Vodacom Mozambique is widely reported to be investing US$25 million in a new data centre in the country.

YouScribe, described as the largest digital reading library on the African continent with over one million subscribers, has announced the launch of its services in Ghana in partnership with mobile payment specialist Digital Virgo and operator MTN.

Chilean operator WOM filed for bankruptcy after it failed to refinance its US$348 million debt pile in November, due to challenging macroeconomic conditions. 

Saudi Arabian telco stc Group says it has partnered with Huawei Technologies to complete what they claim is the first long-haul 800G-per-channel trial on a live network in the MENA region.

Following yesterday's news that companies in Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire are being enabled to digitally boost their businesses, there’s news of another business-focused digital offering in Africa – this time in Morocco.

Global smartphone shipments are expected to rebound 3% to 1.2 billion units year-on-year in 2024, with emerging markets driving this growth according to analyst company Counterpoint Research. 

Zegtel, a new Nigerian mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has announced plans to invest about US$21.8 million over the next five years to expand mobile connectivity across the country.

Nokia announced on Wednesday that Pakistan Tier-1 carrier Transworld Associates (TWA) will use its optical transport solution to build a new optical network connecting Pakistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

Eviden, a leading name in digital, cloud, big data and security, has announce the opening of its new Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Monterrey, Mexico, to enable advanced cybersecurity services to organisations across North and South America.

Digital support for Africa’s MSMEs is again making headlines thanks to news stories about companies in Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire being enabled to digitally boost their businesses.

The London Internet Exchange (LINX), described as the UK’s leading peering community, has announced that pan-African network provider AFR-IX Telecom is the latest member network to join its new interconnection hub in Kenya – LINX Nairobi.

Select customers of Bangladesh state-owned telco Teletalk are reportedly now able to roam onto the network of rival telco Banglalink as part of a beta launch for a national roaming service to help Teletalk cope with availability problems.

CMC Networks announced on Tuesday it has launched its Air Connect solution in South Africa, which promises to deliver broadband wireless connectivity to businesses in remote and rugged environments.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal to sell its 50.1% indirect stake in mobile operator Beeline Kyrgyzstan to CG Cell Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of CG Corp Global.

A remittances-focused partnership has been announced that could see the expansion of M-Pesa, the continent’s leading mobile money and digital payments service, to West Africa.

Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, has signed an agreement to sell leading South African fibre network operator Octotel to a consortium of investors.

Telecom Egypt and Indian telecoms vendor Tejas Networks announced on Monday they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost telecoms R&D and manufacturing facilities in Egypt, as well as train up local skillsets.

Ericsson and du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (EITC), announced on Monday that they have leveraged carrier aggregation to achieve a download speed of up to 16.7 Gbps on du’s 5G standalone (SA) network.

Turkcell, the largest mobile operator in Turkey, has said it aims to ramp up investment this year as it plans for a new data centre and infrastructure for 5G services.

Nigeria has called for a coordinated and multilateral approach by the West African region to protect shared telecommunications infrastructure and diversify connectivity to ensure uninterruptible connections – with particular reference to submarine cables.

Eutelsat Group says it has signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal with African ICT integrator NEC XON to supply connectivity capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa via Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite constellation.

Nokia announced on Sunday it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Bahrain operator Batelco, part of the technology-focused Beyon Group, to deliver mission-critical private 5G networks across Bahrain.

UPDATED: Telkom South Africa confirmed the sale of its tower unit Swiftnet for ZAR 6.75 billion (US$355 million) to infrastructure-focused private equity firm Actis, a move to pay down debts and balance its books. 

Telecom Egypt says it has added European fibre backbone and transatlantic subsea cable infrastructure provider EXA Infrastructure to its WeConnect ecosystem in its latest move to establish Egypt as a major regional interconnection hub.

A roadmap for a 5G launch and the system for granting licenses and marketing the service were announced by Tunisa’s Minister of Communication Technologies Nizar Ben Neji earlier this week.

Given the recent damage to many of the subsea cables that provide connectivity to Africa, major connectivity providers have been swift to respond.

Less than two years after it announced the launch of commercial 5G services across several regions of the country, operator WOM Chile is having to refinance US$348 million in debt due this year – and hasn’t yet made it clear how this will happen.

Is Ghana accelerating the pace of satellite internet licensing in response to the disruption caused by the widely reported subsea cable damage off the coast of West Africa?

Vodacom South Africa confirmed up to 80 members of staff might be let go in a move to lower costs and continue its strategy to transition from a telecoms to technology company. 

The mobile money market matured as transaction value grew by 14% to US$1.4 trillion and total global registered accounts reached 1.75 billion in 2023, an increase of 12% year-on-year.

Hormuud Telecom launched 5G in key locations across Somalia with 4G customers receiving free upgrades to the next generation technology starting from today (March 21).