Tag: Vodafone

2Africa Consortium announces new cable branches

Frank

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA – The 2Africa consortium, comprising of China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC, has announced the addition of four new branches to the 2Africa cable. The branches will extend 2Africa’s connectivity to Seychelles, the Comoros Islands, and Angola, and bring a new landing to south-east Nigeria. The new branches join the recently announced extension to the Canary Islands. 2Africa, which will be the largest subsea cable project in the world, will deliver faster, more reliable internet service to each country…

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Global Partnership for Ethiopia taps Vodacom DRC chief Anwar Soussa as Managing Director

Frank

ETHIOPIA – The Global Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE) has appointed Anwar Soussa as the Managing Director of the Operating Company in Ethiopia, effective July 1, 2021. He will report to the Board of the Ethiopia entity and Safaricom PLC Chief Executive Officer. Anwar is currently the Managing Director of Vodacom Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA), a position he has held since 2017. He has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by driving major strides in operational performance, crossing…

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MTN Group set to deploy 5G internet connectivity in Ghana in partnership with Vodafone

Frank

GHANA – MTN Group in partnership with Vodafone, Google and Facebook are looking to bring 5G internet connectivity in Ghana, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, said. The 5G network he noted, will be enabled through the completion of the 2Africa Submarine Cable Project. The 2Africa is one of the largest subsea cable projects in the world and will interconnect 23 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. At 37,000 kilometres long, 2Africa will be nearly equal to the circumference of the Earth. It will provide…

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

Frank
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

Frank

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

Frank
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

Frank

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

Frank

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

Frank

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

Frank

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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