The mobile operator is adding more functionality to its Mobile Money platform, which has struggled to gain traction in South Africa.

The mobile operator has reduced postpaid data bundles by 70%, while its prepaid package has been reduced by 32%.

Cash may have traditionally been king, but the coronavirus pandemic is contributing to a faster pace of mobile money adoption across the continent.

The company acknowledges the duty and powers of the regulators to promote fair competition among licensed operators.

The telco says its newly-launched financial services division aims to digitise the cash that is still floating in the economy.

The telco moves into the competitive financial services space, promising to offer financial solutions to empower businesses and individuals.

Demand for data and digital services grew significantly, but the telco experienced a decline in demand for voice services in the mass market segment.

The telco’s earnings per share include the benefit from gains on the disposal of towers in Uganda and Ghana.

In the first quarter, the company added 2.9 million active data users across its operations on the continent.

The company says the impact of COVID-19 on its first quarter performance was not significant, except for delayed orders.

The World Bank projects a 20% decline in global remittances, urging service providers and authorities to introduce measures to ease use of mobile money platforms.

The transaction will accelerate M-Pesa’s growth in Africa by giving both Vodacom and Safaricom full control of the M-Pesa brand.