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INSTACASH’S OVER E1M FOR SPORTS IN SIX MONTHS

12/02/2023 09:10:00 Nimrod Hlophe

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MBABANE – They are only six months old but Instacash has pumped over E1 million in sports.

They are the newest in the mobile money services providers and the third company after Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) major leagues’ sponsor MTN Eswatini and Mbabane Swallows sponsor Eswatini Mobile. Instacash has been making waves through sponsoring various sporting entities in the country, particularly regional football.
A special focus into their investment in sports revealed that they have so far pumped in E1 070 000 - this is in six months of their existence.

The money benefitted seven sporting associations, being Hhohho Regional Football Association (HRFA), Manzini Regional Football Association (MRFA), Shiselweni Regional Football Association (SRFA), Lubombo Regional Football Association (LRFA) and Eswatini Women’s Football Association (EWFA).

Netball

Others are Eswatini National Netball Association (ENNA), who got E30 000 for their inaugural Instacash Netball Cup in August 2022, to mark the beginning of the investments, Eswatini Schools Sports Association (ESSA) got E350 000, Eswatini Soccer Socials (ESS) also got E200 000, as well as Eswatini Social Football (ESF) received E200 000. The regional football associations were led by HRFA as first beneficiaries with a package of E130 000 last September for tournaments played by 13 leagues under it.

MRFA got E80 000 for its eight leagues, SRFA pocketed E160 000 for their 16 zones, while LRFA’s package was E120 000 for 12 zones. The EWFA was given E50 000 for a tournament other than the league. The tournament is yet to be played. ESSA is to date the biggest beneficiary at E350 000 for a high schools soccer tournament that will be played in all 15 branches this term, up to June. Instacash’s Managing Director (MD) Mandla ‘Cheeks’ Nxumalo explained the lion’s share for schools.

He said schools were a breeding ground for talent; academic, sports, and arts among others. The MD said it was only right to invest in the future stars, so as to ensure that they got to be globally competitive in the near future.
According to Soccer Sky, corporate sponsorship of sports provides the opportunity to improve the fan experience of the sport of soccer. It is said it develops new players to also improve their football skills while building confidence in their form at a tender age. Nxumalo said this was one of the many ways companies used for branding exposure to boost their brand quality.

“We decided to share the not-so-big cake we had with as many entities that hardly got any recognition yet they work with the majority of people in the grassroots,” Instacash Commercial Manager, Bongani ‘Tizalami’ Dube said when reached for comment about the company’s sponsorships.

He went on to say; “We don’t really view this as sponsorship per se, but an investment. It’s a seed that we are sowing. It’s two-pronged to us; it’s a seed to grow our new business hence all the money that we have invested in sports thus far is part of our investment capital. Sponsorships on the other hand are from CSI (Corporate Social Responsibility) budgets, which we do not have as yet, as we are yet to see returns in the form of increased usage of our platform by all customers recruited directly as a result of these partnerships.”

Investment

Instacash’s current investment into entities and sectors are to command the numbers as they go beyond sports. They have also invested in the arts, green environment and in stem education initiatives. Notable is that the sustenance of these depends on the adoption of their platform.

“While the focus has been customer recruitment; the next level of these partnerships will be focussing on growing transactions. It is product usage that will determine whether we will continue to invest in sport or not; and fair enough, our partners are aware of that. When you plant seeds, conventionally, you only do that once and it is from the harvest that one gets to allocate part of the returns for the next planting season. That way, the relationship becomes mutually beneficial for all parties involved,” Tizalami said.

He added that he was certain their partners have seen unprecedented excitement in their populace countrywide and they hope that will translate to improvement in sports. “For us, we have seen substantial improvement in business as our objectives have been met to a greater extent. Of course, the scope will continue to change so as to ensure further mutual growth in as far as the parties’ objectives are concerned,” Tizalami said. He concluded by saying they were otherwise pleased with all partnerships attained to date.