• Crowdfunding and business smarts could have saved Gringo film from piracy losses

    So the Gringo investors are yet to recoup their $50 000 because of piracy. Well, if they had stopped to consider all options before releasing their film perhaps they would have made a profit before production started.

  • Econet launches unexciting ‘reactive line for free airtime’ promo

    Today, Econet announced the launch of a promo where subscribers are credited with bonus free for recharging their prepaid subscriptions. This basically to encourage people that haven’t been using their lines for various reason (like migrating to the other 2 mobile networks) to be active. It would really have had us jumping with excitement if…

  • Predicting an eCommerce boom in Zimbabwe

    Zimbabwe has always been a tricky landscape for online ventures. We have seen many an entrepreneur launch an exciting platform only to see it fail. Ventures such as tengesa.com easily come to mind. Don’t get me wrong here; I am not saying we do not have success stories in Zimbabwe.

  • Lessons from the Gringo film

    On the evening of independence day, 18 April, the Zimbabwean Shona film Gringo the Troublemaker by NAMA award winner writer Enock Chihombori premiered. The 1 hour 50 minutes production was based on the ever popular 1990s series “Gringo”. The reviews were excellent and the movie received a lot of praise from many critics. Yet almost…

  • It gets ugly as Econet disconnects Telecel Zimbabwe. Our brief thoughts

    Earlier today Econet released a statement, its response to the Telecel statement yesterday that basically accused them of throttling traffic. In the statement, which we posted in full here, Econet essentially said they are no under any obligation to have interconnection with Telecel as Telecel are an unlicensed operator. This because Telecel is still to…

  • Mahindra Comviva introduces Square-like payments dongle for Mobiquity platform

    Over the past 3 or so years whenever we’ve met senior guys from local companies in the payments space we’ve asked them if they know Square and Square cloning. Square is basically a dongle that can be plugged to any phone through headphone jack, enabling the phone to accept credit card payments.

  • More of the Afrocoin money transfer solution: the website screenshot

    Last month, we wrote about a money transfer service set to launch soon called Afrocoin. With scanty information gleaned from their Crunchbase profile and website holding page, we were not sure of the details of the product it is. We are still not sure about many things, but an image sent to our tips email…

  • New Steward Bank banks on Econet relationship for product innovation

    Today we attended a (now former) TN Bank event where the company launched its new name Steward Bank. The rebranding comes a few months after the bank was acquired by Econet Wireless from its former owner Tawanda Nyambirai. It was made clear at the event by the bank CEO, Kwanele Ngwenya, that the bank’s services…

  • Telecel Zimbabwe considering mobile money re-entry?

    Last year, Telecel Zimbabwe pulled a ‘surprise of the year’ move on all of us; A mobile operator killed its mobile money service. No one knows (well, except them and probably ZimSwitch) when exactly Skwama was killed because it was done silently, only to be disclosed when we asked about the disappeared product in September…

  • New Zim and US eCommerce site, KhayaShopping, launches

    Without any widely adopted internet payments platform, despite the existence of Vpayments, and some EcoCash internet payment trials, eCommerce in Zimbabwe is struggling to take off. But there are startups that are moving in early regardless, positioning themselves for when the Zimbabwean will rely on the internet to shop.

  • Econet Wireless Zimbabwe full year profits down by 16%

    Today, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the company that has the lion’s share of the mobile telephony & broadband business in Zimbabwe, announced at a press briefing their annual financial results the period ending February 2013.

  • Zim government approves tax increase for telecoms & “mobile banking” to fund elections

    A report in the state owned Herald newspaper today says that government has approved an increase in taxes for ‘mobile network charges’ and ‘mobile banking charges’ apparently to fund an upcoming general election. The revelation was made by Zim finance minister Tendai Biti yesterday as he addressed the media on the state of the economy.…

  • Econet and Ezetopup: The how to and review

    A while ago Econet joined the Eztopup platform. Eztopup is an online international company that allows people to buy airtime online using Paypal, Mastercard and Visa Cards. Econet did this ostensibly so those in diaspora can send airtime to their relatives in Zimbabwe. The platform however can be used to buy airtime for your own…

  • Barclays will let you send money to anyone in Zimbabwe via an ATM

    Last week, Barclays announced a money transfer service called Cashsend that lets the bank’s customers with debit cards send money to anyone in Zimbabwe via an ATM. The service is one of the most innovative to come out of a bank in Zimbabwe and rivals other money transfer services on the market like EcoCash, Western…

  • If you had unlimited broadband at unlimited speed, what would you use it for?

    Yesterday, we asked our followers on Facebook a question: If you had unlimited broadband at unlimited speeds, what would you use it for?

  • Bitcoin, a currency and payments opportunity for Zimbabweans?

    The money system is broken, and no one knows that better than the Zimbabwean who watched helplessly as institutions – government, politicians, bankers – they trusted to look after the value of their money conspired and eroded hard earned savings to nothing over a few years.

  • New Econet Services company a response to plateaued telecoms business

    In October last year, it emerged that the Econet Wireless Group had formed a new company to drive the EcoCash mobile money service. Econet Services. The new company wasn’t “launched” or “announced” formally in the market, as far as we could tell at least. The change was treated subtly by Econet in as far as…

  • OK Zimbabwe and FNB launch SA diaspora mobile remittance service

    A press release today announced the launch of a mobile based remittance service by First National Bank (FNB) and OK Zim for people in South Africa to send money to Zimbabwe

  • Press Release: Econet launches virtual debit card

    Zimbabwe’s largest mobile phone company, Econet Wireless, has unveiled an innovative functionality on its mobile money service EcoCash which allows a cell phone to also operate as a virtual debit card.

  • The wish list

    As I spent time in the darkness waiting for ZESA to restore power to my neighborhood; something that I have been doing for the past two weeks, I found myself with too much time on my hands.I started making a list of things that I would sell my first born to get in this country.…

  • Brainstorm: Startup brings exam revision material to students via mobile

    Their mission is clear, and 25,000 Facebook fans in just a few months is testament to the need for the service: Helping students excel in school by providing useful revision tools and information. And they couldn’t have launched at a better time.

  • Econet to split shares 10 to 1 to make them more accessible

    Econet just sent out a press release today to basically say they’d like to go back to their founding roots when the majority of the company’s shares where in the hands of ordinary people, and that to do that they will be splitting the company’s shares 10 to 1.

  • Zim startup launches gifts e-commerce site network

    As prospects of viable e-commerce business in Zimbabwe increase, startups are launching to meet the opportunities. One such startup, MyZimStore.com, has launched a network of websites to sell gifts and flowers online. The site’s target customers are both internet users in the country and those in the Diaspora.

  • You don’t need to be an engineer to start a technology business

    Gary Shayne who founded Cellular Systems, later renamed Celsys, which he listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange when he was only 27 years old and went on to sell to Lonrho was a chartered accountant, and not a telecommunications engineer. Sure there were many telecommunications engineers who knew telecommunications, and who could boast more experience…

  • Zim mobile operators directed to reduce mobile money transaction fees

    The constant complaint with mobile money services locally (EcoCash really) is that it’s expensive to use. Since launch. They reviewed the transaction fees downwards once, a few weeks after launch, but EcoCash remained the most expensive mobile money transfer service in Zimbabwe. So yes, we mourned a lot about it every time we got a…

  • Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to establish mobile money regulation

    The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Gideon Gono, announced yesterday the introduction of a deliberate legal and regulatory framework for Mobile Financial Services. The announcement was made as part of the Monetary Policy Statement presentation.

  • Startup talk: A knack for potential

    A lot of startups simply stuck their heads into the sand and launched e-commerce sites with a credit card based checkout and no wonder they failed. Whilst at it, it needs to be mentioned that people hate writing cheques and banks hate issuing cheque books even more. www.gtel.co.zw seems to have mastered the art of…

  • 5 tech initiatives we would love to see in Zimbabwe in 2013

    Open data would enable accountability: it is difficult to conceal something if the facts are there for all to see. Not only will it result in transparency, just Data alone in the right hands is a powerful resource for our national economic and social development. It’s also an incredible opportunity for local talent to build…

  • TN Bank to finance smartphones and tablets for Econet subscribers

    When Econet made moves to acquire TN Bank last year, they made it clear it was to push adoption of their EcoCash mobile money service. But there are more benefits to owning a financial institution than just driving mobile money adoption; Econet announced today that one of those benefits, and indeed one of the reasons…

  • Press Release: Econet reaches 8 Million customers

    The festive season once again saw a bumpThe festive season once again saw a bumper rise in Econet subscribers with the company reporting that it has crossed the 8-million level for the first time, supported by the recent introduction of Buddie Zone. Econet Wireless Commercial Director Mr George Barbaressos confirmed the new figures, saying the…

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