Satellite operator Sateliot, which says it is the first company to operate a  constellation of 5G NB-IoT satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), has formalised a collaboration agreement with UNESCO Santiago, the regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Funke Opeke, founder and CEO of Nigerian internet connectivity giant MainOne, has stepped down from her role after 14 years – two years after digital infrastructure business Equinix bought her company, albeit news reports indicate that the completion of MainOne’s full integration with Equinix, was more recent, taking place this month.

Mastercard announced on Tuesday it has launched Mastercard Pay Local, a new global service that enables digital wallet users in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa to pay locally when they travel.

Saudi Arabian telco Mobily and Telecom Egypt announced on Monday that they have signed a cooperation deal to land the first subsea cable directly linking Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

While Nigerian plans to open up the market to many new MVNOs are not necessarily guaranteed success, they have certainly been good for Wireless Technology Labs (WTL), which recently announced that it had been chosen by MobileCoreX Ltd (MCX), a Nigerian mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE), to spearhead the development of the country’s first mobile virtual network.

State-owned operator Ethio Telecom has officially expanded its commercial 5G network in southern Ethiopia, as the operator continues to deploy fifth-generation technology.

Recently in the news for a strategic partnership with Jaza Energy to deploy solar-powered hubs at 250 towers in underserved communities across Nigeria, IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of the IHS Towers group, has now made headlines with another solar-related contribution: the donation of four solar-powered boreholes to support victims of recent floods in Maiduguri, Borno State.

As the digital landscape evolves, ZTE Corporation, a global leader in information and communication technology solutions, reaffirms its leadership with the launch of its latest G6 server series at annual 5G Summit & User Congress 2024 in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Global digital operator Veon said on Friday that its unit Beeline Uzbekistan has developed and launched an AI-powered super app called Hambi for all mobile users in the country.  

Governments in Mozambique and Mauritius have reportedly shut down access to social media and messaging sites, as Mozambique deals with election protests while Mauritius is trying to control the fallout of an alleged wiretapping scandal.

El Salvador aims to enhance its digital government services with the help of a $60 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which partners with the public sector in the Latin America and Caribbean region to design and provide innovative, high-impact solutions for sustainable and inclusive development.

UAE-headquartered telecom and digital services provider du has this week announced two major deals: one, with tech giant Ericsson, relating to 5G network expansion and another, with strategy and consulting company Accenture, linked to IT application development and maintenance.

Brazilian neutral network and digital infrastructure company V.tal, recently in the news thanks to its interest in troubled operator Oi Brasil’s fibre broadband base, is now making headlines through an indoor 5G deal for Brazilian shopping centres.

The Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST), the Saudi Arabian communications authority established to regulate, monitor and empower the communications and IT sector, has granted a licence to provide specialised wireless telecommunication services to Aramco Digital.

Millicom International Cellular, a provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America, has announced a tower sale agreement with SBA Communications Corporation (SBA), an independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata says it has added a café to its metaverse platform “Futureverse” via a collaboration agreement with Sri Lanka’s largest café chain Barista.

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (NTRA) said it has signed an agreement with the government’s Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) to create a joint digital platform designed to resolve complaints about telecom services more quickly.

Brazil-based digital bank platform Nubank announced plans on Tuesday to join Brazil's increasingly crowded mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space in a bid to expand its portfolio beyond financial services.

Global communications solutions provider iBasis said on Tuesday it has signed an deal with Peruvian mobile operator Claro Perú to implement its A2P messaging gateway solution.

Thai Airways and Turkish Airlines have signed on for Airbus HBCplus Ka-band satellite-supported broadband in-flight connectivity.

A flurry of deals and agreements underlines the continuing competition for a piece of the still-growing digital payment market in Africa. Some of the big names in the frame in two of the most recent announcements are Standard Bank, Volante Technologies, Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) and Mastercard.

UAE-based operator e& International revealed on Monday it has signed an MoU with Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and Intel to achieve Level 4 autonomy in all of its mobile networks by 2030, with backing from TM Forum.

American Tower (ATC), a provider of digital communications infrastructure, and ProFuturo, a digital education programme promoted by the Telefonica Foundation and Spanish not-for-profit banking foundation la Caixa Foundation, have jointly announced the expansion of their alliance to Nigeria to foster digital inclusion in schools in Africa.

Huawei’s technology is revolutionising the energy sector in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia—two nations committed to achieving ambitious clean energy goals. At GITEX Global in Dubai, Andy Ding, Solution Vice President of Huawei Electric Power Digitalisation Business Unit, and Dr Moustafa Abdelhady M Shahin, Smart grid expert, discussed the rapid digitalisation of Dubai’s power grid, the role of smart infrastructure, the challenges of renewable integration, and other key issues.

The GSMA predicts that telecom reforms that spurred investment in mobile technology could add over ETB1.3 trillion (US$10. 3 billion) to Ethiopia’s GDP by 2028.

Odata, a Brazilian provider of data centre services for Latin America that is controlled by US group Aligned Data Centres, is reportedly investing US$1.3 billion to develop two more data centres in Colombia.

Costa Rican regulator Sutel has reportedly restarted the country’s 5G spectrum auction process, following the dismissal by The Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) of most of the objections of Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (Grupo ICE), the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider.

Airtel Africa reported customer base and profit growth, but continued to grapple with currency devaluation on the continent as revenues and EBITDA declined.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix announced it has opened its first International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in South Africa, and is already onboarding new customers and partners.

According to industry body the GSMA, 43% of the global population still does not use mobile internet, highlighting device affordability and digital skills as the main barriers.

Ethio Telecom is back in the news – this time via plans to launch a smart city project in Bahir Dar, capital city of the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia, following the deployment of commercial 5G services.

Orange once again highlighted the “outstanding performance” of its Africa and Middle East unit, which led growth in its third-quarter financial results.