Africa’s Top 10 Stories – September 2020

Throughout the month of August South Africa witnessed continued developments in terms of financial inclusion. These included Telkom, its state telecommunications provider, launching its life insurance business, as well as Shoprite, one of the country’s largest retailers, launching a money market account with numerous benefits for its customers. Further into Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and Airtel Africa have also partnered to increase accessibility to mobile financial services as a way of expanding financial inclusion across Africa.

DStv, Africa’s leading broadcast satellite service provider, has introduced three new innovative products to its bouquet catalogue. These products will be launched into the South African market in the coming months. First, the new Explora 4K Ultra HD decoder, with built-in WiFi capabilities will allow viewers to access Netflix & Amazon Prime while streaming content in 4K resolution. DStv has also introduced a streaming only decoder, the DStv Streama through which customers will be able to access DStv through the new DStv app. Customers will be able to stream across various channels including DStv, Showmax, YouTube and the Joox music app without the need for a satellite dish. These innovations have propelled DStv into a new age of television.

Telecoms operator Smile Nigeria released its first entry-level dual-SIM smartphone in August; SmileVoLTE. The company envisages capturing the market by making the smartphone affordable and accessible to the public. Pertinent features include 4G and LTE capabilities, pre-installed apps, fingerprint and facial recognition security, a 5 megapixel front camera and an 8 megapixel back camera. In parallel to this, in Malawi local operator TNM has partnered with KaiOS Technologies to introduce a 4G KaiOS-enabled smartphone aimed at first time users and users in rural Malawi.

Cybersecurity took prominence as a topic during August. Networks Unlimited Africa and SentinelOne have partnered to bring SentinelOne’s endpoint security to managed security service providers (MSSPs). First of its kind in Africa, it aims to help small businesses to become established in the cybersecurity field by providing affordability and support as their main goals. Global anti-virus giant Kaspersky has also made an entry in the West African region through First Distribution, a leading Pan-African cybersecuirty distributor. Further south GlueVP, Africa’s first virtual and collaboration platform, has been launched in South Africa. This platform intends to assist all stakeholders in combating cyber threats in our virtual world and includes features such as video sharing and public/private chat rooms with secured end-to-end encryption.

Mozambique’s Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) offshore field development continues to attract investment even with the current terrorist threat in the north of the country. The African Export-Import Bank has agreed to fund up to US$400 million in guarantees and direct lending to the project to go towards project development and onshore gas extraction. In parallel with this a slew of U.S. companies supported by the U.S. Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, have agreed to supply equipment and services, while the bank itself has offered a US$4.7 billion loan for the project’s development. With a spike in terror attacks French oil giant Total and the Mozambican government have signed a security pact to protect the project.

Africa’s entertainment industry has been upgraded. NBCUniversal International Networks has partnered with Star Timesto to bring its DreamWorks network to African consumers and distribute content from DreamWorks Animation to viewers across sub-Saharan Africa. TV enthusiasts in the region will be able to view the best in animated TV, focusing on kids and family entertainment. Alongside this new launch, Showmax Pro will be introduced into the South African market featuring music and news, as well as live sport streamed via SuperSport as new additions to their catalogue. This comes in a bid to diversify the company’s online product offering in competing with the continent’s largest and most popular streaming platform, Netflix.

New innovations have been introduced to boost Kenya and South Africa’s dairy industries. Savanna Circuit Tech, a manufacturing and last mile distribution Kenyan company, has developed a Dairy Management System which will use Artificial Intelligence along with other technologies to guarantee dairy farmers fresh produce. In South Africa, Zoetis, the world’s largest producer of medicine and vaccinations for livestock, have launched Clarifide Plus. A genomic test for cattle, Clarifide Plus identifies which cattle may be more/less susceptible to certain diseases while simultaneously identifying cattle with high potential for milk production and reproduction.

With the ever-increasing emphasis on digital connectivity, a number of partnerships were announced in August. Spacecom and Gilat Telecom have partnered with an aim to develop faster, more reliable and more cost-effective satellite services across the continent that can be used for home/office connectivity. African multinationals and internet service providers alike will benefit from this service through reduced operational costs and smart traffic management. Concurrently, Azercosmos has established a collaboration with iSAT Africa on the continent aimed at meeting the growing demands for telecommunications across Africa.

There has been an exciting new development in the charcoal industry in South Africa. Toronto Group, a Western Cape charcoal manufacturer, has launched a new charcoal production facility in the Swartland municipality. The plant will produce 10,000 tons a year of export-grade charcoal from biomass with Europe and the UK being the key target markets. Toronto Group CEO Philip Mulungo noted during the launch that the facility is carbon-neutral and that the company complies with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) regulations. The plant is set for completion by April 2021, with production expected to start shortly thereafter.

Telecoms operator Infinix Kenya will be launching two innovative products into the Kenyan market. The Infinix Zero 8 smartphone and the Infinix X1 smart TV will be available alongside each other in early September. The Zero 8 smartphone is the company’s top of the range mobile device, with the X1 being its first foray into the smart TV market. Further specifications and price have yet to be announced, however the products are geared toward increasing the company’s footprint in the market.

Equatorial Guinea’s Prime Minister reappointed following resignation
Francisco Asue has been reappointed as prime minister of Equatorial Guinea. This comes a week after he and the government submitted their resignation as a result of criticism from President Teodoro Obiang due to the poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Military in Mali promises elections after coup
Malian soldiers calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People executed a coup in mid-August and vowed to conduct elections to appoint a new government. The military has stated that the actions taken are in order to prevent the country from falling into further crisis. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned to avoid bloodshed.

Sudan and Ethiopia pledge to push for deal on Blue Nile dam
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations have continued to develop in August following a month of inaction. The African Union will mediate further talks between Ethiopia and Sudan who have vowed to resolve the ongoing dispute over water supplies. Both parties have stated that the negotiations should lead to an agreement.