outh Africa’s mobile phone sector covers more than 70% of the population while Namibia is on 40%.
Foreign currency shortages have cramped network expansion in Zimbabwe’s mobile phone sector. Dakarayi Matanga, spokesperson for Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe’s biggest cellphone operator said 95% of the company’s key components were sourced abroad.
In a battle to keep pace, Econet announced this week it had secured a loan of US$20 million from the Cairo-based African Export-Import bank and will be add 300 000 subscribers to the network before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the use and availability of lines is just another commodity being used by desperate Zimbabweans to eke out a living in a crumbling economy. Speculators buy mobile sim cards for ZW$3 million. They resell them on the black market at anything between Z$15 and 20 million as there is no restriction on the price mark-up and the ever-rising demand for mobile lines pushes prices up.
State owned Net*One mobile phone company, CEO Reward Kangai said recently his company was planning to expand its network and hoped new lines would be available soon, but analysts doubt it will be able to meet the huge pent-up demand. There has been recent speculation that Africa’s largest mobile phone company MTN might buy shares in NetOne.
13.7.2006
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Econet secures US$20 million loan
HARARE - As Zimbabwe continues its downward economic spiral, the rest of the African continent is experiencing a cellphone boom.
Mobile penetration in Zimbabwe is pegged at 5%, in sharp contrast to the rest of Africa where mobile phone use is spreading rapidly as an alternative to fixed lines. S
Mobile penetration in Zimbabwe is pegged at 5%, in sharp contrast to the rest of Africa where mobile phone use is spreading rapidly as an alternative to fixed lines. S