[Transcript] #47: Vodacom - How the South African Telco became one of the largest telecommunications companies in Africa
Transcript of the episode recorded Mar 13 2022
Hello, Bankole here!
Thanks for your patience, dear listeners. We've been on a recording break, but I'm excited to announce that new episodes will be hitting your podcast player next month! Now, some notes on Vodacom since our 2022 episode.
Vodacom is Africa’s second-largest telco with over 200 million subscribers, with M-Pesa at the forefront. However, as we discussed in the episode, M-Pesa is now feeling the heat from MTN and Airtel, both of whom have ramped up competition in the mobile money market. Just last month, MTN reached a massive milestone—60 million active mobile money users across Africa. Airtel Money isn’t far behind either, with 38 million users and growing fast.
Vodacom is adapting. They’re banking on their new VodaPay super app, especially in South Africa. But, as I mentioned during the podcast, it remains to be seen how well this strategy will work outside of their home market. In its traditional Voice & Data Communications business, Vodacom is aggressively investing in its network, announcing a partnership with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, as a cost-effective way to provide coverage in more locations. 4G and 5G CapEx will take a toll on returns, but this is true for MTN and Airtel as well.
As more Africans get smartphones, lots of people will make money. Vodacom and their shareholders want to be at the front of the line.
You can listen to our full Vodacom episode here. Paid subscribers can find the transcript below.
Until next time,
Bankole.
[00:00:00] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Welcome to Afrobility, a conversation about African business and technology. Today we're going to talk about Vodacom, the South African Telecoms Company. We'll explore the Vodacom story across five areas. One, south African telecom's sector context, two, Vodacom's early history. Three. We'll deep dive into Vodacom's, primary telco and non telco businesses.
Four, we'll talk about Vodacom's operating financial performance, and then five, we'll end with our views on its overall outlook. This episode was recorded on March 13th, 2022. JoBurgMax. How goes it?
[00:00:36] Bankole Makanju: That make you think of wealth, success.
[00:00:40] Olumide Ogunsanwo: I think, I think people in Jo'burg really think of themselves as very rich and successful. So, why, why am I picking the Jo'burg name today? Why are we talking about South Africa today?
[00:00:48] Bankole Makanju: We are talking about Vodacom.
[00:00:50] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Yeah?
[00:00:51] Bankole Makanju: So Vodacom is a big South African telco.