The one plus one of finance matters
Friday, March 21, 2014
Business Week: Do you think NBFIRA Financial Literacy Week is going to benefit Batswana, if so explain in detail?
Harriman: Yes, I think it really will. I think the more financial education we get the better. As a nation we are very often naive in financial matters, often falling for scams and abuse by moneylenders, fraudsters and crooks who exploit our ignorance. Take the example of the Eurextrade Ponzi scheme that operated in Botswana up until last year. Countless people “invested” their money in that scheme believing they could earn fantastic rates of interest of nearly 3 percent per day. They lost fortunes, often losing everything they had. That was ignorance and naiveté and the only weapons we have against those failings is education.
That sounds like good news. But the report also warns that this may simply be because our digital economy is still young, not because we are safe. As more people shop, bank and pay online, criminals will follow.We Batswana do not need a report to tell us that danger is real. Many of us have heard of or fallen victim to KYC scams. A caller impersonates your bank or mobile money provider. They say they need to “verify” your account. They ask...