eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Listed fintech group- EcoCash Holdings Limited — says the volatile economic conditions in the country are a cause for concern and weighing on their business.
Despite positive economic projections for 2022 and 2023, the country is battling inflationary pressures that are eroding disposable incomes, coupled with limited access to foreign currency from official channels.
These also come at a time the country is making efforts to recover from the adverse impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic, while the conflict in Ukraine has also added to the strain causing global supply chain disruptions. These have posed a threat to business viability, not only for EcoCash, but across sectors.
“Macroeconomic uncertainties characterised by hyperinflation, rapid changes in policies and challenges in accessing foreign currency have resulted in a challenging operating environment for the group.
“The group will continue to adopt mitigatory measures, within the bounds of the country’s laws, to minimise the adverse impacts of the challenging operating environment,” said the group in a review for the half year to August 31, 2021.
Despite the difficult operating environment, EcoCash recorded a revenue growth of 7 percent to $45,4 billion for the half year period compared to $42,5 billion during the same period last year.
Most of the revenue was driven by the fintech business followed by insurtech and digital platforms.
The fintech business, anchored by mobile money platform EcoCash and Steward Bank, remains the largest contributor with performance being driven by new product innovations, and growth in the banks’ forex revenue, a result of the deliberate growth in the US dollar loan book and foreign currency accounts.
A profit before tax of $911,1 million was achieved, an improvement from the prior period’s loss before tax position of $106,2 million.
“This positive development reflects the benefits of our ongoing digital transformation journey which has seen an improvement in operational efficiencies, as well as the support of all our stakeholders.
“We will continue to build on this business strategy to ensure we deliver value for our shareholders,” said group chairman Sherree Shereni.
