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…
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…
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.
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.
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 […]
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…
Yesterday, we asked our followers on Facebook a question: If you had unlimited broadband at unlimited speeds, what would you use it for?
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.
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…
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
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.
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.…
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 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.
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.
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
A report today by financial news and analysis service FinX says the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe have proposed that mobile money services be included in new banking reforms for the country. This, the bankers say, would create a level playing field in an sector facing significant disruption from mobile phone operators.
The year kicked off with one of the largest ISPs in Zimbabwe ZOL, announcing that it had been acquired by Liquid Telecom, a move which resulted in the Econet Wireless Group cementing its position as Zimbabwe’s largest telecoms firm.
Last week, the final Jumpstart event of the year was held at Cresta Jameson in Harare. The event was a panel discussion where we invited some of the judges of our annualJumpstart Challenge (it’s just in the second year actually) and local telecoms executives from Econet, the largest telecoms operator in Zimbabwe. The event was…
There is mobility, and there is enterprise mobility. Arguably, over the past 4 years mobility in Zimbabwe has seen an impressive and steady growth; we have had new technologies, mobile broadband, more companies, and cheaper broadband prices. All this has opened up a lot of doors, and a lot of opportunities for individuals and companies…
Tawanda Nyambirai, Lifestyle Holdings CEO and Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Chairman, announced today that he has accepted an offer from Econet Wireless to buy him out of TN bank. Speaking at a press briefing today Nyambirai said he will be selling his stake in the bank he founded in exchange for shareholding in Econet Wireless. As…
The winners of the ICT Ministry organized ICT Achievers awards were announced last week Friday at a function held at Cresta Lodge in Harare. Now in their 3rd year the awards were presented by ICT Minister, Nelson Chamisa, and Thokozani Khuphe, Zimbabwe’s deputy prime minister.
Earlier this week I was guest on the weekly #263Chat discussion hosted by Nigel Mugamu where the discussion was centered on tech in Zimbabwe; the state of, the challenges, possible solutions, opportunities, funding for entrepreneurs and other issues. #263Chat is a really interesting way to have a realtime virtual gathering and discuss important common issues.…