Tag: Vodafone

Vodafone to sell its 55% shareholding in its Egyptian subsidiary to Saudi Telecom Company

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Vodafone extends zero charge on mobile money transfers

EGYPT – Vodafone, a British multinational telecommunications company, has sold its 55% sharehoding in Vodafone Egypt to Saudi Telecom Company on a US$2.4 billion agreement after a series of missed deadlines to complete the deal. STC, the kingdom’s biggest telecom operator, had struck a preliminary deal in January with the London-listed telecoms company to buy the stake as it sought growth in the Arab world’s most populous nation. Vodafone had said in September that it remained in talks to finalise the deal in the near future despite the expiry of…

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US’s IFC backs Vodafone-led bid for Ethiopia licence with US$500m

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ETHIOPIA – US government agency the International Development Finance Corporation (IFC) is supporting Vodafone’s consortium that is bidding for one of Ethiopia’s two new telecoms licences with a loan of US$500 million. The Washington DC based institution earlier this week invested US$300 million on Africa Data Centres. Ethiopia is most of the way through liberalising its telecoms market, which until now has been a monopoly in the hands of state-owned Ethio Telecom. After many delays, potential bidders had to tell the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) of their interest in bidding,…

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Vodafone extends zero charge on mobile money transfers to boost digital money uptake in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

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Vodafone extends zero charge on mobile money transfers

GHANA – Vodafone Ghana has announced that its customers will continue to incur zero charges when they send any amount between GH¢1 and GH¢100, to friends and family on other mobile money networks for the foreseeable future. Vodafone in a statement said that the move to continue to waive interoperability charges for transactions up to GH¢100 is one of the many interventions it has taken to support Ghanaians and to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Vodafone which has also kept Vodafone Cash to Vodafone Cash transactions free,…

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Ethiopia receives 12 bids from major telecoms for two telco licences

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ETHIOPIA – 12 major telecom operators have shown interest in two licences that the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) plans to award to multinational mobile companies, breaking the state monopoly. On its statement ECA said it has received complete information and expression of interest from the Global Partnership for Ethiopia (a consortium of telecom operators made of Vodafone, Vodacom, and Safaricom), Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom, Snail Mobile, and the two non-telecom operators, Kandu Global Telecommunications and Electromecha International Projects. The prospective bidders were given…

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Safaricom CFO Sateesh Kamath promoted to CFO for Vodafone Business

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KENYA – Safaricom has announced the promotion of its CFO, Sateesh Kamath, to the role of Chief Financial Officer Vodafone Business, effective 1st July 2020.    In his new role, Mr Kamath will be reporting to the British firm Vodafone CEO Vinod Kumar besides serving as a member of Vodafone Group Finance Leadership.  Kamath was with Safaricom for four years a period in which he is lauded for having played a critical role in growing shareholder value and making the company future fit.    “Kamath is credited with, among many other achievements,…

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Vodacom and Safaricom acquire M-Pesa to accelerate mobile money services in Africa

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KENYA – Safaricom and its South African parent company Vodacom have completed the buying of intellectual property rights to M-Pesa service from British firm Vodafone in a deal estimated at KSh1.42 billion (US$13.4 million). The two said that the completion of the deal, first announced in 2019, will give them full control of the M-Pesa brand, product development and support services. The purchasing of the rights will further yield significant savings in royalties paid to Vodafone and expand the mobile money service to new African markets. Safaricom has been paying…

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Vodafone-TPG US$10bn merger receives approval from Australian court

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AUSTRALIA – An Australian court has approved a A$15 billion (US$10.1 billion) merger between a unit of Britain’s Vodafone Group and internet provider TPG Telecom. The ruling is a reprieve for the two companies whose plan to merger had been rejected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC). In giving its verdict, the ACC had argued that a tie-up between Vodafone’s joint venture with local telco Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Ltd and TPG would harm competition.     The ruling revives a plan to challenge the dominance of Telstra Corp Ltd…

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Vodacom Group to take over management of Vodafone Ghana in April

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SOUTH AFRICA – Vodafone Group will hand over management of its Ghana unit to the UK carrier’s separately listed South Africa division in April 2020, the latest step to bring the company’s operations on the continent under one roof. Vodacom will take responsibility for the West African business alongside other units including Tanzania, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo and SA, CEO Shameel Joosub said in an interview. Vodafone Ghana will keep its branding and there will be no transfer of assets from the UK parent, he said. The move marks…

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Vodafone to sell entire stake in Vodafone Egypt to Saudi Telecommunication Company

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EGYPT – Vodafone Group, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world has announced the sale of its 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt to Saudi Telecommunications Company, STC. Vodafone has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia over the sale of its entire stake in Vodafone Egypt to the Saudi telecommunication giant. STC released a statement saying, “stc and Vodafone (“the Parties”) have agreed a cash consideration of US$ 2,392m (SAR 8,970m3) for Vodafone’s 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt, equivalent to a total Enterprise Value of US$…

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Vodafone extends tech partnership with Europe’s largest budget airline Ryanair

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IRELAND –  British multinational telecommunications conglomerate Vodafone  has secured a seven-year technology partnership with Ryanair to handle services including online booking, passenger boarding and in-flight transactions for the Irish airline in Europe. Reuters reports that the two companies said that they had extended an existing partnership for Vodafone Business to support 300 Ryanair sites and some 153 million passengers across 40 countries. John Hurley, Ryanair’s chief technology officer, said the partnership would provide the airline with the technical support needed to allow it to make improvements quickly. While no financial…

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