South Africa Archives

COMESA clears Vodacom Safaricom 55% stake East Africa telecoms 2026

4 minute read

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake: What 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

UphivaBETAR
April 12, 2026

COMESA’s unconditional clearance of Vodacom’s Safaricom stake increase — raising ownership to 55% — marks the first time a South African telco holds majority control of East Africa’s dominant operator. BETAR analyses the strategic, regulatory, and market implications.

View Post

Africa R&D spending vs Kigali Declaration 1% GDP commitment — country comparison chart 2026

Research

2 views
6 minute read

The 1% Promise: Which African Governments Are Meeting the Kigali R&D Commitment — and What the Gap Costs the Continent

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

Nineteen years after African Union heads of state pledged to spend 1% of GDP on R&D, fewer than five countries are close. A BETAR.africa data analysis of what the gap costs Africa’s AI and deep-tech pipeline.

View Post

Africa offshore wind energy — zero commissioned capacity despite 100GW of announced projects across the continent

Technology

2 views
6 minute read

Africa Offshore Wind: Zero Commissioned Capacity Despite 100GW Announced Projects

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

Africa has extraordinary offshore wind resources and precisely zero commissioned megawatts — an investigation into the regulatory, financing, and infrastructure barriers blocking the continent’s highest-potential energy source.

View Post

Africa offshore wind: 100GW announced, zero commissioned — the structural barriers blocking the continent's highest-potential energy source

2 views
6 minute read

Africa Offshore Wind: Zero Commissioned Capacity Despite 100GW Announced Projects

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

Africa has extraordinary offshore wind resources and precisely zero commissioned megawatts. An investigation into the regulatory, financing, and infrastructure barriers blocking the continent’s highest-potential energy source.

View Post

Africa's global music export premium: Afrobeats and Amapiano royalty economics, label deals, and revenue flows

2 views
6 minute read

Africa’s Global Music Export Premium: The Revenue Map Behind Afrobeats and Amapiano’s International Breakthrough

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

Africa’s two most commercially successful music exports generated an estimated .1 billion in international revenue in 2025 — but how much returns to Africa? BETAR maps the royalty structures, label deal economics, and Amapiano’s distinct distributor-led model.

View Post

Afrobeats global export economy: streaming royalties, label deal structures, and what African artists actually keep

2 views
5 minute read

The Afrobeats Export Premium: How Africa’s Biggest Music Movement Monetises Abroad — and What Artists Actually Keep

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

When Afrobeats became a global force, the question wasn’t whether African music could travel — it was who would profit when it did. BETAR maps the streaming royalty gap, label deal structures, sync economics, and touring revenue flows.

View Post

Africa reality TV format economy — Big Brother Naija sponsorship, format fees, production economics

Creative Economy

2 views
9 minute read

Africa’s Reality TV Format Economy: Inside the Business of Big Brother Naija, Format Fees, and the Sponsor Arms Race

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

Big Brother Naija Season 9 headline sponsorship: N4 billion. Production cost: N5.5 billion. Implied margin: 50%. We map Africa’s reality TV format economy — who owns the IP, how sponsorship tiers work, and what the Idols SA cancellation signals.

View Post

Africa creator merchandise economy — Shopify take rates, production costs, cross-border fulfilment

Creative Economy

1 view
7 minute read

The Merch Gap: Why African Creators Leave Money on the Table With Physical Products

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

African creators command audiences that rival mid-tier Western creators. Yet physical merchandise revenue consistently underperforms. We map the cost stack: production MOQs, Shopify take rates, DHL shipping premiums, and the diaspora fulfilment problem.

View Post

Africa video game development studio economics — app store cuts, developer salaries, unit economics

Creative Economy

7 minute read

Building a Game Studio in Africa Costs $3,000 a Month. Publishing One Game Costs Three Times That.

UphivaBETAR
April 6, 2026

Africa has 349 million gamers. It has fewer than 200 commercially active game studios. The gap is a unit economics problem — app store fees, ARPU, bandwidth costs, and publisher deal structures all working against African developers.

View Post

South Africa ICASA spectrum auction 6GHz 5G 2026

3 views
6 minute read

South Africa’s Spectrum Auction Returns: The 6GHz Battleground That Will Define 5G

UphivaBETAR
April 4, 2026

ICASA is preparing its second major spectrum auction in five years, targeting six frequency bands. The contested 6GHz band has turned a routine licensing process into a regulatory fight.

View Post

South Africa

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake: What 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

The 1% Promise: Which African Governments Are Meeting the Kigali R&D Commitment — and What the Gap Costs the Continent

Africa Offshore Wind: Zero Commissioned Capacity Despite 100GW Announced Projects

Africa Offshore Wind: Zero Commissioned Capacity Despite 100GW Announced Projects

Africa’s Global Music Export Premium: The Revenue Map Behind Afrobeats and Amapiano’s International Breakthrough

The Afrobeats Export Premium: How Africa’s Biggest Music Movement Monetises Abroad — and What Artists Actually Keep

Africa’s Reality TV Format Economy: Inside the Business of Big Brother Naija, Format Fees, and the Sponsor Arms Race

The Merch Gap: Why African Creators Leave Money on the Table With Physical Products

Building a Game Studio in Africa Costs $3,000 a Month. Publishing One Game Costs Three Times That.

South Africa’s Spectrum Auction Returns: The 6GHz Battleground That Will Define 5G

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake: What 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

Airtel-Starlink Direct-to-Cell in Kenya: The End of the Coverage Excuse

Nigeria BRIDGE Fibre Rollout: How the World Bank’s Pay-for-Results Architecture Is Funding Africa’s Biggest Broadband Project

Nigeria BRIDGE Fibre Rollout: How the World Bank’s Pay-for-Results Architecture Is Funding Africa’s Biggest Broadband Project

GITEX Africa 2026 Day 2: STAR Summit — AI, Cybersecurity and Fintech Take Centre Stage

GITEX Africa 2026 Day 1: Africa’s AI Governance Moment Lands in Marrakech

Africa PE Exit Crisis 2026: $10B in Private Equity, Nowhere to Go

Q1 2026 Africa Tech Funding: What the Numbers Actually Say

Get Africa's tech & business briefing — free

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake: What 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

Airtel-Starlink Direct-to-Cell in Kenya: The End of the Coverage Excuse

Nigeria BRIDGE Fibre Rollout: How the World Bank’s Pay-for-Results Architecture Is Funding Africa’s Biggest Broadband Project

Nigeria BRIDGE Fibre Rollout: How the World Bank’s Pay-for-Results Architecture Is Funding Africa’s Biggest Broadband Project