Viability of Commercial Bank Branches in Rural Communities in Namibia

The paper attempts to identify the potential rural areas where commercial banks could operate viably. It reviews the current structure of banking sector in terms of banking facilities such as branches, agencies and automatic teller machines (ATMs) and bank branch density at constituency and regional level. The results of both surveys conducted with the headquarters of the commercial banks in Windhoek and to the Ohangwena, Omusati and Kavango regions are also discussed in this paper. Lastly, it suggests strategies and incentives that would be of great importance to commercial banks in establishing themselves in the proposed regions.