THE 2026 Econet Victoria Falls Marathon is the biggest edition in the event’s history after major race categories sold out nearly two months before race day, indicating the growing global appeal of Zimbabwe’s premier marathon. Scheduled for July 5 in Victoria Falls, the marathon continues to cement its status as one of Africa’s leading destination sporting events, attracting runners, health and fitness enthusiasts, along with adventure seekers from around the world. Organisers said the early sell-out reflects the event’s rapidly rising stature on the international running calendar, with participants increasingly planning travel well in advance to secure places at the globally recognised marathon experience. Last year’s edition attracted more than 5 000 participants from 46 countries, transforming Victoria Falls into a vibrant hub of sport, tourism and international cultural exchange. Race director Brent Williamson said the combination of world-class racing, breathtaking scenery and the unique atmosphere of Victoria Falls continues to drive the marathon’s growing popularity. Participants run across the iconic VictoriaFalls Bridge and through scenic national park routes, with the rare possibility of encountering wildlife along the course. Sponsored by Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the marathon has evolved beyond sport into a major tourism and economic platform that continues to elevate Zimbabwe’s global destination profile.

President Mnangagwa and President Duma Boko visited the Econet Wireless stand at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo on Thursday, where they toured the stand led by a senior executive of the company.

 

The two heads of state – who were welcomed to the stand by the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Hon Tatenda Mavetera – were guided through Econet’s award-winning exhibition stand by the company’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Mr Roy Chimanikire.

 

President Boko was the guest of honour at this year’s ZITF, where he officially opened the international fair on Thursday (April 23).

 

Chimanikire walked the two Presidents through Econet’s range of strategic business units, including Econet AI, Econet InfraCo, the Econet telecom and digital mobile business, and EcoCash, the company’s fintech unit – among others.

 

Econet recently launched of its own dedicated AI business, called Econet AI, aimed at accelerating the adoption of AI across Zimbabwe’s economy, supported by its strong global partnerships.

 

Among the AI-driven products on display at the Econet stand is EcoFarmer AI – designed to boost productivity by empowering farmers with data-driven insights – and Yamurai, the intelligent AI-driven chatbot and virtual assistant that is proficient in local languages and built to enhance customer experience and digital engagement.

 

Econet is also exhibiting AI use-cases in education, through the Akello smart learning platform, and in healthcare services through its Mars and EcoSure Health units.

 

Econet InfraCo – the infrastructure platform company valued at an estimated US$1billion which was recently listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) – is also exhibiting at the ZITF.

 

The visit by the two Presidents is seen as a strong endorsement of home-grown, Africa-centric technology solutions and innovations and comes at a time Zimbabwe is accelerating its digital transformation agenda, with AI as a lever and catalyst for accelerated economic growth, productivity and global competitiveness.

Leading telecommunications and technology company Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has once again won the award for the overall best stand at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) – the Supreme Zimbabwean Exhibit Award, reinforcing its position as a leader in creative, digital innovation and immersive exhibition.

 

The award – a second consecutive win for Econet – underscores the company’s consistency in delivering a world-class exhibition aligned with strong consumer and business interest, and national and regional development priorities.

 

This year’s ZITF is running under the theme “Connected Economies, Competitive Industries,” highlighting the critical role of innovation, industrialisation, regional integration, and value addition in driving economic growth.

 

Judges said Econet’s exhibition distinguished itself through a bold and coherent interpretation of the theme, seamlessly blending advanced technology with practical, real-world solutions.

 

Econet’s stand features live demonstrations of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, while interactive and gaming zones enabling visitors to experience the company’s expanding digital ecosystem firsthand.

 

The exhibition stand showcases flagship platform services such as Econet InfraCo, EcoCash, EcoSure, Moovah, and Akello. Together, these platforms demonstrate how the company is building a comprehensive digital ecosystem designed to empower individuals, businesses, and communities across Zimbabwe and beyond.

 

The exhibition also spotlights innovations from Econet’s AI unit, including Yamurai, an intelligent, multilingual customer engagement chatbot, and EcoFarmer AI, a solution aimed at transforming agricultural productivity through data-driven insights.

 

These developments reflect Econet’s growing investment in artificial intelligence as a catalyst for inclusive and accelerated economic growth.

 

The Econet stand also presents a robust suite of enterprise offerings under its Business Solutions unit, targeting digital transformation across key industries. This is over and above emerging innovations in gaming, the outcome of strategic partnerships with global and regional technology players, which reinforce the company’s collaborative approach to innovation.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has officially launched Econet AI, a new business unit aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence across Zimbabwe’s economy.

 

Unveiled in Harare yesterday, Econet AI immediately introduced a suite of products and capabilities designed to accelerate AI use across the market, in multiple sectors, by corporate organizations and individuals. During the launch, Econet AI announced an exciting offer to Econet customers – starting in May (next month) – of free six-months access to Google Gemini, one of the world’s most advanced AI platforms. Google Gemini uses advanced multimodal generative AI models that simultaneously process, understand and create content across multiple data types – such as text, images, audio, video and code. Econet AI also introduced Cassava AiCloud, a platform that will give Zimbabwean enterprises access to high-performance computing, powered by NVIDIA GPUs – the super high-speed processors that can handle complex and multiple tasks simultaneously. The infrastructure is hosted at the Cassava AI Factory in South Africa, currently the only facility of its kind on the African continent.

 

Delegates to the launch included ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister Tatenda Mavetera – who was guest of honour – senior government officials, regulators, business leaders, equipment vendors and partners, suppliers and clients of the Econet group.
Econet Group Chief Executive Officer Douglas Mboweni earlier revealed that the AI unit had been evolving quietly over the past five years as an internal innovation hub.

 

“We have been using and applying artificial intelligence within our own operations – improving customer experience, optimising network performance and enhancing decision-making across the business,” he said. “Our experience shows that AI is a remarkable technology that every business should be deploying. It dramatically reduces costs and has the potential to significantly grow revenue.”

Econet InfraCo’s maiden trading on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange has materially lifted the exchange’s market capitalisation, adding just over US$900 million in equity value and pushing total market cap to approximately US$3.88 billion. The stock closed its first session at US$0.30 per share, before rising to US$0.33 by close of Wednesday trading, accounting for roughly 23% of the overall market value. This follows the strategic spin-off from Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, where infrastructure assets including telecom towers, energy assets and key property holdings were separated into a dedicated platform.

 

Strategically, the listing significantly strengthens VFEX’s scale, liquidity and product diversification, with exchange leadership highlighting the transaction as an important step toward deeper regional capital market relevance. The structure allows existing Econet shareholders to retain both direct and indirect exposure, while positioning InfraCo as a stable, yield-oriented infrastructure vehicle focused on long-term returns and expansion across critical sectors of the economy. For board-level interpretation, this reinforces both investor confidence in the InfraCo platform and VFEX’s growing stature as a regional capital formation hub.

Ericsson and Econet Wireless Zimbabwe have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Spain to design, test and deploy next-generation mobile services in Zimbabwe powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G Advanced and enhanced network security.

 

The joint innovation programs will include initial focus areas such as AI-driven radio access network (RAN) optimization and energy-efficient network evolution, 5G Advanced features, AI-driven RAN, exposed network APIs, network slicing and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled services to enhance network performance, drive service reliability, and boost user experiences.

 

The collaboration will deliver practical solutions that support Zimbabwe’s national sustainability goals while enabling Econet’s continued network growth. Ericsson and Econet will deploy AI driven network optimization and automation to enhance energy performance and improve operational efficiency. Moreover, deploying energy efficient LTE and 5G solutions, and network architectures will reduce carbon footprint while expanding coverage and capacity

 

By combining advanced connectivity with automation and security capabilities, the collaboration aims to support Zimbabwe’s national ICT Policy 2022 – 2027 by enabling wider digital inclusion and facilitating new and improved digital services across sectors such as education, healthcare, enterprise and industry digitalization.
The collaboration is expected to improve network capacity, energy efficiency, and service reliability across key urban and rural areas.

 

“This memorandum of understanding with Ericsson reflects our continued focus on evolving our network capabilities to meet growing customer expectations and national digital priorities. By exploring AI-driven automation, advanced connectivity and sustainable network solutions, we aim to enhance service performance while enabling new digital opportunities across Zimbabwe.”

 

– Roy Chimanikire, Deputy CEO, Econet Zimbabwe
“Together with Econet Zimbabwe, we are advancing the evolution toward intelligent, programmable and more sustainable networks in the country. By leveraging Ericsson’s leadership in programmable and AI-native networks, this memorandum of understanding creates a framework for testing and deploying technologies that enhance network resilience, automation and service innovation to provide communities with advanced connectivity that can enable meaningful digital services in their daily lives.”

 

– Alain Maupin, Vice President and Head, Ericsson East and North Africa
The MoU builds on a trusted and long-standing relationship spanning more than 20 years, during which Ericsson has delivered core and radio network solutions supporting Econet Zimbabwe’s infrastructure.

Econet InfraCo, the infrastructure arm of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, has been quietly providing free solar power to some rural clinics and hospitals around the country.

 

This is a groundbreaking initiative that is improving healthcare delivery in underserved rural communities which began last year. It targets rural clinics and hospitals located within five kilometres of an Econet base station, and connects them to the base station’s solar power system, at no cost to the health facility.

 

The initiative forms part of the company’s community outreach mandate as Econet InfraCo transitions into a full standalone infrastructure company.

 

To date, a number of clinics have already been connected, with Econet working in partnership with Higher Life Foundation (HLF), prioritizing facilities where power and connectivity needs are most pressing.

 

Access to reliable electricity remains one of the biggest challenges facing rural health institutions. This affects vaccine storage, emergency medical procedures, maternal health services and overall patient care. Econet InfraCo’s intervention is expected to significantly enhance healthcare outcomes in remote rural areas.

 

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Douglas Mboweni, said the initiative reflects a long-standing philosophy championed by Econet founder and Group Chairman, Mr Strive Masiyiwa, that companies ought to play an active role in national development.

 

“Each of our companies is required by our founder to have its own social impact and philanthropic initiative,” said Dr Mboweni.

 

“Econet Wireless supports education through Higher Life Foundation’s Capernaum Scholarship programme which, over the last 30 years, has sent more than 400 000 children from disadvantaged backgrounds to school. Liquid Intelligent Technologies Zimbabwe provides free Internet access to universities, and Econet InfraCo has been stepping up to power critical rural services,” Dr Mboweni said.

 

He stated that integrating social impact into business operations ensures that development initiatives are sustainable and impactful.

 

He said Econet InfraCo is exploring other community infrastructure projects, including the construction of small footbridges over dangerous rivers in remote areas, adding that the company last year submitted a proposal to Government seeking permission to proceed with the initiative.

 

“We have the capability to put up small bridges to help women and children cross rivers safely. Our engineers can put them up while attending to base stations. We hope that we will receive the go-ahead to proceed with the programme,” Dr Mboweni said, adding that such bridges would improve access to schools, clinics and markets, particularly during the rainy season when rivers often cut off access to basic facilities for rural communities.

 

Dr Mboweni said Econet’s approach demonstrates how private sector players can contribute to national development beyond commercial objectives.

 

“When companies are given a social mission by their leadership, it provides a sense of purpose beyond making money. This has always been at the heart of businesses founded by Mr Masiyiwa across Africa,” he said.

 

He cited Econet’s collaboration with the royal family in Lesotho to support education and health services, as well as Liquid Intelligent Technologies’ provision of free Internet to educational institutions across Africa.

 

Unlike traditional corporate social responsibility initiatives that rely on ad hoc donations, Econet’s programmes are embedded into annual budgets and operational structures designed to have real social impact.

 

“We cannot do everything all at once or reach all the places we want at the same time, but we set aside money every year as part of our social impact budget and we have full-time staff working on these initiatives. Our commitment goes well beyond one-off donations,” Dr Mboweni said.