Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is investing more than US$200 million to expand network capacity, improve service quality and reduce disruptions caused by unreliable power.
The investment comes as mobile data usage continues to surge, driven by smartphone adoption, video streaming and digital services.
Econet Group CEO Douglas Mboweni said the company’s priorities are expanding network capacity and making its infrastructure more resilient.
“Every year, our customers are consuming significantly more data than the year before. Staying ahead of this growth requires continuous investment in network capacity, smarter technologies and infrastructure that can withstand the challenges of a rapidly evolving digital environment,” says Mboweni.
Econet operates more than 7,000 base stations across Zimbabwe, supporting 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. Mboweni said the company is retiring 2G and 3G infrastructure and reallocating spectrum to 4G and 5G to increase capacity and improve speeds. However, the shift is being slowed by the continued use of older handsets, particularly in rural areas.
“We have more than three million subscribers whose handsets are too old to support many of today’s digital services. If you are using a 2G or 3G device, high-bandwidth applications such as TikTok and YouTube will either not work or will deliver a poor experience,” Mboweni said. “That is a device limitation, not a network limitation. And so we are working on initiatives to make new smartphones more affordable so that more Zimbabweans can upgrade and fully benefit from the capabilities of the current technologies we offer.”
Power shortages remain a major cause of network outages. Econet is building a solar power station at Econet Tech City to supply its Harare operations and is rolling out an AI-based energy management system to monitor power use across its network. The company expects the system to cut power-related faults by up to 50% by the end of the year.
“We have made significant progress in a very short space of time, and we are already seeing the impact. By December, customers should experience a network with significantly more capacity, greater resilience and far fewer disruptions caused by power challenges,” Mboweni says.
