#48: Telkom - How the former South African monopoly evolved to provide telecommunication services across Africa

Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Telkom - The South African telecommunications company. We’ll explore the Telkom story across 5 areas:

1. South African telecoms sector context
2. Telkom's early history
3. We'll deepdive into Telkom's primarily telco & non-telco businesses
4. Telkom's operating & financial performance
5. .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 [e-mail]
• Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at [e-mail]

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 [e-mail] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.