Bank of India opens for business

KEIKANTSE LESEMELA
Correspondent | Tuesday August 13, 2013 00:00

It was founded in Mumbai in 1906 and has over 4,322 branches in India and 53 operations in 21 other countries. Botswana is now the 54th overseas centre of the bank.Speaking at the launch last week, Bank of India chairperson Vijayalakshmi Iyer said they want to expand their services to Botswana by financing SMEs.

'We want to expand our services to the Botswana community through internet banking. We want to help SMMEs to grow - we will be financing them without requiring any security,' said Iyer.BOI offers products under deposits and advances with special emphasis on inclusive growth, SMEs and the corporate sector.She said that they are projecting revenues of P87 million in the first eight months of their operation. She explained that the BOI business plan identifies core retail banking, accepting deposits and making home and business loans available as its core business. 

'With this background, the bank selected a number of the core deposit and lending products offered by BOI in India and adopted them for Botswana conditions,' she said.For her part, Bank of Botswana governor Linah Mohohlo said the many years of accumulated experience of the parent bank puts the Botswana subsidiary at an advantage from which to leverage the managerial, operational and technical expertise.'The subsidiary bank should also have at its disposal the technological infrastructure and financial resources of the parent bank,' said Mohohlo.

She urged the bank to employ qualified citizen staff in order to tap into their knowledge of the local market and business contacts.'It is also important that your staff should be trained and exposed to relevant work processes on an ongoing basis. As all banks in Botswana are constantly reminded, the success of any institution is reflective of the quality of its personnel,' she advised.Mohohlo highlighted that the operations of BOI in India show that India's financial institutions have some of the most highly trained and competent experts.'We hope that the competent, efficient and effective staff of the Bank of India in Botswana including the local board will be given the space to exercise and discharge their respective responsibilities in an appropriate manner,' she said.

She advised that they should have the necessary authority to make independent judgements on adjusting business strategies and operations in line with local market conditions and national aspirations.She further noted that the banking sector faces the challenge of imperfections in attracting long-term funds from institutional investors. In some cases the market imperfections have resulted in financial deals for long term deposit placements at great costs to some banking institutions, mainly because related contracts contain terms and conditions that are unfair and asymmetrical.'This practice raises the cost of banking services to customers.The Bank of Botswana expects to work with all interested parties to rid the market of such near unethical business conduct,' she said.