News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 959 – 18 January 2019
Top Story
The Great Liberian Hacking Scandal Part 2 – Cellcom manager paid for botnet attack on MTN Liberia, says British Court, hacker gets jail sentence
18 January 2019
In October 2017, we published a report on the Liberian hacking attack against Lonestar, MTN’s Liberian subsidiary. Last week a British Court gave the hacker a jail sentence and revealed who the company was who paid for the hack. Russell Southwood updates the story and looks at future implications. The hacker Daniel Kaye (who called himself Spiderman) was a British citizen who was educated in Israel. However, he was a self-taught hacker and this proved to be his undoing. The self-taught hacker was paid £30,000 by a rival company to disrupt Lonestar’s services between October 2016 and February 2017. In…
Telecoms
Ugandan President criticises MTN licence fee
18 January 2019
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he is ‘astonished’ that the local telecoms regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), has renewed the operating licence of MTN Uganda at a lower…
Telecoms
Kenya: Safaricom announces new TubeStar base station
18 January 2019
Safaricom has launched a new base station technology, TubeStar, developed by Chinese multinational ICT firm Huawei and designed to extend the reach of the telco’s urban network. The base station…
Telecoms
MTN’s Bozza Network Is South Africa’s Best Network
18 January 2019
MTN has invested R43.6 billion over the last four years to expand its 3G and LTE network footprint across South Africa. Research by MyBroadband Insights shows that MTN has the…
Telecoms
Bharti Airtel gives 9% stake in Tanzania unit to Govt
18 January 2019
Bharti Airtel has agreed to hand over part of its stake in wireless operator Airtel Tanzania to the local government, in order to settle a dispute in ownership. Reuters cites…
Telecoms
Telecoms - In brief
18 January 2019
The long-awaited launch of Lycamobile Uganda is edging closer, with the UK-owned MVNO group recently launching its website (http://lycamobile.ug) and placing adverts for a wide range of vacant positions –…
Internet
Econet Founder Confirms Zimbabwe’s Internet Ban
18 January 2019
Econet’s founder, Strive Masiyiwa seemingly confirmed that his company, Econet Wireless had been ordered to suspend Internet services in the country to their consumers. Econet is Zimbabwe’s largest telecommunications company…
Internet
Zimbabwe restricting internet access during protests
18 January 2019
The government of Zimbabwe has ordered ISPs to shut off access to the internet in an effort to restrict social media usage during a three-day national protest over fuel price…
Internet
Namibia seeks nationwide Wi-Fi access
18 January 2019
Internet access via mobile broadband is exceedingly expensive for many Africans – we’ve reported on the issue here. Now an ambitious entrepreneur in the south-western African country of Namibia is…
Internet
Konnect Africa to Launch Satellite Broadband in Côte d’Ivoire
18 January 2019
Konnect Africa, an initiative from Eutelsat dedicated to satellite broadband on the African continent, revealed that it is launching internet access offers in Côte d’Ivoire. According to the Telecommunications Sector…
Internet
Helios Towers partners Vulatel on South African infrastructure
18 January 2019
Helios Towers has entered into a partnership with Vulatel to work on expanding South Africa’s mobile and fixed-line infrastructure, saying that they aim to make “major greenfield wireless and fixed-line…
Computing
Gemalto awarded Uganda’s new e-Immigration solution with fast-track border crossing eKiosks at Entebbe Airport
18 January 2019
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, January 14, 2019/ -- New Border Management System (BMS) & e-Immigration solution builds on Gemalto’s Visa Management System (VMS); Self-service eKiosks will deliver a safer and…
Computing
Senegal Prepares to Take Delivery of Atos Supercomputer
18 January 2019
In just a few months time, Senegal will be operating the second largest HPC system in sub-Saharan Africa. The Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Mary Teuw Niane made…
Computing
Enhancing pastoralists’ resilience in livestock value chains in East Africa
18 January 2019
The remote arid and semi-arid Lands of Northern Kenya are dominated by pastoralist livestock production and are constantly threatened by prolonged droughts. Destocking, restocking and moving their herd to grazing…
Computing
Computing - in brief
18 January 2019
Morocco: Inwi has launched its own data centre in Rabat. It is located in Technopolis, has 1,000 m2 of clean rooms, expandable to 2,000 sq mtrs in nine months; which…
Money Transfer
WorldRemit and the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia partner to modernize the country’s payment systems
18 January 2019
Global money transfer company, WorldRemit has partnered with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to launch the first ever international mobile money transfer service to Ethiopia. This will allow customers…
Money Transfer
Nigeria: Cheque Transactions Fall 5% As BVN-Linked Accounts Hit 36 Million
18 January 2019
Transactions carried out through cheques fell by 5.02 per cent in 2018, against 2017 levels, indicating that more customers are embracing other payment alternatives, especially electronic. Statistics obtained from the…
Money Transfer
Kenya : App doubles Barclays’ loan applications to 10,000 per day
18 January 2019
Barclays Bank of Kenya’s mobile loan service, Timiza, has pushed up the lender’s loan applications to 10,000 per day thanks to about three million borrowers using the platform. The bank…
Money Transfer
CoralPay Introduces First Interoperable USSD in Nigeria
18 January 2019
CoralPay Technology Limited, a payment switching and transaction processing company, has deployed the first interoperable Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and mobile payment platform to Nigerians desirous of a seamless…
Money Transfer
WorldRemit launches in South Africa
18 January 2019
WorldRemit, a globally recognised digital money transfer service, has launched its low-cost digital service from South Africa to over 145 destinations worldwide. Using the WorldRemit app or website, customers can…
Money Transfer
Cameroon ranked 10th largest e-commerce country in Africa (UNCTAD)
18 January 2019
(Business in Cameroon) - The Africa’s e-marketing index report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), issued during the African e-commerce week held in Nairobi, Kenya, last…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Helios Towers Enters South Africa With Vulatel Partnership
18 January 2019
Helios Towers Plc entered the South African market by forming a partnership with Vulatel Pty Ltd. to build wireless and fixed-line infrastructure in the country. Helios Towers expects South Africa…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Startup investment in Africa jumped to record levels in 2018 as later stage rounds rose
18 January 2019
There was an almost four-fold increase in total startup funding received for African startups in 2018. The number of funding deals more than doubled and startups on the continent are…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Bharti Airtel plan to acquire Telkom Kenya
18 January 2019
Indian based telco Bharti Airtel is reportedly planning to acquire Kenya’s smallest telecoms operator, Telkom Kenya. The move is intended to help Airtel scale up its presence in East Africa…
Digital Content
New Music Platforms available now from the Kingdom of eSwatini
18 January 2019
Jelele Jelele available at www.jelele.com is the first online radio station and music industry platform from the Kingdom of eSwatini, offering a genuine alternative and to complement what is currently…
Digital Content
Are “extended” Latin characters slowing the growth of African Wikipedias?
18 January 2019
One of the immediate legacies of European colonialism in present-day Africa is a disjointed patchwork of writing systems for local languages. While many African languages have been written using the…
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People
18 January 2019
Microsoft South Africa gets new MD as Zoaib Hoosen calls it quits Microsoft South Africa has appointed Lillian Barnard as its new Managing Director, effective March 1, 2019. Barnard, the…
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Opportunities
18 January 2019
Applications open for $50k MEST Africa scale-up pitch competition Applications have opened for the second edition of the MEST Africa Challenge, which is offering US$50,000 in equity investment to startups…
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Events
18 January 2019
Africa Tech SummitKigaliFebruary 13th-15th 2019 The Summit will once again provide unrivaled insight, networking and business opportunities for African and international tech leaders and investors who want to business in…
