Vodacom Lesotho subsidiary and M-Pesa operator VCL Financial Services has launched Tsetela, a new mobile-based investment solution that extends M-Pesa beyond everyday transactions into everyday wealth-building.
The launch marked an important step in expanding access to regulated investment opportunities and strengthening M-Pesa’s role in Lesotho’s financial ecosystem.
Tsetela, which means to invest, was developed in partnership with STANLIB Lesotho to enable eligible individual M-Pesa customers and Mokhatlo Group Savings customers to invest directly from their wallets, earn daily interest, view their balances through USSD and request withdrawals, in line with applicable product terms, conditions and turnaround times.
By making investment access available through a platform already trusted across urban, periurban and rural communities, Tsetela helps remove barriers, such as distance, paperwork, perceived complexity and assumptions about high entry requirements, which keeps many Basotho outside formal financial markets, and brings regulated investing closer to customers who have traditionally relied on cash-based or community savings channels.
“Financial inclusion goes beyond access to services; it enables Basotho to participate more fully in the economy and plan more confidently for the future,” said Vodacom Lesotho CEO Mohale Ralebitso.
