News & Views

MTN Nigeria boosted by customer gains

Paula Gilbert
7/31/2020

MTN Nigeria added 6.8 million customers in the first half of 2020, with more people using mobile technologies during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Outgoing MTN CEO joining BT Group

Paula Gilbert
7/31/2020

Rob Shuter will take over as CEO of BT Enterprise when he leaves MTN next year.

Former CEO Michael Joseph back as Safaricom chairman

Paula Gilbert
7/30/2020

Michael Joseph will return to Safaricom, this time as board chairman, when long-serving chairman Nicholas Nganga retires at end of July.

Orange sees strong 4G growth in Africa

Paula Gilbert
7/30/2020

French operator Orange is making strides in its 4G rollout in Africa and the Middle East with 4G customers growing 40% in the region over the past year.

Somalia has Africa's cheapest data prices

Paula Gilbert
7/29/2020

The price of 1GB data in Somalia is the cheapest in Africa and the seventh cheapest globally, says Cable.co.uk study.

Hot startup of the month: Zimbabwe's Dr CADx

Tom Jackson
7/27/2020

Zimbabwean startup Dr CADx has developed a diagnostics system that is harnessing the power of AI to help doctors remotely diagnose medical images.

Airtel Africa gains customers despite COVID-19 challenges

Paula Gilbert
7/24/2020

Airtel Africa recorded decent growth in the quarter ended June 30, 2020, despite challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Orange launching digital bank in West Africa

Connecting Africa News
7/23/2020

French telecoms provider Orange is launching Orange Bank Africa in Côte d’Ivoire with plans to expand into Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.

African lockdowns boost Vodacom data traffic

Paula Gilbert
7/23/2020

Vodacom recorded major data traffic growth over the past three months with COVID-19 lockdowns forcing Africans to work and study from home.

Telkom SA pushing customers from DSL to fiber

Connecting Africa News
7/22/2020

Telkom is moving forward with plans to kill off its copper-based fixed-line offerings and shift customers to new-generation technologies.

Vodacom launching fintech 'super app' with Alipay

Paula Gilbert
7/21/2020

Vodacom will next year roll out a financial services 'super app' in partnership with Chinese digital payment provider Alipay.

Zimbabweans are trading traditional voice calls for app-based services

Paula Gilbert
7/14/2020

Zimbabweans are making fewer voice calls and using more mobile data for app-based voice and video calling, according to the latest report from the telecoms regulator.

Saudi Telecom postpones Vodafone Egypt acquisition, again

Connecting Africa News
7/13/2020

The Saudi Arabian operator has for the second time pushed back plans to buy a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

Nigeria will have 246M mobile subs by 2025 – Omdia

Paula Gilbert
7/10/2020

Market research firm forecasting that mobile subscriptions in Nigeria will hit 246 million in 2025, rising from 180 million in 2019.

Ethiopia's telecoms liberalization is critical for digitization – report

Paula Gilbert
7/9/2020

The planned opening up of Ethiopia's telecoms sector will go a long way toward improving the affordability, coverage and quality of Internet services, says a new report from HIP Consult.

COVID-19 store closures hurt SA's Blue Label Telecoms

Paula Gilbert
7/7/2020

SA's Blue Label Telecoms is expecting to bounce back from last year's losses related to its investment in Cell C but is now predicting an earnings knock from its WiConnect business.

Econet launches Zimbabwe's first 3G smart feature phone

Paula Gilbert
7/3/2020

Econet Wireless is rolling out Zimbabwe's first 3G smart feature phone, powered by the KaiOS mobile operating system.

Leadership changes for MTN in Cameroon, Benin and Liberia

Paula Gilbert
7/3/2020

MTN is once again shuffling around its CEOs with leadership changes at its operations in Cameroon, Benin and Liberia.

Africa is experiencing a health-tech startup boom

Connecting Africa News
7/2/2020

The number of e-health startups active in Africa has increased by 56.5% over the last three years and investment continues to grow, according to a new report from Disrupt Africa.

Telma launches commercial 5G in Madagascar

Connecting Africa News
7/1/2020

Telma has become the first operator to launch a 5G commercial network in Madagascar, powered by Ericsson.

MTN 5G goes live in South Africa

Paula Gilbert
6/30/2020

MTN has launched 5G across 100 sites in South Africa and made some big promises about its future rollout if it gets access to the spectrum it needs.

Telkom SA's profit falls despite mobile success

Paula Gilbert
6/22/2020

Despite strong growth in its mobile business, the South African operator saw a major drop in group earnings over the past year.

Cell C may lay off 40% of its staff

Paula Gilbert
6/19/2020

Financially strained South African mobile operator Cell C says it may cut 960 junior management and semi-skilled staff.

Amazon is creating 3,000 new jobs in SA

Paula Gilbert
6/19/2020

The e-commerce giant is adding 3,000 full-time positions in customer service, bringing its total permanent workforce in South Africa to 7,000.

Nigerians love feature phones, but COVID-19 begins to bite

Connecting Africa News
6/18/2020

Feature phones remain a major part of Nigeria's mobile phone ecosystem.

Orange sets sights on expansion into Nigeria and SA

Paula Gilbert
6/17/2020

French mobile operator Orange is eyeing expansion opportunities in Nigeria and South Africa, CEO Stéphane Richard told French newspaper Les Echos.

MTN spends $100M on license renewal in Uganda

Connecting Africa News
6/15/2020

After two years of negotiations MTN has secured a 12-year license extension in Uganda.

Sudan commits to cashless future

Connecting Africa News
6/11/2020

Sudan has joined the UN's Better Than Cash Alliance to help accelerate the country's transition from cash to digital payments.

Safaricom is looking for a new CFO

Paula Gilbert
6/10/2020

Safaricom's Sateesh Kamath is leaving the Kenyan telco to join Vodafone Business as CFO.

Ghana regulator wants to reduce MTN market dominance

Connecting Africa News
6/9/2020

Ghana's National Communications Authority is reportedly planning to implement a set of policies to reduce MTN's dominant market share.

Orange Ventures investing $560K in MEA tech startups

Connecting Africa News
6/3/2020

Orange Ventures' MEA Seed Challenge plans to give startups in Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia a cut of $560,000.

Africa is a big growth market for Cloud Credential Council certification programs

Paula Gilbert
6/2/2020

Cloud Credential Council MD Mark O'Loughlin spoke to Connecting Africa about the growth it is seeing with its vendor-neutral certification programs in Africa.

Bolt gets $110M boost for African and European expansion

Connecting Africa News
5/27/2020

Ride-hailing platform Bolt has raised $110 million to fund its growth and development strategy.

Hot startup of the month: Nigeria's Crop2Cash

Tom Jackson
5/26/2020

Crop2Cash is addressing financing gaps for Nigerian farmers by making formal financing a transparent process and helping responsible farmers get access to capital.

Ethiopia telecoms liberalization moves forward despite COVID-19

Paula Gilbert
5/25/2020

Ethiopia's communications regulator is going ahead with plans to issue two new telecoms licenses in the country, despite the current COVID-19 crisis.

Vodacom is 'decoupling' its SA business and hiring a new MD

Connecting Africa News
5/22/2020

Vodacom has announced a major restructuring with the South African business being 'decoupled' to become a standalone entity.

Vodacom plots fintech path with nano-loans

Paula Gilbert
5/21/2020

Vodacom wants to extend successes with its nano-lending products in Kenya and Tanzania to its other markets.

COVID-19 boosts META cloud spend

Connecting Africa News
5/20/2020

Public cloud is proving to be an exception to the COVID-19 slowdown rule, with IDC predicting higher spending in META following the outbreak.

Exclusive: MTN Zambia and Vanu to provide off-grid connectivity

Paula Gilbert
5/19/2020

Vanu has been selected by MTN to extend mobile connectivity to Zambia's off-grid communities.

African smartphone users could help find COVID-19 treatment while sleeping

Paula Gilbert
5/18/2020

Smartphone users in Ghana, Lesotho and South Africa can now help scientists speed up COVID-19 research by letting the DreamLab app run on their smartphones while they sleep.

5G in Africa is inevitable, but not imminent – GSMA

Paula Gilbert
5/15/2020

GSMA Africa Head, Akinwale Goodluck, believes Africa needs to get a few more things right before 5G can significantly roll out on the continent.

New '2Africa' mega subsea cable announced

Connecting Africa News
5/14/2020

The new 2Africa cable will be one of the world's largest subsea cable projects, connecting 23 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

MTN cuts spending plans as COVID-19 crisis bites

Paula Gilbert
5/14/2020

MTN has revised down its capex plans for 2020, from about $1.5 billion to $1.1 billion, as the coronavirus pandemic spreads uncertainty throughout African markets.

Loon brings balloon-powered Internet to Mozambique

Paula Gilbert
5/13/2020

Alphabet's balloon Internet project, Loon, has partnered with operator Vodacom to bring Internet connectivity to Mozambique's hard-to-reach areas.

Vodafone Egypt rakes in revenue ahead of sale

Paula Gilbert
5/12/2020

Vodafone Egypt saw a major revenue spike in the past financial year, while its parent group goes ahead with a planned sale to Saudi Telecom.

African operations boost Vodacom revenue

Paula Gilbert
5/11/2020

Vodacom's operations outside of SA continued to show strong growth over the past financial year, while the domestic market recovered in the second half.

DFA granted a license in Zimbabwe

Connecting Africa News
5/8/2020

South African-based DFA has been granted an Internet Access Provider Class B license in Zimbabwe.

Telkom SA delays retrenchments, postpones results due to COVID-19

Paula Gilbert
5/6/2020

Telkom South Africa is postponing the planned shedding of around 3,000 jobs and pushing back its full-year results publication due to COVID-19.

MTN Ghana boasts double-digit Q1 growth

Paula Gilbert
5/5/2020

MTN Ghana saw Q1 service revenue jump 20%, buoyed by double-digit growth in its voice, data and Mobile Money revenue.

Vodacom launches 5G in South Africa

Paula Gilbert
5/4/2020

Vodacom has launched a live 5G network in three South African cities, supporting both mobile and fixed wireless services.

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