Barclays Offers SME Proposition
Boitshepo Majube | Monday March 10, 2014 16:22
Launched last Thursday in Gaborone, the SME proposition is aligned to the initiative of economic diversification, creation of sustainable enterprise and employment creation.
The new proposition would benefit those businesses whose turnover is between P10 million and P25 million.
Under Barclays SME proposition, those with a turnover of P10 million are defined as small businesses, while those that have turnover ranging between P10m and P25m are defined as medium businesses.
The SME sectors include amongst others: wholesale and trade, tourism and hospitality, Agriculture, property development and business services.
Barclays CEO, Reinette van der Merwe stated that this new proposition is a transformation of local business offering, which has now been strengthened following extensive customer engagement where they were able to listen to their customers and develop, tailored solutions.
“Barclays Bank of Botswana is committed to helping Batswana achieve their ambitions in the right way. We are not just a bank; we are a business partner to our customers and the communities in which we operate,” Merwe said.
Officially launching the SME proposition, the Minister of Trade and Industry Dorcas Makgato-Malesu welcomed the decision by Barclays for investing in the risky sector, which has been ignored by banks for a long time.
“It is pleasing to note that finally we are all together recognizing the importance of this sector in our society,” Malesu said, highlighting that government through CEDA and LEA have combined efforts to grow the sector.
She said it is imperative that other stakeholders such as Barclays Bank of Botswana also play a role in development of these enterprises.
“I trust that your merger with ABSA and the One Africa strategy will give you the expertise and capability to solve all the complex issues that have come to be associated with this sector.”
Malesu pointed out that Barclay’s commitment to the SME is not in doubt, adding that even when they did not have a fully-fledged sector they continued to offer banking solutions through the local business proposition.
“The aim is to make banking simpler and more convenient to this high-value sector,” she stated.
She said the SME customer value proposition is therefore based on, among others, solving the financial needs of SMEs through a comprehensive suite of solutions as well as building valued relationships with SMEs by giving them genuine value from the bank’s products.
“I understand that you have a robust financial literacy programme through your citizenship agenda and I wish to implore you to roll out the same to the beneficiaries,” she said.
Malesu added that this proposition resonates well with Barclays vision of helping people to achieve their ambitions in the right way and helping them to create wealth.