As artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies fuel growing demand for connectivity and computing capacity, telecoms companies are increasing their infrastructure investment to capture this growth. Peter Takaendesa, chief investment officer at Mergence Investment Managers, says that, taking total returns into account the JSE telecoms index has returned a gain of about 97% compared to the JSE all share of about 112%. This strong show by the telecoms index in 2025 follows a lag in 2024 where stocks had lagged due to the impact of currency devaluations in the rest of Africa for the large operators Vodacom and MTN.
Rand resilience masks a fragile equilibrium
The rand’s recent resilience has surprised many, but it risks being misread. Strength in the currency over the past year