MTN – Africa Tech Digest

MTN, Airtel dominance forces another telecom operator out of Uganda

17Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Telecommunications

MTN, Airtel dominance forces another telecom operator out of Uganda

On September 7, Africell announced its decision to leave Uganda after operating in the East African country for seven years. The decision saw the U.S-owned company become the latest network operator to throw in the towel and exit a market dominated by two pan-African telecom behemoths. A statement issued by Africell blames tough competition from the local units of MTN and Bharti Airtel, both of which account for more than 90% of the market share. The remaining 10% is split between three or four other nationwide operators including Africell and Uganda Telecom. South Africa-based MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecoms operator, entered Uganda in 1998 and has since established dominance in the market; largely due to first-mover advantage and significant investments the business has made ...

Jumo, MTN launch mobile money loan offering to improve SME credit access in Ivory Coast

15Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, Mobile

Jumo, MTN launch mobile money loan offering to improve SME credit access in Ivory Coast

South Africa-based Jumo has partnered with MANSA Bank and MTN Mobile Financial Services to provide loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses in Ivory Coast. Founded in 2015 and backed by Goldman Sachs, Jumo offers savings and credit products to entrepreneurs in emerging markets, as well as financial services infrastructure to partners such as e-money operators and banks. In Ivory Coast, which is Jumo’s most recent market, the collaboration will see the company introduce its new short-term and small-scale loan product, VitKash, built in partnership with MANSA and offered through MTN’s mobile money platform. Continue reading Image: UNCDF

MTN Pumps $10.5-Million Into Fixing Infrastructure Damaged by KZN Unrest

14Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Telecommunications

MTN Pumps $10.5-Million Into Fixing Infrastructure Damaged by KZN Unrest

MTN today has announced a number of community interventions as part of its initiatives to assist in the rebuilding of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) after the deadly unrest that gripped South Africa in July, including the investment of R500-million ($35.2-million) which will go towards network upgrades and expansion throughout the province. A further R150-million ($10.5-million) is being channelled by MTN towards replacing stolen and vandalised network infrastructure including batteries and copper cables. MTN’s interventions also include R10-million ($704K) towards the support of qualifying spaza shops in KZN and Gauteng. This investment will see over 1,000 spaza shops benefiting. Each spaza will receive trading stock, airtime to resale, MoMo tools among other benefits. Continue read...

MTN Ghana Expects to Launch 5G in the Country Next Year

28Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Ghana, Telecommunications

MTN Ghana Expects to Launch 5G in the Country Next Year

Selorm Adavehoh, CEO of MTN Ghana, has expressed his expectations that the operator will be able to launch 5G services in the country as early as next year. This comes from recent comments that Adavehoh made at the MTN@25 Business Executive Breakfast held at the Pan-African telecommunications company’s headquarters in Ghana, reported by Techgh2. “Innovation has been a key pillar of our growth,” Adavehoh said, quoted by Developing Telecoms. “We are always trying to make sure we can be the first to launch the next technology, but not only to be the first but to actually bring that technology to the market and create value out of that technology. So 2G, 3G, 4G, and now 5G hopefully next year.” MTN Redoubles Infratructure Plans In order to achieve this goal, Adavehoh ...

20Jan

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Nigeria, West Africa

Nigeria ends 2018 with 172m subscribers, 31.5% broadband penetration

Nigeria’s telecommunications sector ended the year 2018 with 172 million subscribers, with teledensity rising to 123.4 per cent from 105 per cent in January 2018. Telephone density or teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area. It varies widely across the nations and also between urban and rural areas within a country. Subscribers’ statistics released yesterday by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that service providers including MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9Mobile, among others got 25.5 million new subscribers in the course of the year. In the same vein, broadband penetration in Nigeria rose from 30.9 per cent in November to 31.5 per cent as at December 31. Broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission, wh...