official opening of absa bank botswana limited shakawe branch keynote speech by moses d pelaelo governor, bank of botswana february 3, 2022 director of ceremonies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure and, indeed, an honour for me to have been invited to be part of this evening ’ s ceremony marking the of cial opening and launch of the shakawe branch of absa bank botswana limited ( absa bank ). for the reasons that should be obvious to many, this is an invitation that the head of banking supervision department, mr godfrey ngidi and i could not decline. therefore, my colleagues and i would like to thank you, the managing director and, through you, the board of absa bank for inviting us to join you and the people of shakawe on the occasion of the of cial opening of this beautiful branch. director of ceremonies, let me indicate, at the outset, that today ’ s event, is of major signi cance in a myriad of ways. first and foremost, i can imagine that it responds to a major aspiration of the people of the north west region of botswana, the okavango sub - district in particular, which has been and continues to be comparatively underbanked, even if acknowledging that absa bank has three branches and eight atms in the north west district ; second, the opportunity to project the potential fi fi fi fi fi economic bene ts emanating from broadening of access to nancial services in this region and, third and more broadly, what absa has done is aligned to public policy objectives of growing a more inclusive nancial sector. as many of us would be aware, the okavango region is an important hub for botswana tourism activity, encompassing linkages with the global economy, with wide geographical coverage and, therefore, large distances between any concentration of facilities and service points. furthermore, it has the potential and conditions to make leaps in economic activity ; thus, in some way contributing to the rates of economic growth needed to propel the botswana economy to highincome status by 2036. in the circumstances, any improvement in the provision of nancial services ( number and channels of delivery ) becomes a key ingredient in unlocking or increasing the economic value that is inherent in the unique features of the okavango region. let me also acknowledge that, indeed, as an important infrastructure development, the mohembo bridge would similarly have a large positive impact on

. it is, therefore, advisable to adapt and embrace the modern ways of accessing banking services in order to be nancially included. the reasons for this are that the traditional approaches will, over time, most likely disappear owing to lack of patronage and support, as the demand and supply of new approaches accelerate and become the new normal ; digital and mobile banking afford greater convenience for managing and executing payments and concurrent linkages to other services, at a lower cost than the traditional methods ; and the backbone service infrastructure, including access to government services, utilities and enabling platforms to access or purchase basic goods and services are fast becoming electronic and digital. bagaetsho, it is also tting to fi fi fi fi re ect that the use of banking services also entails responsibility on the part of bank customers. these include nancial discipline in maintenance of accounts and honouring nancial obligations according to the agreed terms, as well as adhering to information security requirements when transacting online. director of ceremonies, it would be remiss of me to conclude my speech without highlighting the important and far - reaching social responsibility initiatives undertaken by absa bank. these include the hackathon and incubation programme, which aims to mobilise youth innovators and connect them with established market players and industry experts for mentorship and information sharing ; the ready - to - work programme, which is geared towards empowering the youth on nancial management, entrepreneurship and employability ; nancial assistance to excelling university students, through the absa f g mogae scholarship ; as well as participating in the women in business webinars, that are dedicated to empowerment of existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs. ladies and gentlemen, as i conclude, i take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the board and management of absa bank for continuing to be aligned to the development aspirations of the country through fostering of nancial inclusion, availing products that propel a shift in the production frontier, facilitating digitisation and access to external markets ( trade facilitation ). i therefore encourage the shakawe and wider okavango community to take advantage of proximity of the bank and availability of its products to enhance productive participation in economic activity and increase in their welfare. fi fi fi fi fi fl distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasure and privilege to declare the absa bank shakawe branch of cially open. i thank you all for your kind