When you look at MTN and Vodacom’s strategic imperatives each year, for the most part, they’re really close. I’ve lined up them up below for you, and as you see, the first four are the same.
| Vodacom | MTN |
| Best Customer Experience | Best Customer experience |
| Brand & Reputation | Hearts & Minds |
| Best Technology | Technology and excellence |
| Digital Organization & culture | Growth through digital and data |
| Segmented Propositions | Returns and efficiency focus |
| Ignite Commercial performance |
Below, from McKinsey, provides some context on what the sector has accomplished over the last ten years.
The telecommunications sector in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is in the midst of a decade of strong growth and investment, driven by a technology explosion and strong demographics. The region now claims 8 percent of global telecommunications revenues and 19 percent of economic profit. For the six-year period ending in 2015, the region averaged around 3.5 percent growth annually, far outstripping the global average of 0.3 percent. Well over half of this growth (53 percent) has been attained in low-income mobile-only countries, mostly through increased penetration.
The accomplishments above have largely been driven by the same strategies. Telecommunications strategy in Africa has largely been about network growth for the better part of ten years. In the last 5 years, mobile money and data have come into the mix and pushed digital revenues significantly higher. I’d say that’s also where most of the growth will continue to come from, and how the different telcos push for growth there will be the key decider of whether their strategy plays out or not. Based on their 2017 guidance, Vodacom is pushing a far more personalized approach. They believe deeply in their ability to use data and tools for data analysis like machine learning to customer offerings for individual customers. Whether customers care enough about differentiated offers on mobile is yet to be determined. MTN, on the other hand, have tried to push data prices down, and force their competitors to play on their turf. They have the larger network so their quality isn’t as good, but they can get more people on it, and charge lower prices. I don’t know which strategy will likely win. I do think price matters more to the African consumer right now. The demographics just push it that way but as income rises it could flip. That’s what’s exciting about strategy. You need to commit to it and hope you can execute.