Africell – A pan-African success story
Across the region, Africell is delivering business solutions and investing in cultural and societal projects. In 2021, Africell sponsored the inaugural Congo River Marathon and partnered with the National Museum of the DRC to invest in African Arts and Culture. In recent years, Africell has also rolled out RCS to enable secure, branded business messaging.
The pan-African mobile network operator is focusing on delivering positive outcomes for customers. Their provision of affordable, accessible, and excellent telecom products and services is supporting better socio-economic outcomes in countries where they operate. The challenge is considerable in the DRC, one of the world’s poorest nations.
Mining in Mudere mine under control of Nyatura militia, town of Rubaya, North Kivu region (Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa.
Astonishingly, the DRC supplies over 40% of the tantalum needed to produce smartphones. Yet, mobile phones are expensive in the DRC. On average, 29.49% of a person’s income goes on their phone, compared to 5.3% in the rest of the world.
DRC’s digital transformation is accelerating, helping to grow the economy and improve lives. The government plans to extend mobile internet from 32.2% as of June 2025 to 90% of households by 2050. Despite obstacles, such as conflicts and political events, and thanks to Africell and like-minded businesses, progress is still being made.
Africell has gone live with a combined NetEngage online charging system (OCS) and a Squire Technologies’ Interworking Function (IWF). Africell’s project enhances connectivity, avoids huge network overhaul costs, and leverages legacy infrastructure.
The OCS’s up-to-date rating and charging support next-generation voice, SMS, and data demands. Using the OCS, Africell can leverage differential tariff capabilities, optimising its core networks, releasing untapped revenues, and giving customers cost-effective access to services they love.
Squire Technologies’ IWF translates and converts between multiple standards and protocols, creating a future-proof, flexible network structure. The IWF’s forward-and-backwards compatibility works with NetEngage’s OCS to seamlessly converge Africell’s multigeneration network.
Together, the IWF and OCS utilise existing infrastructure, letting Africell reach more customers at a lower cost. Effectively, more citizens will benefit from improved access to education, healthcare, job opportunities, government services, and digital financial services, and additional contract options.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Africell and Squire Technologies again and bringing change to the lives of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
Karel van der Lecq, Head of Sales at NetEngage.
“Only 0.032% of internet connections are via landline in the DRC. So, mobile connectivity is essential for people to get access to the opportunities that can change their lives. We’re proud to play a small role in the vital digital transformation that Africell is doing to improve people’s lives throughout Africa”.
Ben Teversham, Business Manager at Squire Technologies.
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Sigla brings a homogenous layer to the management and operation of multi-generation networks, freeing operators from the burden of managing multiple core networks, and reducing network complexity and operating costs.