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This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Mandeep S Kwatra of Prodapt

As fiber operators fiercely compete for the top spot, they must constantly improve their operations while maintaining costs and ensuring seamless customer service. However, 60% of all corporate six sigma initiatives fail to deliver lasting results. We observed that many fiber operators still rely on traditional operations improvement activities performed on a one-time or on-demand basis translating to … [visit site to read more]

The African Development Fund and the Smart Africa Alliance have jointly launched a US$1.5 million project to streamline digital trade and e-commerce policies across 10 African countries.

The Institutional Support for Digital Payments and e-Commerce Policies for Cross-Border Trade (IDECT) Project, as it is known, will evaluate policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems of Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The project will aim to drive the implementation of regional training and capacity-building programmes focusing on cross-border e-payment and e-commerce for governments, the private sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These programmes are expected to reach 600 participants, with 60% being women and youth.

Additionally, a certified gender-sensitive e-learning training programme addressing the unique challenges faced by women in digital trade and e-commerce will be developed and disseminated to 2,500 participants, of whom 60% will be women.

Smart Africa is a commitment from African heads of state and government to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable access to broadband and usage of information and communications technologies. Since its founding in 2014, the Smart Africa Alliance has grown to include 36 African countries.

Meanwhile, the African Development Bank has signed a US$525,000 grant agreement with Africa Fintech Network (AFN), a continent-wide institution that unites African fintech leaders, organisations and stakeholders, for the setting-up of the Africa Fintech Hub, an online portal that will serve as a one-stop shop for all fintech activities in Africa.

This hub is a digital platform that will enable fintech associations across Africa to pool resources and knowledge, and strengthen relationships and partnerships, as well as showcase the work of fintech on the continent, including groups that are female-led or owned.

The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), a pan-African initiative designed to catalyse digital financial inclusion throughout Africa, will provide funding and technical assistance to the Africa Fintech Network to host and manage the African Fintech Hub.

The ADFI is also supporting projects to enhance the deployment of digital micro-insurance to smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya, as well as to build capacity for cyber resilience and help to remove barriers to access to fintech services across the continent.

This week saw thousands of Cameroonians yesterday protest against what they regard as unacceptable quality of service from mobile operators MTN Cameroon and Orange Cameroon.

In an enterprising approach, subscribers across the country switched their devices to airplane mode, effectively disabling all analogue voice and digital data services between 12pm and 2pm local time, as a way of expressing their disapproval.

According to ITWeb Africa, the protestors claim they have raised their concerns since last year, due to prolonged network disruptions. The high cost of connectivity in the country is another focus, along with allegations that call, SMS and data bundles are often deducted arbitrarily by operators.

The campaign also gained a following online, before and after the protest, with the hashtag #ModeAvion237 used by hundreds of protestors.

It’s unfortunate timing for Orange Cameroon, given that, as we reported in March, it has pledged to spend CFA150 billion (US$244 million) to upgrade its network over the next five years, an aim that now seems more necessary than ever.

However, some feel that the regulator is not doing enough to monitor the telcos, which may not be entirely true. Back in 2019 we reported that Cameroon’s Telecommunications Regulatory Agency had fined the local operations of MTN, Orange and Viettel on the grounds that none of the operators had met agreed network improvement targets, with the regulator claiming that the operators’ network standards were in fact “still deteriorating”. That said, nearly four years later, it looks like little has improved.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

After a trip through restructuring, GTT is officially back.  The company looks a lot different now, with a streamlined set of assets and a new focus on providing managed network and security services to the global enterprise marketplace.  A year ago we talked with former COO Don MacNeil about the path forward, and today we are joined by CEO Ernie Ortega.  Ernie is of course an industry veteran, having started his career with MCI back in the day.  He has done stints with the likes of XO, Cogent, Colt, and TowerStream, and took over the CEO role at GTT near the beginning of the restructuring process before shepherding the company through the pandemic period.  Here he’ll offer his take on the road ahead. … [visit site to read more]