Letshego tightens screws as impairments jump 52%
Friday, March 08, 2019
Letshego also said the adoption of the IFRS 9 reporting standards, with effect from January 2018, had had the effect of raising overall impairment provisions.
The microlender’s impairments rose to P361.5 million, up 52% from the previous year, while the loan book grew 12% to P8.7 billion. Besides Botswana, Letshego operates in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda. According to the group’s annual results released on Tuesday, Tanzania had the highest proportion of impairments as a percentage of total outstanding loans, at about 17.4%, followed by the West African market at 16.6% and its East African presence at 16.4%. By comparison, Letshego’s Southern African operations had rates averaging 2.2 percent with Namibia at 0.54% and Mozambique at 1.3 percent.
The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...