All Africa articles – Page 9
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodacom in network-sharing talks with Axian in Tanzania
Discussions kick off after Axian Telecom’s recent acquisition of Millicom’s mobile network operations. Axian talks of “significant investment” in Tanzania over next five years.
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Suppliers & SCM
Vodacom tightens up supply chain amid trade turbulence
Group’s International businesses team up on adoption of Vodafone’s central Network Stock System.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodacom seeks strategic partners for ‘Africa FibreCo’
SA group’s infra overhaul continues with plan for regional wireline play.
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People
Nexio head Mashale steps down
Vodacom-owned systems integrator loses CEO ahead of her second anniversary.
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People
Ex-Accenture MD Govender named IoT.nxt CEO
Vodacom’s IoT specialist ends lengthy search for a new leader.
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Strategy & Change
TowerCo agenda in “final stages” as Vodacom targets power resilience
Inter-operator synergies and power supply assurance the top priorities for upcoming TowerCo.
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Financial & Performance
Vodafone Q4 FY21–22: Super apps and fintech investment to drive Vodacom growth
FY21–22 results underline revenue diversification ambitions, with ‘new services’ set to contribute increasing proportion to bottom line.
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Premium
Elsewhere in Vodafone Africa: Telkom SA settles with ICASA
Telkom SA reaches out-of-court settlement with ICASA over spectrum auction; Vodacom granted appeal in Please Call Me case.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Still no date for Safaricom Ethiopia launch
STE indicates it is close to reaching network-sharing agreements with Ethio Telecom. Changes to national payments law should pave way for M-PESA.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodacom signs “exclusive” deal with Visa in South Africa
New contract builds on similar deal between Safaricom and Visa for M-PESA. Visa payments option likely to be available as a virtual card integrated into the recently launched VodaPay Super App.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Orange leans on DT buying ties to counter inflation
Executives lay out anti-inflation toolkit in macro risk-inflected Q1 results call. BuyIn joint venture with DT highlighted as having an important role in dampening cost pressures. African ops described as “resilient” to Ukraine war shockwaves.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodacom Tanzania targets rural areas with fibre investment
TZS 25bn investment secures use of government-owned fibre infrastructure. State wants 80% population coverage by 2025. OpCo aims to offer increased access to healthcare, education and “financial inclusion”.
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Network & Infrastructure
“A serious tragedy”: Vodacom begins repairs following SA floods
KwaZulu-Natal flooding declared an emergency with more than 300 dead. Vodacom cites ‘social contract’ in ZAR 3m relief donation. Operators begin network restoration, with power outages a core issue after backup batteries washed out.
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Partnerships & Alliances
M-PESA gets interoperability boost in Kenya
Airtel, Telkom, and Safaricom customers granted access to M-PESA till payments. Central Bank of Kenya says first phase will “deepen digitalisation” for businesses. Airtel Money and T-kash equivalents still some way off.
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Venturing & Investments
UK’s rebranded BII embarks on new impact investing
British International Investment (BII) embraces broader digital strategy.
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Operations
“A country with enormous potential”: Safaricom poised for Ethiopia launch
Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia aims to go live on 9 April 2022. Hopes to add M-PESA within the next 12 months. Over 300 staff recruited to work in the country.
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Premium
Elsewhere in Vodafone Africa: corruption in Lesotho?
Allegations of corruption in Lesotho said to be hampering 5G deployment; Vodacom appeals Please Call Me High Court ruling.
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Products & Services
M-PESA not threatened by talk of central Kenyan e-money
A central digital currency would not step on M-PESA toes, says MD Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, but cooperation key to finding efficiencies in a market dominated by Safaricom’s e-money offering. M-PESA at 15: 51 million users in seven markets; Kenyan strength; Super App prospects on the horizon, as is competition.
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Premium
Setback for Vodacom in Please Call Me legal battle
High Court orders operator to pay inventor 5% of Please Call Me revenue. 20-year dispute not over yet, but end is in sight.
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Premium
Safaricom builds up for Ethiopian launch
Ethiopian OpCo signs up VMware as telco cloud partner, and flags Huawei and Nokia as main network suppliers. Second data centre opened. Talks begin with rival Ethio on network access. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance anticipates service launch “sometime in April”.