South Africa’s financial sector has welcomed a new entrant with the official launch of eNL Mutual Bank, the country’s newest fully licensed mutual bank and the first majority black women-owned and women-led bank founded by Nthabeleng Likotsi.
The launch marks the culmination of a decade-long journey that began with community-based investment initiatives and evolved into a fully regulated banking institution.
eNL Mutual Bank grew out of the YWBN Co-operative Financial Institution, which operated for six years, providing savings and loan products to individuals and small businesses excluded from mainstream banking.
Speaking at the launch on Wednesday, Likotsi said the idea of building a bank emerged from questioning existing ownership and investment patterns. She said her introduction to co-operative banking came in 2014 during an international engagement in Switzerland.
“We realised we were buying into white-owned entities that we knew nothing about. I kept asking myself, why are we not creating our own industries?” she said.
“That was when I was introduced to this concept of cooperative banking. At the time, we only knew commercial banks. A bank felt like a very big word,” Likotsi said.
On returning to South Africa, Likotsi and her team registered a cooperative financial institution focused on grassroots participation.
“We started with savings accounts and loans for SMMEs, because if we want to end poverty, we need a bank that supports small and medium-sized enterprises to create jobs. It is the only way,” she said.
The transition to a licensed mutual bank was not easy. Likotsi described the licensing process as one that tested personal resilience and long-term commitment.
“That process takes away a piece of you not just the application, but you as a person. You have to detach from reality,” she said. Reality says you are a young black woman with no money, no connections and no banking experience, nothing but a dream.”
Despite public scepticism and criticism, she said the team remained focused.
“People called us scammers. There was a lot of noise. But when God plants a seed, you block out the noise and you march on,” she said.
In 2024, the South African Reserve Bank approved eNL Mutual Bank’s licence, a milestone Likotsi described as historic.
“South Africa finally has a majority black woman-owned based, a bank started by ordinary people, not people with millions or political connections,” she said.
“This is not a one-person show. We have a team that made this dream a reality. The vision is bigger than all of us.”
She called on South Africans to participate in the bank’s ownership.
“We are not for profit. We are for people. With as little as R1,200, people can become owners of this bank and change their family’s future,” she added.
As eNL Mutual Bank enters South Africa’s regulated banking system, it stands as a rare, women-led, community-rooted financial institution, offering an alternative model for inclusive growth, shared ownership and sustainable development.
