General News
Embracing Telecom Dynamics for Increased Access
The explosion in technology which ushered in the information age has become the basis for defining power in the modern world.
It is a widely accepted fact that no modern economy can develop without an integral information technology.
Consequently, the ability to easily access and share information and stimulate the creation of new ideas is viewed as essential to maintaining a strong economy and enhancing quality life of citizens.
Telecommunications networks are now making it possible for developing countries to participate in the world economy in ways that simply were not possible in the past.
Communications tools such as telephony, internet and broadband are increasingly critical to economic success and the citizen’s personal advancement.
The internet serves many functions – as virtual community, electorate marketplace, and information source/entertainment center, among others.
Through high speed internet, we can create new businesses or facilitate the delivery of basic services such as health, finance and education.
Available data from the International Telecommunications Union has shown that flows of international telephone traffic closely mirror the patterns of international trade. Indeed, variations in telephone traffic can be used as a leading indicator of national economic performance.
In agriculture, easier and faster access to up-to-date market and price information assists farmers and rural-based traders in their businesses.
Telecommunications can also deliver better access to information on improved seeds, availability of fertilizers, weather forecasting, pest control and other agricultural-related services.
Furthermore, telecommunications play an important role in politics and governance, by enhancing a government’s ability to provide security for its citizens, protect its borders and more efficiently handle civil emergencies and national disaster.
In turn, the citizens gain easier access to government and greater awareness of government programmes and activities. For instance, social media like facebook, twitter among others.
Traditionally, telecommunications had over the years been regarded as public utility provided by government.
However the need to improve services, encourage competition and attract private investment has led to the wave of privatization and sector liberation since the 80’s.
As at the beginning of 2008, nearly all countries in the world have either fully or partially privatized their incumbent operators and opened up the sector market liberalization.
In African with 52 countries, this wave of market liberation has also seen Africa transform to an ICT enabled region, though a lot more needs to be done in the area of penetration of internet and broadband.
On a global level, there are about 150 countries that have established independent regulatory agencies (the ITU: Trends report).
The advances in the last twenty years notwithstanding, in number of countries in Africa, the incumbent operators still retain very strong control of certain segments of the market showing the growth in those markets.
These incumbents are quite often, protected unnecessarily, thereby limiting competition, privatization and commercialization
In some cases where the incumbents have been partly privatized, the selected partners could be those with links in government circles who would be in a position to leverage such connections in influencing delays in opening up of the markets to competition.
In few African nations, exclusivity for the incumbents has been known to have been negotiated for upwards of 10 to 15yeas for example in the Fixed line Networks and International gateway services.
It is advised that where exclusivity still exists for the incumbents, such exclusivity should only be considered if it is for a number of service providers (at least two) so as to provide choice and encourage optimal investments while ensuring that competition exist.
Expectations
The rapid progress made in the telecom industry in the past 11 years in Africa has largely been as a result of the liberalized market, but even in a liberalized environment, government still has a vital role to play in growing the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure and ensuring a competitive environment that will reduce prices and make services more available and affordable.
Government best serves the industry through the establishment of strong regulatory institutions. The regulator’s role is to encourage competition, remove barriers to market entry, oversee interconnection of new operators with incumbents, monitor tariffs and quality of service, protect consumer rights and ensure the provision of telephone services for all.
Africa’s immediate requirement for local access to the telephone network is enormous and the required capital and time investment needed to compete is still huge.
Market reform has helped to accelerate investment flow into this vital sector, resulting in rapid roll out of networks, but we still require optic fiber highways within and between African nations.
The rapid rate of deployment means faster access to telecommunications facilities and consequently faster pace of national economic development and growth.
The Regulator is also today faced with the challenge of keeping pace with technological developments.
According to Ernest Ndukwe, immediate past executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), “convergence is changing businesses, equipment and services we have been accustomed to, in their place new companies, technologies, equipment and services are emerging”.
New challenges are also arising from these rapid changes. Therefore, new skill in multi-sector, multi-technology regulations will be needed. Security issues have assumed new dimension, with growing incidence of Cybercrime, identity theft, among others. Laws would therefore need to be upgraded to cover new areas such as electronic transactions, e-commercial and cyber security, and so on”.
Indeed privacy of transaction is constantly being threatened and the same consumers that are to benefit from the new technologies and services will be demanding even more protection from the Regulators.
Telecommunications is an essential infrastructure of the information economy and therefore countries that lack sufficient access to modern telecommunications networks, will find it difficult to be effectively integrated into the global economy.
The role of the regulator is critical to the attainment of the goal of an equitable and socially inclusive information society.
Renewable energy firm Daystar Power Group has expanded its installed solar capacity across West Africa through a partnership with Nestlé, bringing total deployments to 6,884 kilowatt-peak (kWp), or nearly 7 megawatts (MW), in what the company describes as one of the largest commercial and industrial solar partnerships in the region.
Four manufacturing facilities across Nestlé sites in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal are now operational, with installations located in Abidjan, Tema and Dakar.
Daystar Power has installed 3,447 kWp across two sites in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In Ghana, a 2,547 kWp system powers Nestlé’s Tema factory, while in Senegal an 890 kWp installation operates at the Dakar facility.
The company said each system is designed to deliver measurable environmental impact, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved energy resilience.
The installations are tailored to local operational and grid conditions to ensure reliable renewable energy supply while supporting Nestlé’s net-zero ambitions and its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Nearly 7MW across four Nestlé facilities is a number we are proud of, but what it represents matters more than the figure itself. It means that one of the world’s most demanding manufacturers has tested our model, trusted it, and come back. Our job now is to keep earning that across every market where industry needs energy it can count on,” said Yischai Beinisch, CEO of Daystar Power Group.
Samer Chedid, CEO of Nestlé Central and West Africa Region, said: “This investment reflects our commitment to building a business that not only grows but does so responsibly.
“By advancing solar energy projects in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are embedding sustainability into our growth, reinforcing our role as a force for good, creating long-term value for communities and ensuring that our footprint actively contributes to a cleaner, more resilient future.”
The National Credit Guarantee Company Limited (NCGC) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at supporting access to finance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
The agreement was signed at the NCGC headquarters in Abuja and outlines areas of cooperation between the two agencies, including financial literacy programmes, credit guarantee support, capacity building, and other initiatives targeted at small businesses.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, NCGC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Bonaventure Okhaimo, said the partnership is intended to provide a framework for expanding financing opportunities available to MSMEs.
According to him, small and medium-sized enterprises play a significant role in economic activity and employment generation across the country.
Okhaimo said NCGC has facilitated ₦32.78 billion in credit and provided over ₦13.09 billion in guarantees through its partnerships with financial institutions. He added that 1,478 businesses and entrepreneurs have benefited from the financing interventions, with 1,682 jobs reportedly created or sustained.
Also speaking, SMEDAN Director-General, Charles Odii, said the collaboration would enable the agency to connect more small businesses with available financing opportunities, particularly Nano and Micro enterprises that often face challenges accessing credit.
The two organisations said the partnership would also involve stakeholder engagement and awareness campaigns to provide information on financing options and the use of credit guarantees in lending arrangements.
The agreement forms part of ongoing efforts by both agencies to support enterprise development and improve access to financial services for small businesses across the country.
Observers say access to finance remains one of the major constraints facing Nigerian MSMEs, making collaborations between public institutions an important aspect of broader economic development initiatives.
Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire after a sharp global sell-off in technology stocks wiped an estimated $500bn (£379bn) from his personal fortune.
Elon Musk
The billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk had recently become the first individual to reach the trillion-dollar milestone following a record-breaking listing surge for his rocket company SpaceX earlier this month.
However, shares in SpaceX have since fallen by around 30% from their peak, while Tesla was also caught in a broader technology market downturn on Tuesday, June 23.
His net worth now stands at $957.1bn, according to analysis by Bloomberg, while calculations by Forbes suggest his fortune previously peaked at $1.45tn last week.
The drop in Musk’s wealth over the past week exceeds the total fortune of Larry Page, whose estimated net worth stands at just under $297bn.
The decline comes amid two consecutive days of losses on Wall Street, with more than $89bn wiped from Tesla’s market value after its shares fell 5.8% on Tuesday. Chipmaker Nvidia also dropped 4.1% during the same session.
Traders have warned that further volatility may follow after memory-chip producer Micron Technology prepares to release its third-quarter results, amid concerns that artificial intelligence valuations may be overheating.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs cautioned that AI-linked stocks could be vulnerable if there are signs of slowing investment from major tech firms.
Ben McKeown, an investment manager at Dowgate Wealth, said Musk’s fortune remains highly exposed due to its concentration in two major holdings.
He said: “The old adage is, you concentrate to build wealth and diversify to keep it. Musk is the most extreme example of this.
Almost his entire net worth sits in Tesla and SpaceX, which have been extremely volatile, especially SpaceX as the shareholder base starts to be unlocked and becomes free to sell.”
Musk had briefly become the world’s first trillionaire on June 12 following the listing surge of SpaceX, which saw its shares jump as much as 67% in its first three days of trading after an IPO that valued the company at more than $1.8tn.
However, the stock later fell for three consecutive sessions, erasing around $928bn in market value from a peak of $2.9tn to just over $2tn, before a slight recovery.
The scale of his recent wealth decline is now considered the largest on record, surpassing his previous loss in 2022 when his fortune fell by an estimated $165bn amid a slump in Tesla shares.
Another billionaire affected by recent market turbulence is Larry Ellison, whose net worth peaked at around $400bn last September before falling to approximately $210bn following a major sell-off in Oracle shares.
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