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Old-Age Pension (OAP)
Programme
Country
Geographic area
The Old-Age Pension (OAP)
Botswana
Sub-Saharan Africa
Previous programme name (if any)
Start date 1996 1
Programme objectives To provide income security for elderly Botswana citizens. 2
Programme type
Unconditional cash transfer
Programme components
Conditionalities (if any)
Targeting methods Categorical/universal targeting 3
Target areas
Nationwide
Target groups
Elderly
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible, an individual must:
• be a citizen of Botswana;
• be at least 65 years old;
• have a valid Omang (national identity card); and
• be registered with the Department of Social Services.
Eligibility reassessment (if any) If the beneficiary receives the pension via bank deposit or through
a proxy, they must make a ‘life declaration’ every three months,
otherwise the pension is terminated. 4
Type of benefits
Cash
Amount of benefits BWP300 (USD29.41) per month. 5
Payment/delivery frequency Monthly 4
Benefit delivery mechanism
Beneficiaries may decide to access the allowance as: cash from
Pension Officers at the Kgotla (community council); cash from post
offices in areas where they are available; or bank deposits directly
to their bank accounts. 4
Benefit recipients
If beneficiaries are unable to collect the pension themselves, another
person may be directly appointed by them (preferably a relative). 4
Minimum and maximum
duration of benefits (if any)
Coverage
95 per cent of the elderly (5 per cent of the total population)
or 98,714 beneficiaries (in 2014) 5,6
Programme expenditure 0.26 per cent of GDP 3
Institutions and agencies involved Government of Botswana, Ministry of Local Government (MLG)
Monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms and frequency
See the references on page 164: Old-Age Pension
28 | Social Protection in Africa: inventory of non-contributory programmes