Author: Akin Naphtal

Kenyan students, developers, startups, small business owners and career professionals are set to gain access to free artificial intelligence training and equity-free funding opportunities following the launch of AI Academy Kenya, a new initiative by Meta and African AI accelerator This Is Digital. The programme is designed to strengthen practical AI skills among local talent while encouraging Kenyan innovators to develop solutions that address challenges within their communities and businesses. Founded in 2025, This Is Digital has trained more than 800 “AI Champions” across over 10 countries through masterclasses and consultancy programmes serving individuals and enterprises. Mercy Ndegwa, Meta’s Public…

Space42 and Viasat have signed an agreement to formally establish Equatys, a shared space and ground infrastructure platform designed to expand mobile connectivity to areas where terrestrial networks have limited or no coverage. The agreement was signed at World Space Business Week in Paris on September 14, 2026, with the two companies committing up to $1 billion in initial equity funding once Equatys is formally established. Under the funding arrangement, Space42 and Viasat will each contribute an initial $400 million, while Space42 is expected to provide an additional $200 million through a future funding round involving third-party investors. The companies…

AXIAN Telecom, the pan-African telecommunications group behind the Yas brand, has announced that it will adopt Yas Group as its new corporate identity. The new name will replace AXIAN Telecom in the company’s external communications, investor relations and regulatory engagements. The move follows the November 2024 rebranding that brought the group’s mobile network operators in Madagascar, Comoros, Senegal, Togo and Tanzania together under the Yas brand. Since its introduction, Yas has established a strong presence and growing brand recognition across its markets. The brand was included in the 2026 Brand Finance Telecoms 150 report, where it recorded a value of…

-Pesaflow, IHS Cameroon S.A are multiple winners The 11th Africa Digital Economy Awards (ADEA) honoured excellence across the continent’s digital landscape on 19 September 2026 at the Emara Ole-Sereni Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, recognising a total of 36 outstanding winners ,19 organisations and 17 individuals, who are shaping Africa’s digital future. Powered by InstinctWave Group in partnership with Digital Economy Magazine, ADEA returned to Nairobi for the fourth consecutive year as Africa’s premier platform for celebrating innovation, digital transformation and leadership. The awards bring together technology visionaries, corporate executives, policymakers and digital pioneers from across the continent under one roof.…

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is calling for a more measured approach to the development of advanced artificial intelligence, arguing that the industry needs to slow the pace of AI capability growth enough to ensure that safety measures can keep up. In his essay, “We Must Pace the Frontier,” Amodei acknowledges the enormous potential of AI to improve human life. He believes the technology could contribute to major advances in healthcare, economic growth, scientific discovery, democracy and individual empowerment. However, he warns that the same technology could also create serious risks, including loss of control over advanced AI systems, cyberattacks, biological…

Network International has appointed Vladimir Malugin as Managing Director, Acquiring Business for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In his new role, Malugin will lead the growth of Network International’s acquiring business across the region. His mandate includes strengthening customer relationships, expanding market presence, driving commercial performance and delivering sustainable growth across key acquiring segments. Malugin brings extensive international experience in payments, fintech, commercial strategy, product management and operations. His leadership career includes senior positions at Property Finder, PayU and PayPal, where he successfully led large-scale businesses, commercial transformation initiatives, market expansion strategies and payment operations across multiple…

Etihad Salam Telecom Company (Salam), a Saudi Arabian telecommunications and information technology provider, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dell Technologies to expand their collaboration in cloud infrastructure and Edge AI solutions. The agreement was signed during LEAP 2026 by Eng. Ahmed Al-Anqari, Chief Executive Officer of Salam, and Mohamed Talaat, Vice President for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, North Africa and the Levant at Dell Technologies. The MoU establishes a framework for the two companies to promote advanced cloud infrastructure and Edge AI technologies among enterprise customers across Saudi Arabia. Under the agreement, Salam plans to integrate Dell Technologies’…

Submer, an end-to-end AI infrastructure provider, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Edgecore Networks, a global provider of open networking and AI infrastructure solutions, to explore AI-ready data centre infrastructure opportunities across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META). The partnership combines Submer’s expertise in data centre advisory and consultancy, design and construction, IT integration, power infrastructure and advanced thermal management with Edgecore’s portfolio of open, high-performance networking solutions. Edgecore’s offerings include AI and machine learning switches, data centre and optical networking, as well as disaggregated infrastructure designed for high-bandwidth and low-latency workloads. The collaboration comes as growing…

Mastercard has partnered with Busha, a pan-African digital asset exchange, to extend Mastercard Crypto Credential across the continent, aiming to bring greater trust and simplicity to digital asset transfers. With immediate effect, all eligible Busha users in Nigeria can now access a unique Crypto Credential alias, growing the network of verified users and making it simpler to send and receive cryptocurrency across exchanges and wallets participating in the Crypto Credential ecosystem. Through this partnership, Busha becomes one of the first digital asset exchanges in Africa to enable Crypto Credential for its users, underscoring both companies’ shared commitment to making digital…

Digital Parks Africa (DPA), the data centre business associated with the Master Power Technologies Group, is expanding its operations into West Africa with the development of a new carrier-neutral data centre in Lagos, Nigeria. The investment aims to strengthen the digital infrastructure needed to support Nigeria’s rapidly growing connected economy and Africa’s wider digital transformation. Known as Nigeria Data Centre 1 (NDC1), the facility is being developed to serve businesses, financial institutions, banks, cloud providers and connectivity companies that require highly reliable, resilient and flexible infrastructure located close to the markets they serve. The centre is expected to provide a…