FILLING THE VACUUM
TBY talks to Lars Stork, CEO of Vodafone Zambia, on building the company in Zambia, competition, and attracting customers.
BIOGRAPHY
Lars Stork is a Danish executive who has lived and worked in 15 countries around the world with a proven track record of starting up, launching, growing, and transforming businesses. He holds significant management experience, from FMCG (Unilever) and telecoms businesses (Celtel). His most recent telecoms experience was with an Indian startup, building an organization for the implementation of 4G LTE services. Stork has won a global award for the best innovative approach in penetrating rural areas in Africa. He was also named in the GTB top-100 list of the most influential people in the telecoms industry.What was the driving force behind Vodafone's expansion into Zambia?
Vodafone Zambia was a product of Vodafone and Afrimax Group entering a non-equity partner market agreement for Zambia with a clear vision of becoming the number one next generation operator in Zambia. The communications sector in Zambia has undergone a substantial shift, turning it into one driven largely by the growth of data services, proving research which suggests Sub-Saharan Africa is currently undergoing a mobile digital revolution with consumers awakening to the possibilities of 3G and 4G technology. Most smart-phone owners' usage patterns have increasingly become more data-heavy, with the quantity spent on non-voice activity rising noticeably. Against this backdrop, we entered the Zambian market in June 2016 with the launch of 4G LTE data services aimed at transforming the communication sector in order to bridge the digital divide, with an initial investment of USD40 million.
What was the response to Vodafone's entry into the market from leading companies in Zambia?
Since we launched, we have continued receiving overwhelming response from customers. The growth we have experienced in such a short period exemplifies the massive vacuum that has existed in Zambia's internet space—a vacuum we will gladly fill. In light of the overwhelming response we received, we established Zambia as the regional operational center of excellence of the Afrimax-Vodafone Group, servicing other markets across the continent like Ghana, Uganda, and Cameroon. This is testimony of the great skill-set that our local team possesses and provides a unique opportunity for the team to share best practice, transfer skills to other markets on the continent, and also provide job opportunities both locally and regionally as a way of enhancing talent development. To date, we have already exported innovative products and services to our operations on the continent and to the Global Vodafone Group. Currently Vodafone stands as the only international organization within the telecommunications sector, to set up its regional hub in the country—another first in Zambia.
How can ICTs be harnessed to enable the youth segment, and what is Vodafone doing to spearhead this endeabour?
Zambia is continuously embracing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as an enabler of social and economic development. The industry is growing fast and making a significant contribution to national trade and investment. In this market, 60-70% of the population is below 25 years of age, signalling an impressive pool of talent and immense capacity just waiting to be tapped into. To demonstrate the power ICTs have to transform and empower, we developed a free e-learning platform called JUMP, which is a tool for young people focused on education and entrepreneurship. The platform hosts video lessons from Zambia's most distinguished lecturers through the JUMP Academy. As such, we are making education accessible to young people who do not have the funds to attend varsity. In addition, we have content focused on entrepreneurship, self-motivation, lifestyle, and entertainment. In the entertainment category of the portal, we will soon imbed a music sharing section. Here, we hope to offer an online space to encourage local talent to upload video and audio content. Furthermore, we have a radical approach to human resources by employing top graduates who now account for 50% of the organization's staff compliment. We designed a program for Institutions of Higher learning in Zambia, and from there we handpicked graduates to become part of the business' “next generation" culture that is characterized by innovation and market disruption. As a result, we received the Africa Best Employer Brand award from the Employer Branding Institute for our dynamic work culture; this is uncommon for many corporates in Zambia and we hope to be an inspiration to others.
FILLING THE VACUUM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Year In Review
What A Year
Zambia has long been a bastion of stability in Southern Africa, and while its economy has been rocked in recent years by the falling value of copper prices, a devaluating kwacha, and high inflation, through the Economic Recovery Program the government has bold ambitions to right the ship.
read articleReview
Convoke, Confound & Collect
Squeezed between a rock and a rather hard place by the slowdown in Chinese demand for copper, by far Zambia's biggest export and government-revenue generator, President Lungu has been forced to get creative in his country's alliances to broaden revenue streams and lessen its dependence on the vagaries of one foreign market.
read articleGuest Speaker
Dr. Stergomena L. Tax, Executive Secretary, Southern African Development Community (SADC)
TBY talks to Dr. Stergomena L. Tax, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), on regional economic development, boosting pan-continental free trade agreements, and improving security through mutual development.
read articleInterview
Susan Sikaneta, Ambassador, Zambia to Ethiopia & Permanent Representative to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa
TBY talks to Susan Sikaneta, Ambassador of Zambia to Ethiopia & Permanent Representative to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa, on championing peace across the continent, advancing women's rights, and promoting Pan-Africanism.
read articleInterview
Sebastian C. Kopulande, CEO, Zambian International Trade & Investment Centre (ZITIC)
TBY talks to Sebastian C. Kopulande, CEO of Zambian International Trade & Investment Centre (ZITIC), on taming austerity, stimulating sustainable growth, and creating the framework to support entrepreneurship
read articleFocus: Zambia Plus
Adding it All Up
On October 20, 2016, at the 2017 Budget Address, Finance Minister Felix Mutati launched the government's economic recovery program, christened "Zambia Plus." The program is designed to spur domestic productivity, through strengthening ties and collaborating with external donors and developers.
read articleReview: Banking
Macroeconomics Rule the Roost
In its ongoing efforts to diversify away from one principal commodity, copper, the government fosters the development, standardization, and efficacy of the private sector. In doing so the systematic support of the financial universe, especially banks, is vital, as is the goal of financial inclusion.
read articleFocus: SME Growth
IMF support program
An IMF support program stands to provide Zambia with some much-needed discipline on its expenditure and operational efficiencies; however, many caution the need for Zambia to determine what it wants to achieve and how the program will benefit the country.
read articleInterview
Christabel M. Banda, Executive Director, Insurers Association of Zambia (IAZ)
TBY talks to Christabel M. Banda, Executive Director of Insurers Association of Zambia (IAZ), on the evolution of the local insurance landscape, raising awareness, and tackling challenges in the sector.
read articleFocus: Solar
Sunny Side Up
As power demand continues to rise and power production continues to fall behind, it's the same old story for Zambia, still wrestling with an ongoing energy crisis. Public- and private-sector drives are seeking to mitigate this deficit by activating the country's solar industry.
read articleInterview
Margaret K. Chalwe-Mudenda, Director General, Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA)
TBY talks to Margaret K. Chalwe-Mudenda, Director General of Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA), on new projects, the ZNDC, and expectations for the year ahead.
read articleInterview
Hon. Dora Siliya, Minister, Agriculture
TBY talks to Hon. Dora Siliya, Minister of Agriculture, on the investments being made in agriculture to enable agricultural households, diversifying Zambia's basket of produce, and making international markets more accessible for local producers.
read articleInterview
Hon. Charles R. Banda, Minister, Tourism and Arts
TBY talks to Hon. Charles R. Banda, Minister of Tourism and Arts, on the wealth of tourism destinations within Zambia, efforts to bring more visitors to the country, and what the Tourism Development Fund will contribute to developments.
read article