a new era.

In 2009, a handful of people used their mobile phones to make financial transactions including paying bills. Today, 54 percent of the adult population does so actively, that is, half of the adult population.

“The message we must draw from the Botswana FinScope Consumer Survey, 2020 is very clear: we have made progress but there is more be done,” Serame said.

From the 2014 Survey, an estimated 24 percent of Batswana were financially excluded, and the target set was to have reduced this by at least 12 percent in 2021, indicating an improvement from 24 percent to 16 percent in the financially excluded population.

Further, the FinScope Consumer Survey 2020 recommends that public education be intensified to ensure that no one is financially excluded.

Minister Serame said the survey will be followed by the development of an important roadmap to close gaps in access to finance. She said her Ministry is working closely with stakeholders and will assume a primary role in the stakeholder- inclusive development of the Roadmap in order to create conditions for better, more inclusive financial access in Botswana.

“I have no doubt that, as has happened with past Surveys, the financial services, and related sectors will make use of the findings being presented here today to ensure access to the currently un- served and under- served market segments”.

She urged financial sector players, as key beneficiaries of the Making Access Possible ( MAP) Programme, to also explore ways in which they can financially contribute to the implementation of the MAP and future Surveys such as the FinScope for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises ( SMMEs) which, as reflected in the Post COVID- 19 Recovery Plan of 2020, is important for the development of the SMME sector.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development undertook the FinScope Consumer Survey in order to gain an understanding of the formal and informal financial products and services.

This is part of the strategy to improve financial inclusion as part of the wider inclusion policy.

FinScope Surveys have been carried out in 28 African countries including Botswana. The Survey reveals the type of services people use and why, as well as the barriers that prevent increased usage.