[kictanet] Airtel Plans Africa Exit

Mon Jan 30 10:56:01 EAT 2017

Hi Mblayo,

Good to e-see you on the list, you just touched on what was on my
mind, is this state of affairs healthy? or are we returning to the
days of monopolies like Telkom Kenya. Remember Safaricom was a spin
off or Telkom Kenya , a apple does not fall far from the tree. I would
like to get the opinion of regulatory experts on the current state of
affairs and future implications on the Sector

Regards

On 1/30/17, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet
<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> .....and the way CA (formerly CCK) were hammered when they tried to do a
> market intervention on the basis of Safaricom dominance....SMH....
>
> On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Ngigi Waithaka via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Ali,
>>
>> Analyzing why Safaricom has dominated this market in such Key areas as
>> Mobile Telephony, Payment Services etc is probably something that would
>> qualify for a PHD thesis.
>>
>> Here's what I know though:
>> 1. Are Safaricom's Customers happy? Answer is, do they have a choice? Go
>> back to Microsoft's heyday, were you actually really happy with Windows
>> '98? Did you have a *choice*?
>>
>> 2. Yes, Safaricom could have better services than Airtel & Telkom,
>> although I doubt, having been a user of both Safaricom & Airtel over
>> 15yrs.
>> Even if they were better, how do you reconcile that they are maybe 4
>> times
>> the size of the rest of the competition? Are they 4x better than say
>> Airtel? I doubt.
>>
>> Now, onto things MPesa, I think Safaricom does MPesa a great injustice of
>> not spinning it off. I want MPesa (with all its associated services) on
>> my
>> Airtel line.
>>
>> MPesa needs to be listed on NASDAQ! MPesa needs to be the third choice
>> globally after VISA & Mastercard!
>>
>> But there's the not so small matter of who actually owns MPesa!
>>
>> Onto matters regulation, if I was CBK, I would be very concerned if one
>> such firm had that much 'power' over the money transfer market.
>>
>> Rgds
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 9:10 AM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>>
>>> Ngigi
>>>
>>> :-)
>>>
>>> The issue of Mobitelea aside (because we will really never know how that
>>> went down) Safaricom is simply better at everything:-
>>>
>>> 1. Their lobbying is simply superior and a thing of beauty to watch.
>>> Lobbying is an acceptable practice the world over. Please don't complain
>>> when your competitor is doing a better job at it than you..
>>>
>>> 2. Which industry is Safaricom in? Energy? (Mkopa Solar with 500k
>>> subscribers simply won't have existed without the symbiotic relationship
>>> they have with Mpesa. And Safaricom skims off the top as per agreement);
>>> Banking? CBA without Mshwari is a shell; Payments?  Lipa na Mpesa is
>>> giving
>>> Visa and Mastercard a run for their money; TV? Zuku is about to feel
>>> real
>>> competition. And the list goes on.
>>>
>>> 3. I'm keen to see the Dominance Report because I think we need to
>>> expand
>>> our thinking. I don't believe there is anyone today who has Dominance in
>>> any particular area at least not in the traditional way we have defined
>>> Dominance.
>>>
>>> 4. The thing of course to watch is abuse of Market Dominance.  And this
>>> in itself a slippery slop. Once The US Government tried to break up
>>> Microsoft. What the Government couldn't do the Market did. Free Markets
>>> are
>>> the greatest equalizer.
>>>
>>> Let us be careful what we wish for. In as long as the customer is
>>> generally happy we have nothing to fear.
>>>
>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>> *Principal*
>>> *Hussein & Associates*
>>> +254 0713 601113 <+254%20713%20601113>
>>>
>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>
>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>
>>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>>
>>> "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but
>>> a
>>> habit."  ~ Aristotle
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On 30 Jan 2017, at 8:29 AM, Ngigi Waithaka <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:
>>>
>>> Ali,
>>>
>>> The only palatable End Game; Equitel buys off Airtel Kenya, combines it
>>> with Helios stake @Telkom
>>>
>>> Massive innovation thereafter would get back some respectable market
>>> share.
>>>
>>> Truth be told, Safaricom's cozzyiness with GoK has helped it along big
>>> time. I dare say if Kencell has ceded 10% to Mobitelea, as Safaricom was
>>> more than glad to do, we'd probably be speaking a different story right
>>> now!
>>>
>>> What these foreign firms investing in Africa need to remember is.......
>>>
>>> THIS IS AFRICA!
>>> On 28 Jan 2017 8:40 a.m., "Ali Hussein via kictanet" <
>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Listers
>>>>
>>>> Another one bites the dust?
>>>>
>>>> I'm really curious as to whats going on in the Telco sector.
>>>>
>>>> Bharti Airtel has announced that it will be exiting 14 African
>>>> countries
>>>> within a year. The affected countries include: Chad, Congo, Gabon,
>>>> Ghana,
>>>> Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles,
>>>> Tanzania,
>>>> Uganda and Zambia.
>>>>
>>>> The telecom operator is faced with poor performance across those
>>>> markets. Two years ago, when Airtel began talks to sell off its
>>>> operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone to
>>>> Orange
>>>> <http://mobilityarena.com/airtel-not-exiting-africa-despite-talks-to-sell-4-networks-to-orange/>,
>>>> the company had stated that it wouldn’t be exiting Africa.
>>>> Airtel plans Africa exit
>>>> <http://mobilityarena.com/airtel-exit-nigeria-13-african-countries/>
>>>>
>>>> Is the African market too competitive or is the regulatory environment
>>>> skewed towards a few players?
>>>>
>>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>>>
>>>> *Principal*
>>>>
>>>> *Hussein & Associates*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Tel: +254 713 601113
>>>>
>>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>>
>>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>>
>>>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>>> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
>>>>
>>>> Chiromo Road, Westlands,
>>>>
>>>> Nairobi, Kenya.
>>>>
>>>> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
>>>> mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
>>>> organizations that I work with.
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Regards,*
>>
>> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
>> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
>> Building
>> T +254 20 525 0750 |Office Mobile: +254 716 201061 <+254%20716%20201061>
>> | M +254 737 811 000
>> www.at.co.ke
>>
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>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
>> development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and
>> bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>

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