Telecom
SA Firm to Rollout Made-in-Africa Smartphone
A South African company hopes to rival the likes of Samsung and Nokia with home-grown smartphones tailored to African needs.
Seemahale Telecoms, which already makes telecommunications equipment in South Africa, is set to build a model that looks similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and runs on Google’s Android operating system, to sell at around 2,500 rand ($260).
“It just didn’t seem right that there are hundreds of millions of phones in Africa, none of which are actually manufactured here,” Seemahale founder Thabo Lehlokoe said in an interview with Reuters.
“Not because of anything other than the fact that everybody tended to think that it is cheaper to do these things in China.”
If it seems implausible that an African company with no experience of building phones could compete seriously with established global manufacturers, Seemahale counters that his as yet unnamed phone will fill an unmet need.
A natural big-brand comparison might be the Sony Xperia Go, which has a similarly rated processor and retails for 2,899 rand($300).
But whereas the Go has a 3.5-inch touchscreen and advertised talk time of up to 6.5 hours, Seemahale’s phone will have a 5-inch touchscreen, and Lehlokoe says its 2,250 mAh battery will offer talk time of “over a day”.
Those features, says Lehlokoe, are must-haves on a continent where a relative lack of home computers or fixed-line telephones means most people interact with the Internet from their phones.
Africa already has at least 600 million mobile phones, but the billion-strong population is growing rapidly, as are incomes, and governments are promoting connectivity in the hope that it can speed up delivery of education and health services.
Seemahale has yet to receive any pre-orders – the devices are still undergoing regulatory tests – but Lehlokoe said one South African operator was already testing the phone and another was interested. The phones are designed to be rebranded by operators, with their own logos.
The components will come from Taiwan and China, but the phones will come part-assembled for the first few months, until factory workers are more familiar with the production process.
Eventually, Lehlokoe says, Seemahale has the capacity for a monthly output of 150,000 smartphones or the 10.1-inch tablets that it also intends to produce, retailing for 3,500 rand.
But even an output of 5,000 devices per month could mean 50 to 100 new jobs.
According to the telecoms advisory firm IDC research, Africa received shipments of nearly 30 million phones in the second quarter of 2013, a fifth of which were in the smartphone segment.
Other companies are also hoping consumers will embrace handsets made or designed in Africa.
Mauritius-based Mi-Fone is selling basic phones for as little as $12 in countries such as Kenya, Angola, Rwanda and Nigeria. In the Congo Republic, VMK is designing smartphones and tablets for Africa, which are assembled in China.
Nigeria’s telecom operators recorded 155, 397 fibre-cut incidents between April and May 2026, and these they blame on why internet or calls suddenly stop working.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed fibre-cut incidents increased from 74 276 in April to a record 79 121 in May, bringing the two-month total to the highest level recorded by the industry.
This represents a 2 428% increase from the 5 934 incidents reported during the first quarter of 2026.
Vandalism remained the leading cause of fibre cuts, accounting for more than 54 000 incidents despite telecom infrastructure being designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, a classification intended to strengthen protection of key digital assets.
Also road construction constantly damages fiber where iggers and machines tear up buried cables during road repairs or construction.
Even with all these, some state governments make it hard for companies to fix cables quickly across different areas with all manners of fees and levies.
The NCC designation provides for penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for offenders, but operators continue to face widespread infrastructure damage.
Proposed solutions, including Nigeria’s Dig-Once policy and AI-powered fibre sensing technologies, have yet to achieve widespread adoption.
The NCC is developing a cost-based framework for shared underground duct infrastructure, while operators are exploring AI-powered fibre sensing technologies that can detect cable damage in real time and improve network resilience.
Nigeria is pursuing ambitious broadband targets under its National Broadband Plan and has expanded fibre deployment to about 35 000 kilometres.
However, infrastructure protection has not kept pace with network expansion, leaving subscribers vulnerable to unreliable connectivity despite continued operator investment.
Standard Bank has partnered with Helios Towers to provide a $29 million Social Documentary Credit Facility. According to the financial services company, this transaction marks Standard Bank’s first Documentary Credit Facility structured in a Sustainable Finance format.
It notes that the facility will support the procurement and importation of telecommunications infrastructure and related services across Africa.
It will also provide payment certainty to suppliers, while supporting Helios Towers’ working capital requirements and infrastructure expansion programme, the bank adds.
Structured in accordance with the Loan Market Association’s Social Loan Principles, the financing is designed to promote digital connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure development in underserved markets.
This will help Helios Towers further expand its footprint and enhance mobile network coverage and connectivity across the continent.
Helios Towers operates one of Africa’s independent telecommunications tower platforms, enabling mobile network operators to extend coverage across multiple markets.
Standard Bank notes that the facility supports the expansion of tower infrastructure and services, increased network densification and improved connectivity in underserved markets and remote regions across the African continent.
It will also drive digital inclusion and tackle the digital divide while supporting economic growth and socio-economic development.
“This transaction demonstrates the power of innovation in trade finance. By combining a first-to-market Social Documentary Credit Facility with a cross-border funding solution, Standard Bank has supported Helios Towers’ growth ambitions while helping extend digital connectivity to underserved communities across Africa,” says Benoit Samouilhan, global transaction banker at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking.
According to the bank, this facility enables positive social impact by increasing and improving network coverage and connectivity in some of the world’s most remote regions.
“Reliable digital infrastructure is fundamental to Africa’s future growth and development,” says Alex Carter, group finance director at Helios Towers.
“This facility provides us with the flexibility and certainty needed to support our ongoing infrastructure investments while advancing our mission of expanding connectivity across the continent. We value our longstanding relationship with Standard Bank and look forward to building on this partnership.”
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will on Thursday convene a stakeholders’ consultative forum to review the draft business rules for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Nigeria.
NCC
The forum, scheduled to hold at 10 a.m. at the NCC Annex Office, Mbora, Abuja, is expected to bring together telecommunications operators, industry associations and other stakeholders to provide input on the proposed regulatory framework before its finalisation.
The commission announced the event on its official social media platforms, inviting interested stakeholders to participate in the consultation process.
The engagement is part of the NCC’s efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for MVNO operations and promote greater competition, innovation and consumer choice in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators are telecommunications service providers that offer mobile services by leasing network capacity from licensed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), rather than owning spectrum licences or telecommunications infrastructure.
The NCC has identified the MVNO licensing framework as one of its initiatives aimed at deepening competition, expanding access to telecommunications services and driving digital inclusion across the country.
The consultative forum is expected to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to review the draft business rules, make recommendations and contribute to the development of a robust operational framework for the emerging MVNO segment.
The commission is expected to issue further details on the outcome of the consultation after the meeting.
NBC Scraps Annual Digital Access Fee on DSO
Surge in Fibre Cuts Hobbles Service Provisioning
Why Bandits, Kidnappers are Hard to Trace despite NIN-SIM Linkage – FG
First Securities Brokers Empowers Nigerians to Trade in the Stock Market with the Launch of FirstInvest App
Quest Merchant Bank Hosts Great Place to Work® Nigeria Study Mission
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Telecom3 days agoMTN Nigeria Slashes Cost of Broadband Internet Router, Unwraps New Data Bundles for Low-Budget Users
E-Financial3 days agoNigerians Accumulate $59Bn in Cryptocurrency Assets —FDC
E-Financial3 days agoFlutterwave Partners Xoom on Transfers into Nigeria
General News3 days agoNearpays, Nigerian Fintech Becomes First African Startup to Win UN’s AI for Good Innovation Factory
News3 days agoDataPro Upgrades Dangote Cement’s Credit Rating to AA+
E-Business3 days agoTinubu Orders NIMC to Enrol Every Nigerian by End of this Year – DG
Telecom3 days agoNokia’s 14 Years of Mobile-Phone Supremacy Ended in an Afternoon
General News3 days agoFintech Brands Should Communicate Right in a VUCA Economy