Econet’s EcoCash registers growth

Business
AT least US$300 million has passed through EcoCash since inception of Econet’s mobile money transfer service, the company’s chief executive officer Douglas Mboweni said last week.

AT least US$300 million has passed through EcoCash since  inception of Econet’s mobile money transfer service, the company’s chief executive officer Douglas Mboweni said last week.

REPORT BY NDAMU SANDU

The company intends to build partnerships with banks to drive the business.

Presenting the company’s financial results for the half-year ended August 31 on Thursday in Harare, Mboweni said the response had been phenomenal.

EcoCash now has 1,7 million subscribers up from one million when it was launched last year.

Mboweni said Econet had bought a 45% stake in TN Bank to help grow the mobile money transfer service.

As a result 50% of EcoCash subscribers came through TN Bank.

“To drive the initiative without interference, you have to take a strategic position, a position where you influence decision-making. By taking this significant stake we are saying we are serious about EcoCash,” Mboweni said.

Mboweni added that in the outlook Econet would create “strong partnerships with the rest of the banking sector so that we have transactions flowing among the banks and also flowing between the EcoCash and the banking system”.

This, Mboweni said, would result in the growth of the service from sending and receiving money to a comprehensive platform that transforms lives of people.

“Technology which does not impact on people’s lives is meaningless,” Mboweni said.

In the half-year financial results, Econet’s subscribers stood at seven million up from 5,6 million in the same period last year. Revenue at US$339,5 million represented a 17% jump from the same period last year.

Broadband subscribers also grew to 2,5 million up from 1,4 million in the year comparable.

In the outlook, Econet would grow the EcoCash and broadband services leveraging on its vast infrastructure.

The telecommunications company is investing heavily in network infrastructure and has already committed US$677 million in the last three-and-half years.

Related Topics