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

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

South African telecoms sector context

Telkom's early history

We'll deepdive into Telkom's primarily telco & non-telco businesses

Telkom's operating & financial performance

.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 [email protected]

Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at [email protected]

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 [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.