Telecoms & IT
From The Report: Kenya 2016
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The telecoms sector continues to be a critical element of the economy, laying the groundwork for greater investment and performing well in terms of mobile money and ICT infrastructure growth. As smartphone penetration and 4G coverage increase, new regulations are lowering barriers for tech imports and facilitating the expansion of e-governance. The country saw mobile penetration at 83.9% as of June 2015. This followed healthy growth throughout 2014, with mobile phone penetration rising by 2.9% from January to March 2015. The government continues efforts to incorporate ICT into its service delivery, and is implementing the Connected Kenya 2017 master plan to guide the country’s ICT and broadband development. The plan aims to see the sector create up to 180,000 jobs and contribute up to 8% of the value of goods and services produced in the country.

This chapter contains a roundtable discussion with Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom; Adil El Youseffi, CEO, Airtel; Vincent Lobry; and CEO, Orange Telkom; as well as an interview with Jambu Palaniappan, Regional General Manager for Middle East and Africa, Uber.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

A critical component: The introduction of 4G and efforts to upgrade infrastructure form a vital plank of telecoms growth strategy
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The telecoms sector continues to be a critical component of Kenya’s economic growth, performing strongly in terms of mobile money and ICT infrastructure expansion. The extension of 4G coverage is changing the face of the country’s internet use, and smartphone usage is also on the rise. Moreover, ongoing debates in the sector over issues of dominance have the potential to lead to breakthroughs, potentially boosting the sector’s maturity and leading to greater competition in the medium term. Indicators Kenya’s…

Analysis

Mobile savings: The world’s first mobile-only sovereign bond is in the works
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The government of Kenya is looking to capitalise on high mobile penetration to expand financial inclusion, with plans to offer a new infrastructure bond exclusively via mobile phones. Originally planned for October 2015, but currently postponed indefinitely due to high interest rates, it will mark the first sale of its kind in the world when released. The government has moved away from its traditional focus on institutional investors – who accounted for 98% of uptake in earlier rounds of…

Interview

The power of technology: OBG talks to Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom; Adil El Youseffi, CEO, Airtel; Vincent Lobry, CEO, Orange Telkom
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Interview:Bob Collymore,Adil El Youseffi,Vincent Lobry How can usage of value-added services be raised? BOB COLLYMORE: Kenya has an extremely vibrant technology environment, and this has done much to attract innovators and entrepreneurs to the market. Now the industry is looking to add to its traditional money transfer service, which has been the huge value-added initiative so far. By eliminating cash transactions, you can boost safety in certain professions, such as delivery…

Overview

Delivering the goods: ICT is being integrated into public service provision as the sector continues to expand
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As the government continues efforts to incorporate ICT into its service delivery, it is implementing the Connected Kenya 2017 master plan to guide the country’s ICT and broadband development. The plan, which aims to see the sector create up to 180,000 jobs and contribute up to 8% of the value of goods and services produced in the country, should stir greater demand, while generating funding for local software and services. Fred Matiang’i, the cabinet secretary for ICT, told local press in July…

Interview

Market adapting: OBG talks to Jambu Palaniappan, Regional General Manager for Middle East and Africa, Uber
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Interview:Jambu Palaniappan How has Kenya’s high smartphone penetration affected usage and performance of mobile apps? JAMBU PALANIAPPAN: Within the region, Kenya has been at the leading edge of technology adoption and use for many years, and it serves as a template for other African countries. The high increasingly penetration rate for smartphones, both basic and high-end, has opened up a huge potential market to app developers and innovators, which is why we recently have seen so much…