Itai Ndongwe
HARARE – PowerTel is looking to expand its southern African footprint through a US$30 million investment, as it seeks to boost foreign currency earnings and bridge the digital divide in rural areas.
The primary goal of this expansion is to capitalise on the growing demand for telecommunications services in these countries, particularly in rural areas, with PowerTel aiming to bridge the digital divide by providing dependable internet connectivity and other telecommunication services to underserved communities.
Powertel Acting MD Willard Nyagwande told FinX that, “In our strategy for 2025, we will be expanding. Remember, we also connect the Southern African Power Pool. It’s easy for us to get into Zambia. We already have plans to land into Zambia, into South Africa, into Mozambique, and into Namibia. We we also want to go and do rural datafication in those areas. So, we are going to launch what we call both a local and regional expansion strategy. And those plans are already in place.”
He added that the capital required is about US$30 million and PowerTel has already submitted the request to the shareholder – Mutapa Investment Fund.
PowerTel intends to create considerable foreign exchange gains for Zimbabwe by expanding into neighbouring nations, and the expansion is being driven in part by the influx of foreign telecommunications businesses into Zimbabwe. PowerTel plans to counteract this rivalry by entering their native markets. “Zimbabwe is very lucrative in terms of telecom. We have seen a lot of South African companies, Kenyan companies, and international companies coming to take our money. So, we also want to go there to their countries and take money as part,” Nyagwande added.
Meanwhile, the company has budgeted US$49 million for Capex. The company also stated that Mutapa Investment Fund, is aware of its Capex requirements and is working on them.
This year, PowerTel has committed more than US$5.5 million in establishing another gateway, a dual gateway into South Africa via Beitbridge, in order to strengthen redundancy.
PowerTel has a new approach to technology that emphasizes collaboration and innovation. Rather than competing with other companies, PowerTel embraces new technologies and works closely with both technical companies and universities.
The company is actively developing new products and systems in partnership with these institutions, including solutions for transformer monitoring and laptop tracking. This collaborative approach reflects PowerTel’s commitment to staying ahead of the curve and leveraging the expertise of others to create innovative solutions.
