Pan-African mobile operator, MTN, has officially launched its 5G network in Zambia, after beginning a test run in January, making the country the third in Africa after previous launches South Africa in June 2020 and in Nigeria in September 2022.

The 5G services which will run commercially in six Zambian cities, according to MTN Group’s President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, will help transform businesses and livelihoods in the southern African nation.

“5G can transform business and livelihoods beyond simple connectivity, with the potential to unlock many new use cases. In Zambia, we see great opportunities across many sectors, and in the mining industry in particular,” Mupita said at the launch on Friday.

MTN Zambia CEO, Bart Hofker, said the 5G services had been activated to cover about 65% of the population in the cities of Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola, and parts of Chingola, Solwezi and Kalumbila, which translates into about 15% of the overall population of the country.

“We plan to reach 100% 5G coverage in Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola by the middle of 2023, while gradually expanding the 5G network to other locations,” Hofker said.

“MTN’s 5G is a fifth-generation mobile network technology which offers faster speeds, lower latency, better security and stability and the ability to handle high-volume connections and mobile data. It can connect virtually everything, including machines, vehicles and robots,” he added.

The launching of the network in Lusaka, the country’s capital, was witnessed by Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, along with top government ministers and representatives of the telecoms regulator and the Central Bank governor

Nigerian fintech startup, Pivo, has successfully secured a $2 million seed funding to expand its existing offerings for its customers as well as build new ones to improve transaction management and payment reconciliation for supply chains.

The company started in 2021 by Ijeoma Akwiwu and Nkiru Amadi-Emina is targeted at businesses that deal with import, export, manufacture, distribution and retail of FMCG, logistics and haulage, and clearing and forwarding.

Pivo which began with three main products, Pivo Capital, Pivo Finance, and Pivo Plus, offers access to insurance, corporate compliance and tax regulation support.

The company, in a statement on Friday by Amadi-Emina, said the $2 million seed funding round which comes from Precursor Ventures, Vested World, Y Combinator, FoundersX and Mercy Corp Ventures, will be used to upgrade existing products and build new ones as the company plans to establish its presence outside Nigerian to East Africa, and grow its team.

“After our pre-seed raise of US$550,000 early in Q1 of this year, we launched a new product, Pivo Business, with features that supply chain SMEs can use to achieve better cash flow,” Amadi-Emina said.

“The transaction volume of Pivo Business accounts grew by over 400 per cent between April and September. With this funding, we intend to build on existing products and develop solutions for supply chain anchors,” she added.