Namaskar,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Airtel Zambia to pay up customers for poor network
- Starlink’s plans to expand in SA hit a snag
- Startbutton expands into 7 Francophone countries
Airtel Zambia to pay up customers for poor network
Airtel Zambia is in hot water after a weekend network outage left users stranded, and now the country’s telecoms regulator, ZICTA, is making them pay up.
The February 2, 2025 outage lasted over three hours and hit multiple regions, including Lusaka and several provinces. Now, Airtel Zambia has to compensate all affected customers, with the total payout adding up to 4 million Zambian kwacha (about $142,500).
On top of that, ZICTA has ordered Airtel Zambia to upgrade its network infrastructure — especially its data centres — by February 28, 2025, to prevent future issues. The company must also put systems in place to ensure better service reliability going forward. ZICTA made it clear that they’re keeping a close eye on things and won’t hesitate to take action if customers keep experiencing network failures.
Airtel Zambia quickly sent out an apology, letting users know that services were back up and running. But this isn’t the first time the company has been fined for poor network quality — similar outages at the end of 2023 already forced them to compensate customers.
And it’s not just Zambia. Telecom regulators across Africa have been cracking down on poor service quality. In August 2023, Airtel Chad got slapped with a $8.3 million fine for deteriorating network performance. That same year, Cameroon’s regulator fined all four of its mobile operators $9.8 million combined for bad network service.
Over in Togo, Moov Africa Togo and Togocom were warned in June 2023 to step up their game or face penalties. Togocom had already been fined $3.7 million in 2022 for failing to provide uninterrupted mobile service. That same year, Orange Guinea was hit with a $1.1 million fine after a major outage left customers without service for over 30 hours.
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With regulators tightening the screws on telcos, it’s clear that poor network quality won’t be tolerated. As for Airtel Zambia, it’ll have to make serious improvements — or risk facing even bigger penalties in the future.
Starlink’s plans to expand in SA hit a snag
Starlink’s plans to expand in South Africa have hit a snag as the company has pulled out of regulatory hearings run by ICASA, the country’s telecom regulator.
According to an ICASA spokesperson, SpaceX — Starlink’s parent company — sent a notice on Wednesday evening, saying they wouldn’t be participating. This announcement came just hours after SpaceX representatives were a no-show for their scheduled presentation that morning.
ICASA started these hearings to get feedback from the industry on a proposed licensing framework for satellite services. They’re looking to set up a registration process for international operators who want to provide services in South Africa, either directly or through local partners.
Even though Starlink is already available in SA, it doesn’t have the official go-ahead yet. The biggest issue? South Africa’s rule that foreign operators need to have at least 30% local ownership. SpaceX isn’t happy about this, calling it a major hurdle that effectively shuts out companies like Starlink. They also pointed out that their global policy doesn’t allow for local shareholding, making it impossible for them to comply.
Things have taken a political turn as well. On Tuesday, Elon Musk stirred the pot by calling South Africa’s ownership laws “openly racist” in a social media post, sparking heated debates over the country’s B-BBEE policies and the new Expropriation Act. The issue even caught the eye of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who decided to skip the upcoming G20 summit in SA, citing concerns about land reform.
While all this is going on, MultiChoice has made it clear that they want no part in the satellite licensing drama. During the ICASA hearings, the company said they don’t see how the new rules would impact satellites that are already in orbit and functioning well.
DStv, which relies on Intelsat for its satellite services, has been doing this for a long time. Willington Ngwepe, a former ICASA CEO now handling regulatory affairs at MultiChoice, argued that any new regulations should stick to the Electronic Communications Act (ECA). He added that launching satellites is already expensive, so adding more red tape could make things even harder for businesses in the industry.
Startbutton expands into 7 Francophone countries
Startbutton, a Merchant of Record (MoR) service that helps businesses expand across Africa, is making moves into seven Francophone countries — Benin, Togo, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, and Cameroon, per Condia.
This brings the company’s reach to 15 African markets, including Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
Why does this matter? Well, Francophone Africa is becoming a hot business destination. With over 300 million people and strong trade ties to Europe (especially France), the region is full of opportunities for companies looking to grow.
But cross-border payments and regulations can be a headache, which is where Startbutton’s MoR model comes in — it helps businesses sell, accept payments in local currencies, and handle compliance without needing to set up local offices.
Startbutton was founded in 2023 by Malick Bolakale (ex-Paystack compliance lead) and Kelechi Oti (ex-Microsoft engineer). The startup, backed by Norrsken, already supports over 100 merchants across 25 countries, covering industries like travel, fintech, gaming, and eCommerce.
Why Francophone Africa? For Bolakale, this is a high-potential market with way less competition than Anglophone Africa. He sees a big opportunity in the region’s trade links with Europe and its need for better payment solutions.
How’s Startbutton different? There are already companies like dLocal handling cross-border payments in Africa, but Startbutton is playing the long game by focusing on compliance too.
Bolakale puts it this way: “We’re not just helping businesses process payments — we’re making sure they can actually operate legally and meet tax and regulatory requirements.” And that’s a big deal, because Francophone Africa is known for its complex bureaucracy and tax rules that can slow businesses down.
What’s next? This expansion is part of Startbutton’s bigger plan to become the go-to infrastructure for businesses in Africa — not just for payments, but for navigating the tricky world of business expansion.
In case you missed them
What I’m watching
Opportunities
- Lendsqr is looking for a Sales Manager. Apply here.
- MTN is hiring for several positions. Apply here.
- PalmPay is looking for an asset officer. Apply here.
- Vesti is hiring a Sales Executive. Apply here.
- FairMoney is looking for Business Operations Manager. Apply here.
- Paga is hiring for several roles, including CRO, Treasury Manager, and Doroki Growth Manger. Apply here.
- Meta is looking for a Public Policy Manager in Anglophone West Africa. Apply here.
- MasterCard is hiring a Manager for Product Management in Emerging Markets Acceptance Solutions. Apply here.
- AltSchool Africa is hiring several instructors. Apply here.
- Moniepoint is hiring for several roles. Apply here.
- Celebrate the New Year with delightful stories like Smart Couples. Call 421 on your Airtel line now — you won’t be charged! Alternatively, call 07080601391 at your network’s regular rate. Learn more here.
- Follow Techpoint Africa’s WhatsApp channel to stay on top of the latest trends and news in the African tech space here.
Have a fun weekend!
