Letshego refocuses its African dream :: Mmegi Online

Homegrown microlender, Letshego Africa, is selling five of its East and West African subsidiaries, taking a loss of P281 million on the deal. An ambitious expansion strategy that began in 2005 has suffered the perils other titans faced when ‘doing business in Africa’. MBONGENI MGUNI writes

January 2005 was a history-making month for Letshego Africa. The then seven-year old microlender officially established a presence outside Botswana for the first time, marking a bold and pioneering move for a local company, as its peers were and generally continue to be conservative in their expansion outlook.

Letshego’s choice of address for its debut expansion was equally ambitious, skipping over the regional neighbours and reaching to Uganda, a market removed from the familial comforts of Botswana and Southern Africa.

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