Officially opening the P25 million Botswana Building Society (BBS) building in Francistown on Thursday, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Kenneth Matambo, highlighted that the society’s┬á impressive growth from a mere P4.1 million asset base way back in 1977 to over P2.4 billion to date.
Matambo, under whose portfolio the building society falls, said at inception in 1977, the society inherited from United Building Society of South Africa an asset base of P4.1 million, comprising of Botswana government stock of P200 000, advances amounting to P2.5 million and cash and investments amounting to P1.3 million.
The advances comprised of 488 mortgages and operated as a branch of UBS and in its first three months of operation, only new home loans were advanced.
On the liabilities of the balance sheet, the society’s liabilities consisted of P2.6 million in capital, mostly subscribed to by the government of Botswana in shares, statutory reserve of only P200 and retained earnings of P1 900. Savings and fixed deposits accounted for P1.3 million with creditors and provisions making up the balance.
“As symbolized by the building we are in today, the current BBS is a total different makeup. Among its many products, Paid Up and Subscription Shares are at P487 million, Indefinite Period Paid Up Shares, in which the government of Botswana has also significantly invested, are at P484 million and savings deposits are at P439 million, while the reserves are at P203 million,” said Matambo.
He added that, currently, the society boasts of over 5 400 residential and commercial mortgages in its books and the number is higher taking into consideration the mortgages it has financed since starting operations in 1976.
“The total assets of the society now stand at P2.460 billion. This is evidence that BBS is fulfilling its vision of being the premier provider of property finance in Botswana for both residential and commercial investments,” said the minister.
In addition, BBS has recently added a new product for pensioners, the Lerako Savings Account.
The minister commended the society leadership for a job well done over the years as it is one of the few financial institutions that are wholly run by Batswana.
“As a nation, we should take pride in this achievement and also help ensure that it remains a sustainable business, for years to come,” added the minister.
Matambo also noted that BBS has not only grown in financial assets as the number of branches have increased to nine, including the Francistown branch with the society preparing to open more service centres in the country with a view to improving accessibility and quality of service for its customers.
Matambo said BBS is playing an important role in partnership with government in encouraging home ownership among Batswana.
