Mobile operator Vodacom Mozambique announced on Monday (15) that it will invest 25 million dollars to expand its network in the country, especially in rural areas, with the aim of reaching around 5 million people.
“With an investment of 25 million dollars, Vodacom aims to reach five million people, significantly improving their lives through the use of available technologies, including access to electronic financial services through the M-Pesa (mobile wallet) platform,” the company said in a statement.
According to the document, the money will be used to guarantee the extension and improvement of infrastructures that were damaged during extreme weather events in the country.
“While we recognise the challenges inherent in expanding into rural areas, such as the lack of basic infrastructure and difficult access during the rainy season, Vodacom has implemented innovative solutions to overcome these obstacles. Our determination to ensure that rural populations are not excluded from access to technology is unequivocal,” he emphasised.
The institution pointed out that “in the last two years, progress has been made in expanding the network, with the installation of around 300 new stations, spread across all the provinces, most notably Nampula (north) and Zambézia (centre), where 40 percent of the new stations have been established,” it recalled.
Vodacom has been operating in the country’s telecommunications sector since 2003, with Vodacom International (85 per cent) as its shareholder and local partners such as Empresa Moçambicana de Telecomunicações (1.99 per cent), Intelec Holdings (6.5 per cent) and Whatana Investments (6.5 per cent), among others.
Data released by Mozambique’s National Communications Institute indicates that by 2022, of the three mobile operators in the country, Vodacom had the largest share of the mobile data market, with around six million customers, followed by Movitel, with four million, and state-owned Tmcel, with just over three million customers.