All Tech News

Google has announced plans to construct four new subsea cable connectivity hubs in the north, south, east and west regions of Africa as part of another wave of investment to boost connectivity and AI development across the continent. 

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.

The Iraqi government has announced plans to construct the country’s first data centres in partnership with Nokia.

Princeton Digital Group (PDG), a leading Asia Pacific data centre provider, has announced a partnership with clean energy intelligence platform Flexidao and Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, to pioneer the implementation of time-matched, carbon-free energy (CFE) consumption at its 150MW MU1 data centre in Mumbai.

SoftBank Corp tested new innovation in High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) technology that can beam stable 5G connectivity from the sky to the ground, as the company advances in the nascent technology that can plug coverage gap in rural areas.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel says that its recent anti-fraud initiatives, to include an AI-powered spam detection solution, are paying off, with recent certified numbers showing a sizable drop in fraud losses and cybercrime incidents in general on its network.

Saudi Arabian telco Zain KSA is set to make a play in the insurtech space via its financial investment arm, Al Sayra Holding Company, which has formed a JV with global insurance specialist Prevensure to buy a stake in Saudi-based brokerage firm Green Shield Insurance Brokers Ltd (GSIB).

In what is proving to be a busy week for digital payments news in the Middle East and North Africa, a fintech and a major bank have recently announced a partnership to accelerate digital payments in Libya.

There’s been a flurry of digital payments news this week from Saudi Arabia involving a wide variety of major names in the market, notably Ant International, Google Pay and Thunes.

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.

Connectivity solutions provider iBASIS announced on Tuesday it has signed a management service agreement with Indonesian telco XLSmart to manage local and overseas mobile authentication traffic coming into its network.

SLA Digital, a global provider of direct carrier billing, has announced a partnership with VUZ, which describes itself as an immersive video platform revolutionising digital experiences. The collaboration, say the partners, will enable a seamless mobile payment option for VUZ customers across the Middle East and Asia.

Vodafone Oman and digital financial service platform developer Software Group said on Monday they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing digital financial services in Oman.

Ericsson announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement with Zain Bahrain to supply RAN gear to the operator’s network capacity and enhance coverage of its 4G and 5G networks.

UAE-based satellite player Space42 and global satellite operator Viasat announced on Monday they plan to form a joint venture called Equatys that will offer global direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services whilst also promising to evolve mobile satellite services (MSS) to a 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) environment.

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.

Thailand is the latest country to announce plans to offer spectrum for private use by factories and businesses.

Malaysian 5G network provider U Mobile says it has signed on government-owned telecoms infrastructure provider Sacofa as a strategic fibre backhaul partner to accelerate the rollout of its 5G network in Sarawak.

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).

Vodafone Fiji and Digicel Fiji launched their respective 5G services on Monday, just days after officially receiving 5G spectrum licences from Fiji’s Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications.

SpaceX has launched Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN)’s long-delayed Nusantara Lima (N5) satellite into geostationary orbit to provide satellite broadband connectivity to Indonesia and surrounding areas.

Tata Consultancy Services, a major name in IT services, consulting and business solutions headquartered in India, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian government group the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to accelerate the development of India’s sovereign cloud ecosystem.

Hughes do Brasil, a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and managed network services, and Soil Tecnologia, a startup in automation and monitoring solutions for central pivot systems, have announced a partnership that, the companies say, aims to bring connectivity and automation to agribusiness irrigation projects in every corner of Brazil.

Pakistani telco Ufone 4G says it has partnered with domestic digital healthcare platform Oladoc to bring affordable and accessible healthcare to millions of Ufone’s subscribers across Pakistan.

dLocal, a payment platform that connects global businesses with emerging markets, and international money transfer company Western Union have announced a strategic alliance to enable digital payment methods on Western Union's online platforms in Latin America.

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.

Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (YOFC) made a strong impact at the 26th China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE), held from September 10 to 12, 2025 at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. Under the theme “Optical Fibre Leads the Way, AI Shapes the Future”, the company presented solutions across six major key application areas: AI Intelligent Computing Hub, Specialized Optical Communications, Intellisense, Industrial Laser, All-Optical Intelligent Vehicle, and Sustainable Lighting. Together, these exhibits demonstrated YOFC’s next-generation optical innovations and the continued expansion of its broad technology portfolio.

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.

Malaysian 5G operator U Mobile and Axiata’s telecoms infrastructure company Edotco announced on Wednesday they have deployed and launched U Mobile’s Ultra5G service inside the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

The Barat Timur Indonesia (BTI) subsea cable system being developed by Indonesian operator Super Sistem and APTelecom has cleared a key hurdle after the partners secured corridor approval for the system from relevant authorities.

Malaysian operator U Mobile launched Device Care, a subscription service that allows postpaid and business customers to swap their smartphones for a different model, brand, or colour from MYR4 ($1) per month.