Letshego To Instill Responsible Financial Practices
Isaac Pinielo | Monday September 4, 2017 18:00
During the presentation of the group’s results for the half-year ended June 30, 2017 in Gaborone on Friday, the financial services group said it would also imbed a social performance measurement system across the business from 2017.
Group managing director, Chris Low indicated that during 2016, following the conclusion of a Social Environment Due Diligence (SEDD), the group embarked on a social impact survey with over 7,000 Letshego customers across five countries of operation, which are Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania.
“In addition to defining our social and financial impact, we are investing in our environmental, social and governance credentials,” he said.
For example, Low said the group’s SEDD indicated a strong alignment to globally accepted principles such as smart consumer protection principles, and United Nations (UN) financial institution frameworks.
Through the survey, he noted that they aimed to determine baseline social conditions for Letshego’s customers, with the intended outcomes of determining measures, which could be implemented to improve on the level of financial inclusion achieved.
The survey was also aimed at informing better risk quantification, and innovating new and more appropriate solutions for these markets and customer base.
In addition, Low said they are progressively introducing innovative, technology-driven payment and remittance platforms that enable financial inclusion.
“Through initiatives such as agency banking in Mozambique and Tanzania, and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data)-based bill payment services in Rwanda, customers are able to make payments to suppliers, family, friends and utility providers,” he said. He explained that this covers their daily transaction needs and eliminates the inconvenience of travelling long distances to access physical payment points.
The MD further pointed out that they encourage their customers to invest money into saving for family needs and aspirations, as well as longer term commitments that will see them improve their lives through income generation or purchasing once off items that are needed for their families.
“Currently, savings accounts are available in Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania, with capability to enable savings in Ghana and Namibia as well,” Low said. Over time, he stated that Letshego looks to offer increasingly flexible and innovatively channelled mobile micro-savings solutions that reward customers for responsible saving practices.