exception. indeed it is these small enterprises which ultimately grow into big businesses which, in botswana ’ s case, would be a welcome development for the economic diversification drive. as a way of making effective inroads into the competitive business environment, the new bank is advised to attract and employ qualified citizen staff, in order to tap into their knowledge of the local market and business contacts. it is also important that your staff should be trained and exposed to relevant work processes on an ongoing basis. i can assure you that the fruits of investing in human capital will be as bountiful as they are elsewhere in the competitive parts of the globe. as all banks in botswana are constantly reminded, the success or otherwise of any institution is reflective of the quality of its personnel. as a matter of fact, relative competitiveness of the parent bank of india is testimony to the fact that india ’ s financial institutions have some of the most highly trained and competent experts, a large number of whom work at institutions of note internationally. similarly, it is hoped that the enlightened competent, efficient and effective staff of the bank of india in botswana, including the local board, will be given the space to exercise and discharge their respective responsibilities in an appropriate manner. they should have the necessary authority to make independent judgments on adjusting business strategies and bis central bankers ’ speeches operations in line with local market conditions and national aspirations. in other words, the local oversight responsibilities should not be undermined or weakened. while the parent bank has the overall responsibility for major strategic and policy decisions affecting the group, it is crucial that, within this hierarchical structure, important business decisions relating to the day - to - day operations of a subsidiary bank are made and tailored to the needs of botswana. routine referrals for decision - making to the regional office or headquarters can only undermine the subsidiary ’ s course. unnecessary referrals could also have the potential to deny the bank the opportunity to make timely and proactive business decisions that could grow the bank ’ s operations and ensure that it is able to compete favourably in the local market. in this connection, you should be able to take advantage of the relocation of some functions of the diamond trading centre international from london to gaborone, in the fullness of time, as this will generate downstream business activities associated with the beneficiation of rough diamonds. as indicated in your bank ’ s business agenda, it is botswana ’ s expectation that you will have an important role in contributing to the

national policy on economic diversification, by supporting the diamond and related business ventures. honoured guests, the entry of another bank in the botswana ’ s financial sector can only heighten expectations of better and cost effective service delivery as the sector responds to the needs of the economy. we are, however, aware that the realisation of this goal still faces some challenges. to begin with, and as eloquently highlighted by his honour the vice president earlier this week, there is public concern ( some would say outcry ) about bank charges that are out of sync with the quality of service. the insidious effect of these high charges is that they impede progress towards financial inclusion ; they also discourage saving and the all - important activity of financial intermediation. this is against the backdrop of research which has shown that, in sub - saharan africa, 27 percent of men and 22 percent of women have access to financial services ; this includes bank accounts, credit and insurance. these very low financial inclusion ratios are less than half of those of developed countries, where 92 percent of men and 87 percent of women have access to financial services. i trust that the entry of the bank of india into the country ’ s banking sector will contribute positively to the country ’ s efforts to enhance access to financial services by all segments of the population. please allow me to sing from the same hymn book with his honour the vice president again, when he expressed the expectation that, as primary operators of the payments system, banks need to put in place modern banking and payments technologies to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of the clearing and settlement systems. the bank of botswana is confident that the entry of the bank of india ( botswana ) limited to the botswana clearing system, will provide the added impetus to the cheque imaging and truncation project, the objective of which is, among others, to reduce the cheque clearance cycle. time is of the essence in this respect. furthermore, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, you will agree that it ’ s about time the country had a well - developed and functioning interbank market which would provide an enabling environment for funds of any quantum to flow between and among banks on the one hand, and their customers on other hand ; and at the same time lending a hand to the monetary policy transmission mechanism. so far, the bank of botswana efforts of fostering the development of an efficient inter - bank market have not yet borne desirable fruit. these efforts are frustrated, in part, by the