- Strongest player: Mozambique
- Reliable partner: Namibia, Botswana
- Surprise star: Lesotho
- On probation: Nigeria and Uganda
- Work in progress: Kenya
If you buy shares in Letshego Africa Holdings, you might want to know that most of your money is made in Southern Africa. East and West Africa are smaller parts, but they are starting to help, too. The company is home-grown and listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).
How It Makes Money
Almost 90% of Letshego’s profit comes from Southern Africa. In the first half of 2025, the strongest growth came from Mozambique, Namibia, and Botswana. East and West used to make losses, but now they are beginning to add some profit. Letshego operates in 11 African countries. It gives loans to ordinary people like you and me, as well as to small business owners.
Letshego’s main business works like this: when people borrow, their employer or the government takes the loan repayment straight from their salary and sends it to Letshego. This system is called Deduction at Source. It brings in about two-thirds of all the money Letshego makes, according to the group CFO Gwen Muteiwa, who was speaking during the results presentation for the first half of 2025.
In her presentation, she said the small business side, called Micro and Small Entrepreneurs (MSE), brings in about a quarter of Letshego’s money. Another way Letshego makes money is through mobile loans, which Muteiwa said add about 5% to its earnings.
By the Numbers
In the first six months of 2025, Letshego’s profit after tax jumped from P17 million to P181 million. That is a growth of 919%, the company said in its financial report.
The Story Profit After Tax (PAT) tells
- Namibia led the pack with P185 million, up from P147 million last year.
- Mozambique almost doubled, climbing to P178 million from P97 million.
- Botswana added P104 million (from P91 million), steady growth in its home base.
“In Mozambique, the growth of net loans and advances was backed by diversification of Micro Small Entrepreneurs (MSE) as well as the consolidation of the Deductions at Sourc (DAS) business, supporting an increase in interest margin,”
the company wrote in its financial results.
Further, Letshego explained:
“Namibia continued to strengthen its sales and distribution capabilities through targeted interventions in strategic areas, locally driven market initiatives and a renewed focus on delivering exceptional customer service,” adding that “Letshego’s Botswana subsidiary business showed sustained recovery in the first half of 2025, delivering solid performance with key improvements across several metrics”.
Smaller markets like Lesotho (P74 million) and Eswatini (P19 million) swung from losses to profit.
Elsewhere in Africa, the picture is mixed.
- Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda each moved from red to black, bringing in modest but positive earnings. They generated profits after tax of P25 million, P26 million, P8 million and P5 million respectively.
- Nigeria and Uganda slipped into small losses.
The company explained that Ghana maintained its market position with nearly 50% share in the digital mobile loan segment, despite increased competition and new market entrants.
“Mobile loan disbursements showed strong growth, increasing 43% year-on-year. Performance comprised higher transaction volumes and supported topline revenue growth.”
To understand where your investment is really working, Letshego splits its world into two regions.
- Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini) delivered the lion’s share: P560 million in profit after tax, up from P325 million last year.
- East & West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania) improved too, swinging to a P58 million profit, after losing P93 million last year.
The Story Profit Before Tax tells
Profit before tax jumped from P185 million to P405 million in the first half of 2025. But the gains were uneven. Some markets carried the load; others lagged.
The heavy lifters
Two countries account for almost the entire surge:
- Mozambique: It pulled in P261 million (from P146 million), far ahead of all of Letshego’s markets. For context, out of every P10 of profit before tax, more than P6 came from Mozambique.
- Namibia: Gave a solid P212 million, from P161 million last year..
- Botswana: The home market delivered P130 million. Still strong, but a little slower than last year.
Smaller markets provided surprise fireworks:
- Lesotho: Last year, it barely counted (P1 million). This year? P99 million. That’s new money in the company’s pockets.
- Eswatini: Last year, it cost you money. This year, it added P25 million, from a loss of P31 million.
- Ghana and Tanzania: They may be small, but they both grew fast, proving they can contribute more to your returns. They delivered P38.5 million (from P1.7 million) and P19.1 million (from P2.6 million) respectively.
Other markets which you should be watching closely in the second half dragged their feet.
- Nigeria slipped into a loss of P2.7 million from a profit of P5.5 million
- Uganda almost disappeared as a contributor, reporting P467,000 from P4.2 million.
- Kenya, long in the red, narrowed its loss to just P2 million with investors watching to see if the recovery can be sustained in the second half of the year.
Read also: Letshego Keeps More After Tax: What It Means For Investors, Letshego Keeps Investors’ Cash Flowing, Pula Changes Could Cost or Pay You At Letshego
