Vodacom Tanzania’s Income up as telco maintains market lead

Dar es Salaam. Vodacom Tanzania’s revenues rose by 0.8 percent in the year to March 31, 2020 thanks largely to growth in income from mobile money (M-Pesa) and mobile data.
The company’s preliminary financial results for the year under review show that sound growth rates in M-Pesa and mobile data income streams were enough to offset the impact of a fall in revenues from mobile voice, mobile incoming and other services, as well as non-service income streams on the telecom firm’s overall income for the year.
The company closed the year with Sh1.033 trillion in income, up from Sh1.025 trillion in the year to March 31, 2019. Mobile data revenues grew by 9.8 per cent to Sh180.840 billion in the year to March 31, 2020.
During the preceding year, the telecommunications firm registered Sh164.658 billion in mobile data revenues.
Revenues from M-Pesa grew by 7.4 per cent  to Sh358. 243 billion  during the year to March 31, 2020, up from Sh333.519 billion in the preceding year.
The company says in the financial results that, during the year to March 31, 2020, it made considerable progress in prioritising financial inclusion through its M-Pesa system, while also enabling a digital society through connectivity.
“This included introducing an affordable $25 smart-feature phone; offering more M-Pesa services such as our overdraft product and expanding our international remittances portfolio, supported by continuous investment in the network,” the statement reads, noting that the efforts will further support the increasing demand for data and M-Pesa services by the firm’s customers.
During the period under review, Vodacom Tanzania netted 1.4 million new custom-ers, thus closing the year with 15.5 million subscribers countrywide.
Its services revenues grew by 0.9 percent to Sh1.025 trillion due to what the firm’s managing director, Mr Hisham Hendi, attributed to “a solid commercial execution, backed by strong customer growth.”