Africa & Middle East Telecoms News
All the latest telecoms insight, news and analysis from across Africa and the Middle East, including BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone.
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.
People
Latest Vodafone people moves: IoT.nxt strengthens US outpost
Vodacom’s IoT specialist IoT.nxt built up its USA play with Trevor DeLew named SVP, Sales. Vodacom Mozambique names a new CEO. Vodafone Spain shuffles strategy and sales directorships. Floundering Vi makes yet more changes to its enterprise unit as Arvind Nevatia forms his team.
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.
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.
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone’s Omani partnership finally goes live
High-profile Partner Markets ally opens up services and stores. Debut comes followed prolonged setup process. Operator stresses “digital-first” credentials. Group executives welcome debut.
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.
People
Latest Vodafone people moves: Vodacom board readies for renewal
Vodacom Group governance is set for change ahead of 2022 AGM. Networks leadership change at Vodafone Germany on the cards with Suceveanu named interim chief. Society and communications thinktank Vodafone Institute loses its head to Google. Australia’s TPG Telecom makes wide ranging changes to management team, with unified Technology ...