Covid a boon for telcos, says Liquid boss

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Liquid Telcom’s regional chief operating officer for the southern African region Clara Mambo says the telecommunications sector is reaping benefits from disruptions caused by the outbreak of Covid-19. Clara Mambo (CM) told Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube (TN) on the programme In Conversation with Trevor that the lockdowns to slow down the spread of […]

Liquid Telcom’s regional chief operating officer for the southern African region Clara Mambo says the telecommunications sector is reaping benefits from disruptions caused by the outbreak of Covid-19.

Clara Mambo (CM) told Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube (TN) on the programme In Conversation with Trevor that the lockdowns to slow down the spread of the disease had forced companies to transform the way they operate by embracing digital platforms.

The top business executive also spoke about how she balances being a mother and her demanding job.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

TN: I am very excited to be talking to you. Particularly in a month where we are celebrating the achievements of many women.

You represent one of those women that we look up to. So we are looking forward to having this conversation with you,  Clara.

CM: I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully I will be able to inspire a few people here and there.

TN: I have no doubt you will. Your life is an amazing life.

So, Clara, after 21 years with British American Tobacco (BAT), in 2019 you decided to cross over and join Liquid Telecom as the regional chief operating officer for the southern African region.

 That was a huge change. Not just a change of career, but a change of industry, in a sense and in so many respects a new beginning. Tell me about that.

CM: I describe it as cordless bungee jumping. This is because when I moved from BAT where I started as a management trainee, I moved up the ranks 21 years later.

So BAT was home for me.

It was time for me to move, however, in terms of my own personal growth.

The opportunity came within telecommunications. I remember going for the interview with Wellington Makamure, and trying to read up on telecommunications because I am not tech savvy in that way.

I said to him in the interview that I had tried to read up on Liquid Telecom, reading up on LTE, IP, all these acronyms and I actually got a headache trying to cram them!

So I told him I knew nothing about telecommunications, but there was an opportunity in it where I could add value from a leadership perspective, because  that is where my strength was.

That is where I could benefit Liquid. I remember that interview so well.

I explained that I came from a place that would drive for results, and the results were seen for themselves during the period I was at BAT.

I told him I was very passionate about people and results would be delivered through people. So I would add value through leading people.

Consumer-centric, customer-oriented, because marketing is and was my background and I ended up in general management.

My functional expertise is marketing and I would be one who would come on board and challenge the status quo, which is something one has to do as a leader in driving your teams.

So though I knew nothing about telecommunications, I did know how to drive a business and get the results that were required.

TN: Interesting. So, what opportunity have you seen there, Clara?

CM: In the telecommunications space?

TN: Yes.

CM: There is actually plenty of opportunity. Particularly because of the Covid-19 crisis, but even prior to the pandemic.

Telecommunications is one of those industries that has totally benefited from the disruption that Covid-19 has caused.

Both from a business perspective, as well as a personal perspective, in people’s personal spaces from an education perspective.

So you will find conversations that were being held about digital transformation, where it was a niche to have for companies, it became a necessity overnight.

That is where the opportunity actually came through. We have seen huge growth within the industry, as a result of the benefits that came through from people having to work from home, people having to work remotely; businesses having to gear themselves up as quickly as possible to be able to facilitate those type of working conditions.

TN: Liquid Telecom is a subsidiary of Econet Global. Describe to me the basket of services that Liquid Telecom offers to corporates and individuals.

CM: Liquid Telecom as a group, we describe ourselves as a leading communications solutions provider, right across Africa.

We are present in over 13 countries, which is incredible given that we started in Zimbabwe, and have grown over the years to cover 13 countries.

Liquid Telecom has built Africa’s largest independent fibre network.

So, here we are talking from Cape to Cairo, which is over 70 000km.

We are embarking on some exciting projects from east to west right now, with a huge focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo, which forms part of the patch that I am currently working in.

Liquid Telecom has state-of-the-art data centres in Kenya and in South Africa.

It offers leading trial-based services such as Microsoft Office 365 (MS Office 365).

From the MS Office 365 perspective, we have seen huge growth because, as you can imagine, with people working remotely and from home, these products have become necessities rather than the nice-to-have kind of products.

In the case of Zimbabwe, we are the largest data, voice and internet provider in Zimbabwe.

We offer wholesale fibre optics, satellite and international carrier services.

We are also in the retail space in Zimbabwe. So, you will know us under the banner of Zimbabwe Online (ZOL).

TN: Aha.

CM: Which is the best internet provider, particularly for personal use.

TN: We are using ZOL right now! Just in case something happens hey?!

CM: That is why the connectivity is perfect, Trevor. I am telling you. There would be no glitches!

TN: Hahahaha. Beautiful.

CM: So, it has been actually an exciting change, from tobacco and cigarettes to the telecoms industry.

I think going forward as well, Liquid Telecom is now moving toward and transforming to not just being a telecoms company, but now into technology.

So, now looking at the internet of things, what solutions we can provide, our customers, which is just not connectivity, so really providing the full package. Looking at cyber security, products etcetera.

So we are really moving to the next level.

TN: I was just trying to imagine, Clara, what a normal day looks like to you. I mean you are overseeing many countries.

So what does a day look like for Clara? You walk into your office in the morning. Talk us through your ordinary day.

CM: So an ordinary day would start off with a morning meeting with one of the regional teams.

We have quite a number of projects running across the region.

So, currently we are handling Zimbabwe, Angola, DRC and we are looking at going into Mozambique from a Southern Africa region perspective.

So a day starts off in the morning with a quick morning meeting with the sales team, particularly for Zimbabwe and for Zambia.

Just to check in to see where we are in terms of the sales numbers and where we are falling behind and where they require support.

So this is a very quick morning meeting, particularly across those markets.

We then go into projects meetings, because of the many projects we are rolling out across the region.

Those involve resources from the group who we will be working with in terms of those projects.

We are also doing internal IT transformation, so we do projects around that as well. Then we get into dealing with the day-to-day Zimbabwe operations.

TN: Uh huh. Yes.

CM: You know day-to-day Zimbabwe. So that would be in terms of whether we got any money from the foreign currency auction if it is a Tuesday.

If it is a Wednesday, we are looking at other aspects of the business.

On top of that, I know we haven’t gotten into it yet, I am also the board chairperson of ZimTrade.

I am also the board chairperson for ABC Holdings.

So depending on the week, if there are board meetings that would be happening the following week there will be some time spent in terms of touching base with those various institutions to make sure we are on track.

TN: Sounds like an exciting and hectic day. When does it start and when does it end?

CM: It starts early in the morning because I am actually an early morning person.

So, around 6am, I tend to go through my emails at that time and get through them so I am done with them.

I have children, so I am a wife and a mother.

So, with children in this Covid environment they are doing online school.

So, I need to make sure by 7:30am the kids are up and are clocked into school by that time, because they can be in front of the laptop but not be logged into school!

They may have the best internet which is ZOL, and all the necessary devices, but still can be truant.

So, I am deliberate to make sure they are clocked in on time and correctly.

After I have clocked the kids into school, I will get ready for work and that is how I start my day.

The evening also, it depends as I could have meetings as late as 5pm or 7pm, depending on what is actually happening.

I try to do my other board duties after hours, not so much during the working day.

Normally around 4:30pm or 5pm I will touch base with Alan Majuru from ZimTrade and find out if there are any issues where he may need support from me.

We will discuss through whatever needs to be discussed or prepared for the minister etcetera which will tend to be after 5pm.

This is the same thing with ABC Holdings as well. I try not to mix them up as much as possible with my day-to-day duties for Liquid Telecom.

TN: I have been reading around the challenges, Clara, that mothers are having from working at home with two or three kids that require the kind of attention that you are outlining right now. What has it been like for you?

You have hinted that it is something you do. How hectic is it?

CM: So for me it has been easier as my kids are older teens.

I have a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old. So, it is just making sure they have started the day. After that they are really on their own.

I have told them, they are adults, I cannot be monitoring a 15-year-old or an 18-year-old.

If, however, I get a letter from the school that they have not been attending lessons, then we will have an issue that we would need to address.

I know for parents, particularly mothers with smaller children, it is a challenge, because if you have a child in Grade 1 or Grade 2, they cannot self-learn.

So, as much as they are doing online learning, as the parent you have to literally be there going through every single task with them.

Checking with them, checking their understating of the work.

So a lot of my female colleagues who have younger children, I know that the home schooling and digital learning has been a huge challenge for them and trying to balance that with work.

Work tasks do not change.

Our stakeholders do not say because we are now multitasking our deliverables are halved.

No. In fact our deliverables increase in this particular environment and given the sector we are in where we actually have a lot of  business and work that is coming through.