By: Business Eswatini Communications Office
In a significant development for Eswatini’s financial sector, Business Eswatini (BE) recently conducted a membership visit to Letshego, welcoming the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mbuso Dlamini, and his management team. The meeting provided an opportunity to introduce the BE team and outline the value proposition for the member organisation, but it also revealed the exciting trajectory of a company poised to reshape the country’s banking landscape.
The visit was marked by a vibrant exchange, with Mr. Dlamini sharing his vision for the company and previewing new products soon to be launched. However, beyond the expansion plans and digital innovations, one aspect of Letshego’s strategy resonated deeply: its unambiguous intentionality towards true financial inclusion. The company is setting its sights on a market segment that has long been neglected by traditional banking models, the unbanked and under-banked population.
Servicing this low-end niche market comes at a significant cost, and traditional banking models have previously attempted to tackle it, often with disastrous results. The mistake, as some observers note, was using the wrong tool for the right job. Then Letshego quietly entered the scene with bespoke digital solutions that can access even the most remote village, as long as the user has a basic mobile phone.
This is where true innovation and digital exploitation come into play, using the right tool to make the impossible possible. By making banking services accessible to this huge but neglected segment, Letshego is laying the groundwork for a renewed economic revival in Eswatini. That is how national wealth is created, from the grassroots up.
Letshego’s journey in Eswatini began in 2006, and it has steadily grown into a leading financial services provider. The recent granting of a provisional banking license by the Central Bank of Eswatini marks a significant milestone, allowing the institution to transition from a financial services provider to a fully-fledged digital bank. This move aligns with the country’s national agenda on financial inclusion and positions Letshego to offer a broader range of services, including competitive savings and deposit rates.
At the helm of this transformation is Mr. Mbuso Dlamini, a seasoned financial services executive with over 20 years of experience across several African markets, including Rwanda and Tanzania. His return to Eswatini, where he previously served as CEO from 2010 to 2015, is widely viewed as a strategic move to leverage his institutional knowledge and broader continental experience to deliver transformation and sustainable growth.
Business Eswatini, as the apex employer organisation, is uniquely positioned to support Letshego on this journey. Representing over 90% of the private sector GDP contribution across more than 22 business sectors, BE serves as the voice of the private sector and the country’s employer’s federation in industrial relations and social policy. BE looks forward to supporting Letshego as it brings more economically marginalised people into the mainstream economic landscape.
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