Issue no 757 15th May 2015
Top Story
Inconvenient Facts That Need To Change if Africa’s Telecoms Sector is to continue to grow
Africa’s telecoms and internet sectors have made enormous progress over the last ten years and many barriers to the expansion of the business have come down. But there are still a number of inconvenient facts that stand in the way of the business continuing to grow and attract new investment. Russell Southwood tries to identify the walls that will need to come down to speed new growth.Africa’s telecoms and internet industry has two kinds of problems: those that can be changed reasonably easily (see below) and those that are much more difficult to change (power supply, geography, etc). The list…
Telecoms
Orange launches Firefox smartphone bundle in Senegal, Madagascar
Orange this week launched its Klif smartphone bundled with a voice, messaging and data allowance in two African markets: Senegal and Madagascar.Earlier this year the telco announced a partnership with…
Telecoms
Number of dormant SIM cards in Nigeria reduced to 48 million
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed the number of dormant SIM cards in the country has reduced to less than 48 million from more than 51 million in 2015.NCC figures…
Telecoms
VimpelCom rides on 3G roll-out in Algeria
VimpelCom is confident of strong future growth for its Algerian operation despite challenging operating conditions in the North African country which had seen first quarter revenues slide by 11%.A new…
Telecoms
Sudatel plans Ghana exit by year-end, eyes 16m subs by 2020
Sudatel Telecom Group has earmarked investment of USD267 million over the next five years to transform Sudan’s telecoms sector and grow its subscriber base, the firm’s chief executive told news…
Telecoms
Zimbabwe: High Court Spot On On Telecel, MDC
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has welcomed a High Court decision suspending the cancellation of Telecel Zimbabwe's operating licence, saying the move against the telecommunications giant was "shocking and…
Telecoms
Telecoms – In Brief
Kenya’s Safaricom has completed upgrading its network countrywide which was aimed at improving the company's services. The upgrade, which cost Sh10 billion, will see better user experience for Safaricom's subscribers…
Internet
Vodacom extends internet coverage
MASERU – Vodacom Lesotho has finished rolling out its 3G service across all its towers to become the first operator to provide internet coverage to the majority in the country.Vodacom’s…
Internet
Facebook’s Internet.org is coming to Nigeria
Facebook on Wednesday announced plans to launch Internet.org app next month in Nigeria. The Internet.org app encourages telecoms to provide free and affordable access to certain web services like Facebook…
Internet
Google Consumer Barometer reveals internet usage stats for Kenya
According to a survey conducted by the Google Consumer Barometer, which was revealed by capitalfm.co.ke. 89 percent of people located within Kenya go online to visit social networks, which include…
Internet
Connecting to the world through the internet
The internet is the only way 20 year old Ibrahim Suleiman can connect with his family members and friends who live in the other parts of the world.Ibrahim has lived…
Computing
Rocket Internet Launches Online Classifieds Site Vendito in Africa to Kill Ady, OLX & Gumtree
You probably know eBay’s Gumtree.co.za, Nasper’s OLX which are all over the Internet and probably on your TV. We expect you know Ringier’s Ady in Nigeria and PigiaMe in Kenya,…
Computing
Tesla's low-cost renewable battery could revolutionise Africa's energy supply
Batteries that can store renewable energy for longer and at half the current cost have been hailed as an energy revolution that could transform Africa’s power supply.Launched by California-based tech…
Money Transfer
Société Générale looks to Monitise for cloud-based mobile banking service
Société Générale has partnered with Monitise to launch a cloud-based mobile banking service that will be gradually rolled out across Africa, a deal described as a “significant step forward” for…
Money Transfer
Airtel Ghana, VeriFone partner to speed up mobile money transactions
Indian-backed Airtel Ghana and American technology vendor VeriFone have teamed up to introduce new contactless near field communication (NFC) technology to users of Airtel’s mobile money service, in a move…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
We’ll do whatever it takes to block Vodacom/Neotel deal: Cell C
Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos says that the operator will do whatever it takes to block Vodacom’s acquisition of Neotel.“We will keep them in court for as long as…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Liquid acquires Zambia's second largest ISP
CEC Liquid Telecom has announced its acquisition of Realtime Technology Alliance Africa (Realtime), Zambia's second largest ISP.A media release from CEC Liquid Telecom says that Realtime will now focus on…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Oi reconsiders Africatel sale as Angolan relationship thaws
Brazilian telecoms group Oi SA is reconsidering the sale of its African holding company Africatel, CEO Bayard Gontijo told Reuters during an interview in New York. The volte face follows…
Digital Content
Nigeria’s AfroTalez to launch 2nd episode
AfroTalez, a Nigerian-developed episodic storytelling app for children, is set to launch its second episode this quarter, looking to follow up on the success of the first, which has so…
Digital Content
MTN Launches an M2M SIM Card & IoT Platform in South Africa
Just a day after Samsung announced its IoT platform dubbed Artik, MTN has announced an Internet of Things (IoT) platform and machine to machine (M2M) SIM card in a move…
Digital Content
Game on: Africa’s education techies compete in hackathon for social good
A first of its kind hackathon will bring together edtech (education technology) entrepreneurs from throughout Africa to explore and develop new paths and methods for sustainable change in social systems.Taking…
Digital Content
Algeria: Vazii, Algerian Application to Compete With Viber and Tango
Algiers — An Algerian application that allows calling and sending free written, audio and video messages via internet was launched Tuesday in Algiers under the commercial name of "Vazii."Designed by…
Digital Content
Hacker group publishes Sapa archive
An unidentified hacker group has made most of the South African Press Association’s (Sapa’s) archives publically available and searchable for free, violating the copyright of new owner Sekunjalo Investment Holdings.The…
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People
Airtel Africa appoints Kossowski as CIOAirtel Africa announced the appointment of Andrew Kossowski as Chief Information Officer. Kossowski joins Airtel Africa from Ericsson where he served as Vice President-Operations for…
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Events
Connected Africa26–27 May 2015The Sandton Convention CentreJohannesburg, South AfricaAfrica’s telecommunications sector is booming!Enterprises, ISP’s telcos and partners are under huge pressure to capitalise on the vast opportunities in the African…
