#48: Telkom - How the former South African monopoly evolved to provide telecommunication services across Africa
Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessApril 01, 2022
48
01:43:39166.08 MB

#48: Telkom - How the former South African monopoly evolved to provide telecommunication services across Africa

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Telkom - The South African telecommunications company. We’ll explore the Telkom story across 5 areas:

  1. South African telecoms sector context
  2. Telkom's early history
  3. We'll deepdive into Telkom's primarily telco & non-telco businesses
  4. Telkom's operating & financial performance
  5. .Overall outlook.


This episode was recorded on Mar 27, 2022


Companies discussed: Telkom, Vodacom, Vodafone, Cell C, MTN, Southwestern Bell Communications (now AT&T), Safaricom (M-Pesa), Rain Networks & Multilink


Business concepts discussed: Telecommunications (Telco) strategy, Mobile money, Internet connectivity, International telecommunication expansion, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), Cell Towers spinoffs & Telco regulation


Conversation highlights:

  • (01:10) - Telkom and why we’re talking about it
  • (07:12) - South Africa context
  • (13:20) - Telkom’s transition to commercial company
  • (15:30) - SBC and Telekom Malaysia investment in 1997
  • (18:44) - 2003 IPO
  • (31:20) - Telkom sale of Vodacom stake
  • (33:00) - Telkom market expansion
  • (42:17) - Telkom’s mobile business
  • (53:08) - Telkom’s non-telco businesses
  • (57:38) - Investments and Partnerships
  • (1:00:38) - Financial results and stock performance
  • (1:06:44) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (1:22:40) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (1:34:55) - Recommendations and small wins


Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

  • Recommendation: The Wealthy Gardner, Generalist AngelList article (AngelList is probably my favorite company in the world), Live life with Passion (Brendon Burchard)
  • Recommendation: AwardLogic & Point.me. There's never really been an Expedia of airline miles
  • Small win: Got Samsung Galaxy S22, looks nice. Just need to set it up
  • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
  • Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com


Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:


Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.