By Bisola Adeyemo
Cassava Smartech now trading as EcoCash Limited saw its six months to August 2021 revenue grow to $11 billion representing a 36 percent increase from the same period last month.
The company said growth was driven largely by an increase in transactional volumes for the fintech business units. Cassava’s fintech business remains the largest contributor to revenue, constituting 80 percent of the total.
Cassava’s management said it will continue to focus on revenue diversification as a strategy for revenue growth.
“Insurtech businesses implemented various initiatives to reach previously uninsured communities, and the business section revenue contribution grew from 14 percent in the same period last year to 19 percent on the back of the growing strength of our short-term insurance corporate book,” Sherree Shereni, the Cassava board Chairperson, said in a statement accompanying the group’s financials.
In line with the group’s revenue diversification strategy, the insurtech business revenue contribution grew from 14 percent in the same period last year to 19 percent on the back of the growing strength of short-term insurance corporate book.
In the six months to, Steward Bank’s lending strategy yielded positive results as the 127 percent growth in the loan book from February 2021 spurred the bank’s 293 percent growth in interest income, compared to the same period last year.
Ms Shereni added that, “The completion of the core banking system upgrade, in line with the acceleration of our digitization focus, has resulted in improved customer experience and has created capacity for the development of innovative products in the future.”
In the half year to August, the loss before tax reduced to $27,6 million compared to a loss before tax of $1,8 billion in the prior period on the back of revenue growth, reduced exchange losses, and effective cost reduction initiatives that started during the prior year.
Cassava says its management remains focused on leveraging technology to improve operational efficiencies.
During the period under review, Econet Life was awarded for being the most innovative insurance company at the 2021 Insurance Company awards.
“As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the mobile money business, we reflect on the key role that the business has played in driving the financial inclusion agenda in Zimbabwe. EcoCash continued a steady growth trajectory with transaction values and wallet funding on the upward trend compared to the same period last year at 25 percent and 54 percent, respectively,” Shereni said. Herald reports.
