MTN Rwanda initiates electricity top-up services
MTN Rwanda has launched its MTN Mobile Money Cash Power top-up services.
This service will allow all MTN Mobile Money customers to purchase power services off their mobile phones. Customers willing to purchase cash power will be directed through four steps presented in Kinyarwanda and English.
If customers are not at home when they make this purchase, they can simply SMS the voucher number to someone at home and they can reconnect the supply to Electrogaz. Usually, Electrogaz customers have had to go to one of the voucher-selling outlets to purchase cash power.
Rwanda completes $95m fibre network
Rwanda has reportedly completed construction of a 2,300 kilometre fibre optic network that links the country to undersea cables running along the east African coast.
The project which was commenced in October 2009 at a cost of $95 million, was set up to increase access to broadband services and attracts foreign investment through business process outsourcing.
According to Ignace Gatare, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, the fibre optic project will initially be operated by an independently-managed government entity on an open access model to accommodate infrastructure sharing with the private ICT services providers. The ultimate goal is to progressively transfer the business to a private business.
Rwanda is a land-locked country with Internet penetration of only 12%. However, Minister Gatare states that the ICT sector in the country generated revenues of US$143 million in 2009, rising by 12% in 2010.
The fibre network connects to undersea cable system at Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salam in Tanzania.
The Minister added that initiatives to activate the links have been launched and discussions between Rwanda telecommunication operators that include MTN Rwanda, Tigo Rwanda and Rwandatel and regional cable operators are ongoing.
At a Senate meeting, the minister was asked to increase the awareness to the population on the importance of the use of ICT and made several recommendations, including to extend ICT infrastructure, especially in rural areas; to put more effort in the use of ICT in all sectors and services; to sensitize the population on cyber security of individual data; and to emphasize the quality of education in ICT.
Elsewhere, Google has extended its Gmail SMS chat functionality to add three more African countries to its growing coverage list. Mobile users in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi can now use Google’s email service via SMS texting.
Gmail users can send and receive SMS messages for free using the service. Non-Gmail users can reply via SMS for regular text charging rates. The networks supporting the service are MTN, Uganda Telecom and Orange (Uganda), Vodacom (Tanzania), and Airtel and TNM (Malawi).
Rwandan Government seeking stake sale in MTN Rwanda
The Rwandan government is reportedly planning a stock market floatation of its stake in MTN Rwanda later this year. The country has only just opened a stock exchange, and the government is seen to be keen on boosting the viability of the exchange by selling stakes in companies it owns.
According to John Rwangombwa, the Finance Minister, they are still in the process of discussing with MTN South Africa; they have 10% of government shares and there is also another investor that also wants to divest from this company so they all might have 45% shares from MTN coming on the market soon this year.
The stock exchanged opened for business this week, with the IPO of a local brewer. The Bank of Kigali is expected to float its shares later this year, while the government is expected to sell its stakes in the Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR), insurer Sonarwa, and cement maker-Cimerwa.
MTN Rwanda’s 2010 investment cut by 55%
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 55% cut in the total annual investment in the year 2010 has been announced by MTN Rwanda. According to MTN Rwanda’s CEO, Khaled Mikkawi, there is no need to invest heavily in building capacity and coverage every year as the investment made in 2009 can serve in 2010 and what is required now is to maintain what was built last year.
Currently, MTN has close to two million subscribers and this year they are targeting an extra million subscribers to make up the three million.
Around USD100 million has been invested by MTN in 2009 in the expansion of network coverage and increased capacity to serve three million customers.
MTN Rwanda launches mobile money service
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: ‘Mobile Money’ service has been launched by MTN Rwanda in partnership with Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) after an investment of USD2 million. The new service enables customers on the MTN network to carry out financial transactions using their wireless handset through the 120 agents nationwide appointed by the operator.
The service is targeting 100, 000 subscribers in the year 2010. Non subscribers can also use MTN’s service.
According to Khaled Mikkawi, CEO at MTN Rwanda, MTNs network reaches over 90% or the population and it is only right that it leverage this coverage for a common good product that will go a long way in the financial deepening of the Rwandan economy.
Tigo Rwanda to be launched by End 2009
Millicom will be launching TIGO Rwanda by the end of this year. Millicom paid USD 60 Million for a 15 year license in November 2008.
Tigo Rwanda’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alex Kamara, told a newspaper that Millicom is still committed to what was submitted during the negotiation for the licence last year. In a statement Kamara said that they will launch before the end of the year and their strategies are focused on the service delivery.
Millicom holds 87.5% of the joint venture company in partnership with Marathon Corporation, an established Rwandan conglomerate.
MTN Rwanda and Rwandatel are currently serving over 1.5 million Rwandan mobile subscribers currently.
MTN confident of growth in EAfrica
The MTN Group, which has been operating in Rwanda and Uganda for the past eight years, is positive about growth prospects in the two countries and is impressed by the enabling business environment which had secured the company more than 1.5 million combined subscribers as at 30 June 2006.
non-executive director of the MTN Group operations in the Middle East, North and East Africa (MENEA), Rhidwaan Gasant, says although mobile penetration has grown considerably since the launch of MTN in both countries (3% in Rwanda as at 31 December 2005) and 6% in Uganda as at 31 December 2005), there are still growth opportunities for MTN in the two countries.
Addressing investors at meetings hosted by the Presidents of Rwanda and Uganda at the annual African Business Leaders’ Forum held in Johannesburg, Gasant said MTN had experienced an investor friendly environment in both countries. This resulted in MTN being able to contribute to infrastructure as well as social and economic development.
“Political stability, a stable exchange rate and a pragmatic and stable regulation of the industry through accessibility and dialogue are some of the building blocks that have secured our success,” says Gasant.
Both MTN Rwanda and MTN Uganda, are the largest taxpayers in those countries. MTN has invested US$180m in Uganda to date and in 2005 alone MTN Rwanda invested US$13m in capital expenditure.
Both operations have focused corporate social responsibility programmes including support for initiatives in health, education, environmental conservation and culture. In addition, MTN Uganda’s villagePhone and MTN Rwanda’s Tuvugane initiatives provide access to mobile telephony to rural communities and supports entrepreneurs in rural areas who rely on micro- financing assistance from locally-based lenders to purchase the payphones and sell airtime units to the local communities.
In a demonstration of its commitment to Uganda, MTN recently increased its shareholding in MTN Uganda from 51% to 97%, making the operation a fully
consolidated subsidiary of the MTN Group.
Inviting other investors to Uganda, the Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority, Dr Margie Kigozi, cited MTN as one of the model investors in the country and said information communication technology, including mobile telephony, was one of Uganda’s priority sectors.
Earlier this year, in recognition of MTN’s contribution to the development of the communication sector, President Yoweri Museveni awarded MTN Uganda the 2006 Presidential Transformation Award at a special ceremony to recognise companies and individuals who have led the country through economic, social and cultural transformation.
In addition, MTN Uganda was awarded a Government tender to provide infrastructure for universal service in the eastern and western regions of the country. These initiatives will see Internet access in some of the most rural areas of Uganda, hence bridging the digital divide.
Says Gasant: “Operating in conducive business environments has effectively contributed to the growth of our interests in Eastern Africa and our confidence is reflected in our investments and progress there.”
Source- http://www.mybroadband.co.za
