News & Views

Content posted in May 2024

Gitex Africa 2024: Companies sign deals to transform Africa

Matshepo Sehloho
5/31/2024

Connecting Africa has compiled a list of significant announcements and deals signed at Gitex Africa 2024, which took place this week in Marrakech, Morocco.

Q&A: GSMA's Claire Sibthorpe on closing the mobile gender gap

Paula Gilbert
5/31/2024

Claire Sibthorpe, head of digital inclusion at the GSMA, spoke to Connecting Africa about the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024, discussing what the numbers mean, the barriers keeping women offline and the outlook going forward.

How e-mobility could transform Africa's transport sector

Guest Perspectives
5/30/2024

ICT analyst Francis Hook delves into Africa's e-mobility sector and unpacks the challenges faced locally and the benefits the move to electric vehicles could bring to urban transport systems.

Starlink gets approval to beam into Botswana

Matshepo Sehloho
5/30/2024

Botswana has granted SpaceX's satellite Internet unit, Starlink, an operating license, after Zimbabwe granted it a license last week.

Raxio launches data center in Mozambique

Paula Gilbert
5/28/2024

With Raxio opening a new data center in Mozambique, Group CEO Robert Mullins spoke to Connecting Africa about the Maputo facility and the group's expansion plans across Africa, including launches in Côte d'Ivoire, DRC and Angola later this year.

Five mobility startups to watch in 2024

Matshepo Sehloho
5/28/2024

Connecting Africa has compiled a list of five mobility startups that are making a difference in the communities they serve.

Zimbabwe approves Starlink licensing

Matshepo Sehloho
5/27/2024

Zimbabwe's telecom regulator has approved the licensing of Elon Musk's Starlink, allowing the satellite unit of SpaceX to operate in the southern African country.

Orange Ventures, Digital Africa promise more funding for startups

Connecting Africa News
5/24/2024

Orange Ventures and Digital Africa are teaming up to invest more in tech startups in Africa and the Middle East through Digital Africa's Fuzé program and the Orange Digital Center network.

Google to build Umoja cable to connect Africa to Australia

Matshepo Sehloho
5/24/2024

Tech giant Google is building a new undersea fiber optic cable that will connect Africa to Australia.

Omdia View: April 2024

Guest Perspectives
5/24/2024

April 2024's telecoms highlights in the Middle East and Africa included a license for Starlink in Ghana, new mobile termination rates in Ethiopia, and 6G trials in Bahrain – that and more in the latest Omdia View.

Kenya to introduce new taxes for electric vehicles, solar batteries

Matshepo Sehloho
5/23/2024

The Kenyan government has proposed the Finance Bill 2024 that would impose a value-added tax (VAT) on electric bikes, buses, and solar and lithium-ion batteries.

Hot startup of the month: Rwanda's Ampersand

Matshepo Sehloho
5/22/2024

Connecting Africa's hot startup this month is Rwanda's Ampersand, which designs, builds, and manufactures electric motorcycles and battery packs for motorcycle taxis.

Microsoft South Africa pledges $71.6M for SMMEs, skills development

Paula Gilbert
5/22/2024

Microsoft has pledged to invest more than R1.3 billion (US$71.6 million) in South Africa to support small businesses, create jobs, invest in youth skills development and ready the country for AI transformation.

Liquid launches LEO satellite services via Eutelsat

Paula Gilbert
5/21/2024

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has signed a distribution partner agreement with Eutelsat Group that will see low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services rolled out in Africa.

BII expands telecom infrastructure in Senegal, Tanzania

Matshepo Sehloho
5/21/2024

British International Investment (BII) has signed financing agreements to support both Senegal and Tanzania's telecommunication infrastructure plans.

Visa shortlists fintech startups for accelerator program

Paula Gilbert
5/20/2024

Payments giant Visa has announced the 18 startups from sub-Saharan Africa that were shortlisted for the second cohort of its Africa Fintech Accelerator program.

Pyypl plots African fintech growth

Paula Gilbert
5/17/2024

Blockchain financial services and remittances company Pyypl is rapidly growing its operations across the Middle East and Africa with ambitions to triple its monthly active user base by the end of 2025.

South Africa's fiber-to-the-business market continues to grow

Paula Gilbert
5/16/2024

South Africa's fiber-to-the-business (FTTB) market saw steady growth in the latter part of 2023, on the back of increasing interest in fiber connectivity by local companies, according to new research from Africa Analysis.

Mobile gender gap narrows slightly in sub-Saharan Africa: GSMA

Paula Gilbert
5/15/2024

Over 200 million women were still not using the mobile Internet in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024 from the GSMA, but the mobile gender gap did narrow for the first time in five years.

Zimbabwe to allow mobile money agents to operate again

Matshepo Sehloho
5/15/2024

Zimbabwe has reportedly announced that it would allow mobile money agents to operate in the country again to boost the use of its new gold-backed currency.

Leveraging agritech to build resilience against climate change

Guest Perspectives
5/14/2024

ICT analyst Francis Hook discusses agritech in Africa and how the agricultural sector is using technology to build resilience against the negative effects of climate change and to ensure food security.

Tanzania bans unlicensed digital lenders

Matshepo Sehloho
5/14/2024

The Bank of Tanzania has announced that it will no longer allow unlicensed digital lenders to operate in the East African country.

Egypt, Ethiopia impact Vodacom earnings

Paula Gilbert
5/13/2024

Vodacom Group reported strong revenue growth in the past financial year, boosted by the addition of Vodafone Egypt, but earnings were pulled down by startup costs in Ethiopia, higher finance and energy costs, and inflationary pressure.

Another subsea cable fail impacts East Africa's Internet

Matshepo Sehloho
5/13/2024

Internet connectivity in several East African countries has been disrupted after two subsea cables connecting Southern and East Africa went down, slowing connections and causing widespread outages.

Safaricom profit rises in Kenya, Ethiopia startup costs impact group

Paula Gilbert
5/10/2024

Safaricom reported strong earnings in Kenya for the past financial year and believes its Ethiopian business will start being a significant growth contributor from 2025 onwards.

Angola Cables, Camtel partner for cross-border connectivity

Matshepo Sehloho
5/10/2024

Angola Cables and Camtel, Cameroon's incumbent telecommunications operator, have partnered to expand digital and connectivity services in Cameroon and the West Africa region.

MEA head Fadi Pharaon is leaving Ericsson

Paula Gilbert
5/10/2024

Ericsson has announced that Middle East and Africa (MEA) head Fadi Pharaon will leave the company in August, after 26 years at Ericsson.

Currency devaluations hit Airtel Africa earnings, despite user growth

Paula Gilbert
5/9/2024

Pan-African operator Airtel Africa has reported an $89 million loss after tax due to significant currency devaluations in Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya, despite growing its subscribers across the region over the past year.

Botswana could get Starlink services

Matshepo Sehloho
5/9/2024

Botswana could soon get Starlink services, after the country's President Mokgweetsi Masisi met with SpaceX executives who expressed an interest in obtaining an operating license in the country.

SA online retail topped $3.8B in 2023, growing 29%

Paula Gilbert
5/8/2024

Online retail sales in South Africa reached R71 billion (US$3.8 billion) in 2023, making up more than 6% of total retail in the country, according to research by World Wide Worx, with online retail sales forecast to make up 10% of the market by the end of 2025.

Libya's Almadar Aljadid partners with WideBot to deploy AI chatbot

Matshepo Sehloho
5/8/2024

Libyan telecom company Almadar Aljadid has partnered with Egypt-based AI developer WideBot to implement a conversational AI chatbot platform to enhance its customer service.

US e-commerce giant Amazon finally launches in South Africa

Paula Gilbert
5/7/2024

American e-commerce company Amazon has officially launched its online marketplace in South Africa, promising growth opportunities for local brands.

India partners with Ghana, Namibia towards instant payment systems

Matshepo Sehloho
5/6/2024

India has partnered with Ghana's government and Bank of Namibia to link its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to allow users to make instant, low-cost fund transfers.

AI startups dominate Qualcomm Make in Africa 2024 shortlist

Paula Gilbert
5/3/2024

Qualcomm has announced the shortlisted startups for its Make in Africa 2024 mentorship program, and six out of the ten are related to AI.

Egypt to launch its first digital bank

Matshepo Sehloho
5/3/2024

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has granted Misr Digital Innovation (MDI) preliminary approval to launch the country's first digital bank.

WACS repaired, Mauritius Telecom to build new subsea cable

Matshepo Sehloho
5/2/2024

The West Africa Cable System (WACS) has been repaired after enduring weeks of disruptions while Mauritius Telecom is partnering with Orange and Reliance Jio to build a new subsea cable connecting Africa, Indian Ocean islands and Asia.

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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

Elon Musk's Starlink satellite Internet service is making waves across Africa, while it navigates competitive dynamics with local telecom companies. He recently engaged with various African leaders.

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Africa Tech Perspectives

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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

Uber's Country Manager for Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Marjorie Saint-Lot, shares how the ride-hailing company is approaching public-private partnerships, environmentally friendly initiatives and gender inclusion in Africa.

More Africa Tech perspectives

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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.