Africa – Page 7
-
Financial & PerformanceVodafone’s Q3 deciphered: glad-handing activists; German misfire; IoT, Africa fintech blossom
Management seeks to seize back agenda amid growing City pressure for urgency on asset sales. CEO Nick Read assures Group will be “proactive” in finding returns-focused deals. German user experience misstep takes gloss off solid set of numbers. Price rises planned across Europe, in response to rising costs.
-
Public Affairs
Safaricom staff caught in police “trap” after data fraud
Court hearing details how two Safaricom employees were caught attempting to sell subscriber data. Operator commits to fraud reduction initiatives.
-
Venturing & Investments
Safaricom energy ally Circle Gas lands big Japanese backer
Deal with conglomerate Marubeni Corporation comes with prepaid LPG startup planning to expand beyond Safaricom-supported deployment in Kenya and into new markets in Africa and Asia.
-
Operations
Safaricom Ethiopia splashes out $100m on first data centre
Located in capital city Addis Ababa, the installation accounts for one third of a total $300m investment pegged for first year of operations. Data centre, which will house “core network infrastructure”, was built in China and transported to Ethiopia. Rabacal indicates the same business model will be used for ...
-
M&A
Vodacom moves closer to Vodafone Egypt takeover
Vodacom gets shareholder backing for acquisition of 51% stake. Regulatory approval is still required.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone Carrier Services flags stc Bahrain tie-up
Partners aim to ‘drive IP adoption’ in the Middle East. Anticipating “tremendous connectivity growth” in the region.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Auction fate unknown as Telkom mulls interdict U-turn
Spectrum auction may still go ahead, despite initial Telkom protests. Vodacom and MTN unite with South African regulator to fight deferral. Telkom offers to withdraw its interdict, provided rivals are open to an “expedited review” of its complaints. Any delay would represent a sixth postponement of the auction, currently ...
-
Suppliers & SCM
Safaricom lauds TIBCO for service and network advances
Kipkirui says microservices and cloud-native APIs from longstanding partner is key in helping OpCo to become an “insights-led, tech-driven company”. Adds that Safaricom has been able to maintain “maximum value” from capex invested in TIBCO. OpCo aims to migrate entire TIBCO BPM stack from on-prem to public cloud by ...
-
Public Affairs
Vodacom, MTN pick sides in South African auction saga
Operators unite with South African regulator as rival Telkom requests further delays. Any success for Telkom would represent a sixth postponement of the auction, currently set to take place by the end of March.
-
Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Africa: Safaricom expands Lipa Mdogo Mdogo
Safaricom brings China’s Transsion into device financing fold; SODAQ teams with IoT.nxt; new Vodacom buddy Dark Fibre Africa goes on cost-cutting drive.
-
Public Affairs
Ethiopia presses pause on third licence contest
Regulator initiates another stoppage after interested parties request delay over RFP “concerns”. Move adds to sense of turbulence around Safaricom’s planned entrance into the country during 2022.
-
Products & Services
Safaricom to seed DigiFarm agri services in Ethiopia
Kenyan operator gives a hint of digital services that will form part of its line-up when it debuts in Ethiopia next year.
-
Public Affairs
Safaricom pushes back against monopoly complaints
CEO Peter Ndegwa tells rivals to focus on investments, not accusations. Hearing shows government support for Safaricom, which sees market dominance but not a monopoly.
-
Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Africa: VodaPay reaches million milestone
Vodacom flags one million downloads of VodaPay SuperApp since launch; Safaricom expands Baze VoD platform to include music streaming.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodacom to connect Tanzania with Eutelsat deal
Service agreement will see VdT reach “100% of the country”.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Joosub highlights opportunity for 5G FWA across Africa
Vodacom is readying networks for 5G across its footprint. 4G and 5G FWA likely to play a greater role than fibre in supporting broadband connectivity.
-
Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Africa: Vodacom SA switches on 5G
Vodacom South Africa continues 5G rollout; Telekom Kenya leads case against Safaricom to cut fees for cross-platforms transactions on M-PESA; Mondia Group providing technology VodaPay Super App.
-
Public Affairs
Safaricom outlines plans to tackle staff fraud
Telco forms fraud management squads to identify internal fraud. 28 employees fired in FY20–21 for fraud-related offences.
-
Products & Services
Safaricom to implement advertising on M-PESA platform
Operator hopes to open additional revenue streams for its biggest earner. Parent Vodacom will apply lessons from similar offering with Alipay in South Africa.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Vodacom secures provisional spectrum as auction wait goes on
ICASA manages to fend off further litigation with new interim spectrum allocations. WOAN licensing timetable is put on hold until next year. Auction now scheduled for March 2022.
