TechCabal Daily – Kenyan ISPs feel the pinch
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Welcome to March! Fourteen years after acquiring Skype, Microsoft has announced it will discontinue the video-calling platform in May. The company is shifting its focus to Microsoft Teams, its in-house platform. Since launching in 2017, Teams has grown from just 2 million users to an impressive 320 million daily active users. The 2020 lockdown was a turning point for video-conferencing platforms like Teams and Zoom, as Skype faded into the background, becoming a relic of a bygone internet age. In other news, Nigeria’s food delivery industry is cooking up new players unafraid to go where big names like Chowdeck and Glovo will not: hyperlocal. We covered ten exciting startups that are jazzing up the food delivery industry. MTN receives $21.2 million in owed debts from banks ISPs affected in the Kenya Power, Nairobi county squabble Kenya’s inflation rises, but risks remain World Wide Web 3 Events Telecoms MTN receives $21.2 million in owed debts from banks Image Source: Google Nigerian banks and telecom operators may not see eye to eye on the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) charges, which have kept both parties locked in a disagreement for years, but MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest operator, will take any progress it can get. After years of stalled payments and regulatory interventions, MTN Nigeria has clawed back ₦32 billion ($21.2 million) from banks, a partial recovery of the ₦74 billion ($49.3 million) owed in USSD service charges. The intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the communications regulator, appears to be paying off—at least partially. In December 2024, the regulators ordered banks to pay 85% of their ₦250 billion ($166.3 million) debt to telcos before year-end or face fines and service restrictions. The crackdown forced banks to act, but not quickly enough for MTN, which still classifies the unpaid sum as “receivables” pending settlement in 2025. The recovered funds offer a much-needed cash flow boost, but they do little to offset MTN Nigeria’s deeper financial troubles. In 2024, the company reported an after-tax loss of ₦400.44 billion ($266.5 million)—nearly three times its ₦137.02 billion ($91.2 million) loss in 2023. The sharp decline stems from the naira’s depreciation, soaring tower lease costs, and mounting foreign currency obligations. Even with a 35.9% rise in service revenue to ₦3.3 trillion ($2.2 billion)—a record-breaking number for the operator—MTN Nigeria is still bleeding losses. The question on everyone’s minds seems to be whether the recently approved hike in telecom tariffs could help MTN strengthen its revenue streams. The telecom operator now charges higher for voice, data, and SMS services. This could help cushion the impact of rising operational costs and stabilise its financial books. As regulatory pressure continues to drive USSD debt repayment, banks are slowly settling their dues, while the telecom industry closely monitors the pace of compliance. Are you an Afincran? If you’re building solutions for Africa, you already are. Join Fincra’s mission to empower Africa through collaborative innovation. Together, we’re building the rails for an integrated Africa. Join the Afincran movement—let’s drive change! Telecoms ISPs affected in the Kenya Power, Nairobi county squabble Nairobi City Hall. IMAGE | NAIROBI COUNTY Blowbacks are a popular feature in disagreements. When two important parties clash, one of them is bound to suffer—or worse, an entirely unrelated group gets caught in the crossfire. Last week, Nairobi County officials and Kenya Power turned their dispute into a messy battle—one that featured a lot of sewage, garbage, and now, severed internet cables. Kenya Power claims the county government owes it $23.1 million (KES 3 billion) in unpaid electricity bills, while Nairobi officials counter that the utility giant has been dodging wayleave fees for years. It resulted in a cat-and-dog fight that saw county workers cut fibre optic cables carrying internet for thousands of Kenyan homes, businesses, and schools. The losers in this spat are not the warring factions but Kenya’s tech-driven economy and the affected citizens who depend on a stable internet. The Technology Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK) has slammed the county’s actions, warning of the disruption’s ripple effects across hospitals, financial institutions, and essential services. Kenyan internet service providers (ISPs) are already counting losses running into millions of Kenyan Shillings, according to TESPOK. Fixing severed fibre optic cables would require the affected ISPs to retrieve the broken cables and fix new ones. This could cost anywhere between KES5,500 ($42) to KES11,000 ($86) per kilometre—an expense the organisation deems would have been unnecessary. TESPOK insists that Kenya Power’s agreements with service providers protect ISPs from unlawful disconnections, making the county government’s move both reckless and costly. It is now demanding full accountability and compensation for businesses and consumers affected by the blackout. With the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) calling for a ceasefire, one thing is clear—this battle of unpaid bills has escalated beyond power lines and bureaucratic paperwork. If Nairobi’s leaders and Kenya Power don’t find common ground soon, the digital backbone of the city could take even more hits, leaving everyone else to pay the price. YouA startup’s guide to understanding data privacy Discover tactical tips for African startups on building a strong foundation for data privacy and protection. Learn more→ Economy Kenya’s inflation rises, but risks remain Image Source: Bloomberg Kenya’s inflation accelerated to a five-month high of 3.5% in February, up from 3.3% in January, driven by rising food and energy prices, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Despite the increase, inflation remains below the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) 5% midpoint target for the ninth consecutive month. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3% as the overall consumer price index increased from 142.68 in January to 143.12 in February. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food and fuel, remained stable at 2%, signaling weak demand-driven price pressures. However, non-core inflation surged to 8.2% from 7.1% in January, reflecting higher food prices—especially vegetables—due to seasonal factors. While inflation remains relatively low, the
Read MoreDear tech journalist, look beyond business updates
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Damilola Ayeni. Tech journalism today looks more like business reporting than storytelling. Funding rounds, acquisitions, expansions, and layoffs dominate the headlines everywhere you look. In recent months, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has appeared in tech and business papers for cutting its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 7.50%. This news, reported by platforms like Reuters, TechCabal, Bloomberg, and TechCentral, reflects the intertwined nature of business and technology reporting, but nearly every other tech story follows the same pattern. And that’s the problem. One can hardly tell a tech publication apart from a business paper just by reading its content. While business media naturally cover tech as part of the broader economy, tech media should not be stuck in this narrow frame. Reducing tech journalism to business updates is like reporting on food solely through the lens of agribusiness while ignoring its nutritional, cultural, and social dimensions. A consequence of this approach is that tech publications compete for the same audience of tech professionals and enthusiasts rather than expanding readerships by exploring intersections with culture, religion, agriculture, health, and everyday life. Technology is the application of scientific knowledge to solve human challenges. From the simple creation of a machete for farming to the complexity of artificial intelligence, it intersects with every area of human life. Within each intersection, there is evolution and conflict. Farming technology, for example, has evolved from machetes to chainsaws, lawnmowers, and fully automated harvesting machines. This evolution brings stories of progress, user adaptation, market competition, conflict of options, and the influence of external factors on tech choices. Take King Charles III’s recent opening of a new parliamentary session. The horse-drawn carriage was an early form of transport that evolved into modern automobiles. Yet, Charles chose it over the Bentleys and Rolls-Royces in his fleet. This single decision tells a tech story about the influence of tradition on innovation, about symbolic resistance to technological advancement, and about how even in an age of hypermodernity, legacy technologies persist. But who is telling these stories? Beyond the royal carriage, there are countless everyday examples of technology’s enduring intersections with culture. In Lagos, workers commute daily in age-defying Danfo buses, kept running by a hidden network of skilled mechanics. There are tech stories in the rise of YouTube churches and the digitisation of religious practices. There is a tech story in the polarised nature of public discourse on Nigerian X (formerly Twitter), sexual exploitation on social media platforms, and the real-world consequences of online misinformation. There is a tech story in the accidents caused by phone-distracted drivers and the migration of life onto smartphones. Even in the tech business, coverage doesn’t have to be dull. Patronising updates about funding rounds and acquisitions ignore the realities of corruption, data manipulation, and employee exploitation in the industry. Reporting on startup failures should go beyond statistics to explore their human cost—how does the collapse of 70% of Nigerian startups intersect with rising mental health challenges among young people, who are mostly the founders of these businesses? Journalists are also missing the intersection between technology and cultural shifts. Consider cancel culture, a phenomenon born out of digital connectivity. Social media is reshaping religious authority, as once-revered figures now face unprecedented scrutiny online. In today’s digital age, influence is no longer measured in church pews. Abel Damina, a pastor with a modest physical following, seems to command greater online authority than some of the general overseers of Nigeria’s largest mega-churches. Who’s telling the stories of those caught in the wheels of this change? Journalists themselves struggle to maintain relevance in an era where social media personalities command larger audiences than traditional media houses. Where is the story on how social media is eroding journalism’s influence and the everyday struggle of journalists for relevance? Technology is more than boardroom deals and venture capital. It is embedded in everyday life, shaping how people communicate, worship, move, and even think. Yet, tech journalism remains largely stagnant, trapped in business reports that fail to capture the full scope of its subject. In 2023, Twitter was a political force. It nearly delivered Nigeria a president in Peter Obi. But tech journalism largely ignored the story. How did social media shape the elections? How do online movements translate into real-world votes? Why didn’t Obi’s online dominance convert into an outright victory? These are the questions tech journalists should be asking. Maiduguri’s recent floods were devastating, yet tech journalists missed the human story. Many who were trapped likely used mobile phones to call for help. Some may have relied on WhatsApp groups, Twitter, or Facebook to coordinate rescue efforts. But did poor telecom infrastructure slow down emergency response? Did people turn to satellite technology or alternative networks when regular signals failed? These are real tech stories, but they don’t make it to the headlines. A publication that covers how social media is reshaping religious authority or how technology influences cultural practices isn’t just informing tech insiders; it’s attracting sociologists, policymakers, religious scholars, and everyday readers who see their lives reflected in these stories. With greater reach comes greater impact. And with greater impact come the metrics that attract advertisers and investors. A tech journalist has no business being stuck in spreadsheets and press releases when there’s a criminally under-explored content pool. If you’re a tech journalist, your beat isn’t just business; it’s everything. Go and tell those stories. _________ Damilola Ayeni is the former editor of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).
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