News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 990 – 23 August 2019
Top Story
Do the Right Thing: Two key African Governments make clear commitments to liberalizing their telecoms sectors
23 August 2019
News in this week confirms that the tentative steps taken by Angola and Ethiopia to liberalize their telecoms sectors are now being turned into internationally recognized programmes of implementation. Russell Southwood looks at why things have changed. In April this year I looked at the flawed bidding process for the fourth mobile license in Angola. In a nutshell, the bidding process (that had included recognized African mobile operators like MTN being on the shortlist) ended up with the license being given to local unknown Telstar. And the shareholders in Telstar? 90% is held by General Manuel Joao Carneiro and 10%…
Telecoms
Axed Telkom Kenya Staff To Re-Apply Under Merger Deal With Airtel
23 August 2019
Fired Telkom Kenya staff now have the opportunity to try to get back to work after the telco announced that it would advertise and interview the employees as first preference…
Telecoms
Nigeria: TCN Boss Risks Jail for Flouting Court Order
23 August 2019
Abuja — A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has ordered the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mr Usman Gur Mohammed, to appear before it…
Telecoms
Lycamobile Begins to Roll out Its Services in South Africa in Partnership With Cell C
23 August 2019
Lycamobile, the world’s largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), announces today that it has partnered with Cell C to start rolling out its services in South Africa. This development expands…
Telecoms
Mozambique pushes for SIM card registration, raising privacy concerns
23 August 2019
mCel, is one of Mozambique's three mobile operators ordered by the government to register SIM cards. Mozambique is pushing for the registration of prepaid SIM cards despite concerns related to…
Internet
MTN and biNu offering data-free web access in South Africa
23 August 2019
MTN and biNu announced a partnership that will enable mobile subscribers in South Africa to access websites and apps #datafree. Rather than using their own mobile data to visit and…
Internet
Vodacom wants to turn off its 2G service in South Africa
23 August 2019
A lack of spectrum available to South African mobile networks forces them to optimise and ‘re-farm’ their existing resources to improve their offerings, and the legacy 2G network is a…
Computing
Growing concern over Kenya's Huduma roll out
23 August 2019
Digital rights advocacy group, Paradigm Initiative (PI) has added its voice to growing concern over privacy related to a bill before the Kenyan Parliament for the roll out of a…
Money Transfer
MTN Nigeria Receives Mobile Money Licence
23 August 2019
MTN Nigeria Communications PLC has been granted the authorisation to offer mobile money services by the country's central bank in Abuja. Nigeria revealed last year that it would allow telecom…
Money Transfer
Zimbabwe: Mobile Money Agents Vex The Reserve Bank
23 August 2019
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is battling to resolve the issue of depositors being ripped off by mobile money transfer agents when cashing out. This emerged yesterday during a…
Money Transfer
Kenya: Digital payments on the rise in hidden-sight
23 August 2019
Digital payments have continued to rise inconspicuously to break the trend of cash dominance discretely, even as cash remains king in the settlement of transactions on the outside. Mobile-money which…
Money Transfer
Nigerian payment firms to earn $1.19bn from remittances
23 August 2019
Nigerian banks, fintech companies and mobile money operators are likely to earn $1.19bn from remittances this year, according to estimates made by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The global consulting firm had predicted that…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Ex-Airtel Employees Oppose Airtel-Telkom Merger In Kenya
23 August 2019
Fifty-two ex-Airtel employees have written to the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) to challenge the merger of Telkom Kenya and Airtel Kenya which, according to the staff-members, would decrease the…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
MTN South Africa seeks ZAR 1.5 mln from employees looking to own stores
23 August 2019
MTN South Africa has released the criteria for employees who wish to take over its stores, in a proposed deal that will see the company offload its branded channel across…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
MTN Nigeria, Most Valuable Company On NSE -Reports
23 August 2019
It’s hardly been three months since the Nigerian division of South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd. finally listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, but it seems that listing was a good…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Jumia is battling with internal fraud and external legal threats even as its losses widen
23 August 2019
Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce operator, is struggling with internal fraud, legal threats even as losses widened in the second quarter. The company has disclosed it recently uncovered instances of improper…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
In brief
23 August 2019
Global Telecom Holding (GTH) informed the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Sunday that its board of directors have approved its parent VEON’s offer to acquire the company’s assets in Pakistan, Bangladesh…
Digital Content
New app seeks to reunite South Sudan's 'lost children' with families
23 August 2019
A new app launched in South Sudan on Friday aims to help aid workers reunite thousands of children with their families after they became separated during a five-year war and…
Digital Content
Nigerian Teens Use Smartphones To Make Sci-Fi Films
23 August 2019
A group of Nigerian teenagers have gone viral for making movies using a smartphone and a tripod that is made from a broken microphone stand. 19-year-old Godwin Josiah says that…
Digital Content
Please Call Me inventor seeks ZAR 10 billion from Vodacom for app idea
23 August 2019
The legal battle between Kenneth Makate and Vodacom South Africa over compensation for his 'Please Call Me' idea has taken another turn, with Makate demanding ZAR 10 billion from Vodacom,…
Digital Content
Kenya: Govt Finalises Plans To Tax Netflix, YouTube
23 August 2019
The Kenyan ICT ministry is in the final stages of laying down a framework that will be used to tax foreign online video streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube.…
Digital Content
KT has rolled out a contagion prevention app in Ghana.
23 August 2019
South Korean telco KT has launched a contagion prevention app in Ghana that alerts users of diseases in their vicinity. Called Global Epidemic Prevention Platform, or GEPP, the company and…
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People
23 August 2019
Ericsson names Fadi Pharaon as head of Middle East & Africa Ericsson today announced the appointment of Fadi Pharaon as senior vice president and head of Market Area Middle East…
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Opportunities
23 August 2019
22 female entrepreneurs finalists for AWIEF Awards The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) has announced the 22 finalists for its annual awards, which celebrate women leaders and entrepreneurs…
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Events
23 August 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…
