Father of the Pula: Remembering Quill Hermans (1936–2024)
Jeff Ramsay | Tuesday November 19, 2024 09:44
He also distinguished himself by working on various international assignments for the World Bank before returning to BOB's leadership and becoming the first chairman of the Botswana International Financial Services Centre. A man who personified emotional intelligence in the workplace, Herman's professional qualities included his energetic nature, keen and innovative intellect, and teamwork and team-building capacity.
The late Quill Hermans was born in Cape Town on December 23, 1936. When not in boarding school, he spent much of his youth at Clober Farm, his grandfather's cattle ranch in the Molopo region of the Northern Cape. After graduating from Oxford with a Bachelor's Degree in Geography in 1961, he was employed as a senior finance officer in the Bechuanaland Protectorate administration, then based in Mahikeng. In 1965, he opted to take up citizenship in the then self-governing territory, joining its small cadre of permanent and pensionable civil servants.
Shortly after independence, he was awarded a United Nations fellowship at Vanderbilt University in the USA, where he completed a Master’s Degree in Development Economics. On his return, he became the MFDP Permanent Secretary, having been a leading advocate of the merging of the previously separate Ministries of Finance and Development.
As Permanent Secretary, Hermans worked under its founding Minister, Sir Ketumile Masire, who was also Vice President. The Ministry's early achievements included establishing the National Development Bank and the Botswana Development Corporation. Another early initiative was the creation of the 'Economic Committee of Cabinet.' This body, chaired by the President, provided a forum for Cabinet Ministers to meet Permanent Secretaries and other senior officials to discuss cross-cutting development issues. This body over the years, playing a crucial role in shaping Botswana's economic policies and strategies while facilitated the drafting and implementation of our National Development Plans,
The MFDP's successful renegotiation in 1969 of a new revenue-sharing agreement for the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) allowed Botswana to end its dependency on external grants-in-aid from Britain while opening the door for other fiscal initiatives. In this context, President Seretse Khama appointed Quill Hermans to chair a commission of enquiry, which recommended that Botswana institute its own currency independent of South African exchange controls. Between 1961 and 1976, Botswana was a member of the Rand Monetary Area. As a result, in 1972, Hermans headed the Monetary Preparation Commission and began planning for an independent currency.
On September 6, 1974, Botswana publicly announced that it would withdraw from the RMA and introduce its own currency. In preparation for this momentous step, taken in the face of considerable initial criticism from international financial institutions, Botswana's parliament passed the Bank of Botswana and the Financial Institution Acts to establish a central bank and its framework for governing financial institutions in the country.
The BOB Act defined the new central Bank's role and autonomous relationship with the Government and external entities such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Act thus prescribed how BOB would calculate and manage the exchange rate of Botswana's new currency, the pula, and its role in investing in Botswana's resulting foreign exchange reserves. The Financial Institutions Act further empowered BOB to supervise all the commercial banks in Botswana.
Under Hermans, BOB launched the Pula on August 23, 1976. An initial period of 100 days was allowed to exchange rand for pula, during which time parity between the two currencies was guaranteed. In addition, various standby arrangements were also put in place to ensure enough foreign exchange should the conversion take longer than expected. However, these backup capacities proved unnecessary as it became clear that the public was enthusiastically receiving the new currency.
In 1977, BOB fully assumed control of all government banking accounts. As well as serving as the Government's banker, BOB has been at the forefront of reviewing financial development and monetary policies, licensing and regulating commercial, merchant, investment, and statutory banking institutions/building societies, regulating currency and foreign exchange, monitoring reserves, and determining interest rates. The Bank is the primary public and private source of financial and economic statistics, and it issues government bonds and certificates for the domestic market. Its subsequent performance for many years earned Botswana the highest sovereignty credit rating of any African country.
Having successfully pioneered BOB between 1977 and 1987, Quill Hermans worked for the World Bank in Washington D.C. and Bangkok, Thailand. His international contributions had a global impact, notably during his latter two years when he served as the World Bank's Resident Representative in South East Asia, where he supervised foreign aid for the reconstruction of then war-ravaged Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Returning to Botswana, in 1987 Quill Hermans was reappointed as BOB Governor. During his second term at the Bank, his accomplishments included launching the Botswana Institute of Bankers to locally train Batswana in banking.
In 1997, Quill Hermans left BOB to take up the post of first chairman of the Botswana International Financial Services Centre. He also became Chairman of the Board of the First National Bank (FNB) Botswana and was chairman of the Botswana branch of the international anti-corruption group Transparency International. His community service contributions included helping to found the ‘Bana ba Metsi’ secondary school for disadvantaged boys in Ngamiland.
Quill Hermans is survived by his three children and other family members. May Your Soul Rest in Peace, RaPula and your family be comforted in their shared loss.