The telecom sector’s contribution to the tax revenue hit Shs1.1 trillion, up from Shs131b in 2016 as of December 2020, according to Ministry of ICT and National Guidance. In November last year, President Museveni named telecom company MTN as the highest taxpayer with expected annual returns of Shs701b, followed by Airtel with Shs500b. Ms Judith...
Mobile operator MTN is prioritising a high-quality network as it looks to sell its tower infrastructure in South Africa. So says MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa, in a statement sent to ITWeb, as the company looks to raise capital from the process. However, the telco did not divulge how much it is looking to raise...
The World Bank plans to invest US$200-million in Ethiopia’s telecommunications industry but wants the country’s government to open this market up to competition. Ousmane Dione, World Bank country director for Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea said the organisation will invest in Ethiopia’s digital economy and drive a new Digital Ethiopia Foundations project. He said...
The government of Togo has set a cap on the number of active SIM cards that any individual can own, Togo First reports. According to a press release by the Regulatory Authority for Electronc Communications and Posts (Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes, ARCEP), on 29 April 2021 the Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation,...
While the deadline for accepting WhatsApp’s new terms of service and privacy policy still looms on 15 May, there are also several other major changes for the platform in the works. These include new features such as end-to-end encrypted backups, migrating between Android and iOS, WhatsApp Payments, and the ability to review voice notes before...
The Algerian government has maintained competition in the national telecoms market. It approved the continuity of the activities of Mobilis and Djezzy. The two operators, with the largest number of subscribers, play a major role in the country’s digital transformation. Mobilis, a subsidiary of Algeria Telecom, and Djezzy have obtained the renewal of their license to establish...
The Internet has become an essential resource for development in Africa. In Mali, the state is discussing with telecom operators for lower costs. He does not rule out strong measures if they refuse to listen to reason. Mali’s Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Hamadoun Touré said on Sunday May 9 that the government will consider entering...
Affordable connectivity is available in more towns and cities in South Africa after capacity wholesaler WIOCC extended its national hyperscale network with a further 30 Points of Presence (PoPs) along the country’s southern coastline – between Cape Town and Durban. Part of a multi-billion Rand investment by WIOCC to enhance its network infrastructure in South...
Ethiopia’s decision to exclude mobile money from the terms of two new telecommunications licences cost the government about US$500-million (R7-billion) from bid levels, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said. The block imposed to allow the country to build its own expertise in phone-based financial technology will be lifted after about a year, Abiy said at the launch...
Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest telecommunications operator, posted a drop in its full-year core earnings as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic cut revenue from financial services and calls, though it predicted a recovery based on second-half numbers. The firm, partly owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone, said on Thursday its earnings before interest and taxes...
