One of the latest developments for Hour Of Code Zimbabwe is that Astro Mobile, the Zimbabwean mobile device distributor has signed on as a sponsor for future Hour of Code events. Any efforts to grow that pool, like what Hour Of Code is doing, are a win for companies like Astro Mobile. Perhaps other companies…
With the coming in of prepaid water, Councils should avoid the same mistakes that ZESA made with the prepaid electricity meters and coordinate on infrastructure rollout to reduce costs.
Recently, there was a lot of excitement stirred up when Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile operator, released the Application Program Interface (API) for its mobile money service M-PESA to local and international developers. This is a step forward for Kenyan mobile commerce and e-services, but also shines light on the importance of startup and developer engagement.
We’ve seen some advocacy for Bitcoin locally as well, and now some people are starting to integrate Bitcoin with other common financial services. Take Bitmari for example. This is a new Bitcoin-based money remittance service for the Zimbabwe market.
YoAfrica, a local internet service provider has set up its own online retail platform. Called YoShop, it focuses on the sale of IT related products.
In its latest effort to highlight its position as a job creator, Econet has published a full page press statement outlining its support of more than 60,000 jobs in the Zimbabwean economy. Could be it be part of Econet’s efforts to lobby for the loosening of regulation which has been handicapping the industry?
Zipcash has continued to expand its presence and it is now available in new Sub Saharan markets. How does it fare against the contemporary mobile money options?
A local Mobile Money tariff calculator app released last year has now been tweaked to catch up with some of the changes in local mobile money services. The app it now incorporates calculations and comparisons for OneWallet and Nettcash and the user interface has been dusted up a bit.
In recent months, we have been seeing the shift in companies from cash sales to the trendy electronic and online platforms. Some of the most unlikely “traditional” corporate are showing an interest in these “new age systems”. Are we finally seeing the start of a huge shift into online payments and mobile payments in Zimbabwe?…
Local payments gateway, Paynow, is experiencing healthy growth, recording a 30% month-on-month increase in transaction value and volumes. Paynow’s Topup has also managed to process up to 3,000 transactions per month from its launch to date.
Lately, there has been a lot of noise over how classified sites could lead to a boom in e-commerce,yet online peer-to-peer marketplaces (classifieds) do not quite qualify as electronic commerce. […]
As it turns out, in addition to the Nettcash app, the ZB Mobile App also offers agents a platform to sell ZESA prepaid tokens from their mobile phones. The functionality of the App, however, is clouded by the availability of POS which are probably prioritised for their physical receipts.
Banks have been given an ultimatum by the RBZ to submit financial inclusion plans within the next four months, a late development considering that banks have laid back while Ecocash and Telecash established a presence in the market.
How do we help e-commerce, the backbencher of the Zimbabwean tech revolution find its mojo? After all, it should have disrupted the status quo by now, considering how it solves two problems, something which represent a unique selling point.
WorldRemit, the online money transfer service which has been tapping into mobile money services, recently announced the introduction of Instant Mobile Money transfers to Burundi through a partnership with Econet Burundi.
There is a slowed growth in Mobile Money according to the RBZ’s Mid Term Monetary Policy Statement. This is probably a result of the turbulence in both the banking and telecoms sectors.
The sale of prepaid electricity has been opened up to Nettcash, the youngest mobile money service which has no visible ties to the government. Just how did Nettcash pull this off when other operators like EcoCash and Telecash are being excluded?
Through a partnership with Mkesh, the mobile money service owned by Mozambican mobile operator Mcel, Mukuru users in South Africa can now send money straight into a Mkesh wallet.
Powertel is saying that it’s not insolvent. In a press release, it is highlighting its significant growth over a period of more than 15 years, referencing investments in telecoms infrastructure, voice services, internet and prepaid electricity aggregation where most of its cashflow seems to be coming from.
In a bid to catch up with competition and lock steady revenue streams, Nettcash has unveiled the DStv payments facility through its mobile app which was recently launched and made available for download on Google Play.
Nettcash has complained that other mobile money operators are muscling Nettcash out of the agency network and going to the extent of taking over some agents and stripping their signage from the kiosks and premises.
As a people we don’t seem to see far enough to realise what is hurting the competition now (or just someone we don’t care about) will surely hurt us too eventually. We laugh that classifieds.co.zw is getting hit Econet and Stive while forgetting the same net-neutrality unfairness on us when they smell the blood.
A whole day of discussions around digital and mobile payments that brought together banks and mobile network operators, was concluded with the Awards Ceremony that recognised the best performing companies and products.
It seems Econet, banking on its market share and business interests, is still unwilling to enable interoperability in some aspects of their services, particularly hand to hand wallet to wallet interfacing. This is unlike the competitors OneWallet, Telecash and Nettcash.
Econet has launched the EcoSure Burial Society. It’s a funeral package that facilitates group contributions for funeral policies. EcoSure is riding on the old concept of burial societies where groups of friends, relatives, church members or workmates contribute towards a fund that will assist each member in the event of a funeral.
Zimbabwe’s new online classifieds platform, tengai.co.zw has finally gone live. It offers the standard functionality of online classified platforms and users can post listings, for free, in any of the 12 different categories that include mobile and electronics, vehicles, property, jobs and services.
Mambo has adapted to the power of the internet to move volumes on their publication by launching a virtual shop online via pazimba.com. This is a noble move, but they definitely need to do more if they are to upset and guard against piracy.
funeral.ly is a Zimbabwean online event management platform that allows one to manage a funeral it was recently launched online. It capitalises on the internet to provide a centralized method for disseminating information and coordinating funerals among family members, friends and colleagues