Letshego Holdings Limited is a

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

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

with its headquarters in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE). Letshego is a

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalaga ...

word meaning “Support”.

Overview

Letshego Holdings Limited is a pan-African inclusive finance organisation with a presence in 11 countries and a legacy that spans more than 25 years, having first opened its doors in 1998 in Gaborone, Botswana. As at December 2022, the Group’s market capitalisation was in excess of USD 1 Billion, thereby making it the largest indigenous quoted company on the BSE BSE. Letshego’s purpose is to ‘improve lives’ by increasing access to simple and affordable financial solutions, and currently supports over 6.6 million consumers across its African footprint. Letshego has over 3000 employees, including direct sales agents. , the group's total assets were valued at BWP:16.909 billion (approx. USD:1.352 billion), with shareholder's equity valued at BWP:5.658 billion (approx. USD:452.65 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 Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It 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 ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. 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 on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. 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, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. In 2011, the group commenced its operations in

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

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

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

-based MFI with subsidiaries in Kenya,

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on 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 Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

of Letshego Holdings Limited are traded on the Botswana Stock Exchange, 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 Letshego Financial Services Botswana (LFSB), also Letshego Botswana, is a microfinance financial institution in Botswana. It is a 100% subsidiary of Letshego Holdings Limited, a holding company, with subsidiaries in over 10 African countries and ...

– 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 Hold ...

– 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 twelve-person board of directors with Philip Odera as the Group chairman and Aobakwe “Aupa” Monyatsi as the Group Chief Executive.

References