Vodacom spent about R6-billion on its network in the six months to September to improve customer experience in the face of ongoing power cuts, the company said on Monday.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, said the expenditure on its network in South Africa was the most in a space of six months.
“In South Africa, we invested R5.8-billion on our network – the most in a six-month period – to further enhance customer experience at a time when the country experienced record levels of power outages,” said Joosub.
“In the past two years, we invested over R2-billion in batteries alone to enhance the resilience of our network, so that we keep customers connected during extended periods of loadshedding.
“At the same time, we continue to work closely with Eskom to find a renewable energy solution for the benefit of our planet and customers, having announced in September 2022 an in-principle agreement with South Africa’s energy utility to pilot a programme that would see Vodacom South Africa source its electricity from renewable independent power producers and contribute this into the national grid.”
In total, Vodacom invested R50-billion in its South African network over the past five years, said Joosub.
The group reported revenues of R53.7-billion in the six months under review, up 7.7% from the comparative period.
Vodacom’s financial services business experienced a healthy growth of 19.2% in revenue to R4.4-billion on the back of good performance by its insurance business, with policies up 19.4% to 2.6-million.
The company’s app VodaPay reached 2.2-million registered users through 3.5-million downloads and M-Pesa witnessed a 25.2% surge in revenue to R3-billion. Vodacom gained 3-million new customers in the period, taking its customer base to 132.6-million across its footprint.
Joosub said progress is being made on regulatory approvals for the Vodafone Egypt and CIVH joint venture acquisitions, adding that management is pleased with the fintech strides being made by the group.
“Our efforts to deepen financial inclusion continue to thrive, supported by the double-digit increase in financial services’ customers to 63.1-million [including Safaricom on a 100% basis]. We are Africa’s leading fintech player measured by a processed transaction value of $355.2-billion [R6.1-trillion] over the last 12 months, up 17.6%.”
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