NetOne has nearly 2 million customers it is not chasing

You would think proximity to the government in Africa is a unique advantage, particularly for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In most cases, there is only oversight on operations if there is a popular movement for an inquest, or expedited access to areas of the economy that would take private corporations an age to negotiate.

With Zimbabwe’s state-owned mobile network operator (MNO), NetOne, that seems not to be the case… Glancing through the Auditor General’s Reports, the telecoms company incurred a loss of ZWL$40 billion as of December 2022 which equates to about US$59 million at the mid-auction rate at the close of the year. ..

This is all despite NetOne reporting that it had doubled its internet traffic data in July 2024, according to a yet-to-be-released Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) Report. 

What this demonstrates is that there are no stakes at NetOne and its position as an SOE will keep it going in perpetuity at the taxpayers cost. This is disappointing because it shows a general lack of innovation to bring competition to the very one-sided mobile network operators market that has seen Econet Wireless Zimbabwe remain unchallenged over the last decade.