This archive report was first published on 29 August 2021.
Facebook Pitches in With Marketplace in a 37-Country Roll-Out ¶
Facebook has rolled out its Marketplace platform to 37 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, aiming to organize the region's informal e-commerce sector.
Sub-Saharan Africa's e-commerce sector is messy and not as big as Amazon, but it's growing. People in many countries use Facebook and WhatsApp to buy and sell things, often paying cash at the door. Facebook's Marketplace tries to organize this process, making it easier for buyers to find what they're looking for.
Initially, Marketplace was rolled out in big African online markets like South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. This week, it has been rolled out to another 37 countries, including Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, and many others.
Meanwhile, Jumia, a leading e-commerce platform in the region, has announced its second-quarter 2021 results. The company has cut back on advertising and is now adopting a 'full funnel' approach, which includes more brand awareness campaigns on Facebook. However, this move may make Jumia's road to profitability harder, as Facebook is both a competitor on marketplace activity and a winner on advertising spend.
On a separate note, Vodacom Tanzania has appointed Sitho Mdlalose as its new Managing Director, replacing Hisham Hendi. Liquid Intelligent Technologies has launched a direct connection to the USA through a POP in Miami via a South Atlantic subsea cable. African payments company pawaPay has secured a $9m Seed raise, which will be used to scale its operational presence and expand into new markets.
Unitel has launched a mobile money service in Angola, called Unitel Money, which allows users to send, receive, and deposit money. The service has around 1,000 agents throughout the country and aims to reach three million users in the short term and five million users in four years.
The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has warned local cellco MTN that sanctions will be taken unless it improves its quality of service (QoS). The watchdog has issued an enforcement notice ordering the operator to solve all network connection issues related to poor calls connections, drop calls, and silent/garbled-speech calls.
South Africa's Competition Commission has given its unconditional approval to the merger of ISPs Afrihost and Cool Ideas, stating that the proposed transaction is unlikely to result in a substantial prevention or lessening of competition in any relevant markets.
