BotswanaPost

The postal service in Botswana dates back to 1875, when the London Missionary Society established the serve. Back then, pairs of "runners" carried mail between two points on a stretch from Bulawayo in present-day Zimbabwe, to Mafikeng, in present-day South Africa. Later, after the railway had been built, the train replaced the runners on foot. In the late 1990s the Botswana postal department acquired its own fleet of vehicles to carry mail and parcels. The postal department that the missionaries established in the late 19th century evolved into the Bechuanaland Protectorate Postal Services. At Botswana's independence in 1966, it was rebranded into the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. At that time the services offered included the Post Office Savings Bank.

In 1980, the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation was spun off as an independent parastatal. Two years later, Botswana Savings Bank was also spun off as an independent institution. Finally, BotswanaPost became a separate entity in 1989. Botswana Savings Bank has an agreement with BotswanaPost, to offer banking services through the nearly one hundred and twenty (120) postal outlets throughout Botswana. Emerging technologies such as Email and internet services and later cellular phones, all followed, reducing the use of letter as a preferred mode of communication.

The Post is now looking at harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to stimulate communication particularly in the rural areas as well as business growth on other products like parcel mail and money transfer, which are driven by electronic capabilities.