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Put your house in order Letshego advised

Lately there have been signs of trouble brewing that did not go unnoticed at Letshego, the micro-lender has been experiencing abrupt recurring change of faces in top management positions. Market observers saw this as the reason which diminished investor confidence.

 Kgori Capital Portfolio Manager, Tshegofatso Tlhong said Letshego was one of the worst performers of 2019 because of leadership chaos. The micro-lender started last year with a share price of P1.62 before losing its grip heavily by 51.2 percent. It has been trading at a lower price since then and has never recovered. This price fall also made Letshego stock in high demand.

According to the recently published Motswedi Securities quarterly brief of Q4 2019, in that period the market at large was distressed. But Letshego was the largest market casualty as it posted a year to date loss of -56.2 percent according to the quarterly report released by Motswedi researchers Garry Juma and Salome Makgatlhe.

“This was a result of the stock feeling some significant selling pressure from the market following a series of top management changes. All beginning with the departure of the Group’s long term CEO in the second half of 2018, the resignation of the Group CFO (at the beginning of the year), and then the abrupt resignation of the replacement Group CEO after only six months in the role in March 2019,” said Motswedi Securities this week.

Motswedi Securities researchers said Letshego has been assuring many that things will change but the sentiment for its stock did not change. The stock closed at a historic low price of P0.71/share, with interest in the stock gradually growing towards the end of 2019, according to Motswedi Securities. But valuation wise, Letshego is very attractive at current levels with a PE of 3.5x and P/Bv of 0.4x.

Meanwhile, Letshego stock was this week trading at P0.88 before press time but with no signs of showing high demand for the stock. Tlhong putting her expertise on the recently published Kgori Capital Insight Q4 2019 report which sought to reflect on the just ended quarter said, Letshego leadership issues questions around strategic direction and executions which had investors jittery. “A well-communicated resolution to these key issues will be positive for the share,” she advised.

Tlhong said Letshego and Standard Charted bank were the worst performers of 2019. Maybe the latest movement by the micro-lender to fill in few high positions should be indirectly address Tlhong’s advice on coming up with resolutions on how to deal with leadership issues.
Last month Letshego announced that it has concluded its executive search for a permanent Group CEO and giving the job to Andrew Fening Okai. He was formerly with Standard Chartered as Global Chief Operating Officer and has more than two decades in the finance industry.

After leading his appointment Letshego board Chairman Enos Banda said Okai has “multi-geography financial expertise in diverse disciplines within a retail banking environment, including governance, strategy, risk and strategic transformation.” Seeming to be answering to worries of top leadership exodus at the micro-lender, Banda said Okai will bring the leadership, vision and strategic insight Letshego needs to secure their next phase of focus and impact, all while empowering existing and future leaders across their business and delivering long term value for investors. Letshego has a presence in 11 African counties

Okai took over from interim CEO Dumisani Ndebele who took the helm at Letshego after Smit Crouse dumped the micro-lender forcing the company to dig deep for his replacement. Crouse left Letshego without any explanation, this after his much fan fared takeover of 2018.
During his take over on Monday 24th September 2018, Crouse said, “I look forward to engaging all stakeholders of the business across our footprint, including customers, on the positioning of Letshego for the future.” The former CEO did not look forth enough as he left the micro-lender albeit abruptly resigning just after six months.

In December Letshego announced the appointment of two new directors “to add complementary financial services and banking expertise to the Group’s current fiduciary skill sets.” At that time Abiodun Odubola and Philip Odera were confirmed as Letshego’s new Independent non-executive Directors, having recently secured due regulatory approval.

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Grit divests from Letlole La Rona

22nd March 2023

Grit Services Limited, a member of the pan African real estate group, London Stock Exchange listed Grit Real Estate Income Group is divesting from Letlole La Rona Limited (LLR), a local real estate company established by government investment arm Botswana Development Corporation over a decade ago.

The Board of Directors of Letlole La Rona Limited this week announced in a statement to Unitholders that Grit Services Limited (‘Grit’) has informed them of its intention to exit its investment in the company.

Grit has been a material shareholder in LLR since 2019. On 07 March 2023, Grit sold 6 421 000 linked units, representing 2.29% of the Company’s total securities in issue, at a market value of BWP 22 537 710.

This trade follows previous sales of 6.79% in December 2022, as communicated to Unitholders on 10 January 2023, as well as a further sale of 4.78% (representing 13 347 068 linked units) on 24 February 2023 to various shareholders.

In aggregate, Grit has sold 13.9% shareholding in the Letlole La Rona between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in current shareholding of 11.25% in the Company.

Letlole La Rona said in the statement that the exit process will take place in an orderly manner so as to maintain stability of the Company’s share price.

The statement explained that Grit’s sale of its entire shareholding in LLR is in line with its decision to exit investments where it does not have majority control, or where it has significant exposure to currencies other than US dollar, Euro or hard-currency-pegged revenue streams.

“Grit has announced similar decisions pertaining to certain of its hospitality assets in Mauritius recently. The Company would like to advise Unitholders that it remains focused on long-term value delivery to all stakeholders” LLR said

In July last year as part of their Go-to-Africa strategy Letlole La Rona acquired an initial 30% equity stake in Orbit Africa Logistics, with an option to increase this investment to 50%. OAL is a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Mauritius, owning an industrial asset in a prime industrial node in Nairobi, Kenya.

The co-investment was done alongside a wholly owned subsidiary of London listed Grit. The Orbit facility is situated on a prime industrial site on Mombasa Road, the principal route south of Nairobi center, serving the main industrial node, the port of Mombasa and the industrial town of Athi River and is strategically located 11 kilometers south of the international airport and 9.6 kilometers from the Inland Container Depot.

Grit shareholding in Letlole La Rona was seen as strategic for LLR, for the company to leverage on Grit’s already existing continental presence and expand its wings beyond Botswana borders as already delivered by Kenya transaction.

Media reports have however suggested that LLR and Grit have since late last year had fundamental disagreements on how to go about the Go-to-Africa strategy amongst other things, fuelled by alleged Botswana government interference on the affairs of LLR.

Government through LLR founding shareholder – Botswana Development Corporation has a controlling stake of around 40 percent in the company. Government is the sole shareholder of Botswana Development Corporation.

Letlole La Rona recently released their financial results for the six months ended December 2022, revenue increased by 4% to P50.2 million from P48.4 million in the prior comparative six months, whilst operating profit was up 8% to P36.5 million. Profit before tax of P49.7 million was reported, an increase of 8% on the prior comparative six months.

“We are encouraged by the strong results, notwithstanding a challenging economic environment. Our performance was mainly underpinned by annual lease escalations, our quality tenant base and below average market vacancy levels, especially in our warehouse portfolio,” Kamogelo Mowaneng, Letlole La Rona Chief Executive Officer commented.

LLR reported a weighted average lease expiry period of 3.3 years and escalation rates averaging 6.8% per annum for the period ended 31 December 2022.Its investment portfolio value increased by 14% year-on-year to close the period at P1.4 billion, mainly driven by the acquisition of a 30% stake in OAL in July 2022.

The Company also recorded a significant increase in other income, predominantly due to foreign exchange gains on the OAL shareholder loan. “We continue to explore pipeline opportunities locally, and regionally in line with our Go-to-Africa strategy and our interest remains on value-accretive investments,” Mowaneng said.

An interim distribution of 9.11 thebe per linked unit was declared on the 6th of February 2023 for the half-year period to 31 December 2022, comprising of a dividend of 0.05 thebe and debenture interest of 9.06 thebe per linked unit which will be paid to linked unit holders registered in the books of the Company at the close of business on 24 February 2023.

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Stargems Group establishes Training Center in BW

20th March 2023

Internationally-acclaimed diamond manufacturing company StarGems Group has established the Stargems Diamond Training Center which will be providing specialized training in diamond manufacturing and evaluation.

The Stargems Diamond Training Institute is located at the Stargems Group Botswana Unit in Gaborone.

“In accordance with the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS) which holds the principle that through education and skills development as well as the strategic alignment between national ambitions and individual capabilities, Botswana will become a prosperous, productive and innovative nation due to the quality and efficacy of its citizenry. The Training Centre will provide a range of modules in theory and in practice; from rough diamond evaluation to diamond grading and polishing for Batswana, at no cost for eight weeks. The internationally- recognized certificate offered in partnership with Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School presents invaluable opportunities for Batswana to access in the diamond industry locally and internationally. The initiative is an extension of our Corporate Social Investment to the community in which we operate,” said Vishal Shah, Stargems Group Managing Director, during the launch of the Stargems Diamond Training Center.

In order to participate in this rare opportunity, interested candidates are invited to submit a police clearance certificate and a BGCSE certificate only to the Stargems offices.  Students who excel in these programs will have the chance to be onboarded by the Stargems Group. This serves as motivation for them to go through this training with a high level of seriousness.

“Community empowerment is one of our CSR principles. We believe that businesses can only thrive when their communities are well taken of. We are hoping that our presence will be impactful to various communities and economies. In the six countries that we are operating in, we have contributed through dedicating 10% of our revenues during COVID-19 to facilitate education, donating to hospitals and also to NGOs committed to supporting women and children living with HIV. One key issue that we are targeting in Botswana is the rate of unemployment amongst the youth. We are looking forward to working closely with the government and other relevant authorities to curb unemployment,” said Shah.

Currently, Stargems Group has employed 117 Batswana and they are looking forward to growing the numbers to 500 as the company grows. Majority of the employees will be graduates from the Stargems Diamond Training Center. This initiation has been received with open arms by the general public and stakeholders. During the launch, the Minister of Minerals and Energy,  Honorable Lefoko Moagi, stated that the ministry fully endorses Stargems Diamond Training and will work closely with the Group to support and grow the initiative.

“As a ministry, we see this as an game changer that is aligned with one of the United Nations’ Six Priority Sustainable Development Goals, which is to Advance Opportunity and Impact for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). What Stargems Group is launching today will have a huge impact on the creation of employment in Botswana. An economy’s productivity rises as the number of educated workers increases as its skilled workmanship increases. It is not a secret that low skills perpetuate poverty and widen the inequality gap, therefore the development of skills has the potential to contribute significantly to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and helping the country become more competitive. We are grateful to see the emergence of industry players such as Stargems Group who have strived to create such opportunities that mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy,” said the Minister of Minerals and Energy.

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Business

Food import bill slightly declines

20th March 2023

The latest figures released by Statistics Botswana this week shows that food import bill for Botswana slightly declined from around P1.1 billion in November 2022 to around P981 million in December during the same year.

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