📲 Adrian Wood returns as ntel CEO

Today’s Menu ☕️

👨🏼‍⚕️Ex-MTN CEO Adrian Wood returns as ntel CEO with new investors
💵 Sanlam sets sights on MultiChoice insurance arm with a 60% acquisition
🪢 RMB facilitates $108.9 million funding for Africa Data Centres to boost digital infrastructure in South Africa
Safaricom partners with Pezesha to launch Mkopo wa Pochi, a new credit service for small business owners via M-PESA
🏥 Airtel Africa launches 2Africa submarine cable to enhance connectivity between Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa

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📱TELECOMS

Ex-MTN CEO Adrian Wood returns as ntel CEO with new investors

Adrian Wood, the former CEO of MTN Nigeria, has re-entered the Nigerian telecommunications industry as the new Chief Executive Officer of ntel. ntel is the telecom company that emerged from the unbundling of NITEL and is managed by NATCOMS.

Wood, who began his role as the new CEO of ntel on January 8, 2024, succeeded the former CEO, Dr. Babatunde Omotoba. He has plans to attract new investors and raise $550 million for the restructuring of the new ntel. He will also be rebranding the company.

Wood highlighted his numerous meetings with the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), which has managed ntel since last year. AMCON plans to return ntel to its new investors soon. He also discussed his recent engagement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)..........continue reading

 INSURANCE

Sanlam sets sights on MultiChoice insurance arm with a 60% acquisition

Sanlam has announced its intention to acquire a 60% shareholding in MultiChoice’s insurance subsidiary, NMS Insurance Services Limited (NMSIS), for an initial sum of R1.2 billion. The deal has the potential to escalate to a total of R2.7 billion.

In the financial year that concluded on March 31, 2024, NMSIS demonstrated a robust performance by boosting its active insurance policies by 19%, reaching a total of 3.3 million policies in force.

Introduced just three years prior, NMSIS’s life insurance products have seen remarkable uptake and now represent 30% of the total policies in force, indicating significant market penetration and customer acceptance……continue reading

DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

RMB facilitates $108.9 million funding for Africa Data Centres to boost digital infrastructure in South Africa

Africa Data Centres, a prominent player in the data centre sector, has successfully obtained a substantial investment of approximately $108.9 million. This infusion of capital is earmarked for the enhancement of its data centre capabilities, with the aim of catering to the surging demand for cloud computing services within South Africa.

The procurement of these funds was expertly orchestrated through a tailor-made financial arrangement put together by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB).

Africa Data Centres boasts a vast network of state-of-the-art hyper-scale and edge data centres strategically located throughout Southern, East, and West Africa. The fresh injection of funds is set to propel the company’s growth, enabling it to expedite the expansion of its hyper-scale data centre capacity by an additional 20 megawatts (MW). This expansion is a strategic move to solidify Africa Data Centres’ status as a dominant force in the African data centre market.…....continue reading

💵 FINANCIAL SERVICES

Safaricom partners with Pezesha to launch Mkopo wa Pochi, a new credit service for small business owners via M-PESA

Safaricom, the leading mobile network operator in Kenya, has strategically partnered with Pezesha, a fintech company specializing in digital lending, to offer a new credit solution, Mkopo wa Pochi, aimed at supporting small business owners. This initiative is set to enhance Safaricom’s portfolio of loan products, which currently includes popular services like M-Shwari and Fuliza. Mkopo wa Pochi is designed to enable entrepreneurs to access loans directly through their M-PESA business accounts, providing them with much-needed financial flexibility.

The Mkopo wa Pochi service is now accessible via an update to Safaricom’s M-PESA super app, complementing the existing Pochi la Biashara service, which is a dedicated business wallet catering to the needs of small business operators.

This collaboration marks Pezesha’s entry into Kenya’s thriving mobile money sector through a partnership with Safaricom, granting Pezesha exposure to Safaricom’s extensive M-PESA user base, which boasts over 32.4 million active subscribers.…....continue reading

 OTHER STORIES

• Airtel Africa launches 2Africa submarine cable to enhance connectivity between Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. Airtel Africa has recently declared the successful commissioning of the 2Africa submarine cable system, a significant milestone that establishes direct connectivity between the nations of Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa....……read more

• Meta Opens Doors to Threads API; Gives Developers Creative Control. Meta’s Threads, the Twitter competitor that launched last summer, has finally rolled out its much-anticipated API (Application Programming Interface)..…..read more

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