NEWS
Mobile advancing economic and
development goals in Tanzania
T
anzania’s mobile industry is contributing
significantly to the realisation of the
country’s economic and development goals,
according to a new GSMA report.
The new report – Digital Transformation
in Tanzania – was launched at a meeting
organised by the GSMA that brought together
representatives from Tanzania’s three main
mobile operators, Airtel, Tigo and Vodacom.
“Mobile technology is at the centre of
Tanzania’s Digital Transformation, providing
access to essential services, increasing
productivity, and driving economic growth,”
said Akinwale Goodluck Head of Sub-
Saharan Africa, GSMA.
“Leveraging mobile technology to further
advance economic and development goals
in Tanzania requires collaboration by all
stakeholders, including operators, government
and development organisations.”
The report highlights four key areas where
Tanzania’s mobile industry is making a
significant contribution to the country’s
transformation into a digital economy and
realisation of its development goals:
• Access to key services – Mobile
operators provide affordable access
to life-enhancing services for people
in underserved communities. Inclusive
and innovative business models have
emerged from the convergence of various
mobile services, particularly connectivity,
mobile financial services, digital identity,
and M2M and IoT
• Driving productivity and efficiency
– Mobile is driving productivity and
efficiency gains in Tanzania’s businesses
and public institutions, especially in the
agricultural sector
• Contribution to economic growth and
social development – In 2016 the total
value added generated by the mobile
operators alone was around US$2.5
billion, equivalent to 5.2% of Tanzania’s
GDP. The country’s mobile industry also
employs more than 1.5 million people,
equivalent to 2.6% of the population
• Encouraging good governance –
Mobile is a key channel for Tanzania’s
e-government strategy, with public
institutions now using mobile money,
SMS and USSD platforms to deliver
services, collect payments and engage
with the general public.
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SEACOM to provide direct connectivity
for Kenyan firms to South Africa
L
eading Pan-African Internet and
connectivity service provider, SEACOM
has announced that it will now offer direct
connections from its East Africa network to
public cloud networks and data centres in
South Africa.
This follows the launch of Microsoft’s
enterprise-grade data centres in
Johannesburg and Cape Town.
major data centres where cloud providers,
such as Microsoft, have a presence.
Ten years ago, SEACOM first brought its
high-speed Internet connectivity directly
to Africa, opening the continent to
technological advancements.
Through years of experience with global
cloud providers such as Microsoft, SEACOM
has provided solutions to businesses
that are considering cloud migration.
One example is the launch of the Azure
ExpressRoute offering together with
Microsoft, that allows SEACOM customers
to extend their on-premises networks into
the cloud without going over the public
Internet. Until now, this solution had been
limited to data centres outside of the
African continent.
SEACOM’s offering, available to business
customers, will deliver direct, high-speed,
dedicated and secure connectivity to the
Microsoft data centres via resilient network
connections from Kenya to South Africa. The
SEACOM subsea cable, which connects Kenya
to South Africa, offers a fibre express route
that carries Terabytes of capacity with speeds
from as low as 50 Mbps up to 10 Gbps. In
addition to this, SEACOM’s recent acquisition
of FibreCo’s network allows it to extend this
capability across South Africa and into the
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