ENTEBBE – PMTS Limited, a distributor of Airtel Uganda services and products in the districts of Wakiso, Kampala and Kayunga has recorded significant growth in the year 2023.
Paul Sine, CEO PMTS Limited said that over the year, the number of sites has increased by 15%, shops by about 20%, and employees by about 10%.
“Our infrastructure of motorcycles has also increased and our ability to service our agents has also increased,” he said.
Sine was addressing the press during the stakeholders’ engagement on Sunday to review performance in the past year but also to plan, analyse and agree on strategies for the coming year 2024. Airtel Uganda’s year ends in March and new year starts in April.
“We have seen tremendous growth in the past year in terms of the number of sites, infrastructure, number of shops, the number of employees, but we still feel there are lots of opportunities in this market. Uganda is a growing economy,” he said.
According to him, there are still more opportunities in the areas they operate in considering of their development rate.
“The peri-urban areas are increasing and we are not located in some of these locations. So we need to take advantage of this [because] Airtel has been gracious enough to put sites there for people to be able to access their network, so we too need to move our infrastructure into these areas to better service.”
He added, “A lot of people now because of the data are working from home, they no longer come to Kampala to work. They wake up in the morning and start working. So they need our data, MiFi, and phones. We need to be able to provide them in these areas.”
Sine says this engagement will help them develop, foster, and build on their team.
He revealed that their mother company came up with Airtel App which is a powerful tool that enables a customer to access all services, wherever and whenever they want them.
“So the Airtel team took our team through the use of the Airtel App, which is critical because in most cases, we can’t reach anywhere but someone can use the App, move money from their bank to their phone and access data.”
However, he said they are faced with a number of challenges including area accessibility since some of these areas are hard to reach.
He also decried insecurity in some of the areas citing several attacks on Airtel Money agents.
“So the rotation of our teams in these areas has got to increase which also increases our costs.”
Ali Balunywa – Sales Director, Airtel Uganda commended PMTS for the job well done and also for hosting a self-check conference.
“These trainings help, fast, renew the passion and desire but also the connectivity between the distributor and the company so that when they give the service, we are aligned in terms of the quality of service they gave, but also we are aligned in terms of driving our agenda.”
Such meetings, he added, “help renew our commitment fast by the distributor to know he is committed to serving the communities that Airtel has given him but also reminding them where the gaps are.”
Balunywa is confident that with partners like PMTs, Airtel services shall improve.
