11 Sept 2014

AfricaCom speaker Raul Martinez, Millicom, speaks on digital content in Africa and how it's backing start-ups


Raul Martinez, Commercial Director at Africa, Millicom speaks about drawing on its experience of rolling out Triple Play in Latin America; its investment in Rocket; its support to open the Think Incubator in Rwanda and Millicom Digital Ventures; its partnership with Facebook in Tanzania; its approach to solving payment for digital services; and the road from being a mobile operator to a digital services company.

Raul Martinez, Millicom will be speaking at AfricaCom (11-13 November 2014). For further details and to register, go to: www.comworldseries.com/africa and follow it on #africacom

10 Sept 2014

East Africa Com highlights key opportunities in the region’s digital market: innovation, partnerships and new revenue streams


East Africa Com closed today in Nairobi after two days of lively debates on opportunities in the region’s telecoms, media and ICT market.

The first day covered topics of connectivity, mobile money and enterprise services, while the second day looked at profitability, both from the point of view of cost efficiency and of new revenue streams. A presentation from Google’s Kay Wulff addressed the ever-present debate of competition vs partnership between operators and OTT players: this year the consensus was on partnership, which both operators and OTT/content players want to make work. Among new revenue opportunities, big data monetisation was a major point of discussion. Digital content (in particular music) raised the issue of the role of mobile operators within a complex ecosystem.
The programme included contributions from a wide range of companies: Airtel, Safaricom, Google, Tele10, Zain Sudan, Leo Burundi, Liquid Telecom, iWay Africa, Roke Telkom, Ericsson, Protocol Solutions, Spinlet, Mdundo, Gounna, Avanti Communications, Lumata, Ekinops, First access, Paypal Chase bank and more.

East Africa Com was a fantastic opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in East Africa and to meet leading minds and innovators in the market. More than ever, participants engaged in networking in the exhibition and during the breaks, as well as the lunches (hosted by Seacom and TEPC) and the poolside drinks hosted by East Africa Data Centre at the end of day 1. The atmosphere was both relaxed and focused: a great way of doing business!

Next year’s event will come back to its original date in May (12th and 13th), still at the beautiful Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi. The programme will provide an update on the digital economy (telco strategies, services, networks etc.), as well as a new CIO Forum covering enterprise services & Cloud.




Reactions and recommendations for East Africa Com....

"A number of interesting presentations include OTT’s taking up the mantle of communication innovation passing threat to telcos to open up partnerships. Exhibitors like Transfer-To gave an insight on how telcos have extended their sales abroad through diaspora.”
Nsaji Mwamukonda, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTLC), NICTBB Engineer

"The sessions were quite informative on the emerging telcos trends and solutions. I like the fact that operators are competing on quality and have embraced infrastructure sharing. Thanks a lot to all organizers and sponsors for a successful event!"
Samson Kamau, Orange Telkom Manager, O&M-T

“The venue and event were great, it enabled good communication and effective interaction!”
Mustafa Barai, Sudatel, Capacity & IP Manager

“An event with a lot of opportunity to meet and interact with people. Also a chance to explore, learn and develop as a whole. Interesting to understand LTE and the digital era. Well done!"
Ali Abbas Nasser, CFO, Catsnet

“Excellent organization and conference. Well planned and quality of exhibitions and presentations, very good! Looking forward to 2015 EACom.”
Ali Bufolo, Wananchi Telecom, Deputy General Manager

“The event was extremely useful, and well organized, speed networking was very good.”
Hernandez Francois, Verimatrix, Sales Director

“Great conference! A fantastic learning environment amongst peers in the telecom industry.”
Samuel Mwangi, Safaricom Kenya, Senior Solutions Architect

“Great venue, interesting discussions and networking opportunities.”
Ludovic Patraud, Intersec, Director Market Development

9 Sept 2014


The 10th annual East Africa Com event opened today at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, gathering the telecoms and media community from across the region and beyond.

Speakers representing mobile operators, fixed and wireless service providers and vendors shared their views on the region’s growth opportunities and how to overcome challenges.
A highlight of the morning keynote was an interview with Adil El Youssefi, MD of Airtel Kenya, who talked about the company’s strategy centred on affordability, usability and partnerships: on LTE developments, he supports the Kenyan government’s objective for LTE networks to be shared among the main stakeholders; on Airtel’s MVNO strategy he assured that agreements are win-win and addressing new customer bases.

The sessions included presentations on connectivity and how to meet the demand for affordable data, with contributions from Liquid Telecom, iWay Africa, Roke Telkom, Zain Sudan and more. Other topics addressed on the first day were mobile money, roaming and enterprise services.
Networking is a major part of East Africa Com: a busy Speed Networking session took place in the morning coffee break and lunch was hosted by Seacom for all delegates, with an additional VIP lunch hosted by TEPC. The day’s proceeding ended with a drinks reception hosted by East Africa Data Centre.

“East Africa Com is always a great event to be part of and we are proud that it remains so relevant to the market: speakers and attendees are keen to share their experiences, and companies always have new products and solutions to showcase”, says Julie Rey, Conference Director at organisers Informa Telecoms & Media.

The second day of East Africa com will start on Wednesday 10th at 9, with panels and presentations on cost-efficiency, content services, monetisation of new services, CEM, mobile marketing, digital music and more.



Reactions and recommendations for East Africa Com....

“The sessions were highly informative and there were multiple opportunities to meet the right people and explore business growth opportunities.”
Ivan Sang, Strathmore University Research Associate, Kenya

“I have been attending this conference since the inception and I have learnt a lot about the telecom industry. I have made big strides in networking with other delegates. Keep it up and we look forward to have you here in 2015.”
Fradkin Senge, Roamcell, Business Development Manager

“The event was very nicely organized. Enjoyed the content and the Speed Networking meetings were excellent. Keep it up!”
Mohamed Sheikh Sheikh, Somtel, General Manager Somalia

“Simply Awesome!! Thanks for the opportunity. The Informa team has put up a brilliant show. Enjoyed meeting a vast pool of telecom professional from across Africa/Middle East/ India & Europe. Speed Networking was of special interest, and it was very well planned and executed. Keep rocking! See you all in Cape Town!”
Mahesh Gera, Airtel Group Co., Vice President Africa & Middle East

“A must attend for any operator or employee of the telco industry in order to network and learn from the leaders of the industry. Thank you Informa for the invitation and the good service provided onsite."
Arielle Kaneza, Leo Burundi, Roaming and Interconnect

“Great Opportunity to meet people from the region who share the same aspects and looking for creative strategies and solutions. The first day has been perfect, and I trust that the next day will be great too. I am also looking forward to attending next year’s event!"
Abbas Babiker, Zain Sudan, Business Performance Manager – Strategy

“Great Window for all East African companies from the industry! Great Speed Networking!”
Vysakh Nambiar, Swiftsat, Managing Director

“The venue was great, there was a variety and focus on data at the same time, which was excellent! Expect to hear about issues from regulatory points of view next time. Thank you!”
Mohamed Tangasawi, Zain Sudan, Carrier Relations & Regulatory Director

The Word According to Yahoo: Growing Digital Opportunities in African Broadcasting

Colman Murray,  Global Brand Director, AFP RelaxNews
Colman Murray,  Global Brand Director, AFP RelaxNews 
Ahead of Africa Cast (part of the AfricaCom event) Yahoo’s Colman Murray talks to us about the growing digital opportunities opening up in African broadcasting.
IP&TV News: Where do you see the biggest commercial and creative digital opportunities in Africa?
Colman Murray: Our experience in the past three years has been hugely indicative of a wealth of opportunity across the continent. I refer in the main to West and East Africa where we have been hugely successful in attracting certain business verticals like finance, automotive, FMCG, communications and travel to name a few.
The measurability and immediacy of the digital results make the transition from a more traditional sphere all the more attractive. Mobile is a personal “soapbox” of mine and the potential for further development is mind boggling. In the past four years we have seen consumer media consumption stats rocket from 4 to 30% for mobile the US.  I remember seeing a stat quoting that 90% of South African internet users access the net via their smartphones. The smartphone therefore is effectively the African PC and we have to tailor our efforts accordingly. It is interesting to note that mobile ad revenues almost doubled globally last year and the mobile share of advertising also rose exponentially. The trend is most encouraging – with growth of 45% being realised in 2013…
How significant do you think the intersection between digital and broadcasting will be for Africa and why?
The move to digital is hugely significant and the trend reports are indicative of much greater digital assimilation going forward in Africa. The smartphone is the gateway to the internet for 90% of web users today here in South Africa – this in turn becomes much more than a communicative device for calls and email. We check weather, search the web, share pictures, watch videos, get sports updates. This is what digital offers and it is no longer the bastion of traditional broadcasters. It’s no secret that we are amidst a massive and ever evolving platform shift from traditional to digital, making events like Africa.com all the more relevant and important in evangelizing new media.
Can you give us some idea of the most exciting aspects of YAHOO’s current involvement in Africa?
For the past 20 years or so YAHOO has excelled in the areas of Email, News and Finance. The aforementioned platform shift to mobile for example takes these areas of excellence and makes them part of consumers’ daily habits by effectively putting them in your pocket. So having immediate access to my personal “daily habits” of communication, news, sports, weather reports and so on is hugely marketable in the US, Europe – and now in Africa. It’s relevant, immediate and important wherever you might reside in Africa.
People sometimes allude to the explosive growth of digital but this can be a misnomer as growth is not necessarily about the proliferation of devices but rather how much time we are spending on our devices – this has seen 5 fold growth in the past two years and that growth shows no signs of slowing. This alone makes YAHOO’s mission statement of making our consumers’ “daily habits” more inspiring and entertaining all the more relevant and exciting throughout Africa.
Where does the “fear factor” come in with regards to digital in traditional management?
I have recently migrated from the traditional arena where I had a great “schooling” courtesy of traditional news behemoths like TIME Inc in the 90s (when I first came to Africa) to my more recent tenure with Agence France Presse (AFP) here in Africa . There is a natural and understandable tendency to embrace and take solace in what you know and to be suspicious of change. Our business is no different and (despite the assimilation of digital into the marketing and commercial sphere) it does not get the share of voice or the budgets it deserves. I find when dealing with corporates on either a local or international level that there remains much in the way of education required to truly understand the upside in all matters digital.
How do you think this trepidation can be dispelled?
It’s happening and will continue to positively evolve in favour of digital. Events like Africa.com are critical in the ongoing evangelization of this massive and continuing platform shift. It’s awesome to see how digital is becoming such an inherent part of our daily lives and YAHOO is perfectly aligned to same. We have almost 800 million users on the YAHOO core sites globally and we will are projecting further and greater growth (thereby dispelling the “trepidation”). Digital is making our daily lives more convenient, inspiring and more consistent in ways considered almost impossible a few short years ago.
Colman Murray will be appearing at this year’s AfricaCast, Africa’s premier show on the future of broadcasting, which takes place on the 11th-13th November 2014 at the Cape Town Convention Centre, South Africa. Go here for booking and infoYahoo’s Colman Murray talks to IP&TV News about the growing digital opportunities opening up in African broadcasting.
IP&TV News: Where do you see the biggest commercial and creative digital opportunities in Africa?
Colman Murray: Our experience in the past three years has been hugely indicative of a wealth of opportunity across the continent. I refer in the main to West and East Africa where we have been hugely successful in attracting certain business verticals like finance, automotive, FMCG, communications and travel to name a few.
The measurability and immediacy of the digital results make the transition from a more traditional sphere all the more attractive. Mobile is a personal “soapbox” of mine and the potential for further development is mind boggling. In the past four years we have seen consumer media consumption stats rocket from 4 to 30% for mobile the US.  I remember seeing a stat quoting that 90% of South African internet users access the net via their smartphones. The smartphone therefore is effectively the African PC and we have to tailor our efforts accordingly. It is interesting to note that mobile ad revenues almost doubled globally last year and the mobile share of advertising also rose exponentially. The trend is most encouraging – with growth of 45% being realised in 2013…
How significant do you think the intersection between digital and broadcasting will be for Africa and why?
The move to digital is hugely significant and the trend reports are indicative of much greater digital assimilation going forward in Africa. The smartphone is the gateway to the internet for 90% of web users today here in South Africa – this in turn becomes much more than a communicative device for calls and email. We check weather, search the web, share pictures, watch videos, get sports updates. This is what digital offers and it is no longer the bastion of traditional broadcasters. It’s no secret that we are amidst a massive and ever evolving platform shift from traditional to digital, making events like Africa.com all the more relevant and important in evangelizing new media.
Can you give us some idea of the most exciting aspects of YAHOO’s current involvement in Africa?
For the past 20 years or so YAHOO has excelled in the areas of Email, News and Finance. The aforementioned platform shift to mobile for example takes these areas of excellence and makes them part of consumers’ daily habits by effectively putting them in your pocket. So having immediate access to my personal “daily habits” of communication, news, sports, weather reports and so on is hugely marketable in the US, Europe – and now in Africa. It’s relevant, immediate and important wherever you might reside in Africa.
People sometimes allude to the explosive growth of digital but this can be a misnomer as growth is not necessarily about the proliferation of devices but rather how much time we are spending on our devices – this has seen 5 fold growth in the past two years and that growth shows no signs of slowing. This alone makes YAHOO’s mission statement of making our consumers’ “daily habits” more inspiring and entertaining all the more relevant and exciting throughout Africa.
Where does the “fear factor” come in with regards to digital in traditional management?
I have recently migrated from the traditional arena where I had a great “schooling” courtesy of traditional news behemoths like TIME Inc in the 90s (when I first came to Africa) to my more recent tenure with Agence France Presse (AFP) here in Africa . There is a natural and understandable tendency to embrace and take solace in what you know and to be suspicious of change. Our business is no different and (despite the assimilation of digital into the marketing and commercial sphere) it does not get the share of voice or the budgets it deserves. I find when dealing with corporates on either a local or international level that there remains much in the way of education required to truly understand the upside in all matters digital.
How do you think this trepidation can be dispelled?
It’s happening and will continue to positively evolve in favour of digital. Events like Africa.com are critical in the ongoing evangelization of this massive and continuing platform shift. It’s awesome to see how digital is becoming such an inherent part of our daily lives and YAHOO is perfectly aligned to same. We have almost 800 million users on the YAHOO core sites globally and we will are projecting further and greater growth (thereby dispelling the “trepidation”). Digital is making our daily lives more convenient, inspiring and more consistent in ways considered almost impossible a few short years ago.
Colman Murray will be appearing at this year’s AfricaCast, Africa’s premier show on the future of broadcasting, which takes place on the 11th-13th November 2014 at the Cape Town Convention Centre, South Africa. Go here for booking and info