News & Views

Content posted in July 2020

MTN Nigeria boosted by customer gains

Paula Gilbert
7/31/2020

MTN Nigeria added 6.8 million customers in the first half of 2020, with more people using mobile technologies during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Outgoing MTN CEO joining BT Group

Paula Gilbert
7/31/2020

Rob Shuter will take over as CEO of BT Enterprise when he leaves MTN next year.

Former CEO Michael Joseph back as Safaricom chairman

Paula Gilbert
7/30/2020

Michael Joseph will return to Safaricom, this time as board chairman, when long-serving chairman Nicholas Nganga retires at end of July.

Orange sees strong 4G growth in Africa

Paula Gilbert
7/30/2020

French operator Orange is making strides in its 4G rollout in Africa and the Middle East with 4G customers growing 40% in the region over the past year.

Somalia has Africa's cheapest data prices

Paula Gilbert
7/29/2020

The price of 1GB data in Somalia is the cheapest in Africa and the seventh cheapest globally, says Cable.co.uk study.

Safaricom, Google partner on Kenyan smartphone financing

Paula Gilbert
7/28/2020

Safaricom and Google are joining forces in a mobile financing project to get more 4G-enabled smartphones into the hands of Kenyans.

Hot startup of the month: Zimbabwe's Dr CADx

Tom Jackson
7/27/2020

Zimbabwean startup Dr CADx has developed a diagnostics system that is harnessing the power of AI to help doctors remotely diagnose medical images.

Airtel Africa gains customers despite COVID-19 challenges

Paula Gilbert
7/24/2020

Airtel Africa recorded decent growth in the quarter ended June 30, 2020, despite challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Orange launching digital bank in West Africa

Connecting Africa News
7/23/2020

French telecoms provider Orange is launching Orange Bank Africa in Côte d’Ivoire with plans to expand into Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.

African lockdowns boost Vodacom data traffic

Paula Gilbert
7/23/2020

Vodacom recorded major data traffic growth over the past three months with COVID-19 lockdowns forcing Africans to work and study from home.

Telkom SA pushing customers from DSL to fiber

Connecting Africa News
7/22/2020

Telkom is moving forward with plans to kill off its copper-based fixed-line offerings and shift customers to new-generation technologies.

Vodacom launching fintech 'super app' with Alipay

Paula Gilbert
7/21/2020

Vodacom will next year roll out a financial services 'super app' in partnership with Chinese digital payment provider Alipay.

Rain debuts standalone 5G network in Cape Town

Connecting Africa News
7/20/2020

Rain and Huawei have launched what they are calling Africa's first commercial standalone 5G network.

Crosscall eyes African expansion for 'rugged devices'

Paula Gilbert
7/17/2020

French brand Crosscall is looking to launch its 'rugged devices' in ten more African countries in the next six months.

Africa Tech Festival aims to virtually unite tech and talent

Connecting Africa News
7/16/2020

The Virtual Africa Tech Festival is on a mission to unite tech and talent in Africa and drive digital transformation by bringing the continent's tech industry together in a fully virtual event.

Follow Me Talk launching new MVNO in Kenya

Paula Gilbert
7/15/2020

A Kenyan smartphone financing company, Follow Me Talk, is now launching an app-based mobile virtual network operator.

Zimbabweans are trading traditional voice calls for app-based services

Paula Gilbert
7/14/2020

Zimbabweans are making fewer voice calls and using more mobile data for app-based voice and video calling, according to the latest report from the telecoms regulator.

Saudi Telecom postpones Vodafone Egypt acquisition, again

Connecting Africa News
7/13/2020

The Saudi Arabian operator has for the second time pushed back plans to buy a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

Nigeria will have 246M mobile subs by 2025 – Omdia

Paula Gilbert
7/10/2020

Market research firm forecasting that mobile subscriptions in Nigeria will hit 246 million in 2025, rising from 180 million in 2019.

Podcast: What's the story with mobile data in Africa?

Connecting Africa News
7/9/2020

Paula Gilbert joins Light Reading's 'What's the Story?' podcast to discuss current trends around mobile data in Africa and their broader impact on the region and industry at large.

Ethiopia's telecoms liberalization is critical for digitization – report

Paula Gilbert
7/9/2020

The planned opening up of Ethiopia's telecoms sector will go a long way toward improving the affordability, coverage and quality of Internet services, says a new report from HIP Consult.

Balloon-powered 4G takes flight in Kenya

Paula Gilbert
7/8/2020

Balloon-powered 4G is now available in Kenya's rural areas through a project between Loon and Telkom Kenya.

MTN named SA's best mobile network during lockdown

Paula Gilbert
7/8/2020

MTN has been ranked as South Africa's best network during the COVID-19 lockdown in the country, according to a new report from MyBroadband Insights.

COVID-19 store closures hurt SA's Blue Label Telecoms

Paula Gilbert
7/7/2020

SA's Blue Label Telecoms is expecting to bounce back from last year's losses related to its investment in Cell C but is now predicting an earnings knock from its WiConnect business.

M-Pesa has almost 99% market share in Kenya

Paula Gilbert
7/6/2020

Safaricom is still extremely dominant when it comes to Kenya's mobile money market, but its overall mobile customer market share declined slightly in the first quarter of 2020.

Econet launches Zimbabwe's first 3G smart feature phone

Paula Gilbert
7/3/2020

Econet Wireless is rolling out Zimbabwe's first 3G smart feature phone, powered by the KaiOS mobile operating system.

Leadership changes for MTN in Cameroon, Benin and Liberia

Paula Gilbert
7/3/2020

MTN is once again shuffling around its CEOs with leadership changes at its operations in Cameroon, Benin and Liberia.

Africa is experiencing a health-tech startup boom

Connecting Africa News
7/2/2020

The number of e-health startups active in Africa has increased by 56.5% over the last three years and investment continues to grow, according to a new report from Disrupt Africa.

Telma launches commercial 5G in Madagascar

Connecting Africa News
7/1/2020

Telma has become the first operator to launch a 5G commercial network in Madagascar, powered by Ericsson.

Malawi gets community Wi-Fi boost from Liquid Telecom and Mbora

Connecting Africa News
7/1/2020

Social enterprise Mbora is joining forces with Liquid Telecom to provide free connectivity to community hubs in Malawi.

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