(NEWZIMBABWE) Econet insures farmers against crop failure
25/09/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ECONET Wireless says it has developed a weather-indexed drought insurance service for small-holder farmers. The service allows farmers to make a financial claim if their crops fail because of either inadequate or excessive rainfall.
Under the Econet scheme, which is part of a programme for farmers known as EcoFarmer, a farmer can buy insurance for as little as eight cents per day, which is deducted from their prepaid phone account during the agricultural season.
"If the rain does not fall, resulting in a drought, the farmer will be given as much as $100 for every 10kg seed pack planted," the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The key to the system is a highly innovative weather monitoring network which enables Econet to know exactly how much rain fell on the farmer's field.
Econet has also partnered with Seed Co to produce special seed packs that contain a small plastic container with a special number that the farmer must SMS to the network. As soon as Econet receives the number, they know exactly where the farmer is located.
The Econet base station in the farmer's area monitors weather patterns including rainfall, temperature and humidity. This information is used by weather experts to tell if there has been a drought in the area.
Econet said the "weather-indexed insurance cover" was deviced as a response to calls by agricultural experts for small-holder farmers to be given access to insurance cover for their crops.
"When a farmer can plant crops knowing that crop failure does not mean hunger for the family, they will be encouraged to plant more crops and therefore increase national production," the company said.
Econet has chosen Mashonaland East province as the location for a pilot scheme, which will last between November this year and March 2014. The system for weather measurement and monitoring has already been installed and the plastic capsules are being put into seed packs.
Based on the results of the pilot scheme, Econet will then expand it nationally, in time for next year's planting season.
The service being developed by Econet for Zimbabwe is similar to one which has been rolled out in Kenya by that country's leading operator, Safaricom.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, ECONET
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Econet branches into solar power
Lighting up Africa ... Econet Solar's Home Power Station
03/12/2011 00:00:00
by Gilbert Nyambabvu
ECONET Wireless subsidiary, Econet Solar has launched a solar power device which the company says will help light up most of rural Africa and other areas without access to reliable electricity supplies.
The company said the Home Power Station will provide lighting, and power to charge mobile phones, on a pre-paid basis, in the same way airtime is purchased for mobile phones.
Officials said the device removes the high upfront costs which have held back the development of solar energy in Africa as it will be available at a small cost with customers paying for the electricity generated as they use it.
Said Econet Wireless founder and executive chairman, Strive Masiyiwa: “Whilst there are already well-intentioned solar powered lighting systems on the market, the reality is that they are just too expensive for people to afford. We are launching the Home Power Station to change all that.
“The Home Power Station uses proven technology in a revolutionary way in order to make power available on a pre-paid basis, just like airtime on a cell phone.
“Forecasters expect that Africa will have 735 million cell phone users by the end of next year and we’ll be looking to leverage the proven ability of telecoms companies like Econet Wireless to roll-out this product quickly. People who are today living without access to reliable and sustainable power for lighting will have it on a pre-paid basis from next year."
Econet says the product will begin trials in the coming weeks and with commercial available expected in the first half of 2012.
In a statement, the company said it expects the product to help light up the “70 percent of Africa that does not already have access to electricity”.
“The product contains a SIM card – the same as those used in cell phone handsets – which enables the device to communicate with the cellular network and in turn makes it possible for the customer to pre-paid for energy usage, in the same way that they currently pay for airtime on their cell phone,” Econet Solar said.
“It has been designed to supply, on a pre-paid basis, affordable lighting for small homes and cell phone charging.”
Labels: ECONET, SOLAR ENERGY
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Econet launches Diaspora life assurance service
by Business Reporter
13/10/2010 00:00:00
ECOLIFE, the mobile life insurance service launched last week by Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, will be extended to Zimbabweans living outside the country before the end of the year, the company has announced. This comes as Econet reported strong subscriber uptake of the new product after its launch in Harare last week.
Zimbabweans living in South Africa who regularly call home would be able to register for life cover, making it possible for their families to get up to $10 000 in Zimbabwe if they die in South Africa.
"We know that many Zimbabweans living in South Africa are the main bread winners and, when they pass away, families often struggle to even get their bodies home. We want to help them if they are our customers in South Africa.
"All they would need to do is to use Econet Wireless South Africa. If they call home, we would analyse how much they spend on calls to Zimbabwe, as that is part of our income here," Econet spokesman Ranga Mberi said.
The push by Econet Wireless into the diaspora began last year and the company's South African sister company has already sold more than 500 000 SIM cards in that country.
Meanwhile, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer Mr Douglas Mboweni has described the response to Ecolife as one of the most spectacular the company has ever experienced.
"We registered more than 30 000 users in the first two days, which means we should have most people registered by Christmas.
"This is quite spectacular, as it means Zimbabweans will have the same level of insurance cover as some of the most advanced economies, even ahead of South Africa," said Mr Mboweni.
Mr Mboweni said the partnership with First Mutual Life to offer insurance service was one of many such partnerships planned for the future.
He issued a general invitation to other companies to approach Econet to partner for other services.
"Econet has a network that reaches millions of consumers and we want to use that network as a platform to offer other services.
"You can partner with us to provide banking services or make bill payments. We are open to listen to new ideas that are innovative and make life easier and more cost effective for our customers," he said.
Labels: ECONET, INSURANCE
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Econet to spend $300m on network expansion
by
07/05/2010 00:00:00
ECONET Wireless Chief Executive, Douglas Mboweni says the mobile phone operator will spend $300 million this year to expand its voice and data services as it targets more rapid growth. "The bulk of investments will go into expanding our infrastructure for both data and voice," Mboweni told Reuters.
Mboweni said that Econet, which competes with Telecel Zimbabwe and the state-owned NetOne, will fund the improvements through a combination of loans, internal cash and vendor financing.
The company will also continue to add subscribers, as Zimbabwe's mobile penetration remains low at about 40 percent, Mboweni added. Econet currently has 4 million subscribers, or 73 percent of the market, up from 1.2 million last year.
"We believe that for as long as the penetration in Zimbabwe is below that of our regional peers, there is plenty of opportunity to get a healthy return from further investment," Mboweni said, adding that Econet had no immediate plans to seek foreign shareholding.
The introduction of multi-currencies in 2009 has helped Econet's operations and the company has grown to become the biggest counter on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) by market capitalisation.
Zimbabwe's economy grew for the first time in a decade last year but businesses still struggle to access credit from overseas. Econet, however, was able to secure foreign financing through its South Africa-based parent company, Econet Wireless Group (EWG).
The company's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and armotisation (EBITDA) for the year ending February 2010 stood at $179 million.
Revenues jumped to $362.7 million, up from $87.9 million the previous year.
Labels: DOUGLAS MBOWENI, ECONET, ICT
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Econet shares surge
Business Reporter
MOBILE phone operator Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s share price jumped US40c on Monday to close at US539,99c on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange after the firm posted a record US$113 million after-tax profit for the full year to February 2010.
The blue chip counter helped the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange mainstream industrial index recover from Friday loses to open the week 2,64 percent strong to close at 135.02 points in thin trading. A paltry 6 518 840 shares worth US$727 689,27 exchanged hands on the market.
Econet released the strongest financials on the ZSE after generating US$362,8 million from its four million subscribers.
Profit after tax for the period topped US$133 209 756 and basic earnings per share stood at US66c.
Econet shares will drive the market until the end of May as investors jostle to benefit from the US14c cumulative dividend.
For the first six months of the year Econet had declared a US8c dividend and they have announced an additional US6c to give a total of US14c.
One analyst said, "Econet’s results are a clear indication that not all sectors are failing to take off in this new economic (US$ trading) environment.
"The group not only increased subscribers by over 100 percent but also saw a 76 percent increase in profits."
The group’s aggressive network expansion drive saw their total assets grow from US$182 million to US$397 million as property plant and equipment increased US$137,4 million to US$267,5 million and equipment deposits surged from US$2,2 million to US$47,7 million.
Shareholder funds grew by 86 percent to US$165,5 million despite the company’s debt sitting at $143,2 million.
They closed the year cash positive to the tune of US$13,9 million leading them to declare a dividend of US6c per share.
Company chairman, Mr Tawanda Nyambirai said the company was planning to invest US$300 million in the next financial year - a move that will give impetus to Econet shares.
Intentions to raise a further US$300 million were briefly announced though with very little detail as to which route to take. With their forecast revenues of US$50m plus per month, they will easily settle these debts without disturbing their cash flow significantly.
Their plans are that 25 percent of the funds will go towards data infrastructure development while the rest goes towards improving voice infrastructure.
Mr Nyambirai added that US$63 million, representing 17 percent of revenue was distributed to Government in the form of taxes and levies.
During the period, US$244,5 million representing 68 percent of revenue was reinvested into the business to fund long-term assets and working capital expenditure while 13 percent was paid to financiers.
Mr Nyambira said telecommunications is a key contributor to economic development and largely as a result of Econet’s investment the country’s penetration rate has increased from 15 percent to 40 percent.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is currently sitting on a market capitalisation of US$884 million, controls 70 percent of the mobile phone industry.
Meanwhile the industrial index rebounded with a 2,64 percent gain at 135.02 points in thin trading.
Seed manufacturing firm, Seedco rose US11,10 cents to trade at US78,10 cents. BAT and Natfoods went up US10c each to close at US240c and US115c respectively as Star Africa put on US0,50c to US7,50c
Spirits manufacturer Afdis went down US3c to close at US12c and Innscor was a cent lower at US60c whilst Dairibord retreated US0.50c to close at US7c.
Aico Africa ended down US0,30c to US17,20c as African Sun retreated US0,05c to close at US3,75c.
The mining index lost 1,56 percent to close at 182,25 points due to Falgold, which shed US2c to US4c and Riozim that eased a cent to US299c.
Labels: ECONET, ITC, ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE
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Econet assumes full control of Burundi network
by
28/12/2009 00:00:00
ECONET Wireless International has moved to secure complete control of its fledgling Burundi operation by buying out regional investment group PME African Infrastructure Opportunities plc in a US$15 million transaction.
PME, a regional investment group which targets infrastructure opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, captured a 49.5 percent interest in Econet Burundi after investing US$10 million into the company by way of cash and equity financing.
Econet International needed the capital injection to finance the build-out of its Burundi business which the pan-African telecoms group acquired as Burundi ST Cellular in 2006.
However, the mobile phone operator, which is controlled by South Africa-based Zimbabwean telecoms entrepreneur Strive Masiyiwa, advised PME that it intended to buy out the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) listed group for a consideration of US$15 million.
For PME the transaction, expected to be completed by December 31 2009, represents a 40 percent premium on its initial US$10million investment into the joint venture.
"The decision by Econet Wireless to exercise its option to call our investment secures an attractive return for the Company and illustrates the value that exists in the African infrastructure market,” PME Chairman David von Simson, said.
At the time of Econet’s acquisition in 2006, ST Cellular was one of four mobile phone companies operating in the Burundi market with a subscriber base of about 25 000 customers.
The subscriber numbers have since increased to 80 000 between April and December this year alone.
The company’s Managing Director, Darlington Mandivenga says they are now looking at boosting customer numbers to 800 000 following the introduction of rechargeable solar handsets into a market plagued by continuous power supply problems.
Econet also has operations in Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Morocco, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
In addition the group holds minority interests in a United States-based operator which runs mobile phone services in New Zealand, Haiti, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.
Labels: BURUNDI, ECONET
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Econet seeks USD 2.5 million
AMET News
Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:23:00 +0000
ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe is seeking funds to deploy a new modern billing system, which will cost about USD 2.5 million, for its 50,000 Business Partna subscribers. According to Douglas Mboweni, the CEO of Econet, the carrier is finding it difficult to raise the funds due to the current global financial crisis.
Econet migrated its Business Partna subscribers to its pre-paid platform last week, following the collapse of its old system. Business Partna account for five percent of the carrier's base, while the pre-paid Buddie and Libertie customers form the major share of it.
In addition, the carrier requires funds to address other issues critical to the existence of the network. The available resource at hand is being used by the company to save the switching system. - AMET News
Labels: ECONET, INVESTMENT, PAYMENT SYSTEMS, ZIMBABWE
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