Econet acquires EcoCash Holdings, fintech businesses
ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe Limited (EWZL) says it has acquired financial technology divisions from EcoCash Holdings as part of efforts to streamline and boost its business processes going forward.
Steward Bank is the only entity that remains under EcoCash Holdings.
Some of the businesses that were formally housed under EcoCash Holdings include the mobile money platform (EcoCash), EcoSure and Vaya Technologies.
According to EWZL, the administrative integration process of FinTech is in progress and expected to be complete during the second quarter of the company’s financial calendar.
EWZL has been focusing on repositioning its business following approval of the scheme of reconstruction by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on April 17, 2024. The shareholders approved the scheme of reconstruction where all non-banking assets were to be transferred from EcoCash Holdings Zimbabwe Limited to EWZL.
“In a strategic bid to unlock value for stakeholders, the company acquired the Financial Technology (FinTech) businesses from EcoCash Holdings Zimbabwe Limited.
“The integration of the mobile network operations and financial technology businesses, will result in synergies being realised, streamlining of processes and propelling the business forward.
“After the reintegration of the financial technology businesses, our main business focus areas will be mobile money, digital platforms, InsurTech, HealthTech and mobile communications. The acquired businesses exclude Steward Bank,” said Econet Wireless Zimbabwe group company secretary, Tatenda Ngowe, in the first quarter trading update to May 2024.
After the scheme of reconstruction, the bank is poised to drive a digital banking expansion through investment in technologies to enhance operational efficiencies and increase the product offering to customers.
According to EWZL, these technological innovations will necessitate a parallel scaling up of the bank’s underlying systems and processes and grow shareholder value.
The businesses being transferred to EWZL under the scheme of reconstruction are expected to leverage the mobile network operator’s customer base and technologies to scale up and increase operating efficiencies through leveraging on synergies.
This development comes as EWZL is planning to increase its 5G network penetration to enhance overall network performance and quality of service to customers.
In the last quarter to May 2024, EWZL commissioned over 30 new sites across the country in a bid to improve network performance and quality of service.
The network modernisation programme is set to continue with the expected installation of additional sites covering urban, peri-urban and rural areas to expand network coverage.
The drive is in tandem with EWZL’s focus of prioritising network modernisation to enhance service delivery, in response to the growing utilisation of data services.
EWZL has also added some functions to the core network to stabilise and improve service delivery of broadband services. The modernised and new cloud-based core network will offer better service personalisation to meet diverse customer needs.
Operationally in the quarter under review, EWZ data and voice usage grew by 74 percent and 46 percent respectively compared to the same period in the prior year.
In that regard, the data and voice revenue contributed 42 percent and 38 percent respectively of the MNO revenue compared to 33 percent and 45 percent same period last year.-ebusinessweekly
