News & Views

Content posted in January 2023

Egypt acquisition boosts Vodacom quarterly revenue

Paula Gilbert
1/31/2023

Vodacom is already seeing an earnings boost from its December acquisition of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt, reporting double-digit Group revenue growth for the third quarter.

Ghana's Zeepay expands into Zambia

Matshepo Sehloho
1/31/2023

The Central Bank of Zambia has granted Ghanaian remittance fintech company Zeepay an operating license.

MTN CEO calls for modernized regulations

Paula Gilbert
1/30/2023

MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita, has called for modernization and harmonization of Africa's telecoms regulations to move beyond the era of voice.

Tanzania extends SIM registration deadline

Matshepo Sehloho
1/30/2023

The Tanzanian communications regulator has extended the East African country's SIM registration deadline by another two weeks.

12 more Kenyan digital lenders get licenses

Matshepo Sehloho
1/30/2023

The Central Bank of Kenya has licensed a further 12 digital lenders, bringing the total number of licensed Digital Credit Providers (DCPs) in the country to just 22.

Lagos launches first AWS Local Zone in Africa

Paula Gilbert
1/27/2023

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the launch of a new AWS Local Zones location in Lagos, Nigeria, its first on the continent with others planned in Johannesburg and Nairobi.

Hot startup of the month: Cloud-native developer Deimos

Matshepo Sehloho
1/27/2023

This month's hot startup is pan-African cloud technology and professional services company Deimos which is on a mission to be the leading cloud-native technology company in Africa.

African enterprises to ramp up cloud investments in 2023

Paula Gilbert
1/26/2023

A new cloud research study from World Wide Worx shows 69% of African enterprises plan to increase investment in cloud services in 2023.

Call for comments on Kenya's emerging technologies draft document

Matshepo Sehloho
1/26/2023

The Communications Authority of Kenya is calling for public comment on a new Framework For Emerging Technologies Regulatory Sandbox by February 3, 2022.

Africa Data Centres expand in SA & Kenya

Paula Gilbert
1/25/2023

Africa Data Centres has announced new facilities being built in Nairobi, Kenya and Cape Town, South Africa.

Mafab Communications rolls out 5G in Nigeria

Matshepo Sehloho
1/25/2023

Nigerian telecom operator, Mafab Communications, has finally rolled out its 5G network services in the capital city of Abuja.

Rural connectivity needs creative funding solutions – Vodacom

Paula Gilbert
1/24/2023

Vodacom Group's Stephen Chege says one solution to rural connectivity shortfalls could be to release capital from universal services funds to operators for rural projects.

Delayed licensing frustrates Kenyan digital lenders

Matshepo Sehloho
1/24/2023

Unlicensed Kenyan digital lenders are blaming being blocked from Google's Play Store on the Central Bank of Kenya's delay in granting them operating licenses.

2Africa subsea cable makes another SA landing

Paula Gilbert
1/23/2023

The 2Africa subsea cable has made a third landing in South Africa, this time at a Vodacom facility in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.

Uber restarts Tanzanian engines

Matshepo Sehloho
1/23/2023

Ride-hailing platform Uber has reinstated its services in Tanzania after the country's regulator backtracked on a 15% commission cap it had put in place in March 2022.

Namibia starts mandatory SIM registration process

Matshepo Sehloho
1/20/2023

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has kicked off the country's mandatory SIM card registration process.

InDrive zero-rates ride-sharing app in South Africa

Paula Gilbert
1/20/2023

Ride-sharing service InDrive is zero-rating data for South African users on its app.

Orange Madagascar, NuRAN partner to connect underserved

Matshepo Sehloho
1/19/2023

Orange Madagascar has signed a ten-year agreement with Canadian company NuRAN Wireless to deploy up to 500 rural networking sites on the east coast of the island by 2025.

Nokia & UNICEF partner on digital skills project in rural Senegal

Paula Gilbert
1/18/2023

Nokia and UNICEF are joining forces to provide a digital education and coding program in underserved areas of Senegal.

Elon Musk's Starlink to enter Kenyan market

Matshepo Sehloho
1/18/2023

SpaceX's satellite Internet company, Starlink, has announced that it will launch in Kenya in the second quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approval.

Raxio building data center in Angola

Connecting Africa News
1/17/2023

Pan-African data center developer and operator Raxio Group continues with its African expansion, announcing a new investment in Angola.

Ghana regulator approves Vodafone sale to Telecel

Matshepo Sehloho
1/17/2023

Ghana's National Communications Authority has granted conditional approval for the transfer of 70% of Vodafone Ghana to the Telecel Group.

SA's best mobile network in 2022 revealed

Paula Gilbert
1/16/2023

MTN has been ranked the best mobile network in South Africa for the third year in a row, according to MyBroadband Insights' 2022 Mobile Network Quality Report.

MTN Ghana vows to fight hefty back taxes bill

Matshepo Sehloho
1/16/2023

MTN Ghana has vowed to contest a hefty tax bill imposed by the Ghana Revenue Authority for alleged outstanding tax obligations over a four-year period.

Telecom Egypt, Huawei unveil eco-friendly tower

Connecting Africa News
1/13/2023

Telecom Egypt has become the first operator in Africa to roll out an eco-friendly wireless network tower made of fiber-reinforced polymer, in partnership with Huawei.

Kenya High Court suspends mobile money fees

Matshepo Sehloho
1/13/2023

The Kenyan High Court has suspended charges for sending money between mobile money wallets and bank accounts pending the determination of a consumer rights lawsuit.

Djibouti to build $1B spaceport

Matshepo Sehloho
1/12/2023

Djibouti and Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group (HKATG) plan to develop an international commercial spaceport that will cost US$1 billion.

Rwanda to launch $40M digitization project using AFD loan

Connecting Africa News
1/12/2023

The Rwandan government is moving forward with a public services digitization project as well as space and drone projects using money from a French Development Agency loan.

Canadian telco Iristel enters Kenyan market

Matshepo Sehloho
1/12/2023

Canadian telco Iristel finally enters the Kenyan market offering Internet-based calls through Safaricom's network.

Telkom SA hangs up on Rain merger

Paula Gilbert
1/11/2023

Discussions over a possible merger between South African mobile operators Telkom SA and Rain have been called off.

Zimbabwe's rail fiber optic project kicks off

Matshepo Sehloho
1/10/2023

Dark Fiber Africa (DFA) and Bandwidth and Cloud Services Group (BCS) have completed the first stage of their long-haul fiber backbone project running along Zimbabwean rail tracks.

MTN MoMo to offer personal loans in SA

Paula Gilbert
1/10/2023

MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) is offering personal loans in South Africa of up to R180,000 (US$10,540) as it moves to meet a rising demand for mobile fintech services on the continent.

Africa Data Centres partners with INX-ZA in SA for remote peering

Connecting Africa News
1/9/2023

Africa Data Centres is partnering with INX-ZA to offer remote peering in South Africa.

Airtel Nigeria buys 4G, 5G spectrum for $316M

Matshepo Sehloho
1/9/2023

Airtel Nigeria will soon rollout 5G after purchasing 100MHz of spectrum in the 3500MHz band and 2x5MHz in the 2600MHz band for US$316.7 million.

Clickatell helps SA companies leverage chat commerce

Matshepo Sehloho
1/5/2023

South African brands are interacting with their clients using chat platforms like WhatsApp to upsell and improve their customer service.

5G will bring $26B to Africa by 2030 – GSMA

Paula Gilbert
1/3/2023

A new report predicts that 5G will account for 20% of mobile connections in Africa by 2030 as 5G spectrum auctions, pilots and commercial trials increase.

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