Letshego Holdings Limited
 | |
| Public Company | |
| Traded as | BSE:LETSHEGO |
| Industry | Microfinance |
| Founded | 4 March 1998 |
| Headquarters | Gaborone, Botswana |
Key people |
John A. Burbidge Group Chairman Allan C.M. Low Group Managing Director |
| Products | Loans |
| Revenue |
 BWP:1.4Billion (2014) |
| Total assets |
BWP:5 Billion (2014) |
Number of employees | 1,300 (2014) |
| Website |
www |
Letshego Holdings Limited is a microfinance holding company with its headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana and is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE). Letshego is a Setswana word meaning “Support”.[1]
Overview
Letshego Holdings Limited is a Botswana based financial services institution. The group has a market capitalization in excess of US$500 million thereby making it the third largest quoted company on the BSE.[2] The group has more than 250,000 consumers being served by its micro lending subsidiaries across ten countries in Southern and East Africa. These subsidiaries provide short to medium-term unsecured loans to formally employed clients.[3]
History
Letshego Holdings Limited was incorporated in March 4, 1998 as Micro Provident Botswana Limited a microfinance institution whose core function was to provide of unsecured loans clients.[3] The company was listed on the BSE in 2002 through a successful IPO.[4] The funds from this IPO were utilzed to expand the group regionally.
Between 2005 and 2007, the group expanded to Uganda, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. 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. 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.[5]
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 Kenyan based MFI with subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.[6] This acquisition gave group access to three new countries and an increase in its Ugandan customer base due to its 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.[1]
On December 1, 2013 the group divested from Letshego Financial Services Zambia. This saw its exit from Zambia reducing the group have presence to 10 countries.[1]
Ownership
The stock of Letshego Holdings Limited is traded on the Botswana Stock Exchange, under the symbol: LETSHEGO. As of January 2014, shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below:[1]
| Rank | Name of Owner | % Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botswana Life Insurance Limited | 23.40 |
| 2 | Others | 76.60 |
| Total | 100.00 |
Member companies
The companies that compose the Letshego Holdings Limited include but are not limited to the following:[1]
- Letshego Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited – 100% Shareholding – Botswana
- Letshego Kenya Limited – 100% Shareholding – Kenya
- Finance South Sudan Limited – 74% Shareholding – South Sudan
- Letshego Rwanda Limited – 100% Shareholding – Rwanda
- AMDC Limited (Mauritius) – 100% Shareholding – Mauritius
- Letshego Financial Services Lesotho Limited – 95% Shareholding – Lesotho
- Letshego Financial Services Mozambique, SA – 96.25% Shareholding – Mozambique
- Letshego Financial Services (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited – 85% Shareholding – Namibia
- Letshego Financial Services Swaziland (Proprietary) Limited – 85% Shareholding – Swaziland
- Letshego Tanzania Limited – 87% Shareholding – Tanzania
- Letshego Uganda Limited – 85% Shareholding – Uganda
All of Letshego Holdings Limited's subsidiaries engage in financial services with the exception of AMDC Limited (Mauritius) which is a holding company for the Rwanda and South Sudan Operations. These units are held through Letshego Kenya Limited.
Governance
Letshego Holdings Limited is governed by a ten person board of directors with John Alexander Burbidge as the chairman and Allan Christopher Michael Low as the Group Managing Director.[7]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 LHL (2014-01-31). "Letshego Holdings Limited 2014 Annual Report" (PDF). Letshego Holdings Limited. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ↑ Ngodya, Chimbwete. "Equity Research Botswana June 2014 Banking" (PDF). Imara Investing in Africa. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- 1 2 LHL. "Letshego Products". Letshego Holdings Limited. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ↑ LHL. "Letshego - About Us". Letshego Holdings Limited. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ↑ LHL (2009-01-31). "Letshego Holdings Limited 2009 Annual Report" (PDF). Letshego Holdings Limited. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ↑ LHL (2012-01-31). "Letshego Holdings Limited 2012 Annual Report" (PDF). Letshego Holdings Limited. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ↑ BSE. "BSE - Letshego Holdings Limited formerly "Micro Provident Botswana Limited"". http://www.bse.co.bw/. Botswana Stock Exchange. Retrieved 2015-02-20.