It is finally official. Letshego Uganda Limited is headed for the exit door, and it is taking nearly 500 jobs with it, a painful finale to what insiders describe as years of declining performance under a leadership that failed to steady the ship.
The Botswana-based microfinance giant signed binding agreements to offload its Ugandan subsidiary to Axian Digital Venture Holdings, part of the Axian Group, alongside operations in Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria and Rwanda. When the dust settles, Uganda, a market Letshego has called home for over two decades will be wiped off its map entirely.
And right at the centre of this humiliation? None other than Mr. Giles Aijukwe, the man who has held the CEO title at Letshego Uganda while the numbers went south.
The Boss Who Couldn’t Turn The Tide
Nearly 500 employees of Letshego Uganda Limited face an uncertain future, and so does the company’s own Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Giles Aijukwe, who finds himself grappling with a bleak future alongside the very staff he was supposed to lead to prosperity. For a man who was celebrated in glossy CEO profiles as a purpose-driven visionary, the optics are devastating.
As recently as November 2025, Aijukwe was giving grand interviews about “redefining banking through purpose-driven leadership,” insisting that “inclusion and profit can coexist” and that his digitisation push was the future. But the market had already passed its verdict.
While Aijukwe was busy talking about empowering boda riders in Masaka and market vendors in Gulu, the parent company’s financials were bleeding. Letshego Africa Holdings posted a net loss of $11 million in 2023, and while it narrowed to approximately $5 million in 2024, the group was still firmly in a loss position after tax. The East and West African markets, including Uganda, were consistently the group’s weakest performers. Letshego’s own results showed that Botswana, Namibia, and Mozambique collectively contributed over 80% of the group’s total profits, leaving markets like Uganda contributing little more than drag.
The writing was on the wall, and management either couldn’t read it, or chose not to.
The Property Scandal That Rocked Aijukwe’s Tenure
This is not the first time Aijukwe has found himself in the newspapers for the wrong reasons.
In January 2023, multiple Ugandan media outlets reported something extraordinary, that the CEO of a lending institution had reportedly bolted out of the country amid a storm over the controversial sale of a borrower’s prime property. One Alex Nionzima, who had taken out loans totalling UGX 290 million and presented collateral valued at over UGX 1.6 billion, had his Kisasi property valued at UGX 1 billion, sold off for a mere UGX 800 million, and without consensus from all parties, even as a regulator-mediated process was still ongoing.
Nionzima had already paid back UGX 292 million and was seeking an audit of his remaining balance, having complained about exorbitant fees. The Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Finance, and Bank of Uganda had all been drawn in, and had agreed no transaction should proceed until an agreement was reached. Letshego went ahead anyway.
The reports forced Letshego Uganda to issue an emergency statement insisting that Aijukwe had not fled the country, that he was merely on “official leave” and would return to his duties. Whether anyone believed that explanation is a matter between Ugandans and their better judgment.
The Axe Falls on 500 Workers
Letshego, which built a network of 46 branches across Uganda and served individuals, small businesses, and underserved communities, is being handed over wholesale to Axian. Axian will acquire 100% of the share capital, subject to regulatory approvals. For the nearly 500 workers now staring at an uncertain horizon, that is cold comfort.
Aijukwe, putting on his best PR face, said Axian’s pan-African ambition, digital capabilities and shared commitment to financial inclusion made the transaction an opportunity to build on strong local foundations. Strong local foundations. After the losses. After the property scandal. After the restructuring. One wonders what weak foundations would look like.
Letshego Group CEO Reinette van der Merwe was more candid, stating plainly that by rationalising the portfolio, the group expects to improve capital efficiency, strengthen the balance sheet and generate better returns for shareholders. Translation: Uganda was not delivering, and it was time to cut losses.
A Pattern of Exits in Uganda’s Finance Sector
Letshego is not alone in this walk of shame. Standard Chartered Bank Uganda and Afriland First Bank both voluntarily exited the Ugandan banking space. EFC Uganda Limited and Mercantile Credit Bank were placed under liquidation, while Finance Trust Bank, Orient Bank and Top Finance Bank were taken over. Even Gratuity Trust Bank, ABC Bank and Opportunity Bank were downgraded.
But what makes the Letshego exit particularly pointed is that it was not market conditions alone that sank the ship, it was years of underperformance in markets where better leadership could arguably have made a difference.
What’s Next
Regulatory approvals are still pending. Until the deal closes, it is business as usual, at least on paper. For the 500 employees, that means coming to work every morning knowing their employer has already signed away the keys.
For Giles Aijukwe, it means that however many more interviews he gives about purpose-driven leadership and financial inclusion, his legacy at Letshego Uganda will be measured by one simple, brutal fact, he was at the helm when the ship was sold.
