Letshego Holdings faces an uphill slog to repair its image when it comes to the board and staff turnover. If there is any consistency at the BSE quoted lender it’s that of departure of its directors and key executives. One after another, key personnel have in recent months and years opted for the lender’s ‘exit door’ and never looked back.
In the latest episode of a series in which the company part ways with high-profile business associates in the form of chief executives, company secretaries and non-executive directors, the company has confirmed the departure of Gerrit van Heerde.
“Mr. Gerrit van Heerde has tendered his resignation as non-independent non-executive director of the Company with effect from the 30th August 2023,” reads part of a notice sent to the group’s shareholders and also published on the BSE’s X News.
While other past departures of associates were marred with controversies, Letshego says Heerde’s exit is as a result of the end of his full nine-year tenure in terms of the company’s constitution. Those close to the company however questioned the timing of the resignation classifying it as yet another boardroom brawl at the Gaborone Central Business District headquartered lender.
Letshego has however brushed such aside, instead, extending its sincere gratitude to Gerrit, “for his invaluable level of support, commitment and contribution dedicated to Letshego since joining the Group’s Board 2003”.
Philip Odera, Letshego board chairperson said in a statement that Gerrit has brought an immeasurable amount of insight, regional expertise and financial sector guidance in his fiduciary responsibilities, and played an integral role in supporting the evolution of Letshego from a single product focused model, to today’s multifaceted, digitally-inspired operation.
Odera said Gerrit’s financial expertise, practical business mindset and superior leadership qualities have created a legacy from which Letshego will continue to draw value for many years to come.
The Letshego group was incorporated in 1998 and has been publicly listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) since 2002. The company classifies itself as an inclusive finance focused Group with microfinance banking and consumer lending subsidiaries across eleven countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The company’s share closed at P1.26 by the end of trading business at BSE on Thursday this week.
Meanwhile the group recently announced its plan to change the company’s name from Letshego Holdings Limited to Letshego Africa Holdings Limited. On the rationale for the change of the company’s name, the board explained that Letshego has embarked on a growth objective and regional transformation that has seen the company invest in multiple economies across Africa, hence the name of the company must reflect its widened reach.
“By changing the companies name and identity, the company will also change the way it positions itself in the market and the economies it is invested in,” the Letshego board said in July 2023.
