Vodafone launches in Uganda

By Samuel Sanya

British based Telecom Company - Vodafone has signed a deal with broadband company, Afrimax, to provide voice and data services under the Vodafone Uganda brand to increase its presence in the country and on the continent.

Under the non-equity framework agreement, Vodafone and Afrimax will explore potential Partner Market opportunities in a variety of territories in sub-Saharan Africa.

Vodafone is the world’s second largest telecom with 434 million subscribers, capital worth £89.1b (about sh382trillion) and revenues of £38.34b (about sh164 trillion) according to financials released in March this year.

Analysts predict that the entry of Vodafone Uganda will lead to a spike in competition with existing telecoms MTN, Airtel, Smart, Smile and Orange resulting in price reductions.

The framework agreement expands Vodacom Group’s operations in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique.

Stefano Gastaut, the Vodafone Partner Markets Chief Executive said: “Uganda is an attractive market and we are delighted to welcome Afrimax to our successful Partner Markets community, which already operates in more than fifty countries.

“We look forward to exploring the potential for further partner market agreements in sub-Saharan Africa with Afrimax, under our framework cooperation agreement.

Peter Langkilde, the Afrimax management, Chief Executive Officer and Rob Philpott, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) said: “The partnership with Vodafone solidifies our ongoing plans to be a leading provider of high speed network services in sub-Saharan Africa.”