Takealot Group CEO Frederik Zietsman believes South Africa needs cheaper smartphones and data accessible to larger portions of the population to unlock the potential that e-commerce has to spur economic growth.
Zietsman said on Tuesday that South Africa needs to follow the example set by the Indian telecommunications sector by making connectivity the “oxygen” that fuels the growth of other sectors, including e-commerce.
“For the digital economy to take off, there are soft barriers related to trust and hard barriers related to connectivity and logistics that must be overcome,” said Zietsman.
“We need reliable, fast and cheap connectivity. Indian telcos have been very good at democratising data and making it ‘oxygen’ for e-commerce to thrive. We also need to get more handsets in the hands of people, and we must drive these costs down.”
Takealot recently launched Takealot Fulfilment Services (TFS), which offers last-mile logistics to third parties including large retailers and small businesses. Zietsman described TFS as an infrastructure play that benefits the entire ecosystem by solving last-mile delivery inefficiencies.
Takealot has a personal shopper programme that is helping increase e-commerce adoption rates in township and rural communities. Zietsman said the programme has onboarded more than 16 000 personal shoppers that are helping make e-commerce more accessible.
Smartphone costs
However, connectivity costs and smartphone penetration are beyond its control. At government level, communications minister Solly Malatsi successfully lobbied national treasury for the reduction of ad valorem taxes on smartphones costing R2 500 or less. Although the move was praised by telecoms operators, industry analysts criticised the intervention for not going far enough to address affordability.
Operators have also been making efforts to lower the cost of smart devices. Both Vodacom and MTN have announced new low-cost 4G phones aimed at helping customers who use legacy 2G and 3G technologies migrate. One one hand, such initiatives will help subscribers gain access to digital tools and the digital economy. On the other, it will help simplify network management for both operators, which currently juggle four generations of radio access technology: 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G.
Read: Vodacom, MTN join GSMA coalition to deliver $30 smartphone for Africa
The smartphone penetration problem is not limited to South Africa. More recently, Vodacom and MTN partnered with global mobile telecoms industry body GSMA and four telecoms operators from other parts of Africa to address the issue. The alliance has developed a set of baseline specifications for memory, RAM, camera quality, display size, battery performance and other features to bring a US$30 handset to market, with plans to engage with device manufacturers to assess feasibility.
GSMA Intelligence – the industry group’s research arm – estimates that a US$40 smartphone could bring mobile internet within reach for an additional 20 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, while a $30 handset could allow up to 50 million to get connected.
According to Zietsman, solving trust and connectivity issues will drive e-commerce growth only if this is accompanied by efforts to improve last-mile infrastructure in rural and outlying communities, alongside a supportive regulatory framework.
Read: Takealot sees off competitive threats to deliver revenue surge
“If we can solve these issues in a world where regulators understand and want to seize the power of e-commerce, it can have a massive impact on the economy. The rest of the world is awake to the potential e-commerce has to power the economy, and South Africa needs to get on board,” said Zietsman. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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