Letshego Holdings Limited is a microfinance

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

with its headquarters in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

and is listed on the

Botswana Stock Exchange The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) is a stock exchange located in Gaborone, Botswana. The Botswana share market was established in 1989 and became the Botswana Stock Exchange in 1994. It is governed by thBotswana Stock Exchange Act The BSE has 36 ...

(BSE). Letshego is a

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...

word meaning “Support”.

Overview

Letshego Holdings Limited is a Botswana-based financial services institution. The group had a market capitalization in excess of US$634 million, as at December 2015, thereby making it the largest indigenous quoted company on the BSE. The group serves more than 300,000 consumers, by its micro lending subsidiaries across ten countries in Southern, Eastern and Western Africa. These subsidiaries provide short to medium-term unsecured loans to formally employed clients. The Letshego group employed in excess of 2,300 staff as at December 2015. , the group's total assets were valued at BWP:7.462 billion (approx. USD:729.55 million), with shareholder's equity valued at BWP:4.182 billion (approx. USD:408.85 million).

History

Letshego Holdings Limited was incorporated on 4 March 1998 as Micro Provident Botswana Limited a microfinance institution whose core function was to provide of unsecured loans clients, who had full-time employment. The company was listed on the BSE in 2002 through a successful

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. The funds from this IPO were utilized to expand the group regionally. Between 2005 and 2007, the group expanded to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, Eswatini,

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. These were all through greenfield investments in these countries. In August 2008, the group made its first foreign acquisition when it acquired a majority stake in Eduloan, an MFI in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. In the same year, the company adopted the Letshego brand as its official name. The expansion drive continued into 2009 with the setting up of a subsidiary in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. In 2011, the group commenced its operations in Lesotho. In the same year, the group announced its intention to acquire a 62.52% in ''Micro Africa Limited'', a

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

-based MFI with subsidiaries in Kenya,

, Rwanda and

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

. This acquisition gave group access to three new countries and an increase in its Ugandan customer base due to its pre-existing presence. This acquisition was completed on June 1, 2012. This saw the group have presence in 11 countries. Letshego Holdings took full control of Micro Africa Limited in 2013. On 1 December 2013 the group divested from Letshego Financial Services Zambia. With the exit from Zambia, the group's presence remained in 10 countries. In January 2016, Letshego Holdings Limited completed the acquisition of 100% shareholding in FBN Microfinance Bank of Nigeria.

Ownership

The shares of the stock of Letshego Holdings Limited are traded on the

, under the symbol: LETSHEGO. , shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below:

Member companies

The companies that compose the Letshego Holdings Limited include but are not limited to the following: # Letshego Financial Services Botswana – 100% Shareholding – Botswana # Letshego Kenya Limited – 100% Shareholding – Kenya # Letshego Rwanda Limited – 100% Shareholding – Rwanda # AMDC Limited (Mauritius) - 100% shareholding - Holding company for the Rwanda Operations. # Letshego Financial Services Lesotho Limited – 95% Shareholding – Lesotho # Letshego Financial Services Mozambique, SA – 96.25% Shareholding – Mozambique #

Letshego Bank Namibia Letshego Bank Namibia is a commercial bank in Namibia. It is licensed by the Bank of Namibia, the central bank and national banking regulator. History The institution was established in 2002 as ''Edu Loan Namibia''. In August 2008, Letshego Holdi ...

– 85% Shareholding – Namibia # Letshego Financial Services Swaziland (Proprietary) Limited – 85% Shareholding – Swaziland # Letshego Financial Services Tanzania Limited - 100% shareholding - Tanzania # Letshego Bank Tanzania – 87% Shareholding – Tanzania # Letshego Microfinance Uganda – 85% Shareholding – Uganda # FBN Microfinance Bank Limited – 100% Shareholding – Nigeria # ERF 8585 Limited - 100% Shareholding - Namibia (Real estate company). # AFB Ghana- financial services

Governance

Letshego Holdings Limited is governed by a thirteen-person board of directors with Enos Banda as the chairman and Aobakwe “Aupa” Monyatsi as the Group Chief Executive.

References