News & Views

Content posted in October 2019

MTN Group Grows, SA Struggles

Paula Gilbert
10/31/2019

While the MTN Group added 3.5 million new subscribers in the third quarter the SA business lost another 300,000 users.

Liquid Telecom SA's Massive Network Upgrade

Paula Gilbert
10/30/2019

Liquid Telecom SA has announced a network refresh and advanced core network enhancements to offer better bandwidth capacity to customers.

Africa & Middle East Push Up Orange Revenues

Paula Gilbert
10/29/2019

Orange revenues in Africa and the Middle East rose 7.6% in the third quarter of 2019, boosting the group total.

Orange Opens Digital Center in Senegal

Connecting Africa News
10/28/2019

French operator Orange has opened its second Digital Center in Africa and the Middle East with plans for three more by the end of this year.

Airtel Africa Gains 10M Customers

Paula Gilbert
10/25/2019

Airtel Africa added almost 10 million new customers in the past year while its data customer base increased 17.7% year-on-year.

Safaricom Announces New CEO After Collymore's Passing

Connecting Africa News
10/24/2019

Peter Ndegwa will take over as Safaricom CEO in April 2020, filling the role left by the late Bob Collymore.

Vodacom Data Traffic Soars as Costs Drop

Paula Gilbert
10/24/2019

Vodacom says the effective cost of data on its network has halved in the first six months of the financial year, while traffic has increased by 70%.

Vodacom Launches 4G Smart Feature Phone

Paula Gilbert
10/23/2019

As smart feature phones become more popular across Africa, Vodacom has unveiled its new Vibe 4G phone.

Broadband for All Africans Will Cost $100B – World Bank

Paula Gilbert
10/23/2019

The World Bank believes that achieving broadband access for everyone living in Africa by 2030 will come with a US$100 billion price tag.

Connecting Africa Country Profile: Nigeria

Paula Gilbert
10/22/2019

This country guide offers a snapshot of the mobile market in Nigeria and takes a look at the key network operators active in the West African nation.

Voice still key for FNB Connect users

Paula Gilbert
10/18/2019

South African MVNO FNB Connect says voice calls still account for between 30% to 40% of its customers' typical spend.

MTN SA in Search of a New CFO

Connecting Africa News
10/18/2019

MTN South Africa CFO Sandile Ntsele is being transferred to the MTN Group, leaving his job up for grabs.

'Made in Africa' Mara Smartphones to be Manufactured in SA

Paula Gilbert
10/17/2019

The Mara Group has expanded the production of its African made smartphones, opening a high-tech manufacturing plant in South Africa.

Kenya Leads Africa in Mobile Financial Services Opportunities – Mazars

Paula Gilbert
10/16/2019

The Mazars Mobile Payments Index ranks Kenya highest out of four African countries according to the mobile financial services opportunities in the country, while South Africa ranks lowest.

EOH Goes After Corrupt Employees & Business Partners

Paula Gilbert
10/15/2019

South African IT services firm EOH has blacklisted 50 enterprise development business partners implicated in suspect payments.

Bolt Scaling Up East African Business With New Leader

Connecting Africa News
10/14/2019

Ride-hailing platform Bolt has appointed Kenneth Micah as its new regional manager for East Africa.

MTN Cote d'Ivoire Has a New CEO

Connecting Africa News
10/11/2019

MTN Group says Djibril Ouattara will move from his role as CEO of MTN Congo Brazzaville to take up the leadership spot in Cote d'Ivoire.

M-Pesa One of 10 Most Influential Projects of Last 50 Years, Says PMI

Paula Gilbert
10/11/2019

The Kenyan mobile money service has been ranked the ninth most influential project in the world over the last five decades by the Project Management Institute.

Bolt's Big African Expansion Plans

Paula Gilbert
10/10/2019

Ride-hailing app Bolt plans to increase its reach from over 40 African cities to 75 by the end of 2019.

Five innovative startups looking to transform africa

Africa Tech Perspectives
10/10/2019

The shortlist of the startups in the running for AfricaCom's AHUB Pitch & Win competition.

AfricaCom Survey: 5G investment should be operators' top priority

Africa Tech Perspectives
10/9/2019

AfricaCom's annual Insights Survey showed that 29% of respondents believe that 5G should be operators' biggest investment priority over the next 12 months.

Jury Still Out on Viability of Rural Fiber

Paula Gilbert
10/9/2019

Frogfoot Networks CEO Abraham van der Merwe questions how financially viable it is to rollout fiber to townships and rural areas in South Africa.

SA Minister Pledges Support for Fiber Industry

Paula Gilbert
10/8/2019

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, says all South Africans should have access to fiber and has promised to support industry players to help make this happen.

Vodafone Brings open RAN to DRC & Mozambique

Connecting Africa News
10/7/2019

Vodafone is trialing open RAN technology in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique to broaden its base of suppliers and extend rural Internet access.

Women in Tech Interview: Microsoft SA's Lillian Barnard

Paula Gilbert
10/4/2019

Microsoft SA managing director Lillian Barnard spoke to Connecting Africa about the rise of cloud in Africa and how she feels flying the flag for women in ICT.

eSIM Tech Trending Upward in Africa

Paula Gilbert
10/3/2019

According to analysts the adoption of eSIM technology is slowly rising in Africa, and South Africa is the front runner in the region.

Africans suffer poor voice app experience

Paula Gilbert
10/2/2019

A new report from Opensignal shows that Africa is trailing when it comes to voice app call quality of experience.

AfricaCom Insights: Ecobank's Simon B. Rey on Africa's digital-adaptive population

Africa Tech Perspectives
10/2/2019

Simon B. Rey from Ecobank believes the world's digital-adaptive population lives in Africa -- and it's not just about the Millennials.

Safaricom Is Losing Market Share to Airtel

Paula Gilbert
10/1/2019

Safaricom's slice of the Kenyan market is slowly declining and has dropped to levels last seen in 2012.

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US-Kenya tech exchange aims to bridge digital gap, boost STEM education

By Eden Harris

Connecting Africa Correspondent Eden Harris investigates the USAID Edtech Africa initiative which aims to enhance tech education in Kenya and the US and teach the skills needed to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the digital age.