Letshego Microfinance showcases AI-powered offerings
STAFF REPORTER
Melvin Angula, CEO of Letshego Microfinancial Services Namibia (LMFSN), this week addressed global policymakers at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum 2025, sharing how AI, digital identity, and microfinance can work together to close the financial inclusion gap across Africa.
Angula’s talk, titled “Leveraging Technology to Improve Supervision and Regulation: The Taamba Maris Case Study,” highlighted how Namibia’s first instant mobile credit product, developed in partnership with MTC Maris, is transforming access to finance while giving regulators unprecedented real-time visibility.
“We built Taamba Maris not just for speed, but for trust. By embedding safeguards like one-loan-at-a-time, transparent pricing, and automated compliance, we have shown that innovation
and regulation can successfully coexist,” said Angula.
Angula also tied Namibia’s success to Letshego Africa Holdings Limited’s wider AI readiness strategy across 11 markets, noting: • Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, and Namibia rank highest in AI preparedness, offering fertile ground for fintech innovation. Angula cautioned that AI readiness is not the same as business readiness. Markets with strong regulations and partnerships, even with lower readiness scores, delivered
Letshego’s most profitable results.
In his closing remarks, Angula urged global regulators to establish regulatory sandboxes with clear guardrails, invest in SupTech systems for real-time analytics, foster public-private partnerships to accelerate innovation and to build capacity for supervisors to manage emerging digital risks.
“Technology-enabled supervision doesn’t just reduce risk – it creates trust, transparency, and financial opportunity,” Angula concluded. “With AFI’s global network, every regulator here can
leapfrog infrastructure challenges and put people at the centre of digital finance,” he said.
Melvin Angula, CEO of Letshego Microfinancial Services Namibia (LMFSN), this week addressed global policymakers at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum 2025, sharing how AI, digital identity, and microfinance can work together to close the financial inclusion gap across Africa.
Angula’s talk, titled “Leveraging Technology to Improve Supervision and Regulation: The Taamba Maris Case Study,” highlighted how Namibia’s first instant mobile credit product, developed in partnership with MTC Maris, is transforming access to finance while giving regulators unprecedented real-time visibility.
“We built Taamba Maris not just for speed, but for trust. By embedding safeguards like one-loan-at-a-time, transparent pricing, and automated compliance, we have shown that innovation
and regulation can successfully coexist,” said Angula.
Angula also tied Namibia’s success to Letshego Africa Holdings Limited’s wider AI readiness strategy across 11 markets, noting: • Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, and Namibia rank highest in AI preparedness, offering fertile ground for fintech innovation. Angula cautioned that AI readiness is not the same as business readiness. Markets with strong regulations and partnerships, even with lower readiness scores, delivered
Letshego’s most profitable results.
In his closing remarks, Angula urged global regulators to establish regulatory sandboxes with clear guardrails, invest in SupTech systems for real-time analytics, foster public-private partnerships to accelerate innovation and to build capacity for supervisors to manage emerging digital risks.
“Technology-enabled supervision doesn’t just reduce risk – it creates trust, transparency, and financial opportunity,” Angula concluded. “With AFI’s global network, every regulator here can
leapfrog infrastructure challenges and put people at the centre of digital finance,” he said.
