Vodafone Egypt has secured a 5G licence for US$150 million, while the Vodacom Group subsidiary also extended its existing spectrum licences for five years, to 2039, for US$17 million.
According to Vodacom Group, these costs will be paid in the second half of the financial year. The Company revealed its interim results and dividend declaration for the six months ending September 30, 2024.
Vodacom said the 5G licence was awarded by Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, represented by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, on October 7, 2024.
The news comes as Egypt has emerged as a shining star in the Vodacom stable, which includes operations in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
In the current reporting period, Vodafone Egypt delivered service revenue of R13.0 billion, contributing 22.1% to the Group service revenue.
Vodacom said service revenue was up 44.1% in local currency, accelerating marginally to 44.4% in the second quarter.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, commented: “Growth was supported by strong customer engagement in connectivity and excellent growth in Vodafone Cash.
Vodafone Cash is an Egyptian financial services platform based on M-PESA that offers peer-to-peer money transfers, payments, savings products, and microloans to about 3 million customers.
“Egypt closed the period with customers reaching the 50 million milestone. Average revenue per user growth of 34.6% reflected strong commercial traction supported by extensive utilisation of big data and analytics.
“Data traffic was up 32.0%, supported by data customer growth of 9.6% to 30.9 million. Smartphones on the network were up 10.8%. In the second quarter, mobile data revenue increased 46.9%.”
He said: “Vodafone Cash service revenue was up 94.5% in local currency. Revenue was supported by customer growth of 43.1% to 9.6 million.
“The reported EBITDA margin of 43.4% was up 1.5ppts, reflecting excellent cost control in a high inflation environment. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange trading losses, the EBITDA margin was 45.1%, up 3.4ppts. Operating profit growth was 78.1% in local currency, supporting net income growth of 75.1%.”
When it came to capital investment in Egypt, the telco said it invested US$125 million, which represented a capital intensity ratio of 15.7%.
Joosub said: “We continued to deploy 2 600 MHz spectrum and roll out new sites. Subsequent to the period end, we announced a US$150 million investment into a 5G licence and extended our existing licences to 2039 for US$17.0 million.”
Vodafone Egypt holds a 43% revenue market share and has 43 million consumer and enterprise customers.
Telecom Egypt, Orange, Etisalat Egypt, and Ericsson are some of the other major companies operating in North Africa.
