Econet posts $5,78 billion loss

Telecommunications giant, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe posted a $5,78 billion loss in the first half to August 31, 2022 as tariffs continue to lag behind costs.

Econet has been urging the regulator to raise tariffs in line with inflation considering that inflation worsened for the period under review from the comparative 2021 period.

In its half-year ended August 31, 2021, Econet posted a profit after tax of $25,36 billion.

The telco recently raised its tariffs to $41,77 per minute for voice calls, up from $25,95, while data charges went up to $6,6 per megabyte (MB), up from $4,1 per MB. Sending SMSes now costs $8,59 per message, up from $5,33.

paid by the company prior to any allocation of revenue to cost of operations, and unwittingly create unequal regulation and disadvantages to licensed operators. Foreign currency scarcity continued to negatively impact the group’s various network expansion and routine maintenance plans.”

He said Econet would continue to seek opportunities to access foreign currency for which “all our initiatives are dependent”.