NEC Africa has confirmed significant early-stage momentum in Uganda, marked by new ISP partnerships, active infrastructure deployments, and expanding enterprise cybersecurity opportunities driven by evolving regulatory requirements.
Geoffrey Karanja, key account manager at NEC Africa, says: “Uganda is an important market for us. We’ve made inroads and recently acquired a growing new ISP customer there.” The company recently secured a $75,000 contract with Savannah Uganda, an emerging internet service provider expanding 4G connectivity in Kampala and surrounding regions. The deployment features Juniper MX304 routing technology, enabling high-capacity network performance as the operator scales its subscriber base and regional footprint. Savannah Uganda, which currently serves approximately 50 000 users, is building toward broader East African expansion, with NEC Africa positioned as a key infrastructure partner.
Beyond the ISP segment, NEC Africa is also engaging with Uganda’s enterprise and financial services sector following new regulatory requirements from the Bank of Uganda, mandating that encryption systems and security infrastructure remain hosted within national borders.
This shift has created strong demand for hardware security modules (HSMs) and advanced encryption technologies, including NEC Africa’s “Utimaco” solution, designed to support secure data protection and compliance across banking institutions. Additional opportunities are emerging across Uganda’s ISP ecosystem, including Airtel Uganda, Robtelcom, Sprint, and new market entrants such as Revia, founded by former telecom leadership.
Karanja adds: “There is a lot of traction within that market from an internet penetration point of view and a lot of development happening across Uganda from an enterprise, SME and corporate connectivity perspective. NEC Africa continues to evaluate long-term opportunities in the country, with current activities managed through its East African hub in Nairobi, while assessing the possibility of a direct local presence based on market growth.”