Vodacom’s finance chief says the telecom group has enough capacity to take on fresh debt to fund a slew of new and ongoing projects that require billions to see them through, without hurting its balance sheet. Market players say the company’s traditionally conservative approach to managing its balance sheet remains its saving grace where borrowing is concerned. 

Vodacom has traditionally allocated capital to network expansion, spending R14.6bn or 14.3% of revenue on expanding 4G and 5G coverage in its operating countries, in the year to end-March 2022...