Telecom Operators

Safaricom Ethiopia, a telecommunications company, has received a significant investment from the World Bank Group. This investment comes as Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with a young population of around 120 million, aims to unlock its immense social and economic potential through a digital strategy. In a remarkable move, the World Bank Group has made one of its largest-ever investments in Africa by providing equity, debt and insurance facilities to support the development and operation of Safaricom Ethiopia's 4G and 5G mobile networks.

Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) has proudly announced its pioneering achievement as the first operator in the country to introduce 5G services on a trial basis. Following the necessary approval from the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the operator has successfully activated 5G base stations in two prominent locations: Clocktower Mall in Blantyre and the Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe. TNM plans to additionally expand the reach of these accessible 5G pilot sites to include Mzuzu and Zomba in the near future.

Egyptian telecom giants Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, Etisalat, and Orange have recently entered into green energy acquisition agreements with the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA).

MTN Nigeria has committed to maintaining its 2G and 3G networks, according to CTO Mohammed Rufai.

Ethio Telecom, the incumbent operator in Ethiopia, has recently announced a collaboration with the Addis Ababa city administration to implement a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and state-of-the-art infrastructure. This initiative aims to establish seamless and reliable connectivity across various offices within the Ethiopian capital.

Airtel Africa, a leading telecommunications company, has reported a 5% decline in profit for the first quarter of 2023, despite experiencing revenue growth.

Cameroon's Telecommunications Regulatory Board (ART) has imposed fines totaling XAF6 billion (US$9.8 million) on the country's four mobile network operators (MNOs) for their subpar network quality. The penalties were issued due to repeated violations of quality and coverage requirements stated in their operating agreements. Among the MNOs, Orange Cameroon received the highest fine of XAF2.2 billion, followed by Viettel (Nexttel) with XAF1.6 billion, MTN Cameroon with XAF1.4 billion and CamTel (Blue) with XAF800 million.

Henok Teferra Shawl, chief external affairs and regulatory officer at Safaricom, recently took part in a plenary discussion organized by the IFC (International Finance Corporation) focusing on the expansion of digital solutions in the agricultural sector for its future growth.

Celtiis, a state-owned mobile operator in Benin, achieved a 4.12% market share during its initial three months of operation, according to the country's telecom watchdog, ARCEP. With 599,727 subscribers, Celtiis entered a market previously dominated by MTN and Moov Africa. Both incumbents experienced a decline in their market share, with MTN dropping from 60.57% to 58.21% and Moov Africa decreasing from 39.43% to 37.66%. Celtiis, supported by the government and Sonatel, aims to bring more competition to Benin's mobile telephony market.

With a bold ambition to achieve 80% broadband penetration by 2025, the Tanzanian government, with support from the World Bank, has embarked on a project dubbed Digital Tanzania in partnership with mobile network operators that will see the extension of broadband services to 713 wards, which translates to 1,407 villages, and benefit over 8.5 million Tanzanians across the country upon its completion.