The continuing advances made by insurance services into the mobile communications sphere are illustrated by new insurance-related partnerships in two very different markets: Uganda and Jordan.

Zain KSA announced on Thursday it has commenced commercial rollout of Saudi Arabia’s first 5G-Advanced network, starting in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia's Al Moammar Information Systems Company (MIS), an IT solutions provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Fransi Capital, acting on behalf of Saudi Data Centre Fund 1, to study the development of three data centres across Saudi Arabia.

e& UAE announced on Monday it is partnering with cloud, AI infrastructure and digital services specialist Core42 to deliver sovereign, on-demand GPU infrastructure to enterprise and government customers in the UAE.

Telecom Egypt announced on Thursday it has scrapped a deal to sell a majority stake in its Regional Data Center Hub (RDH) to Helios Investment Partners, opting instead to carve out RDH as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Schneider Electric says it has landed a deal with technology and connectivity investment group T964 to provide power and cooling infrastructure for T964’s planned Tier III data centre in Iraq.

The UAE-headquartered operator group e& is selling its 16.21% stake in Vodafone Group to Vega, an acquisition vehicle wholly owned by the family of French billionaire Xavier Niel, for £4.4 billion (US$5.95 billion).

Operator Vodafone says is trialling energy-saving 5G technology in Turkey, using new radio antennas and advanced engineering designed to boost performance and resilience while saving power.

Saudi telco Zain KSA said on Tuesday it’s collaborating with open-source solutions provider Red Hat to make its internal digital backbone ready to support AI app development and deployment across its businesses.

A new partnership has been announced that will build sovereign AI data centre infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

Zain Group, a Kuwaiti mobile telecommunications company operating in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa and serving 51.2 million customers, has been awarded a 25-year licence to operate the former MTN mobile telecom network in Syria.

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between French aerospace and defence corporations Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has announced the signing of a contract with Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, to develop a new-generation software-defined satellite.

This week will see Tunisian plans to make mobile IDs mandatory for investment project declarations come into force.

Jordan’s Department of Statistics and operator Orange Jordan have signed a technical and institutional cooperation agreement under which the company will develop and implement the software system and digital solutions supporting the 2026 General Population and Housing Census project.

Wego, which claims to be the number one travel app and the largest online travel marketplace in the MENA region, has announced a strategic partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

Asiacell announced on Tuesday it has become the first telecoms company in Iraq to successfully implement IPv6 Dual Stack technology.

Dubai-based telecom and digital services provider du says it has become the telco partner of SME in a Box, a flagship initiative by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and Dubai SME.

Egypt has approved a US$400 million data centre project to boost the country’s cloud infrastructure, granting a license to a company called Hassan Allam Digital Infrastructure and Data Centre Solutions to establish and operate data centres and provide cloud computing services.

Operator Orange Jordan, on behalf of Orange Money, has announced a new strategic partnership with insurance company MetLife to provide seamless access to insurance solutions via an e-wallet application, giving users tailored, digital coverage designed around their needs.

Dubai Digital Authority, which leads the modernisation of digital infrastructure in the emirate, and technology giant Ericsson have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore collaboration on digital initiatives that support Dubai’s digital ambitions.

Omantel announced on Wednesday it is partnering with the Port of Salalah to deploy a managed private 5G network that will support the port’s ongoing automation program.

The global gender gap in mobile internet adoption narrowed slightly in 2025 according to new figures from the GSMA, but low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remain behind the curve, with 810 million women still offline, compared to 595 million men.

Digital infrastructure provider Vertiv announced on Monday it has signed a framework agreement to develop AI-ready data centre infrastructure across the GCC region, starting with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

A number of important initiatives have been announced in recent days aimed at enhancing digital connectivity in West and North Africa.

Financial brand Telda and payments giant Mastercard have joined forces to introduce a new integrated solution in Egypt, seamlessly connecting everyday payments and investment wallets within the Telda app, marking what they call a major step towards a fully unified digital ecosystem.

Ooredoo announced its latest spinoff on Thursday with the launch of Al Abraj, a new standalone company that will independently operate and manage Ooredoo Qatar’s passive tower infrastructure assets in the country.

Orange announced on Wednesday that the France-to-Tunisia route of the Medusa Submarine Cable System – dubbed “ViaTunisia” – is now operational, establishing a new digital link between Europe and North Africa.

Ooredoo Qatar announced on Sunday it has established what it claims is the first quantum-safe communications link in Qatar in collaboration with Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HKBU) and the Ministry of Defense.

Global operator Sparkle announced on Thursday it has signed three new capacity agreements to expand the reach of European research and education network operator GÉANT across Europe, Africa and MENA.

Bahrain-headquartered global technology group Beyon has announced the signing of a public private partnership (PPP) commitment agreement with the Ministry of Communications in Kuwait and the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP).

Arab Financial Services (AFS), a leading digital payments and fintech enabler in the Middle East and Africa region, has announced a strategic partnership with Libyan Islamic Bank (LIB) to accelerate the modernisation of Libya’s payment landscape.

Global digital infrastructure company Colt Technology Services said on Monday it has added a new point of presence (PoP) in Istanbul, Turkey, to meet growing demand for infrastructure capacity to support AI workloads and enterprise digital transformation plans.