NEWS FROM ALL AROUND
NEWS FROM ALL AROUND AFRICA Recent investments, expansions and milestones. SHARED WORKSPACE PROVIDERS SHARE SOME MORE Two of Africa’s leading providers in the shared workspace industry, KOFISI and Workshop17, have announced a strategic partnership to provide a wider range of services and locations across Africa. The demand for shared workspace continues to grow faster in Africa than the rest of the world, fuelled by the growth in the working-age population which is expected to grow by more than 450-million people, or close to 70%, by 2035. The partnership gives the two providers’ members access to a combined network of 22 locations, 60 000m 2 of collaborative workspace across seven countries and all four regions of the continent. The partnership is the largest independent network of serviced work and office space across Africa, and where the quality and consistency of facilities are reliable, even in sometimes unpredictable environments. KOFISI operates 10 locations in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, and is opening in Rwanda and Morocco. Workshop17 has 12 locations, with eight in South Africa and four in Mauritius. WORLD-FIRST MOBILE RADIO EQUIPMENT IN EGYPT Vodacom Group has successfully deployed a world-first triple-band Mobile Radio Unit that combines the 1800MHz, 2100FDD and 2600TDD frequency bands into one single Radio Unit. This advanced Radio Unit from Ericsson will enable Vodafone Egypt to reduce the cost of its 4G/5G network rollout in the country, the implementation time, energy consumption and tower load. Vodacom, which acquired a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt in 2022, invested R4.6-billion based on growing and strengthening the network in Egypt to support increased demand. Vodafone Egypt services 48.3-million customers and contributes one quarter of the company’s revenue supported by customer engagement in connectivity, mobile and fixed price adjustments and excellent growth in its financial services platform, Vodafone Cash. As of January 2024, Egypt’s Internet penetration rate was 72.2%, with 75.6-million Internet users in January 2022. Egypt has the second-largest online population in Africa. However, the country’s average Internet download speed is among the slowest in the world. 6 TOWER PHOTO: Moaz Tobok on Pexels
NEWS DRILLING SUCCESS OFF ANGOLAN COAST Successful drilling of the Likembe-01 well in the ExxonMobiloperated Kizomba B development area of Block 15 has been announced about 365km north-west of Luanda. Angola’s National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) reported this as a significant stride in Angola’s oil exploration with the news following the 2022 discovery at the Bavuca South-1 exploration well in the same Block, which encountered 30 metres of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone. The well’s strategic location underscores Angola’s commitment to bolstering its offshore exploration capabilities. ExxonMobil Angola is leading the Block 15 consortium with partners Azule Energy, Equinor and Sonangol in a multi-year drilling programme. This programme aims to capitalise on the region’s hydrocarbon potential, further evidenced by the high-grade sandstone reservoirs identified in the Likembe-01 well. Azule Energy, whose offshore plant is pictured, is a joint venture formed in March 2022 by Italy’s Eni and the UK’s BP to merge their oil assets in Angola. GHANA APPROVES SANLAMALLIANZ MERGER In July 2024 Sanlam and Allianz announced the launch of their joint venture brand, SanlamAllianz, in Ghana. This follows the regulatory approvals obtained recently to merge and rebrand to SanlamAllianz. The joint venture, which was launched in September 2023, is the leading pan-African non-banking financial services company, which operates in 27 countries across the continent. The CEOs of the two businesses are Tawiah Ben-Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer/MD of SanlamAllianz Life Insurance Ghana, and Mabel Nana Nyarkoa Porbley, Chief Executive Officer/MD of SanlamAllianz General Insurance Ghana. Robert Dommisse, CEO of SanlamAllianz Life Assurance, pictured, spoke at the event, as did SanlamAllianz CEO, Mr Heinie Werth, who said, “Launching the SanlamAllianz brand in Ghana marks a new milestone for us and the broader financial services market and our commitment to doing business in Ghana. It demonstrates our strategy to leverage our expertise to create leading businesses in the economies where we choose to operate and supports our intention to enable access to financial services.” 7
