CAF 3 2021 Cover_Layout 1 17/08/2021 05:53 Page 1 Special Anniversary Issue Africa Afrique www.communicationsafrica.com THIRTY YEARS THAT CHANGED A CONTINENT Africa’s communications revolution Subsea cable Morocco deployment Why e-commerce is Innovation under the here to stay ocean Fixed wireless VSATs access Intelligent approaches Is 5G FWA a way to remote education forward for Africa? features: ● Analogue TV on the way out ● SDN on the way in ● Data centres on the way to everywhere regular reports: ● Agenda ● Solutions S01 CAF 3 2021 Start_Layout 1 17/08/2021 05:59 Page 2 S01 CAF 3 2021 Start_Layout 1 18/08/2021 08:39 Page 3 CONTENTS Agenda 4 Quotes 6 Events 8 Solutions 32 Cover photographs supplied by Malawi Administration / Adobe Stock FEATURES / Alain Charles Publishing A note from the Editor Communications Africa: thirtieth anniversary 10 The past thirty years have seen many major developments in the African telecommunications market. We asked THIRTY YEARS AGO, when this magazine some of the companies that have helped to bring connectivity to the continent to choose the ones they feel have was first published, communications been the most significant. technology in Africa was unreliable and, often, unavailable. Then mobile networks arrived. Data centres 12 It has undoubtedly been the mobile A new era for data centres in Zimbabwe. Plus a look at more efficient data centre design and a round-up of recent phone that has done the most to developments. transform African communications since 1991 – but today satellite Subsea cable deployment 15 communications and subsea fibre are helping to continue the transformation. subsea cables technology advances are driving resilience, speed and data volume as the undersea cable market continues to expand. So what have we learned? First of all that better communications, inarguably, boosts earning power and GDP. Most VSATs 19 importantly, however, people just want How satellites and VSATs are helping to support education and learning in some of Africa’s remotest areas to communicate. That’s why the argument that mobile phones would be a luxury for the few in Software-defined networks 22 Africa has been proved wrong. New SDNs are redefining network architectures in markets around the world. Here’s why. business models made communications more affordable. The market grew. Then new innovations followed, none more Country focus 23 influential than mobile money, which There’s been significant growth in e-commerce in Morocco in the past year – and it looks like it’s going to continue. Africa arguably pioneered. It’s a genuinely inspiring story – and it’s not over yet. Subsea cable, 4G and 5G 25 affordable smartphones, fibre rollout What is the relationship between licensed technologies like 4G and 5G and fixed wireless access? And what could and falling satellite bandwidth costs will FWA mean for Africa? bring new and diverse services to ever- greater numbers of African consumers and businesses. The next thirty years Country focus 28 could be even more exciting. The South African switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting is finally under way – but what took it so long? Editor: Vaughan O'Grady - [email protected] Assitant Editor: Deblina Roy - [email protected] Editorial and Design team: Mariam Ahmad, Prashanth AP, Fyna Ashwath, Miriam Brtkova, Praveen CP, Shivani Dhruv, Manojkumar K, Unique Pattnaik, Rahul Puthenveedu, Deblina Roy Vinita Tiwari and Louise Waters Production: Srinidhi Chikkars, Dinesh Dhayalan, Swati Gupta and Eugenia Nelly Mendes Head Office: Middle East Regional Office: Email: [email protected] Alain Charles Publishing Ltd Alain Charles Middle East FZ-LLC University House Office L2-112, Loft Office 2, Publisher: Nick Fordham 11-13 Lower Grosvenor Place Entrance B, PO Box 502207 Magazine Sales Manager: Edward Somgal - Tel: +91 88841 93373 London SW1W 0EX, United Kingdom Dubai Media City, UAE Email: [email protected] Telephone: +44 20 7834 7676 Telephone: +971 4 448 9260 Country Representative Telephone Fax Email Fax: +44 20 7973 0076 Fax: +971 4 448 9261 India Tanmay Mishra +91 98800 75908 [email protected] Nigeria Bola Olowo +234 8034349299 [email protected] Subscriptions: [email protected] Derek Fordham UAE Murshid Mustafa +971 4 448 9260 +971 4 448 9261 [email protected] Chairman: Printed by: Buxton Press Printed in: August 2021 USA Michael Tomashefsky +1 203 226 2882 +1 203 226 7447 [email protected] Communications Africa/Afrique is a bi-monthly magazine ISSN: 0962 3841 Serving the world of business www.communicationsafrica.com Special Anniversary Issue 2021 3 S02 CAF 3 2021 Agenda A_Layout 1 17/08/2021 06:14 Page 4 AGENDA Avanti Communications and Clear Blue Technologies to deploy Mauritius Commercial rural connectivity across sub-Saharan Africa Bank to adopt MITECH’s AVANTI COMMUNICATIONS, ONE of the leading TRAC system in the cloud providers of high throughput satellite capacity across EMEA, has announced a partnership with THE MAURITIUS COMMERCIAL Clear Blue Technologies International Inc, the Bank Ltd (MCB) is adopting Smart Off-Grid company, to enable mobile network MITECH’s system TRAC (trade operators and telco tower companies to deliver risk active control) to support a rural network coverage to areas across sub- Communications Avanti Photo: continuous and significant Saharan Africa. growth in its Commodity Trade Within the next three to five years, the partnership Finance (CTF) business. is expected to deliver mobile network coverage to the TRAC is a trade risk and 400 million people that currently cannot access mobile Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to become one of the collateral management system largest telecom markets in the world. broadband services. supporting structured trade Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to become one of This partnership will accelerate the rural rollout of commodity finance. The TRAC the largest telecom markets in the world. Sub-Saharan low-cost connectivity solutions in areas where solution handles not only Africa has a young population with a projected high network coverage and broadband services have Transactional Commodity population growth, at a rate of 2.7% per year, more been limited or non-existent. Avanti and Clear Blue Finance but Borrowing Base than double the rate of growth in South Asia and Latin have already successfully provided these structures as well. America. As a result, telecom operators are expected connectivity solutions in significant deployments Rajeshwar Pertab, head of to invest US$52bn in infrastructure from 2019-2025, across Africa’s largest economies. Middle-Office, MCB, stated, much of which will be in rural deployment. Avanti’s rural network coverage solution supports “MITECH’s expertise and TRAC’s Miriam Tuerk, CEO and co-founder of Clear Blue 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi connectivity across Africa. As part extensive functionalities Technologies, said, “With only 26% of sub-Saharan of this joint rural deployment effort, Avanti will provide convinced us to adopt the Africa already connected through mobile internet, critical, high throughput Ka-band satellite connectivity solution and streamline we’re looking forward to bringing connectivity to areas and VSAT equipment. At the same time, Clear Blue will information flow between our where costs and lack of infrastructure make internet deploy its smart off-grid solar-powered solutions with customers, front-office and services prohibitive.” remote management and control. middle-office teams. Out There Media and MTN Ghana launch telco- Millicom signs agreements to conclude Africa driven mobile advertising divestiture programme GLOBAL MOBILE ADVERTISING company Out There Media (OTM) has partnered with MILLICOM INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR SA (Millicom) has signed MTN Ghana to provide digital advertising services for its customers. agreements for the sale of its operations in Tanzania and for its stake in MTN Ghana will adopt OTM’s award-winning mobile engagement technology the AirtelTigo joint venture in Ghana. platform, Mobucks, and leverage its network of brands and brand agencies, driving Once closed, the transactions will complete Millicom’s multi-year plan advertiser interaction and engagement with its 25 million subscribers in Ghana, to divest its African operations and focus on its Latin America markets. three times the reach of Facebook in Ghana. In Tanzania, Millicom has agreed to sell its entire operations to a OTM’s proprietary mobile technology Mobucks is expected to enable MTN consortium led by Axian, a pan-African group that was part of the Ghana to bring its customers targeted and interactive messaging campaigns from consortium that acquired Millicom’s operations in Senegal in 2018. their chosen brands and agency partners. MTN’s telco insights and wide reach In Ghana, Millicom along with its joint venture partner, Bharti Airtel combined with Mobucks’s precise targeting and personalisation capabilities will Limited, has signed a definitive agreement for the transfer of AirtelTigo to enable “micro-targeting at scale” for its future brand clients. the Government of Ghana. Millicom will take a US$25mn charge as a result Several brand partners have signed up to be among the launch partners and of this agreement. innovation leaders on the Mobucks platform including Cadbury Richoco, Glitz Millicom CEO, Mauricio Ramos, commented, “Today, Tigo is a leading Natural Care, Mandela Mile, Marie Stopes, Mycare Mobile, Odibets and provider of broadband