Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business #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:
- South African telecoms sector context
- Telkom's early history
- We'll deepdive into Telkom's primarily telco & non-telco businesses
- Telkom's operating & financial performance
- .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:
- Recommendation: Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman & Encanto
- Small win: Played basketball for the first time in several months
- Other content: San Francisco Has Become a Shoplifter’s Paradise
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.