News & Views

Content posted in February 2022

Exclusive: Vanu in major off-grid tower deal in Nigeria

Paula Gilbert
2/28/2022

Vanu is deploying hundreds of off-grid basestations to rural communities in Nigeria through a partnership with local company ICSL, on behalf of a leading Nigerian operator.

SA's Vumatel acquires 45% stake in Herotel

Connecting Africa News
2/25/2022

SA fiber provider Vumatel has bought a non-controlling stake in local Internet service provider Herotel which focuses on connectivity in smaller towns and cities.

Huawei and SA labor department in settlement talks

Paula Gilbert
2/25/2022

Huawei South Africa and the local labor department are in settlement talks to deal with an employment equity dispute.

Hot startup of the month: Nigeria's Scrapays

Tom Jackson
2/24/2022

Scrapays, a Nigerian waste management platform, connects waste producers to localized collectors, saving them time and helping them earn money from recycling.

Blue Label Telecoms' interim profit jumps 20%

Paula Gilbert
2/23/2022

South African company Blue Label Telecoms recorded a 20% increase in gross profit for the first six months of the financial year.

Africa's developer pool strong and growing – Google

Paula Gilbert
2/22/2022

A new report from Google and Accenture shows that Africa's pool of professional developers rose by 3.8% in 2021 and local developers are getting paid more.

All six bidders qualify for SA spectrum auction

Paula Gilbert
2/21/2022

SA regulator ICASA has announced the qualified bidders for South Africa's spectrum auction licensing process, with all six applicants passing the pre-qualification stage.

Mobile slowdown pulls down Maroc Telecom revenue

Paula Gilbert
2/18/2022

Maroc Telecom's group revenue fell 2.7% in 2021, but a good performance from its Moov Africa subsidiaries partially offset a slowdown in mobile activities in Morocco.

Orange Africa growth story continues

Paula Gilbert
2/17/2022

French operator Orange's operations in Africa and the Middle East continued to be its strongest growth region with revenue rising almost 11% in 2021.

Airtel to pay Kenyan regulator $17.5M for expired license

Connecting Africa News
2/16/2022

Airtel Kenya has reached an out-of-court settlement with the local telecoms regulator that will see it pay US$17.5 million in an expired license dispute that has been going on for years.

Morocco and South Africa have Africa's fastest networks

Paula Gilbert
2/15/2022

Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia have the fastest mobile download speeds in Africa, according to new data from crowdsourcing company SpeedChecker.

Huawei in hot water over SA hiring habits

Connecting Africa News
2/14/2022

Huawei South Africa sued by local labor department for alleged non-compliance with employment equity policy by employing 10% local staff when it should be 60%.

Ramaphosa promises SA spectrum auction will go ahead in March

Paula Gilbert
2/11/2022

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa says ICASA's spectrum auction will go ahead next month, even as court cases to stop it loom.

Omdia View: January 2022

Guest Perspectives
2/11/2022

This month's Omdia summary of the biggest stories in the Middle East and Africa covers IoT regulation, 5G spectrum auctions and service launch plans.

Seacom is buying Africell's assets in Uganda

Connecting Africa News
2/10/2022

Seacom says it will acquire selected infrastructure assets from now-defunct Africell in Uganda.

Vodacom must pay 'Please Call Me' inventor over $3M

Paula Gilbert
2/10/2022

South Africa's High Court has ruled that Vodacom needs to compensate 'Please Call Me' inventor Kenneth Nkosana Makate more than the US$3.1 million it offered him.

SA spectrum showdown gets April court date

Paula Gilbert
2/9/2022

The ongoing spectrum battle between Telkom SA and regulator ICASA will go to court in April, but the auction they are arguing about is set to happen in March.

Equiano subsea cable to reach Namibia and SA in mid-2022

Paula Gilbert
2/9/2022

Google's subsea cable system, Equiano, is due to land in Namibia in May and in South Africa in June 2022.

Orange gets 5G spectrum in Egypt

Paula Gilbert
2/8/2022

Orange Egypt has been allocated 30 MHz of spectrum in the 2600 MHz band at a cost of $440 million USD.

Telkom SA revenue under pressure despite mobile growth

Paula Gilbert
2/7/2022

Telkom South Africa's third-quarter revenue declined as its legacy fixed line offering and IT business, BCX, struggled with challenges.

Airtel Africa adds 3M subs on back of Nigerian recovery

Paula Gilbert
2/4/2022

A strong recovery in Nigeria helped Airtel Africa grow its customer base on the continent by 5.8%, to 125.8 million, by the end of December 2021.

Women in Tech: MTN Rwanda CEO Mitwa Ng'ambi

Paula Gilbert
2/3/2022

MTN Rwanda CEO Mitwa Ng'ambi sat down with Connecting Africa to share her career journey, and the strides Rwanda is making in gender inclusion in both government and the private sector.

MTN raises $281M in Nigeria share sale

Paula Gilbert
2/2/2022

Pan-African operator MTN has raised R4.3 billion (US$281 million) through the sale of 575 million shares in Nigeria.

Vodacom financial services becoming a cash cow

Paula Gilbert
2/1/2022

Vodacom's financial services business is continuing its upward trend with revenue increasing 12.5% in the third quarter of the financial year.

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Ivorian fintech takes Ecobank Challenge top prize

Pan-African banking group Ecobank has announced Côte d'Ivoire's Daba Finance as the winner of its flagship Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2024, walking away with the US$50,000 grand prize.

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Elon Musk hosts African leaders while Starlink faces challenges in Kenya

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Women in Tech: Spotlight on tech talent with RedAcademy's Jessica Hawkey

RedAcademy's founder and MD Jessica Hawkey spoke to Connecting Africa, as part of a Women in Tech series, about how digital skills development programs are growing Africa's tech talent pipeline while creating jobs for the youth.

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Women in Tech: Spotlight on digital skills with Kreative Campus' Keitesi Aisha

Kreative Campus' operations and finance lead, Keitesi Aisha, talks to Connecting Africa as part of our Women in Tech series about how skills development can make Africa's tech ecosystem more inclusive.

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Uber's Marjorie Saint-Lot on inclusion and sustainability in Africa

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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.