WATCH THE VIDEO HERE Konnichiwa, Victoria from Techpoint here, Here”s what I’ve got for you today: The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) recently got its hands on a complaint filed by Atlas Towers Kenya Limited. The complaint was about Airtel Africa and American Tower Corporation (ATC) allegedly getting cosy in an agreement that could stifle competition. Here’s the scoop: Atlas Towers claimed that Airtel and ATC had this agreement where Airtel had to meet a certain quota of tower sites provided by ATC each year. And if it hit that quota, ATC would give Airtel a nice financial bonus. Now, Atlas Towers wasn’t happy about this arrangement. It argued that with this sweet deal in place, Airtel would be less likely to go to other tower providers, like themselves. This, in turn, could lock out competitors and make ATC the go-to choice for Airtel. So, CAK stepped in to investigate. It looked into whether Airtel and ATC were abusing their positions in the market. But here’s the kicker: after digging into it, it found that neither Airtel nor ATC were dominating their respective markets. Kenyan rules require you to control at least half of the market to be considered dominant. But in this case, Airtel had 0.93% of the market share, and ATC had 38.81%. Long story short, since neither Airtel nor ATC had that kind of market dominance, CAK had to close the case. It just didn’t meet the criteria for unfair play. Join 30,000 subscribers who receive Techpoint Digest, a fun week-daily 5-minute roundup of happenings in African and global tech, directly in your inbox, hours before everyone else. Did you know that the term “telecommuting” was first coined by Jack Nilles in 1973? He used it to describe the use of technology to work remotely from a location other than the traditional office. In Africa, remote work started picking up thanks to improvements in tech and infrastructure. Better internet, smartphones, and digital tools made it possible for more folks across the continent to snag remote gigs. The COVID-19 pandemic played a big role too. Companies and organisations had to figure out how to keep things running while social distancing, so remote work became the go-to solution. This shift has brought some cool perks, like more flexibility for employees, less time spent commuting, and new opportunities for folks to work from pretty much anywhere in Africa, even in remote areas. But not everyone’s sold on remote work. Arinze Chinazom, founder of Autogirl, a mobility startup, recently talked about considering moving her team away from remote work because she found it ineffective. People had different opinions on this, with some questioning the company’s work processes and others saying it’s not fair to judge all remote workers based on one experience. To dive deeper into the debate, Oluwanifemi got insights from four tech startup leaders, and their perspectives are pretty interesting. You can check them out here. Imtiaz Patel is sticking around as the chair of MultiChoice, despite previous plans to step down. The company announced it to shareholders yesterday morning. The South African payTV company said Patel agreed to stick around to help navigate the buyout offer from Groupe Canal+, the French media giant. It’s a bit of a change of plans because back in September last year, MultiChoice said Patel was going to step down. Elias Masilela was supposed to take over as chair from April 1, 2024. But now, Patel will stay until the Canal+ deal is sorted out. On April 1, 2024, Masilela became the Deputy Chair and the Lead Independent Director. That’s because Jim Volkwyn is stepping down from that role but staying on as a non-executive director. The Takeover Regulation Panel recently said Canal+ has to make a mandatory offer to buy MultiChoice since it acquired over 35% of the company’s shares. Canal+ offered R105 per share for the rest of MultiChoice, but MultiChoice turned it down. Now Canal+ has upped the offer to R125 per share. Well, the French media company has until April 8 to make the buyout offer. Well, trust me to keep you updated on the latest. Zeepay, a Ghanaian fintech, just scored a $3 million investment from Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund, the VC’s fourth investment in Zeepay in over two years. Zeepay has been around for ten years and has raised over $23 million since it started. With this new investment, it’s gearing up for some growth in 2024. The company has licences in Ghana, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Barbados. Plus, it specialises in remittance termination into mobile wallets, and it’s open to all networks and partners because it’s not a telco mobile money operator. It has a pretty big team, with over 200 employees and offices in Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. And get this: it’s already operating in 23 countries as of 2022! Andrew Takyi-Appiah, the Managing Director of Zeepay, was stoked about this new investment from Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund. He mentioned how happy they are to have Verdant on board as their new shareholder. Have a terrific Thursday! Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
Airtel Tower deal cleared after probe
Be the smartest in the room
Startup founders’ opinions about remote work
MultiChoice Chair isn’t stepping down…yet
Zeepay’s $3 million funding
In case you missed it
What I’m reading and watching
Opportunities
Airtel Tower deal cleared after probe
