Letshego, established 25 years ago, has emerged as one of Botswana’s premier corporate exports, affirmed by Kgotso Bannalotlhe, CEO of Letshego Botswana and Regional Chair of Eswatini and Lesotho.
During a recent engagement with local media, Bannalotlhe remarked that among organisations originating in Botswana 25 years ago, none have achieved the level of success enjoyed by Letshego.
“From a small little office here in Gaborone offering loans to people whom commercial banks have fully shut out, it has become an organisation that is now a Pan-African financial institution of note,” he asserted.
“We are present in 11 countries with a balance sheet of more than USS2 billion.”
In Botswana, Bannalotlhe said Letshego has been known for offering consumer financing, more especially personal loans.
“The journey that we have taken has led us to where we are now where we are looking to become an organisation that serves the broader needs of Batswana,” said Bannalotlhe.
“Today we have 15 branches and satellite branches across Botswana.”
Further, he said Letshego has enhanced digital solutions where a customer can apply for a loan remotely and receive it within 24 hours.
Bannalotlhe declared that Letshego is the most convenient provider of consumer financial services.
“We aim to ensure that the person gets the money when they need it the most,” he pronounced.
“We don’t have a long process that takes you two weeks.”
According to Bannalotlhe, Letshego’s offerings are not only limited to salaried individuals.
“At Letshego we look at people who are excluded or underserved in the financial services,” he said.
“What we seek to do is to solve that problem of access and give Batswana access to credit help themselves.”
He said Letshego has done this with personal loans and is now taking a step further by partnering with other service providers.
“We have a partnership with Mascom where non-salaried people, but have income put money in MyZaka. That is the income that we can recognise,” said Bannalotlhe.
“Also in partnership with Mascom, we have created an instant loan. Everything we do we want to make credit accessible.”
For the next few months, Bannalotlhe said the Letshego will focus on the new expanded Letshego offerings which strive to meet the needs of Batswana.
These include those who are self-employed, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and those who want to build homes.
“In this way, we aim to serve a set of broader needs for Batswana and help to improve their lives,” he said.
“We will finance Batswana to build homes of whatever quality at any part of Botswana.”
Letshego’s aim according to Bannalotlhe is to become an all-round consumer financial services company through its expanded offering.
As such, Letshego has unveiled a new offering called Itshetse-Iperekele-Ikagele, which Bannalotlhe said through it, Letshego Botswana aims to support these major goals for every Motswana.
“Our support aims to match the commitment our customers have to improve and build their own lives,” said Bannalotlhe.
On the Itshetse aspect of the offering, Letshego will focus on the personal loan product and the company will encourage customers to have clear goals of building a future for themselves.
“Through Iperekele we are looking to encourage Batswana entrepreneurs to seek support from Letshego to grow their businesses and ultimately support themselves,” explained Bannalotlhe.
“In Ikagele, we want to carry Batswana step by step through affordable housing products.”
Bannalotlhe said Letshego wants to empower them to accomplish their dreams of owning their homes in the simplest way, noting that this is a turnkey solution.
Through the Ikagele offering, Bannalotlhe explained that Letshego has catered for everyone, starting from low-income earners to high-income earners.
