JuaSimu – the world’s first solar-powered smartphone

Inexpensive smartphones are enabling mobile subscribers to access the internet at unprecedented levels across the African continent. However, it’s a challenge to keep mobile devices powered up, especially when access to electricity is often expensive, and unreliable. It is estimated that as many as 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, with the electrification rate as low as 14.2% in rural areas. Solar energy can be an economically and environmentally competitive option that can contribute significantly to this scenario.

Today, Dotsavvy is delighted to launch its breakthrough innovation – JuaSimu – the world’s first solar-powered smartphone, made in Kenya. Dotsavvy’s research and development team has been working in stealth for almost 3 years developing a smartphone that is uniquely suited for Africa where access to reliable and affordable electricity can be challenging. JuaSimu is unique in that it has been designed from the bottom up to be a smartphone that relies solely on solar power.

The JuaSimu screen is an integrated solar panel that charges the battery whenever its exposed to the sun. The JuaSimu does not come with any charging cables or adaptors since it works directly from solar energy which is abundant for most of the year in Africa. Dotsavvy closely with Tesla Motors to develop a unique battery for the JuaSimu that can last longer and requires shorter charging cycles to achieve a full day of operating capacity. This battery technology is so cutting edge that Dotsavvy has patented the same.

Valentine Mghoi, User Experience Lead at Dotsavvy says, “JuaSimu is a massive breakthrough in terms of what a modern smartphone should be for African consumers taking into consideration our unique market conditions. JuaSimu is a mid-range Android smartphone and yet it packs amazing features in a cost-effective and high performance package. The seamless and refined user experience from the hardware to the software makes it look and work like most great smartphones, except JuaSimu is a one of a kind in that it only works using solar energy”.

Kenneth Ikiara, General Manager at Dotsavvy, says, “For almost 15 years the focus at Dotsavvy has been in digital solutions that enhance business performance. JuaSimu is our first foray in a consumer hardware offering which was a completely new experience for us compared to what we normally do. We had to work with global partners like Google and Tesla Motors to bring it to life. We are delighted to have made JuaSimu a reality after three years of hard work by our team”.

JuaSimu will be available from today the 1st April 2017 at all major supermarkets and mobile phone dealerships at an introductory launch price of Kes. 10,000.00 only. In addition, the first 1,000 buyers of JuaSimu smartphones will get a chance to win an all-expenses paid holiday to South Africa if they buy one by the end of August 2017. JuaSimu will also be available beyond Kenya from the 1st July 2017 in markets like Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

Source: Dotsavvy 

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MTN Uganda, CBA to provide virtual loans on mobile phones

Telecoms company MTN Uganda and the Commercial Bank of Africa have launched a virtual banking platform designed as a credit facility for the unbanked population, and those lacking collateral and credit history, who are locked out of the loans market.

The service requires MTN Mobile Money users to open a mobile bank account on MoKash, into which they can deposit as little as Ush50 ($0.015) in savings, and borrow up to Ush1,000,000 ($293) repayable at a rate of 9 per cent.

In the absence of proof of creditworthiness of the virtual customers, MTN says it will rely on other factors like the consistency of a customer’s usage of services like data and utility payment services to decide the loan amount to give.

The micro loan offer is a result of advancements in technology that have seen mobile money revolutionise the movement of money and the payment systems in the region.    

MTN hopes to replicate the success Safaricom has had in Kenya, after it partnered with CBA to launch a similar service, M-Shwari, in November 2012. A rollout to Tanzania was made the same year, where some 5 million customers are currently subscribed to the service.

By March this year, CBA had disbursed Ksh10 billion ($100 million) in loans and collected Ksh8.1 billion ($81 million) in savings from 3.9 million customers.

In Uganda, MoKash is expected to increase financial inclusion for people in rural areas.

According to Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, an economist and lecturer at Makerere University, 68 per cent of Ugandans are not monetised, that is, they do not touch money. Only 8.3 per cent of the population interacts with commercial banks.

In Rwanda, 28.2 per cent of the population interacts with banks.

Movement of money

Uganda is considered to have the highest movement of money in the region, but much of this is in the rural areas through traditional and informal methods of saving like purchase of land and livestock.

“Ugandans have a lot of money that ought to be saved. However, they do not have the incentive to save, and so domestic absorption will be slow,” said Prof Nuwagaba.

There is a need for telecoms companies to expand their networks to distant customers for the delivery of their products. Handsets also need to be made available to potential customers in rural areas, together with financial literacy training in the benefits, security, accessibility and relevance of the services.

Erick Muriuki, the general manager for new business at CBA, said that for a successful cashless economy to be realised, there is a need to digitalise the money velocity in an economy.  

This has to start with the reduction of costs incurred when making payments for utilities using digital means.

Source: theeastafrican

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Orange launches Orange Money between France and Africa

Orange Money is available in Metropolitan France. This service is offered to Orange mobile subscribers  in France and enables them to transfer money via their mobile to other Orange Money customers in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, and within Metropolitan France.

“We are delighted to offer the Orange Money solution to our customers living in Metropolitan France and particularly to those with a link to Africa – this is a simple, secure and instant money transfer service between family and friends via mobile,” states Patrick Roussel, Orange France Consumer Sales Director.

By launching the service in France, Orange is responding to strong demand from its customers with family or friends in Africa.
Orange Money provides a money transfer service from France to Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal through a simple mobile transaction. Orange also makes it easier for recipients to withdraw money from over 30,000 Orange Money points in the three recipient countries, an unrivalled number of points of sale in these countries.
This service will develop gradually and Orange intends to number of points of sale in France. An Orange Money app will be available soon in France and Orange will look to expand the money transfer offer from France to other countries over time.
For the launch of Orange Money in France, Orange is supported by its subsidiary W-HA, which has an EMI agreement  and is authorised to issue and manage electronic money. The technical and banking expertise of W-HA allows Orange to offer international money transfer services with an excellent standard of customer experience and user security

You don’t need a bank account to use Orange Money. You just need a mobile plan and to register at a point of sale offering Orange Money with an ID card and proof of address.  It is free to open an Orange Money account.
Amongst the stores offering the secure Orange Money service in Metropolitan France, Orange already has 41 points of sale: newsagents, call shops, local grocery stores and tobacconists across the country, as well as an Orange Money store in Paris.
To carry out a money transfer, the customer credits their account with a bank card or cash at a point of sale. They then log onto their Orange Money account directly from their mobile by ringing #144#, entering the mobile number of the recipient as well as the amount to transfer and confirming the transaction with their Orange Money password. The transfer is then completed and the money is immediately available in the recipient’s  account.
#144# is a free and simple service which is compatible with all mobiles on the market.

Orange Money is a mobile account linked to an Orange telephone number, and it is designed to meet the needs of customers in Africa, where most transactions are made in cash. Orange Money service, launched in Côte d’Ivoire in 2008, has over 18 million customers already use it in 14 countries in Africa to carry out transactions such as payments and money transfers.

In 2013 Orange launched the first international money transfer service for its Orange Money customers between Senegal, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. In March 2015, this service was expanded to transfers to and from Airtel Money customers in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.

Source: techmoran

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Tanzania: Vodacom M-Pawa Loans Reach 4.2 Billion/ - in May

Over 4.2bn/- in loans was disbursed to Vodacom subscribers last month through M-Pawa thus becoming an important tool of boosting entrepreneurship among women and youth.

Vodacom Tanzania Chief Officer M-Commerce Mr Sitoyo Lopokoiyit said M-Pawa was increasingly being heralded as the tool for bringing financial services to the large unbanked population in Tanzania.

"In just two years since its launch, M-Pawa subscribers have skyrocketed to 4.8 million. Todate, 39bn/- have been issued to subscribers through M-Power and most of them are entrepreneurs mostly women and youth to increase income," he said.

Prior to introduction of various mobile financial solutions, the unbanked population relied on cash or informal financial services which were typically unsafe, inconvenient and denied them the opportunity to access loans.

The high penetration of mobile phones in Tanzania provided the basis for extending access to financial services such as payments, transfers, insurance, savings, and credit.

Thus Vodacom Tanzania in partnership with CBA bank introduced M-Pawa -- the first- ever mobile savings and loan service in Tanzania - a service that has proven to be a saviour to millions of its subscribers.

The introduction of Vodacom's M-Pawa was made possible in partnership with the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), following studies showing that there are millions of Tanzanians especially in rural areas who do not have bank accounts mostly due to the absence of banking institutions or lack of the requisite monies to open up a bank account.

Source:All africa

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Tigo Pesa, now the largest Mobile Financial Service eco-system in Tanzania

Tigo becomes the only operator in Tanzania to offer interoperability with Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, February 18, 2016/ -- Tigo Tanzania (www.Tigo.co.tz) announced today that customers of its Tigo Pesa mobile money service will now be able to move funds between any of the country’s mobile money operators, as Vodacom’s M-Pesa joins an interoperable network already set up by Tigo, Zantel and Airtel. Tigo becomes the only operator in Tanzania to offer interoperability with Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel.                                                            Vodacom’s participation means that more than 16 million mobile money users in Tanzania will be able to conduct transactions with one-another regardless of which mobile operator they use. It also creates Africa’s first universal interoperable mobile money network. In June 2014, Tigo, Airtel and Zantel announced a pioneering interoperability agreement. Since then, their customers have enjoyed interoperability between their mobile money accounts which has accounted for an increase of 3.5 times the value of total offline transactions. After announcing it would join the interoperable network one year ago, Vodacom has now implemented the deal. Interoperability in Tanzania today is not exclusive to mobile operators, and also includes more than 25 banks. The country’s 16 million mobile financial users transact the equivalent of more than 50% of Tanzania’s GDP each month. Thanks to this growing network, Tanzania is now the leading place for mobile money in east Africa, overtaking Kenya. Commenting on today’s announcement, Tigo Tanzania Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Swanepoel, said: “With Tigo Pesa, customers will now benefit from faster, cheaper and safer cashless transactions with anyone across the country.” Swanepoel continued, “We believe interoperability is crucial to the success of mobile money and the wider goal of increasing financial inclusion. It is also a fundamental building block towards constructing a digital economy, enabling merchants and other start-ups to participate in the financial services ecosystem. Our aim going forward is to reach similar agreements with networks in other markets.” Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Tigo. SOURCE Tigo

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Tanzania's Mobile Money Revolution-Infographic

Kenya is often lauded as a global pioneer when it comes to mobile money, but Tanzania is also making its mark. With growing competition and mobile money providers starting to make their systems interoperable, Tanzania is setting an example for others.

Source:http://www.cgap.org/

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MoneyGram, Vodacom partner on mobile money service in Tanzania

MoneyGram and Vodacom have announced a partnership that enables Vodacom subscribers in Tanzania to receive fund transfers directly into their M-Pesa accounts through MoneyGram's money transfer services.

M-Pesa subscribers in Tanzania can receive funds from MoneyGram into their mobile accounts from customers in more than 120 countries at any time, subject to system availability, according to a press release.

"MoneyGram continues to grow throughout Africa as a result of forming strategic relationships with mobile network operators, banks, post offices and retailers, to bring added convenience to our customers," Jacques Voogt, chief officer of mobile commerce at Vodacom Tanzania, said in a statement. "Presently, MoneyGram operates in more than 200 countries with a network of more than 350,000 locations globally of which 25,000 are in Africa."

Source:mobilepaymentstoday

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Microsoft launches Mobile Mathematics in Tanzania

Microsoft, in partnership with the Ministry of Communications, Science, Technology and Tigo Tanzania, have officially launched an innovative mobile education service called Nokia Mobile Mathematics. This service is now being managed by Microsoft, after the company acquired substantially all of Nokia’s devices and services business.

Nokia Mobile Mathematics is a service that enables learners across Tanzania to access quality mathematics content in an engaging and interactive manner directly from their mobile phones, completely free.

Mobile Mathematics offers over 9000 exercises, mapped to high school level, and can be accessed by any person with a data and browser-enabled device. In addition to the exercises, the learning service includes theories, sample question and answers, as well as social features like collaborative groups messaging and competitions. The key differentiator for the service is the ability for learners to compare their scores with peers, integrating an element of competitiveness into their learning.

“In many developing countries, the lack of engaging learning opportunities leads to high drop outs and failure rates in schools, especially in high school grades. Mobile Mathematics offers high quality learning opportunities and reliable interactive learning features for teachers and learners, thus increasing access to high quality education,” says Lilian Nganda, East Africa Communications Manager, Mobile Devices, Microsoft.

The learning service is fully browser-based and works on any connected phone, tablet or PC without needing to download an app. After a quick sign-up process, learners can practice exercises in a number of categories like algebra, trigonometry, calculus and statistics mapped to the Tanzanian curriculum. Nokia Mobile Mathematics will also help the East African community standardise education levels, and open more job opportunities for region.

Mobile Mathematics was first launched in South Africa for grade 10 – 12 learners. The content has now been localised by the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) and will be rolled out in select schools for form 1 to 4 students, as well as other users nationwide.

Tigo General Manager, Diego Gutierrez.  

‘’Learning and technology have become inextricably linked and co-dependent. Mobile technology in particular has been the most powerful catalyst of change, redefining the educational approach including content delivery. It is Tigo’s desire to contribute to improving education and knowledge transfer by enabling students all over the country to improve their maths for free, ’’ commented Tigo General Manager, Diego Gutierrez.  

Mobile Mathematics can be leveraged as a platform to deliver content for other subjects like physics, biology and languages. The service provides an opportunity for learners to extend their learning outside of the classroom in a fun and interactive manner.

Research data collected from South Africa indicates that learners’ competence levels improved by 14% compared to learners who were not using Mobile Mathematics. Additional statistics point out that 53% of students became more active users of the service, with 82% of the usage happening outside school hours.

The Mobile Mathematics service is available at https://momaths.nokia.com/tz

 Source:dewjiblog

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Telecom firms ‘reprimanded’

THE Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) intends to take measures against telecom firms that reviewed promotion data tariffs without its express permission.

The law, section 5(2) and 12(2) of the 2011 Electronic and Postal Communications (Tariffs Regulations), directs telecoms to file their new tariffs plans prior to being used.

However, Vodacom, Tigo and Airtel, unilaterally changed their daily, weekly and monthly voice, SMS and internet bundles reducing substantially data package amounts and prices.

TCRA Communications Manager Innocent Mungy said in Dar es Salaam that although the tariffs adjusted were of promotional nature the providers were supposed to notify the regulator before putting them into effect.

“TCRA is not regulating promotion tariffs but the law directs them to notify us prior of use,” Mr Mungy pointed out, noting that the telecom firms have for long enticed customers to use internet data thus going into a promotion binge.

“The trend shows that providers have reduced heavily on internet and want subscribers to start buying normal internet bundles,” he said.

According to the TCRA statement, the authority shall impose penalties as shall be (deemed) necessary, directing service providers “to adhere to the law when reviewing their tariffs.” The authority also directed telecom firms to ensure that any changes are “gradual and not abrupt to avoid shocks in the markets”.

The regulator’s intervention into the matter has come following the subscribers’ outcry after the three providers heavily slashed bundle amounts despite the service being optional among users.

Promotional prices show that telecom service providers have increased the number of minutes for voice and SMS amount but reduced internet bundles considerably.

The most affected area was on internet bundles where the lowest daily tariffs went down to between 8.0 and 10 megabytes from between 15 and 250mbs.

Weekly megabytes plummeted to between 60 and 70mb from between 100 and 2000 while monthly to between 250 and 300mb from between 300 and 4000mb while monthly down to between 300 and 4000mb to between 250 and 300mb.

However, TCRA directs service providers to give their customers choice of separate bundle plans.

For the voice, SMS and internet services, a consumer should be given the liberty of how much to spend for a given price and period of time.

Source: DailyNews

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Tigo to invest $120m in network expansion in 2015

Tigo Tanzania plans to spend US $ 120 million (Tshs 221 billion) this year in expanding its network coverage and improving the quality of its services.

Announcing the company’s plans in 2015, Tigo Interim General Manager Cecile Tiano said this year’s investment represents a 20% increase from US $ 100 million (Tshs 184 billion) that the company spent on its network improvement in 2014.

“The increased level of investment demonstrates both our commitment to give our customers quality services that exceed their expectations and also giving more Tanzanians access to telecom services in the country,” Ms Tiano said.

Describing 2014 as a successful season, the general manager said Tigo achieved a record 30% growth in its subscriber base last year with the number of customers rising from seven to nine million.

“We want to continue expanding and maintaining the quality of our network coverage by rolling out 787 new sites countrywide. Some of the sites will be 3G and 4G, which means increasing penetration to the rural areas as well increasing access to data for our customers.” she said noting that Tigo has over 2,000 sites countrywide.

Other plans for 2015, according to Ms Tiano, include doubling the number of Tigo customer care shops from the current 42 to 100 in an attempt to bring Tigo services closer to the customers.

To continue driving digital transformation in the country, She said, Tigo intends to unveil more innovative services this year citing the recently launched Tigo Music that continues to revolutionize the music industry by giving Tigo customers unlimited access to local and international music through their phones.

This unique service followed several firsts by Tigo last year such as becoming the first telecom to offer international money transfer with currency conversion and the first to offer free Facebook in Kiswahili. Tigo in 2014 also integrated its mobile financial services with leading banks to enable its customers deposit or withdraw money from their bank accounts to the wallets. A similar partnership was also established to give Tigo Pesa users an opportunity to send or receive money from across other networks.

She added that Tigo will continue to support community development initiatives through its corporate social responsibility portfolio in 2015 mentioning education, health, women and child care as being sectors earmarked for this.

Source:Tigo Tanzania

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Vodacom overtakes mining, banking in tax contributions

Vodacom Tanzania paid a staggering Sh47.1 billion in Corporate Tax last year, meaning the country’s largest mobile phone company was among the most profitable corporations locally.

The company says it is so far the second largest taxpayer in the country, after Tanzania Breweries, although it did not state in its financial report unveiled yesterday the total taxes it paid in 2014.

To put things into simple perspective, what Vodacom paid last year as taxes is bigger than what the much-debated mining firms—Geita Gold Mine and Acacia Mining— remitted.

Corporate Tax (Corporation Tax) is a levy charged on the gross profit of entities such as limited companies, organisations, clubs, societies, associations and other unincorporated bodies. For firms that are not listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, the corporate tax rate is 30 per cent, signaling that Vodacom Tanzania may have made a gross profit of not less than Sh156 billion during the 2014 calendar year.

Going by Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) figures, Tanzania had a total of 30.58 million Subscriber Identification Module (Sim) cards as at September 2014. Vodacom was leading the pack with some 11.316 million Sim cards.

Without specifying the chief sources of profits within the various sub-categories of its operations, the company said yesterday it would spend Sh150 billion to finance its expansion and service improvement programme in 2015 as it seeks to grow further.

The money will be used in investment in 2G and 3G sites and improving its M-Pesa services as well as other innovations.

However, Vodacom bemoaned a tough environment resulting from a drop in prices of both data and voice services while taxes have been going up in recent years.

Vodacom Tanzania managing director Rene Meza said the price per minute dropped from Sh58 in January 2013 to Sh24 in January 2015—representing an almost 59 per cent decrease— while the price per megabyte decreased from Sh9 to Sh5 (45 per cent drop) in the same period.

On the other hand, he said, excise duty on airtime increased from 5 per cent in 2002 to 17 per cent in 2014, making it one of the highest in Africa.

“These low prices are posing a challenge on our ability to continue investing. In reality, where did you see for instance food prices dropping by over 50 per cent in one year,” said Mr Meza during a press briefing.

The firm reported a 45 per cent increase in voice calls while internet usage almost tripled between 2013 and 2015.

Source: thecitizen

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Three win cars in latest Airtel promo

FIFTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD peasant from Kimanzichana Village, Mkuranga District in Coast Region, Mr Ramadhani Dilunga, emerged one of the three first winners of cars in a recently launched promotion by Airtel, during a draw held in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.

Airtel Tanzania last week launched the promotion dubbed “Airtel Yatosha Zaidi” in which the firm’s lucky subsribers could win a car everyday for the next 60 days.

Airtel Yatosha Zaidi envoy, Ms Elizabeth Michael ‘Lulu’, dialled the winners to inform them the news under supervision of Tanzania Gaming Board inspector, Mr Bakari Maggid, during the draw.

Dilunga screamed: “Thank you...God is great. I did not expect this at all,” shortly after Ms Lulu gave him the good news as the winner of Toyota IST.

Airtel Public Relations Manager, Mr Jackson Mmbando, named other winners as Ms Mwajabu Churian (27), an entrepreneur and Mr Namtapika Kilumba (60), a retired teacher.

“We still have 57 IST Toyota in ‘the showroom’ that are up for grabs within 60 days,” he added. “They will own cars just for dialling *149*99#,” he explained.

Source:Dailynews

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We are far away from bankruptcy, says TTCL

TANZANIA Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) said on Thursday it is far away from insolvency because its main business is expected to increase by 50 per cent this year.

TTCL’s main business is networking firms via broadband, internet bandwidth and wholesale administration and said it has so far signed projects worth 15bn/- this year. Last year it had projects worth 10bn/-.

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kamugisha Kazaura, said the contracts at hand involved only corporate clients, while there was a lot expected this year.

“Though we (TTCL) are facing financial challenges but the business ahead is very promising and we are far from liquidation,” Dr Kazaura told the ‘Daily News’ during the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) fibre cable project handover.

The CEO said the issue of bankruptcy was the result of poor interpretation and analysis of TTCL monetary state of affairs, but the firm’s operations are ‘sound.’

“Currently, we are in discussions with the government to turn what they owe us into capital,” Dr Kazaura said. He did not go into details.

TTCL, which handles the national fibre-optic cable network also termed as the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), said currently all Tanzania’s neighbours were at their subscription docket.

TTCL’s Chief of Sales and Marketing, Mr Peter Ngota, said by July the firm will start offering mobile phone services using 3G and 4G’s network.

“Previously we concentrated on corporate customers but come July we want to offer 100 per cent mobile services in the country,’ Mr Ngota said.

He said TTCL will use satellite in the areas where tele-signal are weak as a measure to assure superior quality and efficiency to its customers countrywide.

Last week, TTCL signed a 182-million US dollars deal with Chinese’s Huawei Technologies to upgrade and expand its fixed and wireless networks.

Under the terms of the contract - the first phase of which is expected to conclude in June where Huawei will upgrade the TTCL’s 2G and 3G networks and also deploy 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

The agreement will also see Huawei deploy networks in rural areas in line with a Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF) contract won by TTCL in February 2014.

Through the NICTBB, Tanzania has been connected with East Africa’s submarine cable networks including SEACOM, EASSY and SEAS.

TTCL connects Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi through fire optical cable. At the moment, TTCL is supplying 1.0 gigabytes of internet bandwidth to Rwanda, the 10 year deal worth 6.7-million US dollars.

Meanwhile, Dr Kamugisha said they have reconnected the local government optical cable network after an agreement with the government over the mode of payment which he did want to disclose.

Source:Dailynews

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Africa’s mobile users to hit half a billion

There will be over half a billion mobile phone users in sub-Saharan Africa in the next six years, according to this year’s GSMA Intelligence report.

The region remains the fastest growing in mobile telephony subscription, a trend attributed to its robust economic growth and the increasing affordability of mobile phone services.

By mid this year, there were 329 million unique subscribers representing a penetration rate of 38 per cent. Further, there were over 600 million SIM connections equivalent to a penetration rate of 68 per cent in the region as consumers and businesses increasingly use mobile use beyond communication.

This number is set to rise at a compound annual growth rate of seven per cent to reach just over half a billion in 2020.

Mobile phone firms have also deployed more 3G connections that accounted for only 15 per cent of the total base in 2013 and are expected to rise to over half by 2020, making the region among the largest in terms of 3G connections only behind the highly populated Asia-Pacific region.

The rise in 3G connections largely reflects the accelerating rate of smartphone use. Sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to witness the highest growth of any region in terms of the number of smartphone connections (between 72 and 525 million) over the next six years. This means over half of the total connection then will be on smartphones.

The growing adoption of smartphones along with other data-capable devices such as tablets is in turn driving an explosion in data traffic.

The region’s mobile data traffic is forecast to record a 20-fold increase from 2013 to 2019, about twice the global growth rate.

This upswing is expected to push up revenue for the mobile companies across the region. The firms have already seen strong jump in revenues in the last few years, driven in particular by an increase in the number of connections and subscriber base.

Revenues grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7 per cent yearly between 2008 and 2013. The growth rates are however set to slow slightly going forward, but increasing data traffic will see revenue growth remain at a healthy 5.6 per cent up to 2020.

This calls for more investments in the network capacity to cope with the expected growth in data traffic, as well as increase in 3G coverage.

In 2013, the mobile industry contributed 5.4 per cent to overall gross domestic product in the region, and this is forecast to increase to 6.2 per cent by 2020.

The mobile industry is also a significant source of jobs in sub-Saharan Africa directly employing nearly 2.4 million people. This is also expected to increase to around 3.5 million by 2020.

The industry also makes a very large contribution to the funding of the public sector in the form of general taxation ($13 billion in 2013), and through further payments in the form of licence as well as regulatory fees and spectrum auctions.

Despite the progress to date, there remains a significant proportion of the population in the region who do not have access to the internet.

At the end of 2013, there were almost 150 million individuals using mobile devices to access the internet in sub-Saharan Africa. This is equivalent to an overall mobile internet penetration rate of only 17 per cent of the total population, compared to a global average of just over 30 per cent.

This figure will more than double by 2020, reaching 38 per cent, with an additional 240 million people across the region gaining mobile internet access by that date.

There are a number of barriers to extending mobile internet access in sub-Saharan Africa, with affordability and network coverage in rural areas being key challenges given high levels of poverty.

More than 70 per cent of the population lives in rural areas.

Telcoms, governments, regulators and other entities all have a role to play in addressing these barriers. Allowing commercially-agreed network sharing and ensuring timely release of digital dividend spectrum will be key in enabling growth of network coverage.

Source:Dailynation

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Millicom announces support for SMS-based AU Ebola initiative

International telecommunications and media company Millicom has announced its support for the African Union’s campaign to raise funds for its fight against the Ebola virus in West Africa using an SMS dedicated platform to raise funds for the deployment of African health workers to affected countries.

AU’s ‘#AfricaAgainstEbola’ is based on an SMS dedicated platform to raise funds for the deployment of African health workers to affected countries to combat the disease that has claimed over five thousand lives across some parts of West Africa.

At a recent Business Roundtable on Ebola hosted by the AU, mobile operators committed to support efforts to fight Ebola by unveiling an Africa-wide three-month campaign dubbed, ‘Africa against Ebola’. This will focus on donations from members of the public who are customers of the operators and will be channelled into fighting the Ebola Virus.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said: “We are conscious of the urgent need for all of us to do more, and to act fast. It is only by acting together will we ensure that our continent and world is free of Ebola. Let me repeat our call to all Africans to lead the global efforts of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.”

The SMS fundraising campaign will use the short code 7979 with local adaptations where technology requires. Customers will be asked to text ‘Stop Ebola’ to this code in order to donate in their respective countries. Mobile Operators across Africa including Airtel, Econet Wireless, Etisalat, MTN Group, Orange, Safaricom, Vodacom and Vodafone Ghana are participating in this campaign which will run between now and the end of February 2015.

Rachel Samrén, Project leader of the joint-operator campaign and Executive Vice President Strategic Operations and Partnerships at Millicom, commented “it has been a privilege to work with sector peers on this important cause and the spirit and determination of the operator group to get the campaign up and running has been truly inspiring. We are delighted to be part of the campaign which complements our internal employee matching donation campaign as well as the personal pledge of our Chairman to the Africa Against Ebola fund.”

Source:Humanipo

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Tigo Pesa users in Tanzania receive $1.8m profit

Telecoms company Tigo today announced its Tigo Pesa mobile money customers would receive the first of its regular quarterly payments worth US$1.8 million.

Three months ago Tigo paid a profit of US$ 8.64 million accumulated in the Tigo Pesa Trust Account and became the first mobile money service in the world to pay profit to its users.

Tigo General Manager Diego Gutierrez said “This second round of profit disbursement shows the company’s continued commitment to benefit and improve the lives of Tanzanians. The payment goes to all Tigo Pesa users including super agents, retail agents and individual users of the service.

“The first payment was bigger due to the fact that the profit had been accumulated over a period of three and a half years. This second payment is the profit accumulated from funds held in trust in commercial banks for three months in the quarter July to September 2014.”

Tigo Pesa has a subscriber base of 3.6 million customers and the average return to a customer will vary based on their average daily balance in their Tigo Pesa e-wallet. This applies to super-agents, retail agents and individual customers.

It also announced next installment for the quarter of October to December 2014 will be paid out in February 2015.

Source:humanipo

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Ghana to abolish taxes on imported smartphones by 2015

The Ghanaian government has announced it would abolish taxes on all imported smartphones by next. This development was announced by the government through the 2015 budget.

The government said it realised that although Ghana has high mobile phone penetration, smartphones only represent 15%.

“Communication is shifting from voice to data and mobile data is projected to grow 6.3 times between 2013 and 2018. It is being proposed that in order to increase smartphone penetration, and in line with Government’s policy of bridging the digital divide within the country, import duties on smartphones will be removed. It is expected that the increase in smartphone penetration will increase revenue from Communication Service Tax, VAT and corporate taxes,” the government stated in the budget.

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director of the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4Ai) while commending the government of Ghana for the decision said removing import taxes is a key first step towards getting every Ghanaian online. The issue of mobile phone tax was among the topics discussed at A4AI’s first in-country engagement held in Ghana.

“Taxes make up more than a third of the cost of a smartphone in Ghana, and as a result only about 15% of the population currently have one. It’s worth noting that when Kenya scrapped VAT on handsets in 2009, devices in circulation quadrupled and overall mobile penetration rose from 50% to more than 70%. We hope to see similar results in Ghana,” Jorge said.

In an exclusive interview with HumanIPO, she said the aim of A4AI is to bring outdated policy and regulatory frameworks into the digital age by working directly with national governments and a wide range of key stakeholders.

Following the introduction of the tax, HumanIPO reported the Concerned Mobile Phone and Accessories Dealers group had closed their shops in protest against the tax which has previously been welcomed by native manufacturers such as Rlg Communications. Ghana’s Association of Independent Mobile Phone and Credit Dealers (ASIMODE) also warned the introduction of the 20% tax on imported devices would have a direct repercussion on the businesses of its members.

source:humanipo

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