TELECEL Zimbabwe has outlined its strategy to turn around its business’ fortunes after years of failing to replace obsolete equipment and financial challenges. The company is one of three mobile operators in Zimbabwe, alongside Econet Wireless and NetOne.
Sales and distribution director at Telecel Zimbabwe, Obert Mandimika, told The Financial Gazette that the turnaround plan was initially slated for this year but faced “a few hitches” and will now commence in 2025.
“We have a five-year plan on the table. If we could, in the first phase, get something around US$50 million, that would be a huge boost so that we can be able to stabilise the network, and then after that, we start rolling out, focusing on the next generation (4G and 5G) technologies, and ensuring that we are present in those areas that we are not in.
“We will also capitalise on infrastructure sharing because of the policy that is in place right now. I don’t want to share the total figure because it could scare away a lot of people,” he said.
Mandimika emphasised that securing funding for the first phase would enable the company to operate without interruptions.
“Right now, we are planning to install new equipment, but it’s not a thing that can be done overnight. So we target clusters, and this is why we launched the recent promotion to try and get back to the market and ensure that reactivation goes on as planned.
“The biggest issue has been the funding issue. We are just hoping that now that we are part of the Mutapa Sovereign Wealth Fund (Mutapa), we should be able to get funding, and then we will roll out the programmes that we have lined up for quite some time and bring them to fruition going forward,” Mandimika said.
Zimbabwe’s third-largest mobile network operator is not the first to rely on Mutapa initiatives.
ZIMRE Holdings is looking forward to collaborating with Mutapa in its pursuit of initiatives that seek to yield a considerable return on investment from agri-business firm, CFI Holdings.
In 2016, the government completed payment of about US$40 million for a 60 percent controlling stake in Telecel Zimbabwe previously owned by VimpelCom through the Amsterdam-based telecom group’s 51 percent-owned Global Telecom Holdings.
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