The story of the Pula

| Thursday October 4, 2012 00:00

As a member of the Rand Monetary Area (RMA) at the time of independence in 1966, Botswana used the South African Rand as her national currency.On September 6, 1974, Gaborone announced the decision to withdraw from the RMA.

 This required substantial preparatory work, including choosing the name for the currency, and how much and in what denominations it should be produced. Regarding the name, the choice of Pula (meaning 'rain' or 'blessings') as the basic unit made up of 100 thebe ('shield') was overwhelmingly supported by a poll of public opinion.

Thomas de la Rue and Company and the Royal Mint, both from Britain, were chosen to design and supply the notes and coins, respectively.The new national currency was launched on August 23, 1976, subsequently known as 'Pula Day'. An initial period of 100 days was allowed for the exchange of rand for pula, during which time the parity between the two currencies was guaranteed; various standby arrangements were also put in place to ensure enough supply of foreign exchange should the conversion take longer than expected.

However, these were quickly cancelled as it soon became clear that the new currency was being enthusiastically received by the public. A large proportion of the rand circulating in Botswana was exchanged within a few weeks of Pula Day.At the time of launching the Pula, the denomination structure consisted of four notes (P1, P2, P5 and P10) and four coins (1t, 5t, 25t, and 50t). Over the years, due to rising prices, higher value notes have periodically been introduced and coins, which last much longer, are now used for smaller denominations that are used more frequently.

The lowest value coins have also been demonetised. Nonetheless, such adjustments have not been frequent, indicating the successful use of appropriate monetary and exchange rate policies to help maintain the value of the currency.

The design of the currency has been consistently based on symbolic illustration of the socio-economic, political and cultural make-up of Botswana as a country, including the importance of democracy, tourism and mining. The design has been periodically reviewed both to improved security to counter forgeries and to make appropriate adjustments to the artwork. Regarding the latter, since the launch of the Pula in 1976, it had been the practice for all new notes to feature the portrait of the current president. However, since 1997 each denomination features a different portrait, with only the P10 note showing the current president.

On August 23, 2009, exactly 33 years since the introduction of the Pula, a new family of Banknotes was introduced.This included a new P200 denomination note, bearing the image a woman teaching, reflecting both the importance of education and the contribution of women to national development.

Money makes the world go round. You might as well add that in Botswana, money tells us who we are as a people as well as the things we hold dear to ourselves.The current family of bank notes used in Botswana was launched on August 21, 2009, the same day (known as Pula Day) that the Pula was first launched in 1976.

The bank notes family includes five notes in a denomination structure comprising P10, P20, P50 and P100, and P200.All, except the P200 note which was not issued previously, retain the basic colour and layout as the earlier notes. All notes feature a rampant zebra watermark.

The P10 bank note is green with the portrait of President Lt General Seretse Khama Ian Khama. On the reverse side, the picture is of the National Assembly building.The P20 bank note is red with the portrait of the composer of the national anthem, Dr K T Motsete. On the reverse side, the picture is of a mining installation.

The P50 bank note is brown with the portrait of Sir Seretse Khama, the founding president of Botswana. On the reverse side, the picture is of the Okavango Delta swamps, featuring a man on a mokoro (small boat) and a fish eagle.

The P100 bank note is blue with the portrait of the three chiefs who travelled to Britain in the 1890s to secure the country's identity. On the reverse side, the picture is an open pit diamond mine and a diamond sorter examining a rough diamond.

The P200 bank note is purple with the art work of a woman teaching pupils. The concept is intended primarily to underscore the contribution of women in the country's development through education. On the reverse side, there is a picture of a herd of zebras at a waterhole.