GROUP CHAIRPERSON’S REFLECTIONS
Letshego Holdings is committed to positively impacting the lives of Namibians. We maintain high governance standards, ensuring stability, building confidence in our business, and delivering long-term growth and sustainability. Our commitment to excellence and meeting stakeholders’ needs underpins everything we do.
Mansueta-Maria Nakale
Group Chairperson
Operating environment
The global economic environment remained challenging throughout 2024, shaped by ongoing uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. Economic recovery has been slower than expected, with divergences across regions. In Namibia, economic recovery continued, with the Bank of Namibia forecasting 3.5% GDP growth for 2024 and 4% for 2025, impacted by weak performance in primary industries, the ongoing drought’s adverse effects, and weakened global commodity demand.
Despite these challenges, we have continued to support our customers and the broader community while delivering the priorities of our Transformation Strategy.
Ethics and Governance
The Board continued to focus on enhancing sound governance, ethics, business conduct principles and codes of best practice across our operations to maintain our legitimacy. The Board’s primary responsibility is to safeguard our brand promise.
We continue to focus on ensuring value creation for all stakeholders by enhancing our positive impact on the environment and society while mitigating risks. We have continued to increase access to essential financial services for financially under-served customers, contributing to Namibia’s national efforts to encourage access to productive capital and thereby increase employment and wealth creation.
During the year, Letshego successfully issued its inaugural social bond listing of N$260 million in three-year senior unsecured notes across five investors and published its Social Financing Framework. The social bond received total bids of N$322 million with strong interest from investors.
The board remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance and strategic oversight.
Leadership transitions
During 2024, there were a few notable changes to the board. I was appointed Chairperson of the Board on 8 July 2024, following the resignation of Ms. Maryvonne Palanduz on 31 January 2024. Ms Kamogelo Chiusiwa also resigned on 1 July 2024. I want to thank them both for the wealth of experience and insight they brought to the Group during their tenures and wish them well in their future endeavours.
Messers Richard Ochieng, Jerome Mutumba and Jaco Esterhuyse were appointed to the board as Non-executive Directors on 1 July, 15 July and 17 July 2024, respectively. They bring extensive experience and skills, and I welcome them to the Board. We look forward to their contributions to the growth and success of the Group.
Strategic Performance
Letshego’s Transformation Strategy was initially launched in February 2020 and guided by our 6-2-5 execution roadmap. It concludes in December 2024, and the strategic planning to steer the Group into the next chapter of sustainable growth has progressed.
Throughout this journey, we have prioritised innovation and adaptability, ensuring our solutions meet the evolving needs of our customers. Our commitment to product diversification means we constantly explore new avenues to broaden our offerings to Namibian communities, providing more comprehensive and tailored financial solutions to our diverse customer base.
Letshego remains committed to maintaining a strategy and structure that deepens our impact, enables agility in ever-changing markets, and unlocks a tangible and measurable return for our customers and all valued stakeholders. As such, our focus will shift towards realising sustainable returns from recent investments as we build a future-fit business.
We will prioritise and strengthen our mobile-first strategic partnerships to drive impactful innovation while safeguarding customer data.
Financial Resilience and Adaptability
The financial performance remained solid, with total revenue up 15% year-on-year, primarily driven by an increase in advances to customers. Return on average equity increased to 15% and the cost to income ratio remained stable at 47%. The bank remains well capitalised, with a capital adequacy ratio of 30% (2023: 35%).
Prospects
With Letshego’s solid business fundamentals and significant governance and sustainability framework advancements, we leverage automation and technical upgrades across channels, platforms, and infrastructure to drive our evolution towards a future-fit business.
We will continue to expand our digital offerings to enhance accessibility and customer experience, enabling personalised financial solutions and positioning Letshego.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to our Board members, management team, employees, shareholders, and customers for their unwavering support and dedication. Together, we are on a journey to create meaningful and sustainable value that drives our success and enriches the lives of many Namibians. As we navigate the complexities of future challenges and embrace new opportunities, I am confident that our collective efforts will lead to positive and lasting change in our communities, delivering our purpose of Improving Lives.
Mansueta-Maria Nakale
Group Chairperson
