Africa & Middle East
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Weekly BriefingsVodafonewatch Weekly: risks and rewards of AI at scale
Latest from Vodafone as group technology and data chiefs discuss progress, risk, and potential of AI at scale; leadership change in Luxembourg; critical comms deal with Airbus; and more….
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PeopleOrange Egypt crowns enterprise chief as new CEO
Egyptian operator appoints Hesham Mahran as CEO from 1 August, replacing long-time leader Yasser Shaker, who is moving to head up Orange’s Middle East and Africa division.
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Network & InfrastructureAirbus looks to MNOs, SatCos for added mission critical comms resilience
CCW 2025: after Airbus and Vodafone collaborate on mission critical comms in Europe, Airbus programme lead Thibaut Faivre talks future MNO partnerships in MEA, expanding the defence giant’s public safety footprint, and the role of SatCos in secure communications.
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Network & InfrastructurePragmatic Orange picks its way towards ‘high-value’ network autonomy
DTW Ignite 25: Sofrecom’s Roberto Kung highlights the need to assess the business case and ROI before investing in increased autonomy, noting that “we don’t want to be Level 4 everywhere”.
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PeopleVodafone Peoplewatch: El Sayed takes global IT post; VodafoneThree changes emerge
30+ senior and strategic movers across Vodafone, including Ahmed Elsayed’s new Africa- and Europe-wide technology role; top leadership appointments at the combined VodafoneThree; newcomers from rivals in Germany; former CEOs Aldo Biso and Hannes Ametsreiters make moves…
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Weekly BriefingsVodafonewatch Weekly: CEO Della Valle’s slow-cooker recipe
Latest from Vodafone and its global interests, including a deep dive into the group’s FY24–25 results. CEO Margherita Della Valle continues to talk a big game, but questions remain about the overall strategy; VodafoneThree emerges as new scaled UK mobile giant; Safaricom tees up in-market M&A; Vodacom rejigs executive structure; Vodafone Germany hits new lows…
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Network & InfrastructureOrange, Vodafone switch on 5G in Egypt
Telcos go live with first 5G services in the country, after Egypt’s four operators finalised new spectrum licences last year. Vodafone Egypt CEO Mohamed Abdallah says switch-on aligns with Egypt’s Vision 2030 strategic goals…
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Weekly BriefingsOrangewatch Briefing: execs bang M&A drum; high hopes on IPCEI and AI
In this issue, we report on presentations by Orange’s leadership at the AGM, with Group CEO Christel Heydemann and new Orange France CEO Jérôme Hénique taking the floor.
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Financial & PerformanceVodafone FY24–25 in-depth: another challenging year en route to German revival
CEO Margherita Della Valle emphasises the various ‘transitions’ Vodafone has navigated over the past two years, putting mixed financials in perspective…
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PeopleVodacom hands Egypt CEO a remit to scale African portfolio, drive strategy
Vodafone Egypt CEO Mohamed Abdallah adds International Markets to his remit in a move intended to ‘unify’ cross-border operations.
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Venturing & InvestmentsSafaricom preps $500m investment into African ‘AI infra’
Kenyan operator commits to three-year development of AI infrastructure in East Africa, seeking to tap into rising demand for ‘sovereign’ services…
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Strategy & ChangeHénique signs off from Orange MEA on a high note
France-bound Jérôme Hénique discusses the challenges of managing Orange’s sprawling Middle East & Africa business, and asserts the importance of a division that has contributed significantly to Orange’s results in recent times, delivering double‑digit revenue growth for eight consecutive quarters.
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Weekly BriefingsEMEA Infrawatch Briefing: tower sell-offs, DC deployments, orbital experiments
Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano says the TowerCo is one step closer to selling its Swiss business and French data centre assets. Meanwhile, IHS Towers forks off Rwandan unit to newly formed tower player. In the space sector, several players look to get D2D services off the ground, while others tinker with new space comms solutions.
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Partnerships & AlliancesIHS Towers seeks military help to tackle infra vandalism in Nigeria
London-based wireless infra operator forms “strategic partnership” with Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, aiming to help overcome problem of vandalism and theft of assets.
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PeopleAtlasEdge names chief to lead new ops function
European data centre provider creates new Business Operations function, and appoints IT and telecoms aficionado Raoul du Plessis to lead it. Appointment is next in AtlasEdge’s series of management team changes seen over the past year…
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M&AIHS Towers mulls further asset sales as it exits Rwanda
African wireless infra player sells off Rwandan business to Paradigm Tower Ventures. IHS Chief Executive Sam Darwish says TowerCo has achieved its M&A goals set out following its last strategic review, but indicated further deals could be on the table…
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Financial & PerformanceVodafone sees the bright side of global chaos
FY24–25: As Vodafone Business surpasses €8bn in revenue, driven by Digital Services, anticipated hikes in cybersecurity, defence, and sovereignty spending in politically uncertain times is expected to provide another boost.
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Weekly BriefingsOrangewatch Briefing: Huawei is back in business in Spain
In this issue, we report on MásOrange’s apparent renewed enthusiasm for technology from China-based vendors for cutting‑edge network developments.
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Financial & PerformanceSouth Africa: energy challenges push rivals Vodacom and MTN to collaborate on power
Vodacom FY24–25: operators in early stages of infra-sharing under Energy Users regulation.
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Partnerships & AlliancesSaudi satco Arabsat takes next LEO steps with Telesat deal
MEA-focused satellite operator to integrate LEO services using Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation, as part of multi-orbit strategy aimed at improving services, efficient.