Letlole La Rona (LLR) has announced its exit from the Kenyan market, divesting from Orbit Africa Logistics — a costly expansion that weighed heavily on profits and prompted a strategic rethink of its Pan-African ambitions.
“The Group has resolved to exit its investment in Orbit Africa Logistics in Kenya,” LLR said in a trading update. The move, it added, “aligns with our duty to investors and reflects our commitment to preserving and enhancing long-term shareholder value.” The company confirmed that “various exit options are actively being explored.”
The Botswana Stock Exchange-listed property investor reported a projected profit before tax of between P92.4 million and P92.5 million for the year ended June 30, 2025 — a surge of 215 to 225 percent from P41.1 million the previous year. The rebound comes after a full write-off of the Orbit investment, which in 2024 had cost the company over P100 million following a rent default by its Kenyan tenant.
“The absence of this drag has allowed the strength of our core operations to shine through, demonstrating the robustness of our strategy and the sustainability of our earnings going forward,” the company said.
CEO Kamogelo Mowaneng had foreshadowed such a move in March, telling analysts and media that the board was reviewing “different options,” including a complete exit, pending an asset valuation. “There is a lot of groundwork taking place, and in the next month or so, we should be able to announce the exact direction of this investment,” she said then.
That process has now culminated in a decisive divestment. LLR will concentrate its resources on its domestic portfolio, which has proven more resilient even amid macroeconomic headwinds. Occupancy rates averaged 97.4 percent during the year, while rental collection remained robust at 98 percent. With Kenya out of the picture, Botswana now accounts for 100 percent of the Group’s asset base.
The decision highlights the gap between LLR’s bold “Go-To-Africa” strategy launched in 2022 and the practical realities of cross-border execution. The Orbit facility — acquired for $7.2 million with an option to increase to 50 percent ownership — was envisioned as a springboard into East Africa. Instead, it became a financial burden, contributing to a 66 percent plunge in group profit before tax in 2024.
Mowaneng has acknowledged that the experience reshaped management’s appetite for regional risk, scaling back foreign exposure plans from 45–50 percent to just 10 percent. She told analysts that the Group will adopt an opportunity-based approach for future foreign investments. “Gradually, as we see that we have exhausted all the opportunities here in Botswana, we then might want to change our sectoral or geographic spread to expand more into the rest of Africa,” she said.
The Kenya setback also affected investor returns. For the period ending 31 December 2024, LLR cut interim payouts by 30.68 percent year-on-year, citing the Orbit impairment. By June 2025, distributions were again under pressure, declining 11 percent as the underperformance of its Kenyan associate continued to weigh on consolidated cash flows.
Against this backdrop, the company says its latest results mark a turning point. The exit from Kenya and the strength of its Botswana portfolio, LLR says, reaffirm its position as a resilient and high-performing property investment company.
