Telecom Operators

Orange and the German Cooperation are inaugurating an “Orange Digital Center” in Bamako, an ecosystem entirely dedicated to the development of digital skills and innovation, attended by the highest political and administrative authorities from Mali, the German Ambassador to Mali, Dr. Dr. Dietrich Pohl and the French diplomatic representation in Mali, Alioune Ndiaye, Chairman and CEO of Orange Africa and Middle East, Elizabeth Tchoungui, Executive Director of CSR, Diversity and Philanthropy at Orange, Deputy Chair of the Orange Foundation, Sékou Dramé, CEO of Sonatel and Brelotte Ba, Managing Director of Orange Mali.

Airtel Uganda has announced the separation of Airtel Money from its telecom business in the country, transferring the money business to Airtel’s affiliate, Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (“AMC Uganda”).

Vodacom has recently made public its trading update for the quarter which has ended on June 30, 2021. This update mentions a 9.0% increase of the Group’s revenue to hit R24.8 billion. Normalized Group service revenue growth was 7.8% as International growth accelerated.

MTN Nigeria plans to invest 640 billion naira (approximately US$1.5 billion) over the next three years to expand broadband access across the continent’s most populous country, in line with the federal government’s 2020-2025 National Broadband Plan and in support of MTN Group’s strategy, Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.

A tweet by Henok Teferra Shawl, Ethiopia’s ambassador to Paris, announced Orange’s interest for a stake in Ethio Telecom. The operator had “formally submitted interest to participate in the partial privatization of Ethio Telecom.”

MTN Group announced the appointment of Eliane Houphouet-Boigny as the CEO of MTN Guinea-Bissau, effective 1 July 2021. She becomes the latest woman to take the helm at an MTN operation.

MTN GlobalConnect and CAMTEL have joined forces to establish a strategic partnership that will see the commercialisation of four submarine cables in the West and Central sub-region of Africa. The partnership will improve connectivity in Cameroon and support the increasing demand for internet capacity.  

In Mozambique, mobile operator Vodacom has warned public operator Tmcel to suspend its mobile service interconnection service for dismissing the payment of a 600million meticais (9.5 million USD) bill.

Orange and Nokia announced the deployment of a 4G/5G private network combined with network slicing at Schneider Electric’s plant in Le Vaudreuil, France. Network slicing is a key feature for the management of end-to-end 4G/5G quality-of-service and security of industrial processes, operations and applications in Industry 4.0.

MTN Group is leveraging its expansive footprint across Africa to test and ultimately deploy Open RAN – an innovative technology that will enable it to launch new services more quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly, supporting its strategy, Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.