By Juliet ETEFE & By Francis Buertey BORYOR
The Chief Business Officer of Letshego Savings and Loans Plc, Sam Donkor, has restated the firm’s dedication to driving financial inclusion through digitisation, prioritising collaborations innovation and regulatory adherence.
“As a business, and on behalf of other industry stakeholders, we remain committed to substantial investments in accessible digital platforms to serve the underserved while prioritising innovation. Letshego’s evolution from traditional lending, requiring extensive paperwork, to leveraging technology demonstrates our dedication to progress,” he said.
He reiterated the company’s dedication to partnerships and investments in platforms to meet the evolving needs of customers, emphasizing their focus on safety and scalability while ensuring a robust framework for future growth and expansion.
These remarks were made at The Money Summit 2024, where the nation’s leading business publication, the B&FT, assembled a heavyweight contingent of financial sector players to brainstorm and provide practical measures to tackle diminished investor confidence and rekindle a mindset of savings and investment.
The summit, which focused on ‘Investing for the Future: Re-thinking Investment and Savings to Drive Economic Growth and Development’, comes amid concerns about the country’s savings culture. Historically, Ghanaians have tended to spend a larger portion of their income, compared to saving and investing.
Speaking on the topic ‘digitalisation of money: re-thinking financial electronic transactions for economic growth’, Sam Donkor underscored the pivotal role of digitisation in accessing financial services, particularly for underserved populations. Emphasising the dual nature of digitisation in breaking barriers and solving economic challenges, he highlighted the importance of leveraging technology to reach populations in hard-to-access areas.
He reiterated that improving financial access efficiently depends on embracing digitisation, emphasising the accessibility advantage of electronic platforms. He stressed that for economies like Ghana, there’s no alternative but to capitalise on technology to ensure widespread financial inclusion, citing its cost-effectiveness and scalability. “For a country like ours, there’s no other option but to leverage technology and electronic platforms to ensure that we reach all these people because it’s cheaper, easier and easily scalable,” he said.
Addressing concerns about cyber-security, he advocated for proactive engagement between regulatory bodies and stakeholders to create a conducive ecosystem for users. Additionally, he emphasised the importance of ongoing dialogue and collaboration with Fintech firms to improve cyber-security measures.
“We must have a continuous engagement process with key stakeholders. Apart from the need for ongoing engagement, we also need to increase partnerships with Fintechs that have solutions to ensure that as we expand access, we prioritise safety. Our platforms also need continuous refreshment, and we don’t need to do this alone; it requires partnerships with Fintechs,” he said.
