News & Views

Content posted in February 2021

Hot startup of the month: Kenya's Swifttdial

Tom Jackson
2/26/2021

Kenyan company Swifttdial is helping companies in Kenya and Nigeria set up cloud-based virtual call centers, with plans to expand further into West Africa.

Spotify expanding to dozens more African countries

Connecting Africa News
2/25/2021

Music streaming service Spotify is expanding to 80 more countries and half of them are in Africa.

Uber facing class action lawsuit in SA

Connecting Africa News
2/24/2021

A group of Uber drivers in South Africa is taking the ride-hailing giant to court, hoping for a victory like the one British drivers had earlier this month.

5G could reach 43% of SA population by 2025 – Africa Analysis

Paula Gilbert
2/19/2021

South Africa could see 11 million 5G subscribers and 43% population coverage by 2025, compared to just 4% now, according to a new report from Africa Analysis.

Low smartphone penetration limits Zim's digital adoption – Econet

Paula Gilbert
2/18/2021

Econet Wireless' 2020 report says smartphone penetration in Zimbabwe remains low at 52% and the lack of smartphones in the market impedes digital service adoption.

Safaricom ranked Kenya's best network

Connecting Africa News
2/17/2021

Safaricom has been ranked as having the best network in Kenya for both data and calls, according to independent network tests from Umlaut.

Nigerian Internet and mobile penetration grows

Paula Gilbert
2/16/2021

DataReportal's Digital 2021 report on Nigeria shows that Internet users increased 22% and mobile connections grew 10% between January 2020 and January 2021.

COVID-19 bites into Ooredoo profits in North Africa

Paula Gilbert
2/15/2021

Telecoms operator Ooredoo saw its profitability in the North African markets of Algeria and Tunisia decline in 2020.

$14.4M Kenyan deal to bring mobile infrastructure to remote areas

Connecting Africa News
2/12/2021

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has awarded contracts worth $14.4 million to five companies to roll out mobile network infrastructure to under-served areas in the country.

18 African countries are testing 5G

Paula Gilbert
2/11/2021

Stats from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) show there are 24 operators in 18 African countries currently evaluating, testing or deploying 5G.

Only half of Vodacom's customers use data

Paula Gilbert
2/10/2021

Only about half of Vodacom's customers across its African operations are using mobile data, stats from its newest trading update show.

Orange to build data center for Egypt's 'new capital'

Connecting Africa News
2/9/2021

Orange Business Services will design and build cloud-based ICT infrastructure for Egypt's new smart city and the country's 'New Administrative Capital.'

MTN selling BICS stake for $121 million

Paula Gilbert
2/9/2021

Pan-African mobile operator MTN has agreed to sell its 20% stake in BICS to Belgian operator Proximus for $121 million.

Telkom SA's mobile business soars in 2020

Paula Gilbert
2/8/2021

Telkom SA's mobile business kept up its strong growth trajectory in 2020 with mobile service revenue growing over 40% for the last nine months of the year.

Africell to launch network in Angola

Paula Gilbert
2/5/2021

Africell has been granted a license to operate in Angola, becoming the country's fourth telecoms operator.

Five trends for Africa's telco market in 2021

Paula Gilbert
2/4/2021

Nexign, the BSS and IoT platform provider, breaks down the biggest telco trends in 2021, including the monetization of 4G and more mobile money growth.

SA launches electronic COVID-19 vaccination system

Paula Gilbert
2/3/2021

South Africa has launched its Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) to start rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to frontline healthcare workers in the country.

Strong quarterly growth for Vodacom financial services

Paula Gilbert
2/2/2021

Vodacom's financial services business grew its revenue by 24.3% in last quarter of 2020.

The cost of Africa's Internet shutdowns

Paula Gilbert
2/1/2021

Uganda's recent Internet shutdown cost the country about $10.7 million while Tanzania, Ethiopia and Chad all lost millions from Internet shutdowns in 2020.

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Hot startup of the month: Rwanda's Smart Ikigega

This month's hot startup, Smart Ikigega, wants to revolutionize the rural agricultural trade ecosystem in Rwanda by helping farmers access finance and harvest insurance.

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Omdia View: July 2022

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Kenya and Zambia move towards 5G with new spectrum allocations while Tunisie Telecom plans to shut down its 3G network - that and more in this month's Omdia View.

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Omdia View: June 2022

By Omdia Analysts

5G was the major news trend across Africa in June, as Orange became the first operator to launch 5G in Réunion and operators in Senegal accelerated their 5G plans despite spectrum delays.

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