NDB explores commercial banking model

Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday February 3, 2026 10:40

At present in the local commercial banking sector, only BBS Bank is citizen-owned, whilst all the others are the offshoots of parent groups that are based out of South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

The NDB, a statutory bank established in 1963, has been earmarked for privatisation, merger, commercialisation and other strategic reforms over the decades, with little traction.

This week, the bank floated a tender seeking consultancy services to test the business case for commercial banking services, a move that has excited the local banking sector as a signal of a potential transformation for the 65-year-old entity.

NDB officials told BusinessWeek the move was part of “prudent planning aligned with national development priorities and Botswana's economic transformation agenda”.

“The tender for the assessment and development of a business case for potential commercial banking services forms part of NDB's ongoing strategic review and institutional transformation process,” the officials said. “It is an exploratory exercise intended to assess feasibility, sustainability, and developmental impact, and to inform future decision-making.”

For statutory banks such as NDB, moving to commercial banking involves an overhaul of the business model and the adoption of commercial banking activities, including retail savings and lending products.

Historically, NDB operates as a development finance institution and is focused on supporting key economic sectors such as agriculture, property, education and institutional clients in areas such as retail, commerce and industry.

Statutory banks often find themselves restricted from venturing into certain areas by their founding legislation, even when facing mounting competition from commercial banks in the sector in which they established themselves.

However, NDB appears to have enjoyed more elbow room for diversification in recent years, with executives attributing the P56.6million profits for the year ended March 2024 to “aggressive fundraising and diversification of revenue streams”.

In the prior year, ended March 2023, NDB had posted a loss of P49.8 million.

The developments unveiled this week are the latest in decades of transformation for NDB.

In December 2023, NDB engaged consultants to advise on the transformation into an “agric bank,” following the instruction from a Presidential Directive issued in March 2022.

Asked about the bank’s strategy going forward, given attempts at different times towards privatisation, mergers, commercialisation and others, NDB officials said the organisation was preparing to launch a new corporate strategy that will articulate its medium to long-term direction, priorities and operating model.

“The strategy will be officially launched in the coming weeks, at which point further details will be shared publicly,” the officials said.

Meanwhile, the bank on Wednesday announced that it has secured a $10 million loan facility from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), specifically ringfenced for seasonal input loans to farmers in Pandamatenga and Mosisedi.

In a statement, NDB officials said the funding marked a significant milestone in strengthening agricultural financing and advancing Botswana’s sustainable economic transformation agenda. Pandamatenga and Mosisedi are two of the country’s most strategic agricultural production zones, playing a critical role in national grain production and food security.

The two zones directly support Botswana’s drive towards agricultural resilience and reduced import dependency.

“This facility from BADEA is a strong vote of confidence in NDB’s strategic direction and our mandate to drive sustainable economic development through agriculture,” said NDB CEO, Ogone Madisa. “By ring-fencing this funding for Pandamatenga and Mosisedi farmers, we are directly investing in national food security, rural livelihoods and economic resilience. “This partnership is an enabler of the transformations underway across the bank, aligned with the organisation’s new strategic focus.”