Econet feels unwanted

Econet Wireless says it has been at the receiving end of unfair treatment from authorities and "feels unwanted" in certain spaces, claiming this was stifling its growth, group chief executive Douglas Mboweni said.

Mboweni made the sensational remarks before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services yesterday.

The committee is chaired by Kuwadzana East Member of Parliament Nelson Chamisa. Mboweni said a lot of effort was spent on the "pull him down" syndrome aimed at Econet when, "ideally", the energy should have been expended on facilitating its growth.

Mboweni said the playing field was not level. The Econet CEO implored policy makers to bring down "speed restrictions" for companies that needed to move fast in rolling out their programmes and grow the economy rather than being "punished" for investing.