Needed to fix cross- border payments
While lots of investments have been made in payment infrastructure, Angela Wamola, head for sub- saharan Africa, GSMA, pointed out that only 60percent of the capacity that is available is utilised by customers. Even though this is an improvement on 2014, when only 12percent was in use, Wamola questioned whether investors would be encouraged to deploy resources towards systems that would take 10 or 20 years to reach usage capacity.
“We have to ask ourselves a difficult question. What is it that we are not doing that is not allowing the infrastructure, the capital that has been employed to be utilised?”
Technology, she said, is the least of the problems, pointing to the east African region, where it has been possible to “roam like home” for a decade, something that has not been replicated in the other regions.
“What we need to do is to make use of the legal frameworks and systems that we already have to make it possible for people to work and get their money in a way that is safe, secure and convenient because that is what interoperability is about,” she charged.
PRIVATE SECTOR DISRUPTION CAN SET THE PACE
Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa, challenged operators not to be constrained by regulators but instead to focus on innovations that bring convenience to their customers.
“If Safaricom had waited for the regulators in Kenya to allow MPESA, it would never have happened,” he argued, adding that “the operator followed choices… then the rules, that is the regulator, followed”.
Governments, he said, are not positioned to make the rules until the innovations are actually in place, as had happened with the iterations of mobile technology up to 5G. Innovators must thus focus on disruption and device solutions to the challenge of cross- border payments.
“We need to wake up. It is only disruption that will enable us to leapfrog; otherwise we will continue to trail the rest of the world.”
opportunity for the shareholders to realise their investment. “Benefits of the transaction include availability of funds from the sale for new projects and reduction of debt.”
Recently, the Group reported that it has reduced its loan to value ( LTV) ration from 46 percent to 45 percent. “It is management’s focus to further reduce debt over the medium‑term and to focus on sustainable and growing cash flow.
We are confident that striking the correct balance between growth and value assets within the portfolio in a three‑year period will lay the foundations to strongly improve the Group’s current financial metrics and enable delivery of growth objectives.”
The group also announced its intentions to dispose of non- core properties, particularly in South Africa. “This program has progressed, with agreements for four properties to the value of R114 million having been concluded. These properties had low property fundamentals and poor prospects. The proceeds are intended primarily to pay down debt.”