Joosub’s “System of Advantage” shields Vodacom from SA consumer pain

Key topics:Vodacom revenue rises 11%, led by strong growth outside South Africa.Egypt soars: service revenue up 39%, driving overall group performance.Fintech & M&A moves strengthen Vodacom’s pan-African TechCo strategy..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Alec Hogg.If ever there were results that vindicated a CEO’s strategic pivot, they are the trading update released this morning by SA’s cell phone market leader, Vodacom - even though the market’s initial reaction was muted, with the share price dropping 1.5%. For years, Shameel Joosub has been preaching the gospel of diversification—moving the telco giant from a pure-play South African voice carrier into a pan-African “TechCo” powered by financial services and data. Numbers for the quarter ended 31 December 2025 prove this wasn’t just corporate speak. It was a survival necessity.The Tale of Two MarketsHeadline numbers are robust. Group revenue is up a healthy 11% to R43.9bn, with service revenue ticking up 12.7%. But peel back the layers, and you’ll witness a stark divergence between the mature, cash-strapped South African market and the booming growth engines to the north.At home, economic stagnation is reflected in service revenue growth of only 1.4%. The prepaid segment, an accurate barometer of the disposable income of SA’s masses, actually declined 3.6%. This confirms what we already know: financially, average South Africans are gasping for air. .Read more:.Vodacom reports strong growth driven by Egypt and fintech, but SA margins weaken.Despite data traffic surging a massive 32.3% as people move more of their lives online, they simply cannot afford to spend more. They are consuming more for less, largely due to promotional pricing, forcing Vodacom to rely on “beyond mobile” services to keep the needle moving.Egypt shoots the lights outThere can hardly be a greater contrast than Vodacom’s performance in Egypt. Acquired to reduce reliance on a stagnating SA market, the geography is now the group’s star performer. Service revenue rocketed 39% to R9.5 billion, taking it to over a quarter (27%) of the group’s total service revenue. In just a few years, Joosub has bolted on a growth engine that is pulling the entire train while the South African locomotive undergoes repairs.The M&A MachineThe update also highlights two massive strategic plays set to define Vodacom’s next decade.First, the long-awaited Maziv fibre deal closed on 1 December 2025. It gives Vodacom a 30% stake in a fibre powerhouse that’s in nearly 2.8 million homes. It’s a vital infrastructure play that secures their backend as 5G and fibre become indistinguishable in the connectivity mix.Second, and perhaps more exciting for the bulls, is the move to consolidate Safaricom. On 4 December, Vodacom announced it is buying an additional 15% of the Kenyan giant from the state, plus 5% from Vodafone, bringing its stake to a controlling 55%. This isn’t just about buying earnings; it’s about owning the M-Pesa ecosystem.Fintech is the new voiceSpeaking of M-Pesa, the financial services division is no longer just a “value-add”—it is a distinct pillar of the business. The group processed a staggering US$500.7 billion in transaction value over the last year. To put that in perspective, that is half a trillion dollars flowing through Joosub’s pipes. Financial services revenue itself jumped nearly 25% to R4.5 billion for the quarter.The Bottom LineFor investors, the message is clear. If Vodacom were still just a South African mobile network, this trading update would be a grim read about prepaid churn and ARPU pressure. Instead, it is a story of resilience through geography and product mix.Joosub’s “Vision 2030” is reshaping the company into something far more robust than its legacy predecessor. While the SA consumer remains on the ropes, the growth story has successfully migrated north.

Joosub’s “System of Advantage” shields Vodacom from SA consumer pain

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