Nokia, a global mobile phone supplier, is showing its continued confidence in the African mobile market with the release of affordable phones in Kenya.

Nokia has released the Nokia 100 and dual-SIM Nokia 101.
Nokia estimates that by the year 2015 about 20% of the world’s new mobile phone subscribers will come from the African continent.

Speaking in Nairobi during that launch of the phones this week, Executive Vice President of Mobile Phones and Nokia, Mary McDowell, said that more than 1,3 billion people use a Nokia mobile phone device and the figure will increase due to Africa’s vibrant emerging market.

“We’re really on a roll with dual-SIM. These are entry-level devices to give consumers who are just starting out on their mobile experience, a modern, capable feature-rich device. Particularly for the youth markets in Africa, it really brings a new level of functionality to this price point,” McDowell said.

Though fairly new in the Kenyan dual-SIM phone market, Nokia had its trial run last year when it introduced its first dual-SIM mobile phone, the Nokia C-2 on the global market.

The Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 are currently available in Kenya, with the Nokia 100 now joining the dual-SIM array, which is Nokia’s fifth dual Sim device in the last three months.

The dual-SIM functionality enables users to connect to two different networks and to receive calls and messages helping them manage costs and maintain network coverage without needing several phones.

McDowell, who has been visiting with Nokia’s mobile phone leadership team in Africa over the past week, said the mobile applications (apps) development market on the continent has been showing promise.

Last year a Kenyan app developer took the top award at Nokia’s Global Calling all Innovators Contest, a major reason McDowell said Nokia is looking to further the app development sector.
“We have put more people on the ground here in Kenya and more broadly in Africa to work with developers so that we can get those truly relevant applications in content and also improve our tool capabilities,” she said.

Nokia also provides Life Tools, a mobile phone service available on the Nokia Series 30 and Series 40 devices.
Life Tools, which are designed to inform and improve the livelihood of consumers in developing countries, provides SMS services in the areas of agriculture, education, healthcare and entertainment.

MTN Uganda, one of the leading telecommunications companies and mobile providers indicates that the rising inflation and increased competition will adversely affected its growth target for the next financial reporting period.

“Some of the real challenges include price erosion by competition and the fact that inflation at about 18% to a certain extent negatively impacted us as far as growth is concerned,” MTN Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa told a news conference in Kampala, Uganda this week.

MTN Uganda’s subscriber base grew to 7.5 million users by the end of June 2011. MTN Uganda plans to add an additional one million users in the second half of 2011.
MTN Uganda Chief Executive Themba Khumalo said the company’s average revenue per user (ARPU), a key industry measure of performance, had declined to about $4 in the first half of 2011 from $6 in 2010.

Uganda’s major telecommunications operators include Warid, Airtel, Uganda Telecom and Orange.

Uganda’s Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka said that local financial institutions must offer mobile phone solutions in order to make banking more accessible to the public. Uganda is spearheading the mobile banking plan to help boost the country’s economy.

During a meeting held late last week in the country’s capital Kampala, Kiwanuka said the financial institutions need products that will lead to financial inclusion and reduce the cost of doing business.

The meeting also marked the launch of InterSwitch, a Nigerian company that acquired 60% of Bankom Uganda, a provider of inter-switching services to local banks and microfinance institutions.

Bankom hopes the deal will allow them to expand into East Africa.
Despite Uganda’s massive gains in the telecom and financial sector in recent times, Kiwanuka said there’s a huge gap in terms of the absence of mobile payments that can allow the government and companies to collect revenue efficiently.

“With easier payment systems, we will see increased voluntary tax compliance and in return see improved tax collection,” said Kiwanuka.
Ugandan telecom carriers have launched mobile banking solutions and hope to continue to bolster the sector in the next coming months.

Isaac Mundke Uganda’s former ministry of telecommunications official said the future of finance and telecoms are linked together in making it easier for Ugandans to do business on their mobile phone.

Uganda’s ICT Minister Ruhakana Rugunda told a meeting on information technology in the country that Ugandans should invest in the technology sector in order to improve the country’s economy.

Analysts on last week hailed the ministers comments-

“The minister’s comments were definitely positive and we have already seen a number of business leaders look into investing in the sector as the potential growth is high for Ugandans,” said Kampala-based independent analyst John Yunbal.

The minister said that already Uganda has seen a number of changes in business and governance practices as a result of ICT.

“It has become an entity in all aspects of life. The ICT sector in Uganda has also continued to experience significant growth in terms of GDP, investment, employment and tax revenue,” Rugunda said.

David Turahi, an ICT ministry official, delivering the written speech from the minister, added that the government was “committed” to bolstering the ICT sector in the country, developing rural areas and helping the IT sector push the country’s economy forward.

Airtel International has registered a 38.6 per cent growth in revenue for the first quarter ended June 30. In a press statement released on Wednesday, the telecommunications firm’s said its revenue increased from $2.62 billion to $3.79 billion as of June 30, 2011. “The above figures represent total revenue generated from 19 countries from Africa and Asia where the telecom has operations,” read the statement in part.

Africa’s contribution
Africa’s total revenue increased by 6 per cent with the continent generating $979 million as of June 30, 2011 compared with $924 million in June last year. However, net profits dropped by 28 per cent in the period under review, registering $272 million down from $361 million.

The drop in net revenue is attributed to increased tax charges and the many investments undertaken by the telecom firm in India and Africa. Mr Sunil Mittal, the Airtel international chairman and managing director, said the firm is hopeful that the good start to the fiscal year will be maintained.

From: Monitor