Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has taken a major step in demonstrating its commitment to sustainable development by becoming a participant in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.  The UNGC brings together businesses from across the globe to implement principles of sustainable development and corporate responsibility. It currently has more than 13 000 companies in over 160 countries.  The initiative encourages organisations to align their strategies and operations with universally accepted principles of environment, social, governance and human rights as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, among others. Econet Chief Executive Officer Dr Douglas Mboweni, said becoming a member of the UNCG was part of the mobile telecommunications organisation’s commitment to sustainability. “This is an important step in Econet’s sustainability journey for which we have the full support and backing of our entire board of directors. “As a UNGC participant, we will be able to leverage the initiative’s vast global network of participants to embed sustainability into our core strategies and operations. 

“We very much look forward to working with member organisations to advance sustainability through this initiative, drawing inspiration from others, and hoping that some organisations will learn from our experience,” Dr Mboweni Said. Econet’s sustainability journey began more than 20 years ago when the company started supporting Higherlife Foundation to provide access to education for vulnerable and underprivileged children, as well as to fund educational opportunities for gifted and talented students through scholarships.  To date, the programme has impacted over 250 000 students.  In the ensuing years the company, through its partner foundation, has gone on to support various public healthcare initiatives, disease prevention, leadership development and disaster management.  Under the new commitment, Econet will strengthen its existing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) activities, while aligning them with the company’s vision and mission and win UN’s SDGs to ensure that the group scales its social and environmental impact in the market it serves.  Dr Mboweni said Econet, which is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, was committed to ensuring that in delivering its products and services it intentionally promotes sustainability. 

“We are committed to promoting sustainability across our value chain. At the national level, we are also committed to supporting our country’s pledge to achieve energy emissions per capita that are 33 percent below the projected ‘business as usual’ level by the year 2030,” Dr Mboweni said.  To achieve some of its sustainability goals, Econet recently partnered with its renewable energy sister company, Distributed Power Africa, to reduce the company’s diesel consumption by 80 percent over the next few years through the use of solar and lithium batteries. “We will continue to leverage our partnerships, both within our group and with like-minded organisations, and to use technology to drive corporate social investment in multiple sectors, including in the financial services sector, in healthcare delivery, agriculture and education – to name a few,” said Dr Mboweni. Econet, which developed EcoCash – the highly popular and award-winning mobile money platform that it spun off in December 2018 under Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe has been one of the biggest contributors to financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. Cassava Smartech is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and is itself a participant in UNGC. The Ecocash Mobile money platform has integrated millions of previously excluded members of the population into formal financial services, empowering millions of individuals and hundreds of thousands of small businesses process.

Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator, unveiled an affordable 4G enabled smartphone that is set to increase mobile internet adoption across the country. The new 4G MIFI Kambudzi, which runs on the KaiOS operating system, can be used across all networks and is designed to allow subscribers to connect at faster speeds. The new and affordable device was created to suit the communication needs of first-time users and of customers in rural and marginalised areas. “No one should be left behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (driven by digital connectivity). We believe the new 4G MIFI Kambudzi will increase digital literacy across our entire market,” said Econet in a statement, adding that the company was targeting an increase in smartphone penetration by deploying low-cost devices.

Zimbabwe’s smartphone penetration is currently at 52%, compared to about 90% for South Africa. This has remained a barrier for the adoption of digital services which Econet hopes to scale through the low-cost device rollout. “The introduction of the 4G MIFI Kambudzi will help increase the uptake of digital products and services, and help promote a digital lifestyle among our customers,” Econet said. The new device, which can connect up to four devices through tethering, was designed for people who are unable to afford smartphones but have the need to go online. It has a user-friendly interface optimized for first-time internet users. It comes preloaded with some popular apps, such as Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp.

Econet said the new phone will go a long way in decongesting the lower bands of the network (2G and 3G) by increasing the utilisation of the LTE (4G) network in the country, which is a lot faster than the former. Econet has made significant investments in it LTE and 4G infrastructure, making it the most reliable digital and Internet service provider in the country. “The 4G MiFi Kambudzi has a long battery life that solves connectivity problems emanating from power shortages in under-served communities and in remote areas. Customers can enjoy Internet access for long hours without having to recharge,” Econet said.

ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe Limited fended off stiff competition from a strong field of blue-chip companies to win the coveted Top Companies Survey Award. According to the judges of the annual survey of Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed companies, conducted by The Financial Gazette and Old Mutual, the top accolade is awarded to a company that not only performs exceptionally well on the stock exchange but also excels on other issues to do with social responsibility, environmental, leadership, corporate governance as well as disclosure and investor relation factors.

Financial Gazette Deputy Editor, Tabitha Mutenga (TM) caught up with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Chief Executive, Douglas Mboweni (DM), after his company received the coveted award, to find out what he attributes the stellar business performance to and what the market and investors can expect going into the future.

Read More on the Financial Gazette.

EcoCash agents country-wide will soon begin issuing out United States dollars sent to local recipients from diaspora through Sasai Remittances. The development comes at a time when EcoCash agents which used to cash-out the greenbacks before the bond notes era are struggling with cashing out of the local currency owing to the cash crisis Zimbabwe is in. Local transactions will remain cashed-out in the local currency. Launched in August last year, Sasai among other things allows users to remit money to many parts of the world at lower charges.  Cassava International Remittances general manager, Shepherd Hondoyemoto, who said Sasai’s international remittances had brought great relief to Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora wishing to remit funds home, added Ecocash agents would be soon disbursing US dollars. “So you will see in the next coming couple of days to weeks, those key constituents, those, those key districts will have agents representation and they will still be offering US dollar cash, not bond,” said Hondoyemoto. “Every remittance, you will get it in US dollar cash.”

He said that would ensure that people living in rural areas and other places far away from towns and cities do not have to travel long distances to access their cash from abroad. “We said the most important thing is to go to that model where we are covering every part of the country,” he said. “Our services should be at your arm’s length.” He said there has been an increase in the number of Zimbabwean sending money home via Sasai Remit. Customers, Hondoyemoto said, will also have the option to change their money at EcoCash Bureau de changes countrywide. “The coming on of Sasai with its #RemittanceFeesMustFall offer has been very well received by Zimbabweans across the globe, and this is evidenced by the increase in remittance volumes we have seen coming in via Sasai,” Hondoyemoto said. At its introduction, the platform offered free charge on remittances for 30 days after which it moved to a mere 2,5 percent. 

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe on Wednesday launched YoPlay Hunt – an Augmented Reality (AR) technology based mobile game that it says is set to revolutionize the way customers interface with brands. Econet, the largest mobile network operator in Zimbabwe, becomes the first operator in Africa to launch an AR game. To play the game, which any Econet customer is eligible to play, a customer activates location-based services on their phone and registers on www.yoplayhunt.co.zw. A screen pops up that prompts the them to enter their mobile number. The number is then authenticated by a One Time Password (OTP) that is instantly texted to the customer. “Once the customer enters the OTP code and accepts the terms and conditions, they are good to go and ready to play,” said Mr Navdeep Kapur, the Chief Commercial Officer at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. 
But there is one more twist to the experiential fun of YoHunt. To win any one of up to $1 million worth of prizes – called YoAtoms – customers have to do one more thing: They are to navigate using maps on their phone, to selected ‘secret locations’ where they will pick the prices, which include smartphones, cash (EcoCash), airtime, brand new TV sets and many more. 

Mr Kapur said hinted that some of the secret locations in Harare could be Eastgate, Sam Levy’s Village, Avondale Shops, Arundel Village, Westgate Shopping Mall, Makoni Shops in Chitungwiza, Bulawayo City Center, Bradfield Shopping Centre in Bulawayo and the Africa University campus near Mutare. He said any objects that a participating or ‘hunting’ customer can view could be winning prize, adding that for now, the game was available to participants in Harare, Bulawayo and at Africa University in Manicaland. “Each day, starting today, we will have two games over a two-hour duration. The first will be played between 12pm and 2pm, and the second will be played between 4pm and 6pm,” Mr Kapur said. He added that the initial running period for the YoHunt game will be 10 days, starting today (February 12) up to February 21, 2020. Mr Kapur said winners will redeem their prizes at the Econet Livingstone Shop in Harare, at Econet Bulawayo and at the Econet Mutare main shop. To participate in the YoHunt game, a customer will be charged ZWL$1.99 per hunt.
 

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe today (yesterday) launched YoPlay Hunt – an Augmented Reality (AR) technology based mobile game that it says is set to revolutionize the way customers interface with brands. Econet, the largest mobile network operator in Zimbabwe, becomes the first operator in Africa to launch an AR game. To play the game, which any Econet customer is eligible to play, a customer activates location-based services on their phone and registers on www.yoplayhunt.co.zw. A screen pops up that prompts the them to enter their mobile number.  “Once the customer enters the OTP code and accepts the terms and conditions, they are good to go and ready to play,” said Mr Navdeep Kapur, the Chief Commercial Officer at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. But there is one more twist to the experiential fun of YoHunt. To win any one of up to $1 million worth of prizes – called YoAtoms – customers have to do one more thing: They are to navigate using maps on their phone, to selected ‘secret locations’ where they will pick the prices, which include smartphones, cash (EcoCash), airtime, brand new TV sets and many more. 

Mr Kapur said hinted that some of the secret locations in Harare could be Eastgate, Sam Levy’s Village, Avondale Shops, Arundel Village, Westgate Shopping Mall, Makoni Shops in Chitungwiza, Bulawayo City Center, Bradfield Shopping Centre in Bulawayo and the Africa University campus near Mutare. He said any objects that a participating or ‘hunting’ customer can view could be winning prize, adding that for now, the game was available to participants in Harare, Bulawayo and at Africa University in Manicaland. “Each day, starting today, we will have two games over a two-hour duration. The first will be played between 12pm and 2pm, and the second will be played between 4pm and 6pm,” Mr Kapur said. He added that the initial running period for the YoHunt game will be 10 days, starting today (February 12) up to February 21, 2020.
 Mr Kapur said winners will redeem their prizes at the Econet Livingstone Shop in Harare, at Econet Bulawayo and at the Econet Mutare main shop. To participate in the YoHunt game, a customer will be charged ZWL$1.99 per hunt.