In a statement, Africell said, “In Uganda – a country with a mature and competitive telecom sector – we believe that the opportunity to achieve this impact is increasingly limited. We have therefore taken the difficult decision to permanently end Africell Ug’s operations in Uganda.”

The company said its services will stop on October 7, 2021. The London-headquartered telco failed to expand in the country against MTN, which is over 10 million subscribers in the country. Africell had 2.3 million subscribers in Uganda.

In an internal memo to staff that was leaked, Africell said, “After careful consideration, Africell group has decided to leave Uganda and focus on other opportunities for social and commercial impact. Doing so is the most sustainable way to fulfil our overall mission to advance the African telecom sector. Although Africell regrets the immediate impact this decision will have, we believe it is a justified long-term transition and we are closely supporting affected employees and customers.”

Operating in Africa since 2001, Africell now has more than 12 million subscribers in Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The telco is planning to launch its services in Angola by the end of this year.

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Shameel Joosub, chief executive officer at Vodacom group told the media, “We are submitting a strong tender as the Global Partnership for Ethiopia consortium led by Safaricom. It is never an easy job to open up a country’s telecom market, yet the Ethiopian government has managed to move forward with a large number of the regulations required for the benefit of 110 million Ethiopians.

“The country’s authorities have also repeatedly committed to create and maintain a level playing field for all, giving us confidence that the next round of regulations will be tackled as soon as possible. Our Global Partnership for Ethiopia has a unique mix of experience and know-how to help transform Ethiopia into a modern digital economy and to positively impact the lives of Ethiopians.”

Earlier this year, Vodafone announced that it will be the leading partner in the consortium through Vodacom of South Africa, in which it is the major shareholder. Reportedly, the consortium is backed by the US government’s International Development Finance Corporation (IFC), which has given a loan of $500 million. Similarly, MTN also revealed that it is backed by China’s Silk Road Fund.

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Sinfield argued that a pilot-free roaming scheme in Ondo State allowing customers of each company to switch to the network of the other where its own has no coverage has run smoothly.

Last year, MTN announced the appointment of its new chief executive officer (CEO) for its unit in Libya. The telco has appointed Rahul De, who is currently serving as the chief marketing officer (CMO) of MTN Nigeria. Rahul tookover as the CEO of MTN Libya Lonestar Cell on November 1, 2020. He replaced Uche Ofodile, who departed in July to become the chief executive of MTN Benin.

Rahul De, who joined MTN in 2011 as chief marketing officer of MTN Ghana, spearheaded the team that is driving digital transformation in the country, from a voice and data centric organisation to one which drives a digital and fintech future. He has an MBA in International Business, a bachelor’s degree in science and 23 years of experience in the telecom industry.

MTN announced an R250 million relief package to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. According to MTN, the fund focused on employees, customers, vulnerable groups, contributions to the government’s Solidarity Fund and participating in industry interventions.

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Rahul will takeover as the CEO of MTN Libya Lonestar Cell on November 1, 2020. Rahul replaces Uche Ofodile who departed in July to become the chief executive of MTN Benin.

Rahul De, who joined MTN in 2011 as chief marketing officer of MTN Ghana, spearheaded the team that is driving digital transformation in the country, from a voice and data centric organisation to one which drives a digital and fintech future. He has an MBA in International Business, a bachelor’s degree in science and 23 years of experience in the telecom industry.

Earlier this year, MTN announced an R250 million relief package to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

According to MTN, the fund will focus on employees, customers, vulnerable groups, contributions to the government’s Solidarity Fund and participating in industry interventions.

In a statement, MTN’s group chair, Mcebisi Jonas said, “We believe it is the responsibility of all organisations to assist where they can during the pandemic. MTN plays a vital role in the mobile and telecommunications industry across Africa and the Middle East and it is vital that we assist our employees, customers, and stakeholders, during this difficult time.”

MTN also raised another R40 million for a global staff emergency fund to help its employees across all 21 markets it operates in.

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During the same period, the company’s active subscribers also increased significantly to 25.2 million, which is an increase of 34.9 percent when compared to the previous year.

The increase in MTN’s subscriber base is attributed to various initiatives the telco launched last year to enhance coverage and drive data usage penetration. One of the important initiatives undertaken by MTN includes improving its 4G network coverage with over 6,000 additional sites leveraging 800MHz spectrum and repositioning its commercial data offerings.

Chief executive at MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman told the media, “I am pleased with our performance in 2019, which demonstrates the progress we have made in the implementation of our BRIGHT strategy. Despite a challenging operating environment, we continued to deliver double-digit growth in service revenue in line with our medium-term guidance. Voice revenue growth remained healthy, and data revenue continued to accelerate, supporting a 12.6 percent increase in service revenue with an acceleration in growth to 14 percent year-on-year in Q4 2019.”

Besides reporting an increase in its subscriber base, MTN Nigeria also revealed that it added 5.3 million new smartphone users to its network, bringing smartphone penetration to 41.8 percent of our base, while data traffic rose by 85.8 percent.

MTN Nigeria is also planning to invest around N600 billion to overhaul its network in the country in the next three years. This investment will enable MTN to accelerate its 4G network expansion and simultaneously increase its subscriber base.

Overall, 2019 proved to be a good year for MTN Nigeria as it made significant profits, the company revealed in a statement. With the initiatives undertaken, MTN is expected to have a positive year in 2020 as well.

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According to MTN Nigeria’s financial report for the year ended December 31st, 2019, its network of mobile money agents served around 1 million customers in its first four months of operation.

MTN Nigeria, which is the largest mobile telecommunication firm in the country, further plans to add more mobile money agents to its network in Nigeria.

The telco further revealed that it has expanded its customer base by 10.5 percent last year, reaching 64.3 million subscribers.

Ferdi Moolman, who serves as the chief executive at MTN Nigeria told the media, “We continue to make good progress with the expansion of our super-agent network and are confident that the expanded service offerings will position us to effectively drive broader financial inclusion as well as roll out the payment service bank seamlessly, once we receive a licence.”

“In addition, we have seen a rapid acceleration in data revenue growth enabled by greater population coverage, a revamp of our data portfolio and initiatives to drive 4G device penetration. We added 5.3 million new smartphones to our network, bringing smartphone penetration to 41.8 percent of our base, while data traffic rose by 85.8 percent.”

Ferdi Moolman further revealed that the company’s income from fintech has also substantially increased by 23 percent last year. The telco plans to diversify its product offerings by adding cash deposits and withdrawals and bill payment facilities.

In the month of August 2019, MTN Nigeria’s subsidiary Yello Digital Financial Services launched its mobile money agent’s network.

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As MTN celebrates its 25th anniversary, the company in a statement said that it has reached 95 percent 4G coverage across South Africa – giving almost all of South Africa access to new and disruptive online services through a global, high-performing network.

The company also revealed that it has broad 3G coverage in rural South Africa.

Over the years MTN has worked extensively to improve its connectivity reach, especially its 4G coverage in South Africa. In the last four years, the telco has invested around R40 billion to improve its network coverage and quality. It has adopted a new pricing method to stay competitive in the fast-growing telecom market.

MTN South Africa’s microwave link network serves more than 70 percent of the businesses in the country. Its fibre network spans over 18, 000 kilometres and has the capacity to serve almost 30 percent of the businesses in South Africa.

MTN South Africa CEO Godfrey Motsa told the media that, “Our network modernisation programme has come at the perfect time. It will enable clients to extend their computer networks over large distances and to connect remote branch offices to data centres and each other and to deliver the applications and services required to boost functionality.”

He added, “Our network is future-ready as we look forward to the next 25 years as South Africa’s best and most trusted network. We plan to roll out new digital business models to make sure value creation is shared and the benefits of the digital economy truly uplift and benefit many more lives.”

Last month, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa fined MTN R5 million over an alleged corporate non-compliance. In 2015, MTN was fined in Nigeria for a similar offence.

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