Page 127 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2025

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

was recorded at Tmcel with around 50%, followed by and 9.71 seconds for Tmcel. In other areas, still in the
Vodacom with around 32% and finally Movitel with 2G/3G Voice Service, the success in issuing calls is
around 27%. Regarding accessibility, in the 2G/3G Voice 95.93% for Movitel, 95.93% for Vodacom, and 85.14%
Service, in the cities, the results vary with an average for Tmcel, and the average time needed to start the call
of 90.54% for Tmcel, 93.57% for Vodacom and 95.55% is 8.20 seconds for Tmcel, 8.51 for Movitel and 8.83 for
for Movitel. The average time required to start the call Vodacom.
is 8.27 seconds for Movitel, 8.66 seconds for Vodacom (January 16, 2025) www.techafricanews.com

The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRAN) has in 15 African countries. Starlink’s services, which are
ordered Starlink, the satellite internet provider owned by promoted as helping to bridge the digital divide in rural
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to cease business for operating and underserved areas, are often seen as disruptive to
without license in the country. While Starlink has filed local telecoms markets. Indeed, this month Starlink has
Namibia an application for an operating license, the CRAN has faced allegations of predatory pricing in Kenya, aimed
at luring away customers from local service providers,
yet to grant it, and has cautioned consumers against
purchasing or using Starlink equipment. “The public is though the national competition regulator says it will
hereby advised not to purchase Starlink terminal equip- not be investigating the issue. Disruption from Star-
ment or subscribe to its services, as such activities are link’s presence in national telecoms markets will only
illegal,” said an emailed statement. “Investigators have increase as the company begins to offer direct-to-de-
already confiscated illegal terminals from consumers vice connectivity, which it is currently testing in the US
and have opened criminal cases with the Namibian po- with T-Mobile. It is worth noting that claims of operating
lice in this regard.” The escalation highlights Starlink’s without a license is nothing new for Starlink. Similar is-
ongoing challenges in establishing a foothold in Africa, sues have arisen in other nations, such as Cameroon,
where it faces regulatory hurdles and resistance from a where authorities have also seized Starlink equipment
number of state-owned telecoms monopolies. Howev- for operating illegally.
er, since the start of 2023, Starlink has been launched (December 1, 2024) www.totaltele.com

The National Information Technology Development the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, which
Agency (NITDA) has introduced a data classification outlines strict data handling and security requirements.
framework that mandates cloud service providers to By improving data security, the framework aims to
establish local operations in Nigeria. This regulation increase public trust in Nigeria’s digital economy while
Nigeria requires sensitive data, especially from the finance, supporting the country’s AI and digital transformation
healthcare, and government sectors, to be stored within efforts. The initiative presents significant opportunities
the country’s borders. This initiative aligns with global for local cloud companies, including Rack Centre,
data localisation trends and supports Nigeria’s broader MainOne, and Galaxy Backbone, while also challenging
digital economy objectives. The framework aims to them to scale operations and enhance infrastructure.
reduce reliance on foreign cloud storage, improve This move marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s
national security, and strengthen regulatory oversight. push for digital sovereignty and its ambition to lead
NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, stated that Africa’s digital economy. (February 21, 2025) www.meatechwatch.com
this policy is part of Nigeria’s strategy to become a key
player in Africa’s digital economy. By enforcing local Mobile telephone and data subscribers in Nigeria will
data hosting, the government hopes to attract cloud now have to pay more after the government approved a
service providers, boost economic growth, generate 50-percent increase in tariffs, as the country battles one
jobs, and foster a thriving local cloud ecosystem. of its worst cost-of-living crises in decades. The industry
International cloud providers like Amazon Web Services regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission
(AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure will need to (NCC), said earlier this week that it approved the tariff
either build local data centres or partner with Nigerian hike "in response to prevailing market conditions". The
cloud providers to comply with the new regulation. While tariffs have remained the same in Africa’s fourth-largest
this may increase operational costs, it also presents economy since 2013, the regulator said. The hike will
opportunities for joint ventures and collaborations heap more pressure on Nigerians already grappling
with local businesses. The policy also complements with inflation that sits at a near 30-year high of 34.8

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