News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 978 – 31 May 2019
Top Story
New players take a run at creating a cross-border Western African Digital Pool connecting Guinea, Mali and Sierra Leone in pilot fibre project, say more countries to follow
31 May 2019
Indian giant Tata is working with a local West African entity to create cross-border connectivity, initially in West Africa and then elsewhere on the continent. Russell Southwood applauds the initiative but can’t help looking a gift horse in the mouth. Last week Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited (TCTS) announced it was partnering with Africa Development Solutions (ADS Group set up by Malian Samba Bathily) to facilitate building the fibre infrastructure backbone across Africa . TCTS will perform pre-feasibility assessments with ADS for African nations, studying existing as well as planned fibre infrastructure and deploy a multi-country connectivity infrastructure backbone. The…
Telecoms
MTN Eyes Ethiopia Entry as Country Prepares to Open Market
31 May 2019
MTN Group Ltd. has identified Ethiopia as a rare new market into which Africa’s largest wireless carrier wants to expand. “There are a few large markets that are under-penetrated and…
Telecoms
Kenya to invest $59 mln to connect to the DARE fiber optics system
31 May 2019
Kenya plans to invest $59 million to increase its data capabilities. This fund will be used to deploy an extension of the Djibouti Africa Regional Express (DARE). The submarine sensor…
Telecoms
Smartphone revenues grow 3% in Q1 2019 - GfK point-of-sales data
31 May 2019
Smartphone unit sales in South Africa declined by about 7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, while the value of the smartphone market climbed nearly 3% to around R8.6bn…
Telecoms
Afrihost Mobile rebranded as Air Mobile – 1GB free monthly data
31 May 2019
Afrihost Mobile has rebranded to Air Mobile, offering new prepaid data packages along with 1GB free monthly data. Air Mobile runs on MTN’s mobile network and offers competitive prepaid data…
Telecoms
East Africa: Telecoms in East Africa Set for Mergers, Acquisitions
31 May 2019
East Africa's mobile telephony market is set for more mergers and acquisition as stiff competition puts the revenues of the existing operators under pressure. Global consultancy firm McKinsey&Company Ltd says…
Telecoms
Nokia deploying subscriber data management solution for Vodafone Egypt
31 May 2019
Finnish vendor Nokia is deploying a cloud-based Subscriber Data Management (SDM) solution for Vodafone Egypt that will enable the cellco to offer ‘innovative’ services to its 4G customers. In a…
Telecoms
In brief
31 May 2019
Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, has announced announced that its newest satellite, AMOS-17, is completing the final stages of its pre-launch preparation. AMOS-17, scheduled for launch later this…
Internet
Webafrica launches Telkom fixed-LTE deals with no contracts
31 May 2019
South Africa ISP Webafrica has launched Telkom fixed-LTE packages which do not require users to take out a contract. The packages are available on a month-to-month basis, and users can…
Internet
Virtual University Targets USD 1 million for Higher Education Scholarships
31 May 2019
Virtual University of Uganda (VUU), Sub-Saharan Africa’s first private online-only university and a vanguard in the technological revolution in university education, has kicked off a campaign to raise USD 1…
Internet
Facebook Removes Fake Israel-Based Accounts Targeting African Elections
31 May 2019
Social media giant Facebook has removed 265 accounts that were posing as local people and news organizations in Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia. Archimedes Group, an Israeli political…
Computing
The tablet computer pulled by donkey
31 May 2019
Back in 2016, mobile technology the like of which had not been seen before rolled into the remote community of Funhalouro, in Mozambique. Pulled by donkey, the container consisted of…
Money Transfer
Businesses can now apply for credit through the FNB app
31 May 2019
FNB will now allow businesses to completely take up credit and investments via its mobile app. The product allows businesses with an annual turnover between R0 and R60 million to…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Safaricom, Vodacom plan $13 million purchase of M-Pesa rights from Vodafone
31 May 2019
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s Safaricom will start a joint venture with Vodacom to acquire the intellectual property rights to the popular M-Pesa mobile financial services platform from Britain’s Vodafone, Safaricom’s…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Gambia: Gamcel Calls for Bail Out or Risk Halting Operation
31 May 2019
The Gambia's GSM Operator has raised a red flag calling for a bail out on its current serious and precarious situation or risk stopping operation. The General Manager of Gamcel,…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
American Tower Announces Agreement to Acquire Eaton Towers Holding Limited
31 May 2019
American Tower Corporation has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Eaton Towers Holding Limited (“Eaton Towers”), which owns and operates approximately 5,500 communications sites across…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Airtel looking to raise up to $1 billion with LSE listing of African unit
31 May 2019
Bharti Airtel Ltd has sought approval of the UK financial regulator for an initial public offering of its African unit in London as it seeks to cut debt and expand…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
In brief
31 May 2019
MTN Nigeria is under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over its listing on the local stock exchange which took place last week, Bloomberg reports. Nigeria’s largest…
Digital Content
StarTimes launches the first African online film festival
31 May 2019
StarTimes is launching the first edition of the Pan-African Online Film Festival (PAOFF). The festival will be running via StarTimes ON and it will be a quarterly competition where it…
Digital Content
Boomplay to Invest $1m on Kenyan Artistes
31 May 2019
One of the world’s biggest streaming services, Boomplay Music, is set to invest $1m on Kenyan artistes who are signed under the platform. This announcement was heralded by Boomplay Kenya…
Digital Content
Google Maps’ speed limit, speed trap warnings now live in South Africa
31 May 2019
You’d previously have to download Waze if you wanted traffic notifications and speed camera warnings in realtime. But now, you’ll be able to access this info from within Google Maps.…
More
People
31 May 2019
Johannesburg – MTN Group announced today that it has appointed Kelebogile (Lele) Modise as its new Group Chief Legal Counsel. Lele will report to Group President and CEO Rob Shuter…
More
Opportunities
31 May 2019
Applications open for pan-African Student Entrepreneurship Week Applications are now open for Student Entrepreneurship Week, which aims to provide budding entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they need to build…
More
Events
31 May 2019
First edition of the Digital Women’s Day in Africa13 and 14 June 2019Dakar, Senegal Following the success of its 7th edition in Paris, Digital Woman’s Day JFD, for Journée de…
