Paula Gilbert

Durban

Editor at Connecting Africa, part of @Light_Reading. Journalist, coffee addict, traveller and inquisitive mind. All views are my own. Follow @Connect__Africa

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Articles

Axian Telecom acquires minority stake in Jumia

4 days ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Axian Telecom has acquired an 8% stake in e-commerce company Jumia Technologies for an undisclosed sum. Madagascar-based Axian said it was committed to supporting the development of Africa's digital economy, including through investments in companies like Jumia.
Vodacom names new CEO of international markets and Egypt

5 days ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Pan-African operator Vodacom Group has announced the appointment of Mohamed Abdallah as CEO of Vodacom's international markets and Vodafone Egypt. Currently serving as CEO of Vodafone Egypt, Abdallah now assumes a broader regional executive leadership role aimed at driving growth and operational excellence across more African markets. Under this expanded structure, he will oversee operations in Egypt as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Algeria begins tender process for 5G licenses

6 days ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Algeria has initiated a tender process for 5G licenses in the North African country, with an aim to launch the next generation service in the third quarter of 2025. The Regulatory Authority of Post and Electronic Communications (ARPCE) has launched competitive bidding for three licenses to establish and operate 5G mobile networks and related services in the country.
Season 3 highlights & what's next

1 week ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

In this final episode of Season 3, we recap some of our favorite interviews from the past season and give a preview of what is to come in Season 4 of The Connecting Africa Podcast. Season 3's top themes and takeawaysFintech and the future of payments:We reflected on Episode 2: "Nigeria's king of micro-payments," where we spoke to Michael Oluwole, the co-founder of Touch and Pay Technologies (TAP), which is digitizing micro-transactions in Nigeria's transport sector.
Qualcomm shortlists startups for Make in Africa 2025

2 weeks ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Semiconductor and software giant Qualcomm has announced the ten shortlisted startups for its Make in Africa 2025 mentorship program. Qualcomm Make in Africa (QMIA) is an equity-free mentorship program, now in its third year, and falls under the Qualcomm Africa Innovation Platform.
Vodacom eyes 50M more subscribers by 2030

2 weeks ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Vodacom Group aims to grow its overall customer base to 260 million and its financial services customer base to 120 million by 2030. The targets are part of the telecoms operator's Vision 2030 ambitions which were highlighted as part of its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2025, published on Monday.
Google subsidizing SA news industry is 'not appropriate'

3 weeks ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Search giant Google believes it is not appropriate for it to be forced to single-handedly subsidize South Africa's news industry. The comments come after the Competition Commission (CompCom) of South Africa in February 2025 recommended that Google compensate the local news media between $16.3 million-$27.2 million annually, for at least three years, for alleged anti-competitive behavior.
SSA narrows mobile gender gap for second year

3 weeks ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Globally, progress has stalled in closing the gender gap in mobile Internet adoption across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with the gap remaining relatively unchanged in 2024. However, in sub-Saharan Africa there was a tiny bit of improvement, where the gender gap narrowed for the second year in a row. That is according to the latest stats from the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2025, published by the GSMA today.
SA retailer Spar launches MVNO Spar Mobile

3 weeks ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Retailer Spar Group has become South Africa's newest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) with its launch of Spar Mobile, which it said will provide customers with affordable and competitive mobile services. The MVNO has been developed in partnership with megsApp, a tech player backed by telecoms operator MTN. Spar Mobile will run off MTN's mobile network which it promises will "ensure stable and reliable network coverage" across South Africa.
MTN sees strong data traffic growth in Africa

3 weeks ago | connectingafrica.com | Paula Gilbert

Pan-African telecoms operator MTN Group has reported growth in data revenue and data traffic as it faces other financial headwinds like currency volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. That is according to the Group's latest quarterly trading update for the three months ending March 31, 2025. Data traffic was up by 30.4% across the group year-over-year (YoY) for the three month period, while data revenue increased by 17.9%.