Sweden-headquartered telecommunications and media company Millicom is building a technology incubator in Rwanda to develop digital solutions. The incubator, called “think”, will be located in the capital, Kigali, and will be used to develop “innovative and scalable” businesses in which Millicom will take an equity stake. Potential entrepreneurs will be given seed funding, training, coaching, access to technical resources and support with accessing investors and customers. Millicom CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht says Rwanda is a “great place to do business. We know it has some extraordinary local talent whose skills and ingenuity we want to support.” Source: Millicom media release
Ghana gets $3,8m ICT grant
Ghana’s ICT sector will be getting a US$3,8m grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with the World Bank. The funds will be used to support the establishment of world-class facilities to attract IT companies to create jobs for Ghanaian youngsters. The grant will be in addition to the World Bank’s $5m donation for the eGhana Project, part of the foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa initiative launched in 2013. A new ICT Park, located in Accra, is expected to be complete by August 2014. Source: Rockefeller Foundation Africa media release
Zambian operators get poor service warning
The Zambian government has warned mobile operators who provide poor service that they will be dealt with “firmly”. It also warned that operators who were abusing their rights and cheating customers would not be allowed to operate in the country. Minister of commerce, trade & industry Emmanuel Chenda said it’s unfair for customers to subscribe to mobile service providers and to receive inconsistent and poor service. He added that it was not fair for mobile providers to cheat consumers either because of unfair contract terms and conditions, and customers not knowing what they agreed to upon sign-up. Source: ITWeb Africa
MTN Ghana in 311m cedi upgrade
MTN Ghana has embarked on a 311m cedi ($116m) project to upgrade its network, said CEO Serame Taukobong. MTN hopes to add 120 new 3G sites, in addition to the 173 it developed in 2013. Source: Modern Ghana
Zambia to get fourth mobile licence
After putting off plans to go ahead with a fourth mobile network operator, Zambia will go ahead and take bids from international and regional mobile operators next year. Zambia’s minister of communications & transport, Yamfwa Mukanga, said the successful bidder will be issued a licence in 2015, when the country implements its digital migration project. The Zambian government is concerned with high communication costs and hopes a fourth network will bring lower prices and new services. Source: All Africa
