Vodafone Ghana has affirmed its resolve to strengthening customer care for the sustainable growth of the company.
Ms Yolanda Cuba, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone, said for that reason the company was working assiduously to roll out innovative products to address the needs of customers.
The company intends to introduce a ‘4G’ component to its line of services by the close of this year, and this was being pursued by the Management to bring their services to standard, she said.
Ms Cuba, who was inaugurating a new retail shop of the company at the Kumasi Shopping Mall, said Vodafone would continue to work to the satisfaction of the customer. She was accompanied by Mr Puspinder Singh, Vodafone Ghana Director in-charge of Consumer Business.
The CEO indicated that the new retail outlet was to help expand its activities for the convenience of the customer. Mr Singh said the company had stepped up efforts to opening up more of such outlets to meet its growing customer base.
The maiden edition of MTN Digital Music Conference has been held today January 17, 2019, in Accra.
It featured seasoned record labels and online music distribution platforms such as Universal Music Group, Content Connect Ghana and so on who ‘schooled’ artists and other stakeholders on how to make money from their music and stay relevant in the music industry.
At the event, artistes were duly advised to register their content with copyright societies such as GHAMRO in order to retrieve royalties and also prevent other platforms from unlawfully using their songs.
Speaking to this regard, Managing Director for Content Connect Ghana, Munya Chanetsa urged the general public to desist from downloading songs from unauthorised music sites.
He again recommended that artistes should try their best to collaborate with ‘giant’ industry players to enable their brand grow.
“Grow your fan base and find a way of working with major artistes so they can help you. The public should stop engaging in piracy. Stop downloading songs and stop feeding those sites”. He added
Senior manager for products and services for MTN, Mr Bless Agordjo also revealed that MTN has acquired an online music distribution platform known as CIMS which would enable their 200million subscribers have access to locally manufactured songs.
“We are here to help artistes so they can take advantage of our 200million subscribers. MTN has also acquired CIMS, an online distribution platform that would make music accessible and inexpensive to all”. He stated.
He went on further to note that a subscription model where mobile money can be used to purchase music would be provided so as to make songs accessible and affordable in the country.
MTN digital music conference brought together key stakeholders in the industry to discuss the state and future of Ghanaian music.
Device vendors and operators are betting on 5G to unlock a new chapter in the smartphone growth story but new research from the GSMA suggests consumers will need to be convinced before upgrading. GSMA Intelligence’s annual consumer survey of 36,000 people across 34 key markets found that almost 90 percent of consumers in developed countries own a smartphone, with an average of 2.5 smartphones in every US household. More than half of consumers in developed countries (54 percent) said they expect 5G networks to deliver faster speeds, but it is not yet clear if they will pay a premium for the speed boost.
In addition, the survey revealed that only one in four consumers (25 percent) expect 5G to deliver ‘innovative new services’, and only 20 percent believe 5G will usher in a new era of devices.
Other findings include the fact that the average US and UK household now owns six connected devices – from TVs to consoles to emerging categories such as smart speakers – with 16 percent of US households owning a smart speaker, compared to 9 percent a year earlier.
However, adoption rates of VR headsets in developed markets stayed flat year-on-year at around 6 percent of households and have even dropped in some key markets such as the UK. AR applications in fashion, gaming and various enterprise sectors are more advanced at this stage, said the GSMA.
The industry body added that it will be using the data to publish two new GSMA Intelligence reports on ‘The Future of Devices’ and ‘5G’s Great Expectations’ at CES 2019.
Mr. Eli Hini, General manager for mobile money financial services at MTN Ghana
MTN Ghana has pledged to prioritise the safety of mobile money (MoMo) agents as some in certain parts of Ghana have become targets for criminals in recent times. They have been attacked, maimed and in some cases killed, and their monies stolen. MTN said its officials have begun educating agents in personal safety, information management and how to avoid recruiting personnel who might pose a risk to their businesses.
General manager for mobile money financial services at MTN Ghana, Eli Hini, said processes are under way with the Central Bank to set up an agent registry. He said this will ensure that those on the registry are validated, and they would be taken off the system if they caught in any malpractice.
He said the company will take finger prints and do a thorough background check on people who want to become agents to ensure that they do not have any criminal records before setting up a MoMo business with MTN. He advised agents to stop working late into the night to save their businesses from being targeted by robbers.
Helios Towers has entered into a partnership with Vulatel to work on expanding South Africa’s mobile and fixed-line infrastructure, saying that they aim to make “major greenfield wireless and fixed-line telecoms infrastructure investments”.
Helios Towers will own 66 per cent of Helios Towers South Africa (HTSA) and Vulatel the remaining 34 per cent. Raising money for expansion across Africa for Helios and the like, seeing as the continent holds a tremendous opportunity for growth.
The company predicts that South Africa will lead in the roll-out of 5G in sub-Saharan Africa and will potentially be a part of that process. HTSA, in agreement with Vulatel, will build open access infrastructure to subsequently be leased to other companies.
Helios Towers has long considered entering into the South African market, having already established a foothold in other African countries like Tanzania, Ghana, and the DRC. Of these markets, South Africa is considered one of the more stable and so HTSA is looking at opportunities to buy towers from wireless carriers, like MTN and Vodacom.
Appolonia City has partnered with ATC Ghana, a subsidiary of American Tower Corporation, to deploy cell towers within Appolonia City’s development in Greater Accra. The first cell tower has already been installed, enhancing connections for current residents and businesses at Appolonia City.
“We continue to see more companies, both local and international, investing in Appolonia City,” Appolonia City CEO Bright Owusu-Amofah said of the partnership. “American Tower’s wireless infrastructure is world renowned, and we are committed to providing world-class connectivity to our residents and businesses.”
Gordon Xatse, Head of Sales and Marketing of ATC Ghana, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Rendeavour on the Appolonia City project, which is among the best planned sub-urban developments in Africa. Following the successful installation of our first telecommunications site at Appolonia City, we look forward to expanding our partnership with Rendeavour, and continuing to deliver world-class service to our mutual customers and communities.”
Rendeavour is building seven new cities on 12,000 hectares in five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rendeavour cities provide homes, offices, schools, healthcare facilities and industrial parks within a well-planned urban environment, along with the infrastructure – roads, power, water and ICT – that form the foundation for the continent’s future growth.
Appolonia City has forged a number of strategic partnerships recently, with entities such as the Association of Ghana Industries, Comland Company Limited and now ATC Ghana. In 2018, Appolonia City was named “The Most Promising Company of the Year” at the Ghana Business Awards and received the “Best Member Award 2018” from the American Chamber of Commerce.
The Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has underscored the importance of Ghana’s telecommunications sector undergoing a unified license regime – an agenda the Vice President refers to as the way forward to ensure alignment with our Telecoms Policy.
He made this statement during his keynote address to participants at an Industry breakfast meeting organized by the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications under the theme: Leveraging effective use and distribution of Spectrum in Ghana for National Development at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.
Outlining how Ghana’s National Telecom Policy created in 2005 was to adopt a neutral approach to regulation of the communications sector, the Vice President said “in practice the current licensing framework consists of a number of different service-specific license categories, which requires 17 different forms of permission to provide communications services to Ghanaians, Let us use this meeting to identify the way forward in ensuring alignment with section 2.1 of the above policy which states “Licensing and regulation shall be technologically neutral to encourage economically efficient and innovative market development”.
The Vice President also admonished for flexibility with regards to regulatory models in providing certainty in licensing. This he believes would reduce cost on service providers.
He said, “A finite roadmap is vital in supporting our market players and allowing flexibility, minimizing distortions from historic regulatory models, providing certainty in licensing, reducing compliance costs and allowing licensees deploy the most efficient and cost-effective network technologies”.
To that end, the Vice President said his government is willing to partner the industry and all key stakeholders, to consolidate efforts to leverage ICT for National development
Ms. Mitwa Ng’ambi, CEO of AirtelTigo speaking at the event
through the elimination of bottlenecks in the distribution of spectrum.
Chief Executive of AirtelTigo, Mrs. Mitwa Keamba Ng’ambi in her welcome address reiterated the telecoms industry’s commitment in supporting the efforts of H.E The President’s vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid.
“I’d like to assure Your Excellency that we as Mobile Network Operators in the industry, see ourselves as partners to you on the developmental agenda for this country. Therefore, when we raise concerns and recommendations as an industry, we do so in good faith, in hope that we can together continue to drive the industry forward and create history in Ghana. We commit to supporting your efforts to achieving H.E The President’s drive of a Ghana Beyond Aid using the Telecommunications industry as a catalyst and the rails on which other sectors will ride. ”
The Breakfast meeting brought together senior government officials, Parliament, NCA, GSMA, Coleago, Ministry of Finance, and Ghana Revenue Authority, members of the Chamber, some senior editors and experts from the telecoms sector.
The event was in support of government’s vision to leverage ICT for national economic development and the drive towards a Ghana Beyond Aid.
A group photograph with H.E The Vice President Dr. Bawumia and participants at the event
Ghana’s leading telecommunications provider of business connectivity solutions, MTN Business has together, partnered with Invest in Africa (IIA) to provide custom-made ICT solutions to Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.
In the partnership, MTN Business will provide services that will help SMEs optimise their productivity to enable them to grow and expand their businesses.
IIA which is not a profit making organisation is as well committed to addressing the challenges of identifying credible local suppliers, developing local content and driving cross-sector growth across the economy.
The Country Director of IIA, Mr Clarence Nartey disclosed that the organisation, in partnership with MTN Business, has a Pan-African mobile telecommunications powerhouse and local market leader whose commitment to providing tailor-made enterprise solutions will give a big boost to the SMEs.
In addition, the IIA also intends to tap into MTN Business’ suite of ICT solutions to improve the organisational efficiency and productivity as well as ensure that the IIA flagship online marketplace platform, the African Partner Pool (APP), is technologically enhanced for the benefit of all of its buyers and suppliers.
He said, “IIA plans to provide $500 million worth of business to Ghanaian SMEs, and in the process contribute to supporting 100,000 jobs by 2022.”
The General Manager of MTN Enterprise Business, Mr Samuel Addo, reiterated as well that by partnering IIA, MTN is living up to its overriding mission to be a vehicle for Ghana’s economic growth and development.
“MTN’s world-class telecommunications products and services, as well as innovative and sustainable corporate social responsibility initiatives, are all contributing to the realization of Ghana’s strong development potential. This partnership is our way of helping SMEs grow and play their role in the nation’s development,” he emphasised.
Vodafone Ghana donated packages including GHC20,000 for the organisation of this year’s Farmers’ Day
Telecommunications giant, Vodafone Ghana has donated cash and products worth GHC40,000 to the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) towards this year’s National Farmers’ Day event which takes place on Friday, December 7.
The package includes GHC20,000 for the organisation of this year’s event, Vodafone souvenirs, Vodafone Farmers’ Club SIMs with 12 months airtime and data as well as free access to farmers’ helpline and useful information on crop and agric for all the Regional and National winners.
Additionally, the telco has announced a unique package of GHC10,000 cash, a Vodafone tablet, VIP access to Farmers’ Club with extra airtime and data for the Best National Female Farmer, in line with its continuous commitment to empowering females in agriculture.
Speaking to a cross-section of the media during the presentation, Director of Enterprise Business Unit (EBU) at Vodafone Ghana, Angela Mensah-Poku said, ‘’Vodafone is excited to join in the celebration of our national heroes and heroines within the agricultural sector. We are committed to driving innovation in agriculture whilst bridging the gap between farmers and critical farming information. Through our Farmers’ Club initiative, we have been connecting farms, agribusinesses and rural communities to drive productivity, profitability and innovation. This initiative provides farmers with access to relevant information on improved farming practices, crop information, prices of commodities and expert advice, in their preferred language.’’
‘’In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, we will from next year, reward and celebrate farmers who among other things use innovative and new technology in their operations. The category, to be titled “National Digital Farmer of the Year”, will encourage and drive innovation within the sector,’’ she added.
The 34th edition of the National Farmers Day celebration will be held in Tamale, Northern Region.
The launch of Phase two of the Interoperability platform concludes the Financial Inclusion Triangle, and ensures universal interoperability, making Ghana one of the few countries in the world to attain this feat.
Phase One of the project, launched on May 10th, 2018 saw the interconnection of the mobile money platforms and the Ghana National Switch (gh-link system), but not the E-zwich Payment Systems. This allowed users to make payments from Mobile Money wallets to bank accounts, and vice versa. It also allowed the transfer of funds between the various mobile money services provided by the telecom companies.
The second phase has completed the interconnection between Mobile Money and the e-zwich Payment Systems. Thus, the interconnection of mobile money and e-zwich platforms, to the gh-link platform means customers can conveniently move funds across all three platforms: bank accounts, Mobile Money wallets and the e-zwich payment systems.
Speaking at the launch ceremony on Wednesday 28th November, 2018, Vice President Bawumia, said this universal interoperability – known by players in the fintech and banking circles as the Financial Inclusion Triangle, because it interconnects three payment platforms; mobile money, bank account and e-zwich – is expected to remove the constraints faced in trying to move funds around, in real time.
“This should make us more efficient and enable us to accomplish more within the same time available to us. All of these important initiatives are in sync with other programmes by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government to quicken the digitization of the economy.
“Importantly, it will improve financial inclusion by bridging the gap between the banked and unbanked. It will also enable free flow of funds between and among all the three platforms; allowing the banked and the unbanked to interact at the same level.”
The benefits to business and ordinary Ghanaians will be enormous, with endless possibilities on the horizon, Vice President Bawumia indicated.
“The quick flow of funds enabled by the universal interoperability, should also translate into quick turnaround for businesses, because producers, wholesalers and retailers can receive funds in real time in order to deliver the goods to customers, regardless of which part of the country, they find themselves.
“The possibilities are enormous, and I expect the Fintechs to take advantage and collaborate with the banks and other financial institutions to give us great products.”
With the conclusion of phase two, Vice President Bawumia said it was time to work on Phase Three.
“It is said that the best reward for a good work is more work. So let me once again, in the spirit of transforming our economy, task the partners to this project, to take on an additional challenge – call it phase 3.
“The phase 3 that I propose, is mobile money operator/agent/or merchant interoperability. By this I mean, that it should be possible for an operator, agent or merchant with one phone and SIM, to be able to load electronic funds onto the wallet of the customer regardless of the network.
“An agent currently needs to keep different float accounts for each operator to serve customers. So, when the float of the agent for a particular operator runs out, the agent is not able to serve customers from that operator even though he or she may have electronic funds sitting idle on another network.
“So you see agents turn away customers not because they do not want to serve them, but they simply cannot use the float they have for one network operator for another.
“The status quo is not efficient and affects both the agent’s output and profitability as well as puts a spoke in the wheels of the cash-lite agenda. Let me therefore ask you to work together to fix this challenge, so that anybody who walks into an agent’s location can get service once there are electronic funds available.
“I think it is a normal sequence to what we have achieved so far, and I urge all the key parties to ensure we chalk this success too, so that customers can have wider access to mobile money service.”
Vice President Bawumia commended the Board and Management of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS), Bank of Ghana, Financial technology (Fintech) companies, the telecommunication companies, and all the partners for their cooperation and contribution towards the attainment of Mobile Money Interoperability in Ghana.
