Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) has approved a seven-year US$10 million (P131 million) term loan to Letshego Africa Holdings, positioning the facility as part of a broader push to expand lending into social-impact sectors while supporting one of the country’s most active non-bank lenders.
BDC said the funding will support programmatic lending in areas such as affordable housing, education, healthcare and micro- and small-enterprise finance. The deal falls under the state-owned investor’s impact investment strategy, which seeks to combine financial returns with measurable social outcomes.
“This facility is more than a funding agreement; it is an investment in the resilience of the African household,” BDC managing director Oteng Keabetswe said. He added that the corporation is prioritising partnerships capable of delivering “double-bottom-line” returns — financial sustainability alongside developmental impact.
For Letshego, the funding arrives at a time when local capital markets have become more expensive and less liquid. Chief executive Reinette van der Merwe said the loan improves liquidity flexibility “at an important phase of the Group’s growth and recovery” and strengthens its ability to absorb macroeconomic volatility.
The contrast with recent market funding is stark. In November, Letshego raised P89.5 million under its amended P3.5 billion medium-term note programme at yields ranging between 18 percent and 18.5 percent — among the highest borrowing costs the group has faced in recent years. BDC said the structure of the loan is intended to help sustain lending within Letshego’s lower-risk payroll-deduction portfolios and other programmatic products, where access to affordable funding has tightened.
For BDC, the transaction also reflects a more active balance-sheet strategy, following recent portfolio restructuring. The corporation returned to profitability in the year ended June 2025, though liquidity pressures remain evident.
