Unitel and Ericsson demo Africa’s first LTE-Advanced technology

Ericsson and Angola's leading telecommunications provider Unitel, successfully demonstrated LTE Advanced (LTE-A) Carrier Aggregation technology for the first time in Africa.

The demonstration was made on both 1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum bands on a commercial network, using a commercial terminal, and took place on December 18, when Unitel transferred data across its live network in Luanda, Angola carrying commercial traffic.

LTE Carrier Aggregation is the next step in the evolution of high-speed mobile broadband services, enabling operators to make the most of their existing spectrum assets by combining multiple spectrum bands to enable higher mobile broadband download speeds.

Amilcar Safeca, Deputy CEO of Unitel says: “Unitel is always innovating to enhance the customer experience. With the global leap towards higher data access speeds for sophisticated video and mobility services, we are enhancing our network to ensure we continually provide high-quality services to our high demanding subscriber base. With this demo we are well on the way to launching in the near future the most advanced mobile network in Angola and perhaps Africa. We are working with Ericsson to make this happen.”

source: www.telecomtiger.com

Airtel scoops 2013 African operator award

BHARTI Airtel, one of the country’s leading telecommunications service providers with operations in 20 countries across South Asia and Africa, has been recognised as the African Operator for 2013 at the CommsMEA Awards.
Airtel out-shined strong shortlisted contenders, among others the MTN Group, Vodacom and Nedjma, at the eighth edition of the event held at Jumeirah Emirates Tower in Dubai.
The event was attended by over 300 executives from the telecommunications sector, vendors, ministers and regulators.
The award recognises excellence within the telecommunications sector across the Middle East and Africa.
This is according to a statement released in Lusaka yesterday.
The winners were picked from a record number of nominations by a judging panel.
Bharti Airtel managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) (international), Manoj Kohli is elated by the achievement.
“We are humbled by this recognition and the trust that the international industry panel, consumers and other stakeholders have placed on Airtel since our entry into Africa in 2010,” he said.
Mr Kohli said in the past three years, the company has succeeded in serving more communities within countries it operates.

source: www.daily-mail.co

Nigerian plan for telecom tariffs to vary by region

Telecommunications tariffs are set to differ in various parts of Nigeria in accordance with the ease of doing business, according to a proposed plan by operators.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced the decision at the Telecoms Stakeholders Summit the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) organised in Lagos.

ALTON’s chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, noted that subscribers in the North East and those with multiple tax regimes, multiple regulations, as well as all “unwholesome” practices would pay higher tariffs.

Adebayo said subscribers in states like Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom would pay less, because of their friendly telecoms policies.

He urged other state governments to emulate the example of Lagos State, which he says has come to realise that telecommunications is a socio-economic need rather than merely a source of revenue generation.

Adebayo stressed that the state had reduced the Right of Way charges from N6,000 to N500 per square metre of road.

source: itwebafrica.com

Nigerian plan for telecom tariffs to vary by region

Telecommunications tariffs are set to differ in various parts of Nigeria in accordance with the ease of doing business, according to a proposed plan by operators.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced the decision at the Telecoms Stakeholders Summit the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) organised in Lagos.

ALTON’s chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, noted that subscribers in the North East and those with multiple tax regimes, multiple regulations, as well as all “unwholesome” practices would pay higher tariffs.

Adebayo said subscribers in states like Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom would pay less, because of their friendly telecoms policies.

He urged other state governments to emulate the example of Lagos State, which he says has come to realise that telecommunications is a socio-economic need rather than merely a source of revenue generation.

Adebayo stressed that the state had reduced the Right of Way charges from N6,000 to N500 per square metre of road.

source: www.itwebafrica.com

NSA spying on Africa-Asia-Europe undersea telecommunications cables

The US National Security Agency has collected sensitive data on key telecommunications cables between Europe, north Africa and Asia, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday citing classified documents.

Spiegel quoted NSA papers dating from February and labelled "top secret" and "not for foreigners" describing the agency's success in spying on the so-called Sea-Me-We 4 undersea cable system.

The massive bundle of fibre optic cables originates near the southern French city of Marseille and links Europe with north Africa and the Gulf states, continuing through Pakistan and India to Malaysia and Thailand.

"Among the companies that hold ownership stakes in it are France Telecom, now known as Orange and still partly government-owned, and Telecom Italia Sparkle," Spiegel said.

It said NSA specialists had hacked an internal website belonging to the operator consortium to mine documents about technical infrastructure including circuit mapping and network management information.

"More operations are planned in the future to collect more information about this and other cable systems," Spiegel quoted the NSA documents as saying.

Der Spiegel has over the last several months reported on mass NSA spying on targets in the United States and abroad using documents provided by fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

A White House-picked panel this month recommended curbing the secretive powers of the NSA, warning that its spying sweeps in the "war on terror" had gone too far.

source: www.gadgets.ndtv.in

GVG-SGS stages workshop for West African telecoms regulators and fiscal authorities

Global Voice Group (GVG) reports that the first regional workshop on new telecoms regulation tools and electronic  fiscal solutions for West African telecoms regulators and tax administrations, staged in Abidjan, was a great success. The event was a joint initiative of GVG and Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).

The organisers said the event attracted representatives from the Telecoms Regulatory Agencies and Tax Administrations of Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Togo.

For this first workshop of its kind in West Africa, GVG and SGS decided to invite both telecoms regulatory agencies and tax administrations in order to gain a deeper understanding of their common challenges, including control and protection of the telecoms sector's revenue. Issues more specific to each authority were also addressed in details, such as quality of service monitoring tools, telecommunications fraud management, new regulatory tools in the context of IP convergence, and new electronic fiscal systems.

Many of the technological tools presented by GVG and SGS were also demonstrated in order to allow participants to appreciate their potential and effectiveness.

According to M. François Dugué, Senior VP at GVG and one of the workshop's principal organizers and presenters: "Telecommunications are a key growth sector in Africa, strong in some respects and vulnerable in some others, particularly in the context of IP convergence. These workshops give us a great opportunity to take stock of the latest improvements in terms of governance technologies. GVG is an active participant to the ITU's Study Groups and our company also sponsors major events such as the African Telecom People.

source: www.biztechafrica.com

African Tech Deal of the Year

Nokia shareholders in November voted in favour of the sale of the company’s devices and services section to Microsoft, at a price tag of US$7.36 billion.  Microsoft is also granted a 10 year non-exclusive licence to Nokia’s patents. The sale is likely to conclude in early 2014 – currently awaiting regulatory approvals – with approximately 32,000 Nokia employees expected to transfer to Microsoft. The deal sees the Windows Phone platform united with its biggest hardware supplier, and paves the way for Windows Phone/Nokia devices to take over the African market, in which Nokia handsets have proven popular to date. With the Windows Phone platform already being touted as a favourable solution for African markets – under Microsoft’s 4Afrika initiative – and Nokia producing a range of low-cost smartphones suited to lower-income environments, the deal sees the beginning of a potential African market titan.

Richard Cutcher: As news broke that MTN had invested US$75 million in Amadeus Capital Partners, a technology fund targeting emerging markets, at first it appeared Africa’s best-known telecommunications brand was giving something back to the industry it profits so immensely from. However, after interviewing the managers of the fund, HumanIPO established MTN is more interested in taking advantage of the growing mobile sector by boosting foreign ventures to serve the African industry rather than any of the continent’s talented developers and entrepreneurs. As a single indicator of the stupidity surrounding moneymen of African telecommunications, this was surely the ‘African’ tech deal of the year.

source:www.humanipo.com

Airtel invests Rs. 2bn in 3G

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced the launch of the initial phase of a comprehensive network expansion exercise across 250 plus sites in urban, sub-urban and rural pockets across all districts of the island.

This project would thereby see Airtel Lanka increasing its 3G presence beyond 1,000 towers and 2G presence beyond 1,800 towers across the island. As part of this extensive expansion project that includes the expansion of transmission network, Airtel will continue to deploy robust and world-class network infrastructure and equipment to strengthen its customers’ high speed data connectivity and mobile internet experience.

Commenting on this latest milestone, Bharti Airtel Lanka’s Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director Suren Goonewardene stated, “At Airtel, it is our ethos of changing Sri Lanka’s telecom landscape and in which businesses operate in Sri Lanka. While we have changed the way mobile communications work in the country through the introduction of several innovative services which includes the concept of no hidden costs, we are now geared to change the language of the telecom business – from a mobile to a mobile internet organization. With this in mind, we have now invested heavily in our 3G network.”

Along with the commitment towards enhancing Airtel’s network presence across Sri Lanka and continuing to work towards new ways of delivering a seamless network experience to customers, Goonewardene further stated, “When it comes to Mobile Internet, Airtel will be the brand loved by all Sri Lankans whether they are prepaid or post-paid customers residing in any part of the country. We have launched customized internet packages and tailor-made handset bundle offers (HBOs), which all Sri Lankans will have the propensity to use. We have also started increasing the number of customer touch points thus giving our customer accessibility to the range of data services which is fresh, youthful, current and innovative”.

Bharti Airtel Lanka commenced commercial operations of services in Sri Lanka on January 12, 2009, and was the fastest operator to reach one million customers in Sri Lanka.

source: www.nation.lk

orange-dragged again into a mobile price war

Orange (ORAN) is the largest telecommunications group in France, and one of the largest in the world, with more than 232 million customers (a year-on-year increase of 2.1% at the end of September 2013) located in roughly 32 countries. The group's 3rd quarter results were announced on October 23, 2013. These results were less bad than previous quarters, confirming the slow stabilization of the company.

On the Road to Recovery?

Orange gained 1.1 million customers during the 3rd quarter, its revenues dropped by "only" 4% year-on-year (compared to 4.3% during 2nd quarter), and the EBITDA margin remained a healthy 33.1% (only 1.1% below the margin of 3rd quarter 2012). Compared to the record 50.4% EBITDA margin reported by Verizon Wireless in April 2013, this might sound tame, but it compares favorably to the 30% reported at the end of September by giant Vodafone. Revenues of Orange increased in Spain, Africa and the Middle-East. The ARPU --- average revenues per user --- continued its drop, at -12% year-on-year in France, but this was in line with expectations. No surprise here. The group headcount was decreased by 2.8% over 9 months, which helped reduce costs. Additionally, Orange pursued its 4G deployment, with 40% of French population expected to be covered by 4G wireless service before the end of this year. In short, 3rd quarter results were far from stellar, but they confirmed the slow improvement started during the 2nd quarter. That positive trend, and the hope that Orange will benefit from an improvement in the European Union economy, conspired to raise the share price by 32% (at the close of December 18), from its trough of July 2013, as can be seen in the following chart (from Google):

source:www.speekingalpha.com

Telecom Egypt To Provide Internet Services For Cairo Festival City Project

State-owned Telecom Egypt has reached an agreement to supply UAE-based Al-Futtaim’s Real Estate Group with telecommunication services for its Cairo Festival City project.

“Telecom Egypt seeks to meet its clients’ needs in high-tech services at competitive prices,” said Mohamed El Nawawy, Telecom Egypt’s MD/CEO.

The project involves 300 retail shops, elegant administrative offices and a residential community comprising a large number of apartments and villas, worldwide hotels and international schools, all within a natural environment, Daily News Egypt reported.

The Egyptian company will provide services such as virtual private network (VPN), Dedicated Internet, data transfer and triple play, using advanced fibre optic technology that guarantees high quality voice output and provides users with access to fast internet, with speed reaching 10G per sec.

According to the MD, the agreement will propel the company towards achieving its vision of becoming the industry’s frontrunner by sponsoring key projects across the country’s telecom business sphere.

Its quest for market dominance was given a further boost today, after regulators disclosed plans to grant fixed-line and mobile operating licence in the coming weeks, which will allow Telecom Egypt provide mobile services to customers.

A detailed scan of the regional market was carried out to determine the most suited company to deliver quality services, The MD of Al-Futtaim’s Real Estate Development, Dr Mohamed Al-Mekawy noted.

“[The agreement was based] on a careful market study to determine the largest and most efficient service providers, not only in Egypt, but on a regional level,

source:www.ventures-africa.com

Mandela's passion for Telecoms growth in Africa

Today, the world celebrates late Nelson Mandela for his political struggle and achievements in bringing peace to South Africa and the rest of the world. Yes, it is worthy to remember him for his political struggles, but there is also need to remember him for his passion and contributions to telecoms development in Africa, and this could be best captured from his speech at the opening ceremony of Telecom 95, the 7th World Telecommunications Forum and Exhibition in Geneva, on October 3, 1995.

The Value of Telecommunications
According to Mandela at the opening ceremony of the Telecom 95, "As prisoners on Robben Island, when we were deprived of newspapers we searched the refuse bins for the discarded sheets of newspapers which warders had used to wrap their sandwiches. We communicated with prisoners in other sections by gathering matchboxes thrown away by warders, concealing messages in false bottoms in the boxes and leaving them for other prisoners to find. We communicated with the outside world by smuggling messages in the clothing of released prisoners. Not even the most repressive regime can stop human beings from finding ways of communicating and obtaining access to information."

This, he said, applied in equal measure to the information revolution sweeping the globe. No one can roll it back. It has the potential to open communications across all geographical and cultural divides.

Nevertheless, one gulf will not be easily bridged - that is the division between the information rich and the information poor. Justice and equity demand that we find ways of overcoming it. If more than half the world is denied access to the means of communication, the people of developing countries will not be fully part of the modern world. For in the 21st century, the capacity to communicate will almost certainly be a key human right, he said.

He added that eliminating the distinction between information rich and information poor countries was also critical to eliminating economic and other inequalities between North and South, and to improving the quality of life of all humanity.

Bridging Communications Gap
Converging developments in the fields of information and communications offer immense potential to make real progress in this direction. The pace at which the price of communications and information systems has fallen has also undermined the previously rigid link between a nation's wealth and its information richness. There is an unprecedented window of opportunity.

But the present reality is that the technology gap between the developed and developing nations is actually widening. Most of the world has no experience of what readily accessible communications can do for society and economy, Mandela said in his speech.

According to him, given the fundamental impact of telecommunications on society and the immense historical imbalances, telecommunications issues must become part of general public debate on development policies. Telecommunications cannot be simply treated as one commercial sector of the economy, to be left to the forces of the free market.

source: www.thisdaylive.com

Nigerian plan for telecom tariffs to vary by region

Telecommunications tariffs are set to differ in various parts of Nigeria in accordance with the ease of doing business, according to a proposed plan by operators.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced the decision at the Telecoms Stakeholders Summit the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) organised in Lagos.

ALTON’s chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, noted that subscribers in the North East and those with multiple tax regimes, multiple regulations, as well as all “unwholesome” practices would pay higher tariffs.

Adebayo said subscribers in states like Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom would pay less, because of their friendly telecoms policies.

He urged other state governments to emulate the example of Lagos State, which he says has come to realise that telecommunications is a socio-economic need rather than merely a source of revenue generation.

Adebayo stressed that the state had reduced the Right of Way charges from N6,000 to N500 per square metre of road.

“This will enable us build a digital Lagos. The state will be ahead of other states.

source: www.itwebafrica.com

GVG-SGS stages workshop for West African telecoms regulators and fiscal authorities

Global Voice Group (GVG) reports that the first regional workshop on new telecoms regulation tools and electronic  fiscal solutions for West African telecoms regulators and tax administrations, staged in Abidjan, was a great success. The event was a joint initiative of GVG and Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).

The organisers said the event attracted representatives from the Telecoms Regulatory Agencies and Tax Administrations of Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Togo.

For this first workshop of its kind in West Africa, GVG and SGS decided to invite both telecoms regulatory agencies and tax administrations in order to gain a deeper understanding of their common challenges, including control and protection of the telecoms sector's revenue. Issues more specific to each authority were also addressed in details, such as quality of service monitoring tools, telecommunications fraud management, new regulatory tools in the context of IP convergence, and new electronic fiscal systems.

Many of the technological tools presented by GVG and SGS were also demonstrated in order to allow participants to appreciate their potential and effectiveness.

According to M. François Dugué, Senior VP at GVG and one of the workshop's principal organizers and presenters: "Telecommunications are a key growth sector in Africa, strong in some respects and vulnerable in some others, particularly in the context of IP convergence. These workshops give us a great opportunity to take stock of the latest improvements in terms of governance technologies. GVG is an active participant to the ITU's Study Groups and our company also sponsors major events such as the African Telecom People.

These events allow interesting exchanges between the various stakeholders of the industry, often on questions of general interest. Our workshops are directed specifically to the regulators and address in details the practical issues that concern them in particular."

source: www.biztechafrica.com

Mandela's Passion for Telecoms Growth in Africa

As the world celebrates the life and times of late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, the icon of anti-apartheid, it is noteworthy to also remember him for his contributions to telecoms development in Africa.

Today, the world celebrates late Nelson Mandela for his political struggle and achievements in bringing peace to South Africa and the rest of the world. Yes, it is worthy to remember him for his political struggles, but there is also need to remember him for his passion and contributions to telecoms development in Africa, and this could be best captured from his speech at the opening ceremony of Telecom 95, the 7th World Telecommunications Forum and Exhibition in Geneva, on October 3, 1995.

The Value of Telecommunications According to Mandela at the opening ceremony of the Telecom 95, "As prisoners on Robben Island, when we were deprived of newspapers we searched the refuse bins for the discarded sheets of newspapers which warders had used to wrap their sandwiches. We communicated with prisoners in other sections by gathering matchboxes thrown away by warders, concealing messages in false bottoms in the boxes and leaving them for other prisoners to find. We communicated with the outside world by smuggling messages in the clothing of released prisoners. Not even the most repressive regime can stop human beings from finding ways of communicating and obtaining access to information."

This, he said, applied in equal measure to the information revolution sweeping the globe. No one can roll it back. It has the potential to open communications across all geographical and cultural divides.

Nevertheless, one gulf will not be easily bridged - that is the division between the information rich and the information poor. Justice and equity demand that we find ways of overcoming it. If more than half the world is denied access to the means of communication, the people of developing countries will not be fully part of the modern world. For in the 21st century, the capacity to communicate will almost certainly be a key human right, he said.

source: www.allafrica.com

Nigerian plan for telecom tariffs to vary by region

Telecommunications tariffs are set to differ in various parts of Nigeria in accordance with the ease of doing business, according to a proposed plan by operators.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced the decision at the Telecoms Stakeholders Summit the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) organised in Lagos.

ALTON’s chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, noted that subscribers in the North East and those with multiple tax regimes, multiple regulations, as well as all “unwholesome” practices would pay higher tariffs.

Adebayo said subscribers in states like Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom would pay less, because of their friendly telecoms policies.

He urged other state governments to emulate the example of Lagos State, which he says has come to realise that telecommunications is a socio-economic need rather than merely a source of revenue generation.

Adebayo stressed that the state had reduced the Right of Way charges from N6,000 to N500 per square metre of road.

source:www.itwebafrica.com

Nigerian plan for telecom tarrif o vary by region

Telecommunications tariffs are set to differ in various parts of Nigeria in accordance with the ease of doing business, according to a proposed plan by operators.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced the decision at the Telecoms Stakeholders Summit the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) organised in Lagos.

ALTON’s chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, noted that subscribers in the North East and those with multiple tax regimes, multiple regulations, as well as all “unwholesome” practices would pay higher tariffs.

Adebayo said subscribers in states like Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom would pay less, because of their friendly telecoms policies.

He urged other state governments to emulate the example of Lagos State, which he says has come to realise that telecommunications is a socio-economic need rather than merely a source of revenue generation.

Adebayo stressed that the state had reduced the Right of Way charges from N6,000 to N500 per square metre of road.

source: www.itwebafrica.com

Bharti Airtel gains after raising funds via over seas bound

The announcement was made after market hours on Wednesday, 4 December 2013.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 433.52 points or 2.09% at 21,142.23.

On BSE, 4,143 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 2.12 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

The stock hit a high of Rs 339.45 and a low of Rs 337.50 so far during the day.

Bharti Airtel said that the Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Bharti Airtel. The Notes attracted huge investor interest with an order-book aggregating over euro 3.8 billion from high quality investor accounts, Bharti Airtel said in a statement. The Notes have been priced at 300 basis points over the 5-year EUR Mid Swap with a fixed coupon of 4% per annum to yield 4.055%. Bharti will apply the net proceeds to refinance its existing debt.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Harjeet Kohli, Group Treasurer of Bharti, said, "It is heartening to be the first Indian corporate to access the European IG credit market. The overwhelming response from investors across Europe for this inaugural issue highlights the strength of our credit. This transaction helps us continue to diversify sources of funding and the EUR financing also acts as a natural hedge to many of our African businesses where local currency is pegged to Euros".

Bharti Airtel's consolidated net profit declined 29% to Rs 512 crore on 9.9% growth in net sales to Rs 21324.40 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.

Bharti Airtel is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had nearly 280 million customers across its operations at the end of September 2013.

source:www.bussiness-standard.com

Airtel reaffirms commitment to chad

Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”), a leading global telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today said that it is committed to continue investing in their operations in Chad and build world-class 3G and fibre optic networks that will support the country’s future economic growth. Airtel is the largest mobile operator in Chad, serving over 2 million customers with 2G and Airtel money services. 

Airtel’s Senior Management Executives, including Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman; Mr. Manoj Kohli, MD & CEO (International); and Tiemoko Coulibaly, CEO Africa Francophone Region, today called on the President H.E. Idriss Deby Itno and underlined their commitment to the country’s telecom sector and contributing to the ICT goals of the African nation. 

Airtel also announced that it plans to support a young ICT training and development program that will provide IT training to 6,000 youth in the country, enabling them find employment opportunities.

Mr. Manoj Kohli said, “Airtel will be an inherent part of the vision of the President for a modern and digital Chad. It has been our endeavor to provide world-class services to our customers and we will continue to invest in building 3G broadband networks that contribute to the digital revolution in Chad. The country’s young population is its biggest asset and we would be happy to support initiatives aimed at the development of the country’s youth. Our decision on the young ICT entrepreneurship program is a step in this direction.”

To underline the urgent need for integration of youth into the African growth strategy, it was reiterated that Chad’s population is young; an estimated 47.3% is under 15. Chad aims to have a countrywide digital infrastructure, enabling the development of a wide range of e-services, which will give rise to a major qualitative improvement in social services and create the strong foundations for the country. 

source: www.citifmonline.com

sub saharan titans take on the world

South African companies by and large continue to sit at home and wax lyrical about taking the plunge into Africa, within the sub-Saharan region there are already a large number of prominent home-grown enterprises simply getting on with business.

Dianna Games, the executive director of Africa @ Work and the author of Business in Africa, said that African companies that are big players in their own economies tend to be conglomerates with ­humble origins.

"Long before South African companies [were looking to Africa], there were so many market gaps. African entrepreneurs were the only ones willing to take the risk, and these companies gained critical mass.

"They grew in high-risk markets and so it was easy for them to expand into a wider range of markets," Games said.

They were then well positioned at a time of economic reform and growth. Financial services remain a big sector on the continent, a fact made clear by the Nigerian stock exchange, which is dominated by these kinds of companies, according to Games.

Typically, in lists of successful African companies, the top 10 is dominated by South African, Egyptian and Moroccan businesses. And although these rising stars may not yet necessarily be able to compete in size with multinationals, or even state-owned companies, they are capturing the attention of business in Africa. The Mail & Guardian takes a peek at some of the most notable movers and shakers.

The Dangote group
Founded by Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Dangote group is one of many rags-to-riches enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa, and the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa.

Established in May 1981 as a trading business with a focus on cement, the group diversified into a conglo-merate that also trades in sugar, flour, salt and fish.

By the early 1990s, it had grown into one of the largest trading conglomerates operating in Nigeria.

It later transitioned into a fully fledged manufacturing operation, with interests extending to real estate, oil, gas and telecommunications.

source: mg.co

African telecom landscape looks towards high speeds

number of factors have contributed to Africa’s increasing adoption of mobile phones for internet use over PCs — cost and lack of ethernet infrastructure for two. The cost of computers versus the lower prices of mobile phones in addition to the lack of physical internet cable implementation has spurred the growth of mobile devices in Africa — a trend that is now of global proportion. But Africa’s mobile scene presents unique challenges, and the recently reported interest in the continent’s digital communications from Mideast and European telcos has spun a larger conversation over the future of the continent’s growth.

MidEast telcos have been developing their presence in North Africa for a while. Etisalat — an Emirates-based telco — took over France’s Vivendi’s stake in Maroc Telecom in July, heightening its presence in West Africa. ( Maroc Telecom was also Morocco’s largest operator, according to reports.) And European companies such as Orange have been increasing their investments in various countries to get a foothold in the developing markets. These growing investments from operators have accumulated throughout the year, and made for conversation at AfricaCom 2013 — a telecom conference held in Cape Town, South Africa earlier in November which calls together global technology leaders.

An executive from Gemalto — a digital security company — spoke after the conference and called for operators to take advantage of the unique communications landscape in Africa in order to bypass 3G implementation and escalate quickly to 4G. While attaining high speed wireless seems unlikely in regions that have barely reliable 2G, Sherry Zameer, head of Africa and Middle East telecommunications for the company, described the lack of regulation and restrictive platforms actually make Africa ripe for the buildout of 4G.

source: www.blouinnews.com