Staff Writer
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe says synergies between its digital insurance platforms and mobile money ecosystem continue to drive increased adoption and cross-selling opportunities.
The group’s insurance business falls under the Financial Technology (Fintech) segment anchored by the mobile money business.
The segment in the quarter to May 31, 2024 delivered a strong performance driven primarily by sustained growth of the active customer base and the increasing usage of its suite of digital financial services.
“With growth in the mobile money customers, we have recorded increased activity on the life insurance business, with premiums growing 14,2 percent against last quarter.
“Airtime Cover, under EcoSure, which bundles airtime and data bundle purchases with life insurance cover is at over 400 thousand subscriptions as of the end of the quarter,” reads the trading statement.
The Maisha Health Fund recorded a growth of 5,5 percent in gross premiums against the prior comparative period.
Moovah, the group’s short-term insurance business, recently introduced mobile phone insurance, reinforcing its position as a pioneering leader in the market and reaffirming our commitment to innovation and responsiveness to customer needs.
“By expanding our offerings and focusing on customer insights, we aim to provide comprehensive and tailored insurance solutions, enabled by the Group’s capacity to develop agile products,” Econet said.
The company said the mobile money business experienced consistent growth in its active customer base, transaction volumes, and values on the US dollar wallet.
Active customers grew by 189 percent compared to the first quarter of the prior year which is attributed to an efficient distribution network and improved product offerings.
International remittance values increased by 265 percent. During the period under review, EcoCash continued to partner with Mobile Transfer Agencies from various source markets to terminate into the EcoCash wallet, leveraging on the distribution network for customers to access the funds.
“This is expected to drive further growth in remittance values in the coming period,” reads the statement.
The business said increasing demand for data and digital services will continue to reshape the mobile network operations and capital investments by the group.
It said continued enhancement of its robust network infrastructure will be a key imperative to meet evolving and unique customer needs.
“As the group navigates this exciting new chapter, we are planning to leverage on the reintegration of the financial technology businesses to drive innovation, as we respond to the evolving needs of our customers,” reads the statement.
Econet said it recognises the imperative of network modernisation to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.
“With the advent of 5G, IoT and other cutting-edge technologies, the need for robust, agile and future-proof network infrastructure has become more pressing than ever. The business continued to prioritise network modernisation to enhance service delivery,” it said.
During the quarter, over 30 new sites were commissioned by the group across the country which enhanced network performance and quality of service.
Econet said the network modernisation programme is planned to continue encompassing additional sites covering urban, peri-urban and rural areas to expand network coverage.
“Increasing our 5G penetration is also a key initiative that we are pursuing as the business targets to commission additional 5G sites by the end of the financial year.
“In response to the increase in the utilisation of data services, the business added functionalities to the core network to stabilise and improve service delivery of broadband services,” Econet said.
It noted that its new cloud based and modernised core network will offer better service personalisation to meet diverse customer needs.
However, the business noted that load shedding on the national power grid continued to negatively affect the business through reliance on costly backup power to maintain the requisite network uptime and to meet the set quality of service standards.
Econet said as a result the business continues to invest in renewable energy sources like solar power.
For the quarter under review, Data and Voice usage grew by 74 percent and 46 percent respectively relative to the prior year.
Data and Voice revenue contributed 42 percent and 38 percent respectively of the MNO revenue compared to 33 percent and 45 percent same period last year.
“The marked growth in data usage underscores the need for sustained network expansion and upgrades to adequately meet the ever increasing demand for mobile broadband and digital services,” said Econet.
