Local financial services group, Letshego Holdings Limited has launched a savings and fixed accounts services in its Rwanda subsidiary. This is the second country across the group’s operations to commence deposit-taking initiatives. Mozambique commenced fixed deposit-taking in February this year.
Letshego’s Rwanda subsidiary, Letshego Rwanda Limited (LRL) was established in Rwanda in 2004 and is one of the ten subsidiaries owned by the pan African lender. Since inception the Rwanda subsidiary has been operating as a regulated credit only lending company, supporting its clients by offering innovative and competitively priced loans.
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed company has previously said it will achieve its strategic ambition through broadening the range of products and services that it provides to meet its customer needs. The strategy includes building deposit taking capabilities in key markets, diversifying into microfinance lending and enhancing unsecured consumer offerings.
Its recent awarding of a provisional banking license by Namibia has been hailed as a new beginning for the group that will greatly boost its strategic ambitions to become a leading financial services house in the continent.
The move means Namibia has moved ahead of Botswana, where the company originates, following the rejection of banking license by Linah Mohohlo’s Bank of Botswana. The group has a stronghold in the country, where it has a 21 percent penetration of government employees and a loan book of P1.8 billion or 42 percent of the group’s loan book.
The group also offer broad-based lending services to the consumer and micro enterprise markets across East and Southern Africa including in Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda.
Available data shows that the group is the second largest quoted company in the BSE with a market capitalization in excess of US$550 million. It also employs over 1300 staff representing more than 20 nationalities. It has over 250 customer access points across its footprint, servicing a client base of more than 250 000.
The company said over the last 15 years, it has positioned itself to assist governments with their financial deepening and financial inclusion agendas and it offers unsecured loans between US$1,000 and US$40,000 that are appropriate to its client’s every day needs, mainly through the deduction at source payroll model.
Early last month the company revealed its intention is to grow its revenues faster than costs, but admitted the biggest challenge is that it is on an expansion drive.
The group, which is among top 40 African listed companies outside South Africa, is currently undertaking a diversification project, investing in people, micro finance and looking at rolling out micro banking.
