Online Reporter
Nelson Gahadza, Zimpapers Business Hub
ECONET Wireless, Zimbabwe’s largest mobile telecommunications company, has reported a 38 percent increase in revenue to ZiG13.5 billion for the half-year ended 31 August 2025, compared to ZiG9.74 billion in the same period last year, driven by significant volume growth across all major service lines.
The group’s business segments include mobile network operations, mobile financial services and insurance.
Group chairman Dr James Myers, in a statement accompanying the financial results, said the mobile network operations segment remained the largest contributor to revenue, accounting for 82 percent of total revenue, while mobile financial services (mobile money) and insurance contributed 14 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
“The segment’s financial performance reflects the positive impact of continued investment in network infrastructure, with data traffic doubling and voice traffic growing by 34 percent compared to the same period last year,” he said.
Dr Myers noted that the growth in data traffic was enabled by the network modernisation exercise undertaken by the business.
“A capital investment-to-revenue ratio of 12 percent was channelled towards network infrastructure to improve network quality and coverage,” he said.
He added that the Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) margin remained firm at above 45 percent.
“The implementation of cost optimisation strategies contributed to sustaining stable and healthy profitability margins,” he said.
On the group’s financial technology arm, Dr Myers said EcoCash, the mobile financial services business, continued to register significant growth in wallet services following a 35 percent increase in transaction volumes compared to the same period last year.
“Our strategic initiative to expand mobile money accessibility anchored the growth in our mobile financial services footprint since August 2024, thereby enhancing customer access to our services,” he said.
He highlighted that the InsurTech segment seeks to preserve value for customers by providing flexible and affordable coverage options. During the interim period, Ecolife achieved a 50 percent increase in individual life policies compared to the same period last year. Moovah and Maisha recorded growth of 31 percent and 63 percent, respectively, in total policyholders and membership.
Commenting on network infrastructure, Dr Myers said growing customer expectations for better services, enhanced experiences and wider coverage have driven significant investment into network modernisation as the group expanded and optimised existing capabilities.
He said during the first half-year, the group introduced 26 lightweight and cost-effective base stations targeting underserved and rural communities to improve coverage in historically challenged areas.
“In addition, we deployed 27 new sites with 2G, 3G and 4G capabilities,” said Dr Myers.
He added that the group’s 5G expansion programme was accelerated with an additional 100 new sites nationwide.
“These installations form the backbone for future innovation, enabling the introduction of new product offerings and the activation of various Internet of Things (IoT) use cases. The migration to the new billing and subscription platform progressed significantly, and this advanced system will automate critical business processes and enable the delivery of more personalised and customer-centric digital experiences,” he said.
The chairman also noted substantial progress on the MyEconet App, a self-care application designed for prepaid customers, allowing them to manage accounts securely from their smartphones.
“We are particularly thrilled with the successful launch of the eStore functionality on the MyEconet App, which is now ready for customer use following rigorous testing,” said Dr Myers.
He further highlighted that the business continued to embed artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions into core processes to enhance capacity and understand customer segment needs. Solutions deployed include predictive models and advanced recommendation engines to provide highly tailored experiences and drive usage across all service buckets.
