William Mzimba, who has helped to grow Vodacom’s enterprise business over the past five years, will step down later this year, retiring from the group.
On Friday, SA’s largest mobile operator said Mzimba has elected to retire after a five-year tenure and will leave the company at the end of September.
Through the Covid-19 pandemic, Vodacom Business, headed by the former Accenture boss, has become an area of growth for the group, due to businesses moving their activities and operations online, which increased demand for connectivity.
Increased demand for connectivity and a remote working system, among a long list, drove this growth.
In the year to March 2023, Vodacom Business accounted for a fifth, 20.5%, of Vodacom SA’s service revenue. This translates to just under 15% of group revenue which stood at R119.2bn.
Vodacom did not typically highlight the performance of the enterprise division in the past, indicating its growing importance to the group.
Beyond this, Mzimba brought an element of management consulting to the unit in charge of servicing large and small enterprise clients, as well as the public sector, now working on ways to become a one-stop shop for small to medium business owners, so that it can grow earnings beyond connectivity.
The unit recently developed a platform through which business owners can search for and find specific registered experts, paying as and when they need something done as opposed to having to pay large retainer fees continuously.
Another piece of the offering is helping smaller businesses to access funding for their operations, which helps to grow its lending unit.
In 2020 Vodacom began offering access to short-term loans of up to R1.5m for small and medium businesses. Businesses must have been registered and operational for at least 12 consecutive months, have a good credit rating and generate annual revenues of at least R500,000, the group said at the launch.
Vodacom business competes in a number of areas with the likes of MTN Business and Telkom’s BCX.
During his tenure Mzimba headed Vodacom’s enterprise units in Africa where he led a team tasked with “driving digital transformation of businesses and governments across several industries and markets”.
He was also instrumental in pushing Vodacom’s place in the internet of things, sometimes referred to as connected devices.
He spearheaded a 2019 deal that created a partnership with Toyota and Altron’s Netstar unit, where new Toyota and Lexus vehicles are fitted with in-car internet using Vodacom’s network.
Sitho Mdlalose, CEO of Vodacom SA, said: “I would like to offer my gratitude to William for his invaluable contribution in growing Vodacom Business, including overseeing Vodacom’s SmartGov initiative which saw the deployment of smart metering solutions which improved revenue assurance for the municipalities, citizen engagement and smart asset management.”
Education projects
Mzimba is also credited for pushing Vodacom’s education efforts as the group chases new revenue streams in the online education space, addressing access to computing devices and providing those devices affordably, as a way to capture market share.
The company says this push delivered virtual education to more than a million students, adding that the team leveraged Mezzanine — a start-up platform backed by the operator — to deliver Covid-19 vaccinations “impacting over 40-million citizens, connected over 3-million farmers and delivered e-vouchers to support small-scale farmers”.
It is unclear what the future holds for Mzimba, whether retirement will truly mean an exit from corporate life or a bridge to another executive role.
Mzimba holds an MBA from Bond University, a bachelor of arts from De Montfort University, a management advancement programme qualification from Wits University, and a diploma in datametrics (computer science) from Unisa.
“During my time at Vodacom, I have been privileged to witness the remarkable growth and success we have achieved together,” he said.
“It is through collaborative efforts of an exceptional executive team and employees that we have helped many organisations, small to large, transform their challenges into opportunities.”
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