When Botswana's economy sneezes, banks' profitability catch a cold 💭
In early 2025, as Botswana banks released their FY 2024 results, most recorded increases in profitability.
However, fast forward to early 2026 and banks fortunes have turned around as Botswana's economic troubles crept into their bottomline.
Absa Bank Botswana, which last year reached a milestone of P1 billion in profit before tax, saw a 10% drop in profit, citing margin pressure, higher impairments and increased operating expenditure.
Meanwhile, FNB Botswana (-0.1%) & Stanbic Bank Botswana ( 0.2%), two of Botswana's top 3 banks, did not see much changes in their bottomline.
Standard Chartered Bank Botswana, which is currently on the auction block, saw a 28% drop in profit caused by what the bank referred to as a highly volatile liquidity environment, which exerted sustained pressure on margins. "Elevated costs of fund coupled with limited opportunities to reprice assets constrained earnings across the period," SCBB added.
Access Bank (Botswana) Plc's profit drop was also in the region of 23% as impairments totalling P73 million and continued investment in human capital bumped up operating expenses and impacted earnings.
BBS Bank, Botswana's first indigenous commercial bank, which last year recorded its first year of profitability, dramatically swung back to a loss as increase in interest expense, rise in credit impairments, once off impairment of a non-financial asset relating to the CBD Head Office Work, and lower non-interest income took their toll.
Of the analysed banks, only First Capital Bank Botswana saw a relatively strong growth in profitability of 5%.
Source:
@BWTechZone