Letshego celebrates success as it enters East Africa

MPHO MOKWAPE
Correspondent | Friday October 19, 2012 00:00

 

The celebration also kicked off a weeklong strategic planning session for the group, which saw CEOs from its African operations converging in Botswana.The session attracted delegates from Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Lesotho, Kenya, Zambia and Botswana.Letshego, formerly Micro Provident Botswana Limited, is a leading pan African consumer financial services provider that was incorporated in Botswana in 1998. It listed on the BSE in 2002. Letshego's main business is in extending short to medium term personal unsecured loans to individuals in formal employment. The last 14 years have seen the group swiftly developing into one of the most recognisable brands in Botswana as well as on the African continent with branches in 11 countries.

The board chairman of Letshego Holdings, Cuthbert Lekaukau said the group is a proudly Botswana company spreading its wings across Africa.  Lekaukau explained that as Letshego expands to Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan and Lesotho, the group has also seen the potential to enter markets in Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

He said with the company's shares open to the public, it comes down to Africans helping one another as people have the platform through which to invest in Africa and its future.Letshego managing director Jan Claassen said the group employs 700 people across the continent, equally split between men and women. He assured that after 10 years, the group will still remain the leading provider of unsecured credit to Batswana.

He noted that Letshego Financial Services was the first consumer lending company to be established in Botswana.He revealed that in the past year alone, the group exceeded the P3 billion loan mark and serviced over 167 000 customers. He added that shareholders also enjoyed favourable earnings per share of 29.6 thebe with the group's profit before tax increasing by 13 percent from the financial year 2010/11 to 2011/12.

'Our work has, and will continue to contribute towards the growth of this economy as well as create platforms for opportunity and the growth of Batswana,' stressed Claassen.For his part, Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture Shaw Kgathi said the success of the Letshego Group was perhaps one of the best kept secrets in the financial services industry. He noted that the company started from humble beginnings to become a shining example of what the country is capable of producing. He said while the group initially served a market that comprised of people who were termed 'unbankable' at the time, today it is a dominant player in the consumer lending industry offering competition to commercial banks.

Kgathi emphasised that Letshego's track record speaks for itself, adding that it takes visionary leadership to realise the need to expand and grow the market beyond conventional boundaries.He further said for the company to have survived the effects of the 2010 economic downturn is evidence of the power of visionary leadership and strategic planning, and should be applauded.