Vodacom has set its sights on being Africa’s biggest Fintech operator, claiming that financial services are an important element of its business strategy and that the telecom expects to reach 70 million subscribers in the next three years.
As part of its half-year results, Vodacom unveiled its Africa Fintech ambitions, with group CEO Shameel Joosub claiming that financial services are now the most significant component of Vodacom’s new services income, hence the urge for a continental push.
The telco’s aggressive Fintech push comes as it converts from a telecommunications to a technology firm, allowing Vodacom to diversify revenue streams by expanding its ecosystem of goods. As a result, Joosub claims that the telecom recognized a lot of room for development in terms of user uptake, and that by 2024, it hopes to have 73 million financial services customers.
Mobile payments and digital financial services, together known as fintech, have being eyed as a huge unexplored market in Africa by SA’s telecoms behemoths.
M-Pesa, which Vodacom runs with Kenya’s Safaricom, topped 50 million monthly active consumers for the first time in September. Since then, the number has risen to almost 57 million.
Fintech is currently responsible for 13% of Vodacom’s revenue.
“We want 25 percent to 30 percent of revenues to originate from new services by financial year 2026,” he stated, without giving too much away about their fintech income expectations.
In an interview, he explained that “new services” refers to areas such as finance and the internet of things.
