News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 986 – 26 July 2019
Top Story
Looking for mobile money V2.0 – South African start-up uKheshe wants to become the universal way of doing payments for the informal sector
26 July 2019
Getting beyond basic mobile money services to mobile money V2.0 is difficult. Those that have the money have smartphones and those who don’t have basic phones. The product needs plenty of functionality and the ability to straddle these two very different broad market segments. Russell Southwood spoke to Mike Smits, co-founder, uKheshe and Director, Jini Guru about how uKheshe is working out in the country that has largely rejected mobile money services. The idea for uKheshe started with Mike Smits wanting to pay his gardener who didn’t have a bank account on a Sunday afternoon. As he put it, in…
Telecoms
WhatsApp Now Available On KaiOS-powered Smart Feature Phones in Africa
26 July 2019
Devices now available in 22 African Countries; further availability across the continent throughout 2019 KaiOS Technologies maker of KaiOS, the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones, and Facebook,…
Telecoms
South Africa: “We are killing Telkom”
26 July 2019
Telkom is rapidly losing ADSL and fixed-line subscribers across South Africa, despite its plan to be the premier fixed-broadband provider in the country. Telkom currently has 2,267,000 fixed-line subscribers, which…
Telecoms
Heavy taxation weighing down mobile services
26 July 2019
Heavy taxation on mobile services by governments in sub-Saharan Africa is weighing down the providers, with industry captains citing the action among factors likely to undermine its gains. Mobile financial…
Telecoms
MTN to continue investing in network infrastructure in South Africa
26 July 2019
Network and telecoms provider, MTN, announced on Tuesday, 23 July 2019, that it plans on developing a software-defined Wide-Area Network (SD-WAN) and is re-purposing thousands of sites across the country…
Telecoms
How China’s Simi Mobile is conquering Africa, one country at a time
26 July 2019
When Ares Chow Yuqing decided to strike out on his own after working 10 years at a number of domestic Chinese mobile phone suppliers, he looked to a country few…
Telecoms
Regulator queries Airtel Uganda 4G status
26 July 2019
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has ordered local cellco Airtel to provide proof of its 4G network coverage and download speeds. According to a report from Techjaja, the regulator says…
Telecoms
Africa’s biggest mobile phone brand TECNO expands plan for South Africa
26 July 2019
Premium mobile phone brand, TECNO Mobile, is accelerating its expansion into South Africa in the coming months. Having dominated most of the African mobile phone market over the past 13…
Telecoms
In brief
26 July 2019
Cameroon's telcos have joined forces to put together a representative organisation, the Cameroon Association of Telephone Mobile Operators (CATMO). CATMO was established recently in Douala and is led by the…
Internet
Crime and corruption killing fibre rollouts in South Africa
26 July 2019
Crime and corruption are killing fibre rollouts across South Africa, with poor communities being hit the hardest. This is according to feedback from industry players familiar with fibre rollouts in…
Internet
Vumatel overtakes Openserve as biggest fibre-to-the-home operator in South Africa
26 July 2019
The latest statistics for South Africa’s fibre market show that in March 2019, 1.39 million homes had access to an FTTH connection and 453,000 were connected. Wayne D’Sa, the managing…
Internet
What do Zimbabwe’s internet disruptions say about the state of digital rights in the country?
26 July 2019
Zimbabwe's January internet disruptions sent a chilling message to citizens that internet access is a favor, not a right. Millions of Zimbabweans will remember January 2019 for spiraling prices for…
Internet
How Supersonic became South Africa’s top fibre ISP
26 July 2019
MyBroadband recently released its Q2 2019 speed test and mobile app results, which showed that Supersonic is the best Internet Service Provider in South Africa. While Supersonic topped the ratings…
Internet
In brief
26 July 2019
GVA Togo offers since July 12, 2019 a new broadband internet offer in Togo. START, the new CANALBOX offer gives access to an unlimited internet connection of 10Mb / s.…
Computing
SqwidNet’s IoT Entrepreneurship Program serves up smart solutions to South African challenges
26 July 2019
SqwidNet, the licensed Sigfox IoT network operator in South Africa, recently hosted its second IoT Entrepreneurship Program (IoT)E pitch day. Seven finalist groups, selected from a group of 60 prospective…
Money Transfer
WorldRemit launches new mobile-to-mobile services in 5 African countries
26 July 2019
WorldRemit customers in over 50 countries can now make instant, low-cost international mobile money transfers to 15 million accounts in Guinea, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Niger Johannesburg and London, 24…
Money Transfer
Zeepay targets 150 m mobile money subscribers
26 July 2019
Zeepay, a leading African financial technology (fintech) company, is seeking to reach more than 150 million mobile money wallets in 20 African countries as it partners global remittance giants to…
Money Transfer
Why South Sudan mobile cash is a game changer
26 July 2019
In a country without a well-developed financial infrastructure—where mobile phone airtime has often been used as some form of currency—the launch of mobile money services by Zain has come as…
Money Transfer
A power outage and mobile money blackout expose the vulnerability of Zimbabwe’s economy
26 July 2019
On Saturday morning (Jul. 20) local time Zimbabweans experienced a system blackout on Econet Wireless, the country’s biggest telecoms operator after a significant power outage. Econet says the network challenges…
Money Transfer
Remittances platform Pesabase launches in Kenya
26 July 2019
Kenyan startup KeshoLabs has launched payments and remittances application Pesabase as it works towards its goal of becoming a major blockchain-based fintech platform for Africa. The aim of KeshoLabs is…
Money Transfer
India’s PayMate raises $25 million from Visa, Recruit to accelerate expansion within India and into Africa
26 July 2019
India’s PayMate, a B2B payments in India has raised $25 million in a new series D round of growth capital to accelerate expansion within India and internationally to Central and…
Money Transfer
Safaricom to expand e-commerce presence in Southern Africa
26 July 2019
Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Safaricom CFO, announces expansion of eCommerce platform in Southern Africa. (Image source: Connecting Africa) On Wednesday, 17 July 2019, Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom announced plans to expand e-commerce…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Maroc Telecom exceeds financial targets in H1 2019
26 July 2019
Maroc Telecom (IAM) has published its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2019, reporting a 0.5% decrease in revenues from MAD17.939 billion (USD1.86 billion) to MAD17.844 billion,…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Vodacom revenue declines in South Africa despite customer growth
26 July 2019
Vodacom Group on Thursday (25 July) reported strong customer growth in South Africa in a trading update for the quarter ended June 2019. However, South African service revenue declined 1.2%…
Digital Content
Djezzy pilots smart agriculture-as-a-service in Algeria with Nokia
26 July 2019
Nokia is using its Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) to pilot a smart agri-tech programme to provide Algerian farmers with data to help them achieve a better yield, IT Web…
Digital Content
Nigerians Can Now Get Google Directions in a Local Accent
26 July 2019
We all know Nigerians are proud of their unique accent. So technology giant Google has given Nigerian drivers an option to hear travel advice in a local voice when they…
Digital Content
Naijatastic has launched a mobile app in Nigeria
26 July 2019
Launched at the start of the year, Naijatastic allows users to stream audio and video all free of charge. “Naijatastic helps artists to promote their locally made audio content,” the…
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People
26 July 2019
Joe Mucheru, Kenya’s ICT Cabinet Secretary has apointed four new members to the Communications Authority board, among them being Laura Chite, CEO, CIO East Africa. Laura has over 22 years…
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Events
26 July 2019
SAFNOG-5 & iWeek 2019 We are proud to announce that for the 5th instalment of SAFNOG, we will be returning to Johannesburg, South Africa where it all began. SAFNOG and…
