The World Bank Group has approved the Digital Zambia Acceleration Project (DZAP), a project that aims to support Zambian government efforts to increase access to, and inclusive use of, the internet and digitally enabled services.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has agreed to fund a feasibility study for a plan to extend AFR-IX Telecom’s Medusa subsea cable along Africa’s western coastline.

Loc8 has reportedly entered Namibia’s 5G arena, aiming to launch its network in Q1 2026 after years of securing telecoms licences for both 4G and 5G spectrum.

Operator Airtel Chad is reportedly planning a XAF50 billion (about US$90 million) investment plan aimed at improving network quality and expanding digital connectivity across the country.

A scheduled upgrade to its M-Pesa mobile finance service, announced last week by Kenyan operator Safaricom, was successfully completed today. It has been described as the most significant upgrade of the M-Pesa platform since 2015.

Late last week, the Finance and Budgetary Control Committee of the National Assembly of Senegal adopted a bill taxing digital financial services, including mobile money transactions and merchant payments.

It’s been a busy week for ICT in Zambia with the approval of two new bills for the digital economy, a new strategic plan announced by Zambia's ICT regulator and the awarding of a World Bank grant that reports suggest may be used for digital infrastructure.

Ongoing efforts to make smartphones affordable to more Africans while still ensuring a margin for sellers are continuing. In fact, this week has seen an alliance between Africa’s best-known home-grown electronic marketplace and a financing group to encourage more Kenyans to buy smartphones.

There’s been an interesting new development in the ongoing story of the repositioning of Nigerian operator 9mobile as T2 Mobile. It involves a spectrum deal with one of the country’s leading operators, MTN Nigeria.

MTN Group is reportedly in discussions with US and European companies to develop the infrastructure needed to power AI services.

Cassava Technologies founder Strive Masiyiwa has announced plans to build five AI factories in Africa over the next 12 months.

According to local news reports, operator Vodacom Tanzania is planning a number of technology modernisation programmes likely to involve an outlay of more than US$100 million.

Airtel Zambia and tower company IHS Zambia are making good time on their plan with the Zambian government to expand network reach in Zambia, with 52 new telecoms towers expected to be up and running by the end of this month.

African digital payments network Onafriq said it has formed a strategic partnership with Visa to launch Visa Pay, a cloud-native Payments-as-a-Service platform designed to expand digital financial access across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Airtel Gabon and Moov Africa-Gabon Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to share digital infrastructure, which they say will improve connectivity and accelerate digital transformation in Gabon.

Vodacom pledged to invest ZAR435 million (US$25 million) into the Northern Gauteng Area of South Africa this financial year to meet growing connectivity demand.

Digital Parks Africa (DPA), a South African-owned data centre provider, has partnered with iXAfrica Data Centres, which owns and operates East Africa’s first hyperscale, AI-ready data centre in Kenya, to bring what the partners call world-class data centre services to Southern and East Africa.

Safaricom said on Tuesday it has launched two new tailored solutions aimed at ride-hailing drivers and boda boda operators (a.k.a. bicycle and motorcycle taxis) in Kenya that include connectivity, insurance and financial advice.

Open RAN (O-RAN) has long been touted as a disruptive technology in mobile infrastructure with the concept of splitting the RAN into three components, encouraging a more modular architecture that claims to improve operator bottom lines.

Around 3.1 billion people are not connected to the internet despite living in coverage areas, highlighting a massive global usage gap.

Industry body the GSMA has warned that a large connectivity usage gap is limiting Ghana’s economic potential.

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) announced on Monday it has signed a co-operative agreement with internet exchange incubator Asteroid to take over its interconnection operations in Kenya.

The Ghanaian government has reportedly appointed KPMG to advance plans to merge AT Ghana and Telecel in a bid to stem mounting losses from its acquisition of the former, while building a stronger rival to market leader MTN.

Can countries balance access to an undoubtedly popular and convenient service with an effective response to predatory lending practices, data abuse, high interest rates, and aggressive debt collection practices, to name only a few? That’s the question about digital lending that regulators in Kenya and Nigeria are trying to answer.

Digital payments giant Visa has announced the launch of Visa Pay, a mobile solution that provides access to digital payments and account-to-account money movement, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

There has been a flurry of announcements from Nigerian operator T2 Mobile in recent weeks. If that name doesn’t seem familiar, that may well be because until August the operator had been known as 9mobile. Here are a few brief updates.

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kaspersky Global, a leading name in cybersecurity, to strengthen Nigeria’s cybersecurity ecosystem. The agreement was formalised last week during IT exhibition and conference GITEX Nigeria 2025 in Lagos.

Vodacom Eastern Cape will invest more than ZAR400 million (US$22 million) in its network this financial year to expand coverage, boost capacity and extend connectivity to rural communities across the province.

Ghana’s Ministry for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has reportedly revealed plans to merge telecoms players AT and Telecel in hopes of creating a sustainable competitor to market leader MTN.

Orange has appointed Thierry Millet (pictured) as CEO of Orange Money Group, replacing Aminata Kane.

The Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation (TTCL), which operates and maintains all types of telecommunications networks, including ICT systems and services, within and outside the United Republic of Tanzania, has announced plans to construct more than 1,400 communication towers across the country to strengthen national network coverage and support the digital economy.