- The Vodacom Group has announced double-digit year on year growth in the first quarter ended June 2009, saying its customer base increased by a total of 19.5 percent to 41.3 million and revenue to R14.2 billion compared to the same quarter last year.
The Vodacom Group CEO, Pieter Uys, said R800 million in this quarter was contributed by the Gateway , resulting in overall organic group revenue growth of 5.9 percent, with an 8.2 percent growth in South African operations, offset by the international operations revenues of 8.1 percent.
“With consumer spending under pressure, we focussed on promotional activities to our customers that offered more value, in line with the first leg of our growth strategy to grow our core mobile business,” he said.
He said in the second leg of the company’s strategy, which was to increase the mobile broadband penetration, tha saw the number of customers increasing by 98 000 in the first quarter, bringing the total mobile broadband customers to 825 000, adding that a further increase in telemetry broadband packages brought our total data connectivity customers to over one million.
Mr Uys said Vodacom South Africa has maintained its customer base and attracted new ones, now estimated at a total of 28.7 million, through innovative prepaid products, which he said represented 7.2 million customers as at 30 June 2009.
Vodacom has also said it’s unlikely to spend the R3.0 billion it budgeted this year for its operations in Africa excluding South Africa. The company has halted spending in Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, Mr Uys told the media today, while also saying the company was looking for more acquisitions in the region.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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