Africa-focused telecoms firm Paratus Group has launched a private 4G/5G network in Namibia, positioning itself to compete with state-owned incumbents MTC and Telecom Namibia.

South African telco Vodacom announced on Wednesday that its virtual wheeling solution is now live, enabling it to purchase renewable energy for its countrywide operations more efficiently and on a broader scale.

Bharti Airtel-controlled telecoms tower firm Indus Towers revealed on Tuesday it is making plans to expand operations outside of India into select international emerging markets – particularly countries in Africa where Airtel currently operates.

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has confirmed that talks are still ongoing with satellite company Monacosat over launching a satellite to boost the country’s connectivity.

The government of Chad late last week ordered mobile operators Airtel and Moov Africa to connect to its national fibre-optic backbone within seven days or face potential sanctions, after the Telecommunications Minister Boukar Michel met executives from both operators on Wednesday.

Two of Africa’s biggest operators – Vodacom and MTN – have, coincidentally, announced technology deployment firsts for the continent in the past few days – one involving MIMO, the other involving 5-band RRU commercial deployment.

Djibouti Telecom has announced plans to extend the regional subsea cable, Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE1), southward along Africa’s east coast to broaden reach and enhance route diversity.

MTC Namibia has fired the starting gun in the country’s 5G race, launching commercial services across four locations.

Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru (pictured) revealed ambitions for the state-owned operator to almost double revenue at the end of its financial year in June to ETB236 billion (US$1.6 billion), on the back of increasing users and data usage.

UAE-based satellite operator Space42 announced on Tuesday it has signed a comprehensive MoU with Angola's Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISM) to collaborate on developing advanced technologies across multiple domains over the next five years.

Smartphone shipments in Africa climbed 7% to 19.2 million units in Q2, continuing an upward trend fuelled by easing inflation and currency stability in key markets.

Japanese agriculture fintech Degas Limited has announced a US$100 million investment over the next four years to help establish Ghana as Africa’s first AI-powered agricultural hub, expanding a model that, it says, has already financed more than 86,000 smallholder farmers across 122,000 acres nationwide.

A feared increase in telecom service prices, an apparent extension of a 5% excise tax previously earmarked for telecommunications services in Nigeria, may not now happen.

The Kenyan government is mulling a division of the nation’s largest publicly listed company, Safaricom, into mobile, tower, and mobile money units, citing potential efficiency and value gains.

Technology giant Nokia says it has been selected by INX-ZA, the internet exchange point division of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), a South African internet industry representative body, to modernise its exchange infrastructure. INX-ZA says it operates the only completely neutral and community-run internet exchange points in South Africa.

Ghana and Burkina Faso have reportedly begun a bilateral meeting to address cross-border signal interference. The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana and Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) of Burkina Faso began the meeting, held virtually, on 19 August.

Airtel Tanzania has reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zanzibar Communication and ICT Infrastructure Agency (ZICTIA) that outlines a framework to collaborate on key infrastructure projects in Zanzibar to expand access to telecoms and internet services.

Namibian operator Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) says it has launched a strategic rural network optimisation initiative following a comprehensive network audit in northern Namibia. The audit aimed to gain first-hand insight into coverage gaps and service quality challenges in underserved and uncovered rural areas.

MTN announced a reshuffle of its leadership, appointing group chief risk officer Ferdi Moolman as CEO and executive director of MTN South Africa, succeeding Charles Molapisi as part of a strategic review and operational shift.

Operator Airtel Congo has announced the signing of a strategic partnership with Wing Wah, a private oil company under Congolese law and a subsidiary of the Chinese Southernpec group, for the deployment of a private telecom network at the country's Banga Kayo oil site.

Huawei announced on Friday that Ethio Telecom has deployed its tri-band massive MIMO solution that it says significantly improves the telco’s 4G network both in terms of performance and user experience.

South Africa’s Competition Commission has approved Cell C’s proposed acquisition of Comm Equipment Company (CEC).

Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA), the statutory body responsible for regulating Lesotho’s communications sector, has announced a strategic partnership with CTM360, a leading name in digital risk protection.

IoT connectivity solutions enabler floLIVE has announced the launch of what it calls a groundbreaking connectivity offering designed to revolutionise the monitoring of transportation and logistics in sub-Saharan Africa.

The communications regulators of the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Angola have reportedly taken what is called a decisive step in bilateral cooperation in the management of radio frequency spectrum to reduce interference problems along the common borders of the two countries.

Gabon has broken ground on what is described as a landmark data centre in Nkok Special Economic Zone, a multi-sectoral industrial park 27 kilometres from Libreville.

Airtel Money Africa, the mobile money arm of pan-African operator Airtel Africa, has announced an extended partnership with Africa’s largest mobile money payment service provider (PSP), pawaPay, to enable seamless cross-border payments for licensed international money transfer operators (IMTOs) across seven key Airtel Africa markets.

The widely anticipated launch of free roaming between Liberia and Sierra Leone seems to have begun, with a Liberia-Cote d’Ivoire deal now much closer.

Airtel Nigeria reportedly plans to build a carrier-neutral 38MW hyperscale data centre in Eko Atlantic City in Lagos to meet surging demand for cloud and AI services.

OpenWay, a provider of digital payment software solutions, has expanded into Francophone Africa, saying it will empower banks and fintechs in the region with access to its payment technology and local service infrastructure.

Orange announced on Tuesday it is expanding its collaboration with OpenAI to deploy two new advanced open-weight reasoning models in its data centre infrastructure to boost support for AI solutions development across its footprint, particularly in Africa.