SPEDU chief encourages financial prudence
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday August 20, 2014 10:04
Speaking during the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) open day held here last Friday, Kedisitse said many Batswana have lost millions of Pula after investing in unlicenced financial institutions. He pointed out that it’s usually pensioners’ who fall victim to these fraudulent schemes, adding that it’s difficult to assist them because the financial institutions are untraceable since most of them don’t have offices in Botswana.
“I urge you to always confirm the licencing status of any financial institution with NBFIRA, before conducting business with such entities,” he said. Kedisitse further said Selebi-Phikwe would undoubtedly grow as more businesses are setting up as a result of SPEDU and BCL economic strategies, which will increase the probability of non-banking financial institutions mushrooming in the mining town.
He noted that these institutions are more accessible to workers than mainstream banking industries. “We need to create educate the public on access to legal and affordable formal financial services. Many people’s lives have been wrecked by the use of unlicenced financial institutions that keep their identity cards (Omang) and ATM cards until the loan is cleared,” he said.
Kedisitse expressed hope that NBFIRA would intervene in this matter, backed by SPEDU and legal financial institutions. “We also have a role to play as different stakeholders through continuous financial education,” he added.
He pointed out that there are more than 14 micro-lenders in Selebi-Phikwe alone. He said while some abide by the established operations regulations, many of them continue to illegally retain customers’ identity documents and even more worrisome is that there are no financial control systems on micro-lenders. “Due to little transparency, it is often unclear who owed what to whom.
We can already see from this scenario that non-compliance to regulations is not only hurting the consumers but has a direct dent on the micro-lender’s profits too,” he said. Kedisitse said SPEDU and NBFIRA mutuality of benefit is created by the improvement of financial discipline and corporate ethics committed to changing the state of financial improvidence and imprudence among Batswana. He pointed that this includes changing people’s mindsets from being solely habitual consumers, to encouraging them to develop a culture of saving and investing.
NBFIRA’s Head of Information and Technology Monkgogi Rampha applauded government’s decision to regulate and supervise non-banking financial institutions as many people have lost a lot of money to bogus schemes. He said all credible financial institutions must have trading licenses and be registered with NBFIRA.