[2008-10-15]  Letshego Confident It Will Raise P1 Billion
Letshego Holdings is confident it will raise up to P1 billion after the company's shareholders last week approved the use of debt instruments to seek funding to finance the growth strategies of the group in Africa.

"Looking at the performance of the Group and our strong loan book, we expect a positive response from the market," Group Managing Director, Jan Claassen, said at a press conference last Friday.Looking at the performance of the Group and our strong loan book, we expect a positive response from the market," Group Managing Director, Jan Claassen, said at a press conference last Friday.
Claassen said despite the financial crisis gripping the world markets, there are still fund managers in the US whose business models are excellent and are interested in investing in Africa.

The Botswana market, which remains resilient to the turmoil on world markets, has excess liquidity, resulting in most bonds listed on BSE being oversubscribed.

Due to continued strong growth and performance across all existing business, Letshego estimates that about P1 billion will be required for the expansion of its business across Africa.

The Group has targeted countries like Mozambique, Namibia and Ghana for its expansion programme.

In the short- to medium-term, the required funding will be raised through debt or quasi-debt instruments.

Considering that the amount to be raised is in excess of half of the historical fair value of the assets of the Group based on the annual report for the period ended 31 January 2008, the authority for using this method of fundraising was subject to the approval of shareholders.

At a general meeting last Thursday, shareholders of the Group also approved that the company change its name from Micro Provident Botswana Limited to the more popular trading name, Letshego.

In a circular to shareholders last month, the directors recommended the adoption of Letshego as the official registered name as a way of ensuring consistency and in view of the considerable goodwill that it had generated.

At the BSE, Micro Provident Botswana Limited was referred to as Letshego on its notice boards.

"In the public domain, the name Letshego is more popular," said the Group's Chairman Moses Lekaukau.

"In certain quarters in the market, some members of the public do not know that Letshego and Micro Provident Botswana Limited are one."

Letshego also adopted a new constitution to comply with the Botswana Companies Act of 2003 which requires every company to be incorporated with a memorandum and articles of association.

The Group says it expects the interim financial results for the six-month period ended 31 July 2008 will be materially higher than the prior period.

This is due to continued strong growth and performance across all existing businesses.

The results will be released on Friday. Letshego is a provider of unsecured consumer loans to formally employed individuals
It is listed on the BSE, IFSC-accredited, and has operations in Botswana, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.



Source: Allafrica