Kenya Launches 5G, Becomes Second African Country To Do So.

Safaricom, Kenya's leading mobile network operator, has gone live with its 5G network. This makes Kenya the second country in Africa after South Africa to tap into the 5G world. It has launched trials in the country for 5G, which is set to bring tons of opportunities to businesses and individual users.

For the trial, Safaricom intends for its 5G coverage to reach over 150 5G sites across 9 towns throughout this country. For now, it is available in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii, and Kakamega. The company hopes to gauge whether its network is strong enough to offer up to 700 megabits per second, and has plans to offer even more over the coming months.

5G can support about a million connected devices per square kilometer compared to the 100,000 devices the 4GLTE is capable of supporting in a similar area. This makes 5G a superior choice for super-fast internet speed in high-density areas and for connecting thousands of devices.

The 5G network is currently available to customers using Huawei Mate 30 Pro and P40 smartphones. By the end of April, however, it will be accessible to users of the Samsung Galaxy S21, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, and Nokia 8.3 smartphones.

This move by Safaricom is a very important step in the digitalization of the Kenyan economy. The CEO Peter Ndegwa expressed how proud Safaricom is to be the first in the country and region to bring this level of innovation to their customers.

Formed in 1997, Safaricom is easily one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central Africa region. Its services include mobile telephone services, e-commerce, data services, music streaming, and fiber optic services. It controls close to 64 percent of the Kenyan market. In the voice and SMS market, it controls about 56.8 percent and 95.5 percent respectively. It has a client base of about 33.1 million.

Vodafone Group PLC acquired a 40 percent stake in the company in 2000, and in 2008, 25 percent of its shares were made public on the Nairobi Securities Exchange by the government.

Ranked 67th in the world by Forbes on the list of 200 World Best Employers, Safaricom is one the best companies to work for in Africa.