THE country has continued recording positive achievements in the banking sector in the past 10 years or more largely due to robust financial education campaigns by both Government and the banks themselves.
The proportion of adults with financial access, both formal and informal has increased from 37.3 per cent to 59 per cent between 2009 and 2015 against the target of 50 per cent set by the Government.
As for customer  deposits for banks ,they  have grown from K25.162 billion in 2012 to K47.013 billion as at the end of September 2015 representing a growth rate of 46 per cent.
According to the Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) since 2000, bank deposits have averaged around 15.7 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country which is significant.
BAZ says the current account or demand deposits continue to be the largest component of the total deposits recorded at K30.888 billion at the end of September, 2015.
Time deposits were the second highest at K11.539 billion followed by savings at K4.587 billion. Analysis of the overall growth in deposits over the past four years reveals that the total customer deposit have been on an upward trajectory growing from K25.162 billion in 2012 to K47.013 billion as at the end of September 2015 representing a growth rate of 46 per cent.
BAZ chairperson Clergy Simatyaba says there has been growth in all deposits with demand deposits increasing by 33 per cent from K20.624 billion in December 2012 to K30.888 billion at the end of September, 2015. Mr Simatyaba says savings world-over help nations and it is important that Zambians learn to save as opposed to consumption only.
“Not only savings help to develop a country but they help cushion savers to pay for emergencies such as sicknesses and funerals as well as plan education and retirement needs of the individuals,” he says.
In Zambia, the banking sector accounts for more than 90 per cent of financial systems assets.
For 110 years, banks have been playing very significant roles in transforming the pre-independence Zambian economy through the provision of various products and services tailored to meet individual needs.
Zanaco Plc says it will spend 60 per cent of its K1 million corporate social investment on financial literacy programmes before the end of the year.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manager Caroline Handia states that the bank will continue prioritising financial education on its corporate social investment agenda.
“Every year we allocate about K1 million for corporate social responsibility programmes and this year about 60 per cent of the total allocation translating into K600, 000 will be spent on financial education before the end of the year,” Ms Handia says.
So far about 50,000 individuals and organisations have been captured across the country even where the bank has no presence.
“We have reached well over 50,000 since the bank embarked on financial literacy trainings across the country and our targets have been small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), schools and Zanaco staff members,” she says.
Ms Handia feels imparting financial knowledge in the school going children can go a long way in creating a future cadre of investors.
Promoting a culture saving in the country is critical in boosting SME growth.
Ms Handia also says the challenge facing the commercial bank is that the need for financial education is so huge.
“The challenge we are having as an institution is that the demand for financial education is so huge to satisfy,” she says.
To further increase financial inclusion and seal-it-whole, the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Zambia and the World Bank Group on
November 2, 2015 launched a program to mobilise technical capacity and knowledge to help Zambia achieve its financial inclusion goals and targets.
The Financial Inclusion Support Framework (FISF) Country Support Programme (CSP) for Zambia is a US$2.75 million trust fund executed by the World Bank Group and financed by the Dutch Government.
The objective of FISF-CSP is for Zambia to develop and implement key reforms in the policy, regulatory and supervisory environment for enhancing financial inclusion for individuals and enterprises.
The programme will focus on key areas expected to have the greatest impact based on Zambia’s financial inclusion agenda.
These include: development and implementation of a comprehensive national financial inclusion strategy; strengthened regulatory and payment systems oversight framework to facilitate greater access to transaction accounts and increased usage of electronic payments.
Others will be enhancing improved financial consumer protection and financial capability framework; and conducive regulatory and supervisory environment for the development of financial services for un-banked segments which will also aim at strengthening public policies and programmes.
This is in an effort to increase access to financing for enterprises, and individuals.
BoZ Governor Denny Kalyalya observes that inclusive financial sector has the catalytic effect of helping a nation to diversify the economy and boost other sectors like agriculture, tourism and manufacturing, thereby improving the GDP.
“For economic sectors to improve, the much needed investment can only come when banks create sufficient loanable funds to extend credit to other sectors.
“When more people save with banks, the country will have more resources to invest in various sectors of the economy and in turn
create the much needed jobs in the country as well as reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity,” Dr Kalyalya says.
The FISF programme is fully aligned with the government’s Financial Sector Development Plan Phase II, FSDPII and it is intended to help reduce barriers.
World Bank Group director of finance and markets global practice, Sebastian Molineus says the new FISF programme will partner with and support Zambia to achieve its financial inclusion goal.
“However a significant portion of Zambia’s population does not have access to formal financial services. It is our hope that this program will help to reach the rural and low income population in sparsely populated rural areas,” Mr Molineus says.
He says the achievements made by Zambia and the ambitious objective to raise financial inclusion is a reflection of the country’s deep commitment at the national level to expand financial inclusion.
Mr Molineus notes that this demonstrates the support and mobilisation of all stakeholders, both public and private, towards the goal.
He adds that financial inclusion is a priority for the World Bank Group to meet the challenge of achieving universal financial access globally by 2020.
FISF is the latest addition to the Bank Group’s engagement in Zambia.
The World Bank says it is committed to continue providing support for the development of Zambia’s financial sector in line with the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Zambia.
This new initiative will benefit from close collaboration with government, lawmakers, private sector, development partners, civil society, and the  academia.
With such efforts, it is expected that all the adult population will have access to financial services in the near future which will in turn contribute to the overall growth of the country’s economy.