Zimpapers Logo

Morris Mpala, MoB Capital Ltd
IF you do not know Econet then you are from Mars because it is one of the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) that brought the first cellphones in your hands to Zimbabwe.

The brand has had an impact locally, regionally and internationally. Let’s just separate fact from fiction for the Zimbabwe brand that has seen it being a global brand as we speak.

Internationalisation
Contrary to popular belief Econet hasn’t had much success in internationalisation. Most of the Econet business was generated in Zimbabwe and is still generated in Zimbabwe though with a global appeal. It makes sense to have a strong hold in your home country before you can go international.

South Africa Headquarters
This is where strategic regional and international players frequent thus housing its main administration office in RSA provides a strategic networking arena for their major stakeholders. Great move by Econet management and with sub offices outside Africa makes them attract the best service providers in the game of mobile infrastructure and funding.

Partnerships
Econet has had the best partnerships in the field. They have partnered with the cream in the world to develop their networks, platforms, base stations, gadgets, sustain innovations etc. In the process they changed suppliers in order to meet their objectives.

Management
An aggressive, motivated and multi-skilled workforce has supported their growth. The agency approach was such a clever manoeuvre and has sustained their operations with minimal overheads. I have nicknamed Econet Wireless a “pseudo treasury department” because of their aggressive pursuit for revenue generating ideas though I have challenged their mathematics on some products.

Innovation
As an ICT firm it has been synonymous with pioneering and at times disruptive innovation on the market. Where they have joined bandwagons they have used numbers to be winners on their already heavily invested infrastructure. Banks know this better with the EcoCash phenomenon.

Litigious culture
A brand borne out of protracted litigation it has gone to have too much litigation across the continent. Too many cases to dwell on and has gone to win some bruising battles to pursue their business brand visibility onto the market.

RSA market
Strategically avoiding this market as it is where big sharks are. Quite clever to have avoided this bloody market.

Nigeria
They tried to enter this market through a prepaid platform but it was lucrative. Tried management arrangement but had hurdles and eventually pulled out of that market. The huge market was the pulling factor but agency challenges proved a thorn in the Econet brands fresh.

New Zealand
Even a presence of well trained, lean staff equipped with best ICT infrastructure Econet couldn’t make any significant strides due to the prevailing pricing regime in this agriculture based economy. Their hope is that maybe one day if mobile tariffs were to improve they will get involved full time and with profitability

Botswana
Through Mascom the brand made inroads into the much smaller market of the diamond mining powerhouse. It didn’t take long they were challenges and after years of fighting to exist Econet eventually pulled out and never to return to Botswana.

Kenya
Kenya was an ideal market with huge penetration ratios and highly profitable. Again challenges arose that led to litigations for some time, which led to Econet eventually pulling out of Kenya. It was a huge dent on their quest to internationalisation given they cemented their operations and they had hoped revenues were to rival their main operations in Zimbabwe and be the basis to launch Econet into the zones out of Africa.

Namibian Partnership
The Eco-life partnership with a Namibian company tanked and they had to prelaunch the product again with new re-insurers. And Kwese has a partnership with Namibian firm for media partnership.

Kingdom Meikles Africa Limited
Econet eventually pulled out of this dream merger, that is, Kingdom Bank and Meikles Group after board recall of one of its representative.

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
It has made shareholders happy and some traders richer. In this bracket we include Kingdom brand in as far stocks that were locally based. Econet has performed well on the stock market. (Old Mutual stock is the winner of consistence in rewarding shareholders).

Idea generation
Unsavory murmurs of idea generation ownership aside the brand has been a well of idea generation. From EcoCash, banking, social corporate responsibility, youth training, scholarships, marathons, sports sponsorship, television, solar technology, debit/loyalty cards, money transfers, optic fibre inclinations and so on. The brand has provided solutions and made life easier for some communities in the world. They have made significant efforts to inspire to change the world.

With a diversified portfolio that now includes insurance, green solutions, money transfers and banking, fibre options and numerous ICT innovations we hope the brand will really achieve internationalisation, which has eluded them.

Econet has fought battles, has been bruised, missed on some products but still didn’t curve in over these years. Econet has failed many times more than its peers. You might have a brilliant idea but you need guts and stamina to stay in the game. So many lessons derived from the Econet brand. They have a wider subscriber base by far all they need to do is to avoid complacency and taking the huge customer base for granted due to limited customer options on the market.

Their global brand presence is now phenomenal and many are envious on their position from all these humbling failures, which I term strategic pulling out. You got to love a brand that knows how to cut its losses. Given Econet are liquid cash rich doing don’t blame me if I call them Kings of the Zimbabwe Economy? Econet has persevered a lot to be where they are today. They never gave up. This proves they are normal after all.

IF YOU LIVE IN BYO PLEASE CONSERVE WATER. IF YOU LIVE IN ZIMBABWE PLEASE USE ELECTRICITY SPARINGLY: SOS (SWITCH OFF SWITCHES). IF YOU LIVE ON PLANET EARTH PLEASE PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Morris Mpala is the managing director of MoB Capital, a Bulawayo-headquartered micro-finance institution with footprint across the country.