According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz)’s 2017 fourth quarter (Q4) sector performance report released last week, EcoCash, a mobile money transfer service operated by its Cassava financial technology (FinTech) business unit, has consolidated its market leadership position.
The report shows that EcoCash grew its market share from 96.7% in the third quarter, to 97.2% in Q4 of 2017, while its sector peers NetOne’s OneMoney and Telecel’s TeleCash both lost market share.
OneMoney shed off 0.2% share of the market, from 1.3% to 1.1% in Q4, while TeleCash’s market share dropped from 2% to 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the report. Fintech is seen as the next big driver of growth in the mobile industry, along with mobile data. NetOne will be disappointed that despite concerted efforts to revitalize its mobile money service following a high-profile rebranding and relaunch of the service in mid-October 2017, OneMoney still lost ground to its more illustrious competitor EcoCash.
The telecoms regulator’s report also shows that EcoCash was the major catalyst to mobile money channel growth in the industry, where the cumulative number of active mobile money agents grew from 22 604 in Q3 to 27 284 in Q4. It shows that among the 27 284 total active agents, 26 247 are part of EcoCash’s agent network, which added 6 208 new active agents in the quarter, and grew by 31% – from 20 039 in Q3.
In the same period, the report says OneMoney added 295 new active agents, growing by 20.2%, from 1 458 active agents in Q3, to 1 753 in Q4. The marginal growth in real terms fell short of making a significant impact on overall share of the agent network, where it lost ground to EcoCash. The company will now be betting on a change in fortunes following the recent announcement of an executive change in personnel atop the State mobile telecom enterprise.
The Potraz report shows that Telecash’s active agent network shrunk by 20.1%, from 1 107 active agents in Q3, to 884 active agents in Q4 – a total loss of 223 active agents in the quarter. Operating in a growth sector with cash shortages, and in a business and regulatory environment that is supportive of the use of electronic payments, the decline in Telecash’s active agent network will be worrying for Telecel.
It would appear mounting uncertainty following a recent government takeover, and management anxiety over ongoing boardroom changes, along with persistent shareholder disagreements may have begun to take their toll on management’s ability to perform and deliver customer and shareholder value. But the challenges of its sector rivals should by no means take anything away from EcoCash’s consistent investment in growing its extensive agent network and its persistent efforts at creating a digital ecosystem by integrating its system with merchants, banks and other payment platforms, to make it the most widely used mobile commerce service in Zimbabwe, and by far the biggest driver of financial inclusion in the country.
