In its latest annual report,
Not only was the income low, but the company had projected much higher earnings this year in excess of Sh1.06 trillion. However, much to the dismay of its investors and stakeholders, the company was almost 10 percent off target in this year's second quarter earnings.
So what happened, how did the largest telecom company fall so far off its projections? And no in just one area, the company's annual report concedes that
In the words of the company's Board Chairman, Judge (rtd) Thomas Mihayo, "... the introduction of mobile money levies in the year (2021) was an unfortunate development... "
According to him, the government introduced mobile money levy in June last year is not good for financial inclusion in
The end result of the levies was that people shied away from mobile money transfers owing to the expensive charges levied on them. The public outcry was immense and it was best portrayed in the reduced returns for the country's largest telecom company.
Since its inception,
To see just how much the levies affected customers' decision and in turn
"This reflects the impact of the levies that saw M-Pesa users fall to 6.5 million by the end of the second quarter compared to the first quarter's 7.8 million," confirmed
These are huge figures in terms of money circulation for the public of
Other than M-Pesa, other affected revenue channels include the company's Mobile Voice, Incoming and Messaging services as well.
Mobile Voice, which offers calling and receiving call services, is
A similar fate befell Vodacom Mobile Incoming and Messaging services which dropped by 17.3 and 9.5 percent respectively.
Cost containment measures secure profits
It should be noted that the government did reduce its initial intended levies by 30 percent levy last September and when the public outcry made it to parliament, the House further cut the taxes down 43 percent back in June this year.
Put that together with
Ms. Bujiku would have stakeholders rest assured that; "We made good inroads across our key strategic focus areas, while also managing new headwinds such as levy on mobile money transfers and withdrawal transactions."
Looking to a bright future in her career, the newly appointed Acting MD remains positive that, despite the tax waves,
At the turn of the quarter,
In a public report issued earlier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of
The two appointments are, for the moment, considered only interim 'until such time that the recruitment and on-boarding process of the substantive Managing Director... ' the public communiqué explained.
As to the appointees backgrounds,
Ms. Bujiku joined
Worth noting is the fact that Ms. Bujiku was previously in a top position in Vodacom Lesotho where she was the Finance Director as well. Whilst in
As for
"He has in-depth experience in all areas of accounting and financial management with strong technical knowledge in International and Local Financial Reporting Standards. He holds a bachelor's degree in Commerce (Accounting) from the
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