Access to Financial Services in Swaziland

This report documents the level and trends in access to financial services in Swaziland. It gives an overview of the Swaziland economy and identifies the main players in the financial market:

• Banking sector:
  • Three commercial banks - Nedbank, Standard and FNB;
  • A mutual building society - Swaziland Building Society;
  • A statutory bank - Swazibank.
• Contractual savings institutions:
  • Swaziland Royal Insurance Corporation (SRIC);
  • Swaziland National Provident Fund (SNPF);
  • Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF).
• Non-bank financial services:
  • Microlenders: Unregulated industry with little available information on the size and nature of operations;
  • Non-government Organizations: Imbita, was established to address the lack of financial services offered to women, and Lulote (previously BMEP), is funded by a government loan. Lulote provides training and consultancy services to entrepreneurs.
• Money and capital markets:
  • Swaziland Stock Exchange: It is still struggling to build up sufficient market capitalization and is highly illiquid.

The report concludes that several development initiatives are commencing in Swaziland. However, there are still a lot of problems in the economy:

• Low economic growth is hampering the development of formal financial sector;
• Large rural population is involved in subsistence farming which restricts the development of farming operations;
• Banks are unwilling to serve the lower income market.