News & Views

Content posted in May 2021

East Africa Com 2021: Smartphone and data affordability

Connecting Africa Video
5/31/2021

A panel discussion at East Africa Com 2021 about smartphone and data affordability as a key connectivity driver for East Africa.

Kenya, SA worst hit by mobile payment fraud

Paula Gilbert
5/28/2021

Mobile payment-related fraud is worth about $4 billion a year in Africa, and the worst hit countries are Kenya and South Africa.

IoT in Africa: Connecting telcos and communities to unique opportunities

Partner Perspectives
5/27/2021

BICS VP Clémentine Fournier discusses how IoT can connect telcos and communities to unique opportunities.

SA operators can keep using COVID emergency spectrum, for now

Paula Gilbert
5/27/2021

South Africa's telecoms operators have been given another three months of COVID-19 temporary radio frequency spectrum, but regulator ICASA says a permanent solution needs to be found.

Raxio plots African growth with data center in Uganda

Connecting Africa News
5/26/2021

Data center developer Raxio has launched Uganda's first Tier III carrier-neutral data center.

MTN 'bitterly disappointed' to miss out on Ethiopia license

Paula Gilbert
5/25/2021

MTN CEO Ralph Mupita says he and his team are 'bitterly disappointed' that the telco was unable to secure a license to operate in Ethiopia.

Safaricom consortium gets Ethiopia license

Paula Gilbert
5/24/2021

A consortium of Safaricom, Vodacom and Vodafone has been awarded a telecoms license in Ethiopia, ahead of fellow bidder MTN, with plans to launch services in 2022.

Telkom SA's mobile customers pass 15M

Paula Gilbert
5/24/2021

Telkom SA's mobile business has surpassed 15 million subscribers for the first time while COVID-19 impacted its fixed line revenues and saw a slowdown from enterprise customers.

East Africa Com 2021: Ethiopia deep dive

Connecting Africa Video
5/21/2021

A fireside chat at East Africa Com 2021 revealed some key details about Ethiopia's telecoms liberalization and the issuing of two new licenses in the country.

East Africa Com 2021: Beyond the 4IR buzz

Connecting Africa Video
5/21/2021

A panel discussion at East Africa Com 2021 about what kind of value the fourth industrial revolution is bringing East Africa and what more can be done.

MTN to recruit 10,000 mobile money agents in SA

Paula Gilbert
5/19/2021

MTN South Africa has announced a US$2 million partnership with the IFC to expand its mobile money business, including recruiting 10,000 agents this year.

Vodacom earnings rise despite pandemic woes

Paula Gilbert
5/18/2021

Vodacom increased full year revenue by over 8%, despite challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and price cuts in South Africa.

Hot startup of the month: Kenya's Illuminum Greenhouses

Tom Jackson
5/17/2021

Kenyan IoT startup Illuminum Greenhouses builds smart greenhouses equipped with intelligent irrigation and fertigation systems, which help eliminate guesswork from farming and increase yields by using solar-powered sensors.

Ethiopia would have liked Orange & Etisalat to bid for licenses

Paula Gilbert
5/14/2021

A senior advisor to the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance told East Africa Com that it had expected four companies to bid for new licenses in the country, Orange and Etisalat being the operators that did not and MTN and a Safaricom consortium the ones that did.

Pandemic eats into Safaricom's M-Pesa revenue

Paula Gilbert
5/13/2021

COVID-19 impacted Safaricom's full-year core earnings as it saw declines in revenue from voice services and its financial services platform, M-Pesa.

Airtel Africa sees major mobile money, data growth

Paula Gilbert
5/12/2021

Airtel Africa had a strong financial year with underlying revenue growing 13.6%, to $3.88 billion, as mobile money revenue jumped 35.5% and data revenue grew 31.2%.

Orange prioritizes renewable energy in Africa

Paula Gilbert
5/11/2021

Pan-African operator Orange is accelerating its solar projects in Africa and the Middle East with a commitment to reduce its carbon footprint to zero by 2040.

Omdia View: April 2021

Guest Perspectives
5/11/2021

This month, Omdia's analysts provide context around Ethiopia's telecoms licensing process, Millicom's plans to exit Tanzania and Ghana, and Airtel Africa's successful capital raise.

Eutelsat, Facebook plan major African Wi-Fi rollout

Connecting Africa News
5/10/2021

Eutelsat and Facebook are partnering to extend Wi-Fi connectivity to people in rural and underserved communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Research Bites: Factors influencing fintech adoption in Nigeria

Guest Perspectives
5/7/2021

This article is a collaboration with the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development and explores the factors impacting the adoption of financial services technology in Lagos, Nigeria.

MTN SA towers sale receives major interest

Paula Gilbert
5/6/2021

MTN has received queries from over 20 companies interested in buying its passive tower infrastructure in South Africa.

Registration rules see Nigerian operators drop 12M subs

Paula Gilbert
5/5/2021

Nigeria's mobile operators lost a combined 12.1 million mobile subscribers between December 2020 and March 2021, as new registration rules bit into user numbers.

The state of mobile broadband affordability in Africa

Paula Gilbert
5/4/2021

If you look at the price of mobile data as a percentage of average income, 8 out of the 10 most expensive countries in the world are in Africa according to A4AI.

MTN becomes first operator to list in Rwanda

Paula Gilbert
5/4/2021

MTN Rwanda has listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange, becoming the first mobile network operator to do so.

Nigerian SIM registrations bite into MTN subs

Paula Gilbert
5/3/2021

MTN Nigeria lost 5 million mobile subscribers in the first quarter of 2021, due to SIM registration regulations and general customer churn.

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