Econet is a private company that is controlled by the technological entrepreneur Strive Masiiwa. The company is registered in Mauritius as Econet Global Ltd. and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Econet has grown to become a leading digital and technology company that has been pivotal in connecting Africa and linking the continent to the world.
Background of Econet Global
Econet Global was founded in 1993. However, the company was granted a license to operate in 1998. The company was involved in the development of a mobile payment platform for Non-Governmental Organisations in 2005. The technology was later integrated and launched by Econet as Ecocash. By 2017, the platform had more than 6.7 million registered users.
The company later acquired TN Bank Zimbabwe in 2013, Burundi’s Telecel owned by Vimpel Com in 2014, and Telecel in the Central African Republic. Since then, the company has expanded its portfolio beyond mobile service providers.
Econet Global is now a leading enterprise with an extensive portfolio of subsidiaries. The company is a multi-service provider for the continent and abroad. The company has operations in South America, East Asia, Europe, and Africa.
How Many Subsidiaries Does Econet Have?
The company is a major player when it comes to connectivity in Africa. The company boasts of 100 000km of terrestrial fibre optic cable that connects Southern to Northern Africa. The company has connected East to Western Africa.
These operations are handled through major subsidiaries which are Econet Wireless, Cassava Technologies, and Cassava Smartech. Econet wireless provisions mobile network services. The company has under its control Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless South Africa, Econet Telecoms in Lesotho, Mascom in Botswana, and Econet Leo in Burundi.
Cassava Technologies is responsible for fibre infrastructure, fibre infrastructure business, and fibre infrastructure services. The company is led by Hardy Pemhiwa. Cassava Technologies is the brainchild of Strive Masiiwa who intends to connect Africa.
The goal of Cassava is to ensure that internet access is as close to the individual as possible. Through Liquid Intelligent Technologies Cassava Technologies launched the fiber to the home (FTTH) and wire to the home (WTTH), which shows the extent to which the company is committed to achieving its objectives.
Cassava Technologies controls the Liquid Intelligent Technologies Group Transact Payment Solutions, Africa Data Centres, Sasai Fintech, Cassava Remit, Vaya Technologies, and Distributed Power Technologies.
Cassava Smartech is responsible for the operations of Steward Bank, Ecocash, Ownai, Eco-Farmer, and Ruzivo Digital Learning.
The subsidiaries of the three umbrella companies have their subsidiaries. The Liquid Intelligent Technologies group has eight (8) subsidiaries under its portfolio.