A pivotal ladder in raising Botswana to the next level

The famous quote by the Zimbabwean philosopher, entrepreneur and author, Matshona Dhliwayo, bears so much truth and addresses the current lack of financial literacy in Botswana. Many people in our country attribute most of their problems to lack of funds. However, the main problem is not insufficient funds, it is the lack of knowledge in managing the funds that one has - financial literacy. As described by Dhliwayo, we are imprisoned by our ignorance and lack of knowledge on matters of finances not only as Batswana but as Africans as a whole.

Over the years, research about financial literacy in our country has been performed, and efforts continue to be made in this space. A particular study by Trust (2004, cited in Republic of Botswana, 2009), found that 48% of people in Botswana did not use banking facilities. According to Jefferis (2012), this high percentage was mainly due to the lack of financial knowledge. First and foremost, then, we need to ask ourselves: what is financial literacy?