By Business Reporter

ECONET Wireless is looking to de-merge and separately list on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) its EcoCash mobile money operation.

Company secretary, Charles Banda, confirmed plans to de-merge and separately list the business in a statement last week.

He urged investors to exercise caution when dealing with the company’s shares.

“Shareholders, debenture holders and members of the investing public are advised to continue to exercise caution and consult their professional advisors before dealing in the company’s shares until the full details of the transactions are announced or upon withdrawal of this cautionary,” said Banda. 

The mobile money transfer service, now headed by Natalie Payida Jabangwe, was officially launched in 2011, and, within 18 months of its launch, 31% of Zimbabwe’s adult population registered to the service.

By November 2017, the service had over 6.7 million registered users, accounting for 80% of adult Zimbabweans or 52% of all citizens.

Meanwhile, plans to list Econet subsidiary Liquid Telecom Holdings on an international stock market are also proceeding apace.

Banda said Econet would exchange its 51 percent shareholding in Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe for a stake of equivalent value in the holding company in advance of the international listing.

The Econet group is one of the largest companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in terms of market capitilisation.

It was founded by Strive Masiyiwa in 1993 and now has operations across Africa as well as in Europe, South America, North America and the East Asia Pacific Rim.