Analysts: Botswana banks face a tough 2015
Business
Botswana banks face a tough 2015 as the liquidity debacle, further declines in credit growth, and interest margin squeeze continue – the challenge is further compounded by the stagnant economic growth.
More than eight years after the start of the financial crisis, banks have made strides towards improving financial stability but they are still struggling to boost profits. Over the past year 2014, the market as a whole experienced a squeeze in local currency liquidity.
“The year 2015 is going to be another challenging year for financial stocks given the tough economic landscape,” said Garry Juma, an Investment Analyst with local brokerage, Motswedi Securities.
Juma said the moratorium which is still hanging around the banks necks barring them from increasing bank charges on existing products will continue to have an impact on non-interest income.
He observed that the intensifying competition in the banking sector, especially with the presence of new shareholders on Banc ABC (Bob Diamonds) will also make it more tough for the financial sector. “We don’t know what these sharp minds in banking have in store for us,” he said.
He pointed out that the benign inflation might compel the Bank of Botswana to reduce the bank rate once again, further eating on bank’s interest income, which is already under pressure.
“December inflation printed at historic low of 3.8% and further reductions in inflation might prompt the BoB to reduce interest rates. Amidst stagnant economic growth, declining purchasing power, counteractive fiscal changes and banking operations which are tightening the monetary conditions, the BoB might counteract these developments by a rate cut in 2015 to loosen the monetary conditions further,” he said.
“This will be a challenge to banks as they will have to act accordingly in reducing rates on existing loans, while lower deposit rates will be unattractive to savers, thus exacerbating some of the liquidity concerns as loans and advances are likely to grow at a faster pace than deposits,” Moatlhodi Sebabole Research Manager with Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Botswana stated.
The banking sector is going through a tough time as they are no longer benefiting from the tax revenue which used to accumulate in commercial banks over a long period of time, now the revenue service’s collections are now transferred to the central bank overnight.
In addition parastatal institutions’ balances held in commercial banks have decreased by 18% in the past year. This is a result of the government’s strategy to take on a more prudent and directed funding for its agencies. Instead of receiving the lump sum annual budget for government funded projects, parastatal institutions and local authorities receive funding as and when payments are due.
In the past year total market pula denominated advances has grown faster than deposits. Between October 2013 and October 2014 advances grew by 13.6% whilst deposit grew by only 11.6%.There has been an increase in offshore investments by fund managers. The Bank of Botswana statistics show that from April 2013 the proportion of assets invested offshore increased from 50.9% and reached 55.7% in October 2014.
“The MPC has maintained the bank rate at decades’ low of 7.5% since December 2013. Despite this expansionary monetary stance, actual monetary conditions have swung from being exceptionally easy to being exceptionally tight as a result of changes to tax and parastatals banking arrangements, among others,” said Sebabole.
The market’s loan to deposit ratio (excluding foreign currency) for October reported at 100.2% and liquidity from government to fund activity remains constricted. Sebabole said these constraints have resulted in curtailing of loans and advances by commercial banks.
Additionally, market liquidity remains subdued, with a downward trend in average positions and excess liquidity trending around P1 billion. The market deposit rate curve has shifted upwards as banks compete for limited market liquidity.
“Unless banks become more innovative; the fiscal stance become expansionary and; there is regulation easing on primary reserve requirements, liquid asset classification and capital adequacy requirements, the persistence of liquidity challenges might see great reduction in lending activities which is counteractive to the financial intermediation process and economic-wide expansion,” said Sebabole.
He added that despite the low interest environment, credit slowed down in 2014 as a reflection of: erosion of purchasing power, liquidity squeeze, and increased cost of borrowing and underperformance of several sectors.
In the twelve months to November 2014, y/y total credit growth slowed down to 14% compared to 15.8% in the previous period. The y/y household credit growth declined from 26.6% in November 2013 to 9.8% in November 2014, while y/y business credit growth has increased from 2.8% to 12.3%.
“The increasing credit growth and arrears for businesses could be a reflection of the contraction of growth in the non-mining private sector, while contraction of credit growth to households could reflect the household income squeeze,” Sebabole noted.
The Rand Merchant Bank has forecast economic growth at 5.0% in 2015 with non-mining private sector continuing to underperform.
“This will be a challenge to banking operations as an economic-wide squeeze will reduce the financial intermediation activities, thus reducing the contribution of financial services to overall GDP. Erosion of purchasing power of households will also see minimal participation of households in boosting banks’ balance sheets” he said.
However analysts are of the view that, the challenges are prompting for unconventional means of banking which will result in customer-centric products. Innovation is also likely to increase as banks seek to retain customers and offer tailored structured products. “Increased competition will also encourage banks to deliver not only high-level service, but solution-based approach to banking,” said Sebabole.
At present the banking sector's total assets represent 50.4% of GDP. This is down from its 2009 peak of 60.9%. The Business Monitor International (BMI) forecasts client loans to grow by 12.0% in 2015, after an estimated expansion of 10.0% in 2014. This is markedly slower than the 18.4% average growth rate from 2009 to 2013.
Business
Stargems Group establishes Training Center in BW
Internationally-acclaimed diamond manufacturing company StarGems Group has established the Stargems Diamond Training Center which will be providing specialized training in diamond manufacturing and evaluation.
The Stargems Diamond Training Institute is located at the Stargems Group Botswana Unit in Gaborone.
“In accordance with the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS) which holds the principle that through education and skills development as well as the strategic alignment between national ambitions and individual capabilities, Botswana will become a prosperous, productive and innovative nation due to the quality and efficacy of its citizenry. The Training Centre will provide a range of modules in theory and in practice; from rough diamond evaluation to diamond grading and polishing for Batswana, at no cost for eight weeks. The internationally- recognized certificate offered in partnership with Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School presents invaluable opportunities for Batswana to access in the diamond industry locally and internationally. The initiative is an extension of our Corporate Social Investment to the community in which we operate,” said Vishal Shah, Stargems Group Managing Director, during the launch of the Stargems Diamond Training Center.
In order to participate in this rare opportunity, interested candidates are invited to submit a police clearance certificate and a BGCSE certificate only to the Stargems offices. Students who excel in these programs will have the chance to be onboarded by the Stargems Group. This serves as motivation for them to go through this training with a high level of seriousness.
“Community empowerment is one of our CSR principles. We believe that businesses can only thrive when their communities are well taken of. We are hoping that our presence will be impactful to various communities and economies. In the six countries that we are operating in, we have contributed through dedicating 10% of our revenues during COVID-19 to facilitate education, donating to hospitals and also to NGOs committed to supporting women and children living with HIV. One key issue that we are targeting in Botswana is the rate of unemployment amongst the youth. We are looking forward to working closely with the government and other relevant authorities to curb unemployment,” said Shah.
Currently, Stargems Group has employed 117 Batswana and they are looking forward to growing the numbers to 500 as the company grows. Majority of the employees will be graduates from the Stargems Diamond Training Center. This initiation has been received with open arms by the general public and stakeholders. During the launch, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Honorable Lefoko Moagi, stated that the ministry fully endorses Stargems Diamond Training and will work closely with the Group to support and grow the initiative.
“As a ministry, we see this as an game changer that is aligned with one of the United Nations’ Six Priority Sustainable Development Goals, which is to Advance Opportunity and Impact for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). What Stargems Group is launching today will have a huge impact on the creation of employment in Botswana. An economy’s productivity rises as the number of educated workers increases as its skilled workmanship increases. It is not a secret that low skills perpetuate poverty and widen the inequality gap, therefore the development of skills has the potential to contribute significantly to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and helping the country become more competitive. We are grateful to see the emergence of industry players such as Stargems Group who have strived to create such opportunities that mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy,” said the Minister of Minerals and Energy.
Business
Food import bill slightly declines
The latest figures released by Statistics Botswana this week shows that food import bill for Botswana slightly declined from around P1.1 billion in November 2022 to around P981 million in December during the same year.
This content is locked
Login To Unlock The Content!
Business
Moody’s Reaffirms African Trade Insurance’s A3 Rating & Revises Outlook to Positive
Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has affirmed the A3 insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) of the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) for the fifth consecutive year and changed the outlook from stable to positive.
Moody’s noted that the change in outlook to positive reflects the strong growth in ATI’s membership base – that has resulted in improved portfolio diversification, strengthened capital adequacy, and the good profitability despite the challenging operating environment. In addition, ATI benefits from its preferred creditor status (PCS) amongst sovereign member states which protects it from the risk of default by member sovereigns through securing recoveries against claims paid on guarantees.
The strong membership and equity growth are some of the key considerations for the consistent reinstatement of ATI’s A/Stable rating by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s rating, over the years. Also supporting the rating affirmation are; consistent improvement in financial performance, commitment of its shareholders who continue to uphold the preferred creditor status, its high quality and conservative investment portfolio as well as strong relationships with a number of global reinsurers that provide significant risk-bearing capacity.
With the change in outlook to “positive”, ATI is now better placed to provide enhanced support to its member countries, attract additional shareholding and grow its portfolio. The positive outlook is an indication that if ATI continues to demonstrate its strong underwriting performance and ability to recover claims under the preferred creditor arrangements, among other factors, an upward pressure towards an upgrade may be generated. The Moody’s press release can be accessed from here
Commenting on the rating, Africa Trade Insurance Chief Executive Officer Manuel Moses said: “This positive revision is in line with our 2023 – 2027 strategic objectives in which we set to improve our rating outlook to positive in the first year, and achieve an upgrade of at least “AA”/Stable rating by both Moody’s and S&P within this Strategic Plan period. We aim to achieve this by doubling our exposures and increasing our capital to more than USD1 billion.”
ATI’s mandate is to provide trade-credit and political risk insurance, as well as other risk mitigation products to its member countries and related public and private sector actors. These insurance products not only directly encourage and facilitate foreign direct investment as well as local private sector investment in our member countries, but also contribute to intra- and extra-African trade.
About The African Trade Insurance Agency
ATI was founded in 2001 by African States to cover trade and investment risks of companies doing business in Africa. ATI predominantly provides Political Risk, Credit Insurance and, Surety Insurance. Since inception, ATI has supported US$78 billion worth of investments and trade into Africa. For over a decade, ATI has maintained an ‘A/Stable’ rating for Financial Strength and Counterparty Credit by Standard & Poor’s, and in 2019, ATI obtained an A3/Stable rating from Moody’s, which has now been revised to A3/Positive.