Telecom
Bharti Airtel, Appoints African Professionals to Drive Continent’s Business
Bharti Airtel, a leading emerging market telecom services provider, today announced the appointment of African professionals to its top management as it moves to entrench its operations on the continent. The company said it would continue tapping into the diversity of Africa’s world-class talent pool.
Mr. Fayaz King, has been appointed as the Managing Director for Zambia. Mr. King who has been in charge of the Malawi operation will now be entrusted with the role of driving the overall business strategy and successful implementation of market leadership initiatives in Zambia.
Announcing the appointments, Bharti Airtel CEO, Mr. Manoj Kohli said the change in leadership was aimed at ensuring that the Zambia operation which is the number one mobile communications provider in the country continues to experience further growth. Last year the Zambia business, which has more than 3 million subscribers, recorded a 15% growth in the subscriber base.
Mr. Kohli said the new Managing Director had vast experience and the technical know-how to effectively drive the Zambian business to meet the emerging needs of the customers.
“Mr. King has done a splendid job during his two year stint as the MD of Malawi. In 2009, under his leadership, Malawi achieved an outstanding growth of 72% in revenue market share, being the highest in the Group” he said.
Mr Kohli reiterated that Airtel’s long term commitment to Zambia, terming it a key market in the success of the company.
The statement also announced the appointment of Mr. Saulos Chilima as the Managing Director for Malawi. Mr. Chilima formerly served as the Sales and Distribution Director and has been on the Zain Malawi Board for the last one year. Bharti Airtel CEO, Manoj Kohli said the appointment was in line with Airtel’s business strategy of developing human capital and empowering the local operations.
“Saulos is a Malawian National and we are giving responsibility of running the business to African professionals” said Mr. Kohli.
Saulos holds a Master of Economics Degree and is currently studying for a Diploma in Financial Management with the ACCA. He started his career in Telecommunications as Sales Director, Zain Malawi in September 2006. Prior to joining Zain, Saulos was at Unilever, Malawi and Southern Bottlers Limited (Coca Cola and Carlsberg bottler). He also has 4 years experience in Leasing, having worked for the Leasing and Finance Company in Malawi.
Also going up the corporate ladder is Mr. Michael Okwiri to head the Corporate Communications docket for Africa. Mr. Okwiri will be responsible for building and sustaining positive corporate reputation for Airtel Africa. Until his appointment, Mr. Okwiri was the Corporate Communications Director at Zain Kenya. He has over 15 years experience in Corporate Communications having served in a similar capacity at Kenya Airways when the Airline was voted African Airline of the Year in 2005 and the most respected company in East Africa for two years running.
Prior to joining Kenya Airways, Mr. Okwiri also worked for the Kenya Commercial Bank and Coca Cola. He will be based at the Airtel Africa Headquarters in Nairobi.
The company recently acquired the mobile services operations of Zain in 15 countries across Africa and is working towards introducing its brand ‘Airtel’ in these markets shortly.
Telecom
FG Plans EO to Criminalise Fiber Cable Damage Costing Telcos Billions
Nigeria will criminalize the destruction of broadband fiber cables following repeated complaints by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and other telecommunications companies that they are losing billions of naira, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal ministry of works, which supervises federal road constructors, is finalizing the regulation that will be signed as an executive order by President Bola Tinubu, said the people, asking not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to comment.
While there are presently laws against vandalism, the authorities are aiming to regulate construction firms more closely.
The order will enforce stiff penalties on offenders, said the people, declining to provide more details or say when it will be signed.
“Telecom assets are critical backbone that supports the economy across sectors,” said Temitope Ajayi, a senior presidential aide, who noted that the Association of Telecommunications Companies (ATCON) has been demanding the classification for years.
New rules will provide “further assurance that the Nigerian government will protect their investments against vandals and criminal elements.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) estimates that the sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5% in the third quarter of last year.
The move will help alleviate pressure on the telecoms sector, which is facing increased operating costs and sales pressures from a sharp depreciation in the currency and a threefold increase in energy prices.
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables is estimated to have cost the sector almost 27 billion naira ($23 million) last year alone, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show. On Feb. 28, a cut on its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than 11 billion naira – enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines to areas without coverage.
A presidential order on the matter would be welcomed, said Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.
“When it comes to communication infrastructure, they are destroyed at will, so we are eagerly awaiting the president’s order,” he said. “It would be a great boost to the industry, and it will also encourage investment.”
Telecom
Telegram Eyes 1Bn Users amidst Political Pressures
Telegram, the messaging giant founded by Pavel Durov and headquartered in Dubai, anticipates hitting a remarkable milestone of one billion active monthly users within the next year.
Durov’s departure from Russia in 2014, prompted by governmental pressures to stifle opposition communities on his VK social media platform, underscores Telegram’s commitment to neutrality despite geopolitical challenges.
With 900 million active users currently, Telegram stands as a beacon of free speech in the digital realm, particularly influential in former Soviet Union republics and pivotal during conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine standoff.
Durov’s staunch advocacy for freedom of expression and opposition to censorship by tech giants like Apple and Google reinforces Telegram’s status as a neutral platform.
Opting for the UAE as its base, Durov cites its neutrality and openness as conducive to Telegram’s ethos, serving both opposition groups and governments alike while maintaining impartiality.
In Durov’s vision, the pursuit of freedom eclipses material gain, shaping Telegram’s trajectory as a bastion of digital liberation.
Telecom
NITDA, NIMC Announce Collaboration To Strengthen Digital Economy
To further strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have announced a collaboration on National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to enhance and create synergy between digital identity, payment ecosystem, and secure & seemless data exchange capabilities for Nigeria.
During the meeting between the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, with some management staff of both organisations, they discussed various initiatives, which include building DPI stacks for a secured and seamless data exchange and forming partnerships to transform the national identity system.
This collaboration also aims to harness the potential of the innovative ecosystem and emphasise the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to drive digital transformation in Nigeria.
To ensure a smooth implementation, a 12-man committee was set up. This committee will play a crucial role in kickstarting and harmonising the initiatives. It is expected to deliver a comprehensive implementation report within the next 4 weeks
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