Phuthalichaba eyes more revenue streams

Society reaches M1 million savings milestone

NEO SENOKO

MASERU – Phuthalichaba Savings and Credit Corporative Society Ltd, a local credit co-operative, has decided to put some effort on creating more investment opportunities to increase revenue streams while at the same time moving towards aligning with good corporate governance in its second financial year in operation.

Dubbed “The Engine of Economic Growth”, Phuthalichaba was founded in 2019 and aims to contribute towards GDP growth through expansion of the exports base and creating jobs, among other things.

The society is being incubated by the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Innovation Hub. In its second financial year, Phuthalichaba has been able to reach one of the greatest milestones of M1 million in savings. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Phuthalichaba, Tebello Tjapela, said in an interview on Wednesday this week that the M1 million achievement is commendable.

Tjapela added, however, that there is still more work to be done, particularly in line with good corporate governance and increased revenue streams. “In the first year, the objective was to structure and build a strong foundation and internal controls. And now that we have passed the first stage, the focus is going to be on trying to align with the guidelines of good corporate governance.

“As a financial institution, we strongly believe in good corporate governance and we are going to make sure that we also achieve a lot in that regard going forward,” he said. Tjapela said the institution will further focus on creating more investment opportunities in order to increase revenue streams. This, he said, will pave way for members to start receiving dividends within a short time, among other things.

“Currently we have three companies that we have established. These include the Phuthalichaba Investment Pty Ltd, the Phuthalichaba Financial Services, as well as the Lebelo Pty Ltd. The latter, however, is only 70 percent owned by us with the remaining 30 percent owned by a company called Syntax Pty Ltd. The other two companies are fully owned by Phuthalichaba,” the CEO further.