Author: Akin Naphtal

‎Airtel Nigeria announced on Tuesday its ambitious plan to construct a 38-megawatt hyperscale data centre in Lagos, set to become the largest of its kind in Nigeria. The facility, located in the prestigious Eko Atlantic City, aims to address the soaring demand for cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services in the region. ‎Eko Atlantic City, a high-end development built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean, has become a hub for major corporations, including First Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Group, and MTN Nigeria, which is relocating its national headquarters there. The strategic choice of this location underscores Airtel’s focus on…

MTN Uganda, under the leadership of CEO Sylvia Mulinge, has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Uganda Hotel Owners’ Association (UHOA) to deliver tailored ICT and mobile money services to over 780 hotels, marking a significant step in its transformation into a technology company (Techco). The agreement, announced last week, aims to revolutionize Uganda’s hospitality and tourism sectors, which employ over 70% of the country’s tourism workforce. The partnership will see MTN Mobile Money and MTN’s Enterprise Business Unit provide solutions to enhance efficiency and customer convenience. Hotels will gain access to mobile payment systems for reservations…

Bharti Airtel has unveiled Airtel Cloud, a sovereign cloud platform designed to slash enterprise cloud spending by up to 40%, marking a bold expansion into digital infrastructure under its new Xtelify arm. Initially developed to handle Airtel’s internal operations, processing over 1.4 billion transactions per minute, the platform is now available to businesses across India. Hosted in next-generation sustainable data centers and backed by over 300 certified cloud professionals, Airtel Cloud offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and advanced connectivity, emphasizing secure migration, elastic scaling, and freedom from vendor lock-ins. “This is a telco-grade platform with complete control residing in India,”…

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has issued a three-month ultimatum to TikTok to regulate its content in line with the country’s social and moral values, following a high-level meeting last month. The directive comes amid growing public outcry over the platform’s content, with critics claiming it violates societal norms and defames Egyptian women. The meeting, attended by TikTok Egypt and North Africa representatives, NTRA head Mohamed Shamrouk, and members of the House of Representatives’ Telecommunications Committee, including MP Ahmed Badawi, addressed concerns about the platform’s impact. ALSO READ: ORANGE AND JUMO PARTNER TO ENHANCE MOBILE MONEY SERVICES IN FRENCH SPEAKING…

Orange, a leading telecommunications operator, has announced a strategic partnership with South African fintech Jumo to revolutionize its mobile money division, Orange Money. By integrating Jumo’s advanced artificial intelligence and data analytics tools, Orange aims to refine customer scoring, reduce processing times, automate decision-making, and tailor loan amounts to individual user profiles, enhancing financial inclusion across emerging markets. The partnership will expand Orange Money’s offerings beyond basic loans, introducing targeted financial products for small entrepreneurs, merchants, and informal workers. Jumo’s technology, boasting a default rate below 4%, ensures robust risk management while improving user experience. The collaboration will initially focus…

Space42, a UAE-based AI-powered space-tech company under the G42 technology group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft and Esri to launch the “Map Africa Initiative.” This ambitious project aims to deliver high-resolution, scalable base maps covering all 54 African countries, serving over 1.4 billion people, the company announced this week. The initiative, set to span five years, will create the most comprehensive base map of Africa to date, addressing critical infrastructure, investment, and institutional gaps. By leveraging advanced geospatial technology, the collaboration will provide precise, accessible data to national and regional stakeholders, fostering economic development and innovation across…

NTT Data, a global leader in digital transformation, and French AI innovator Mistral AI have announced a strategic partnership to provide secure, sustainable, and enterprise-grade private AI solutions tailored for regulated sectors, including financial services, insurance, defense, and the public sector. The collaboration merges NTT Data’s extensive AI service expertise and global delivery capabilities with Mistral AI’s cutting-edge open-weight generative AI models, renowned for their efficiency and adaptability. The partnership focuses on three core objectives: co-developing secure and sustainable private AI solutions, enhancing IT infrastructure and customer experiences through agentic AI in regions like Europe and Asia Pacific, and expanding…

Nokia has partnered with AFR-IX Telecom to deploy the Medusa submarine cable system, a groundbreaking initiative set to transform digital connectivity across the Atlantic coast, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea. The subsea fibre-optic network will connect key nations, including Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Egypt, fostering a more inclusive digital future. Announced in 2025, the Medusa cable is designed as an open-access system, enabling telecom providers in the region to leverage advanced infrastructure for 5G, cloud services, and AI technologies. This strategic project aims to meet the growing demand for high-speed, reliable connectivity while supporting scalable, cost-effective solutions for operators.…

The Africa Digital Economy Awards (ADEA), Africa’s biggest technology awards, marks its 10th anniversary in 2025, celebrating a decade of honoring the visionaries and organizations driving Africa’s digital transformation. Launched in the mid-2010s, ADEA has become the continent’s premier platform recognizing excellence across fintech, healthtech, edtech, infrastructure, and more. Now in its 10th year, ADEA will honour Africa’s digital champions, innovators, creativity, and inventions across multiple areas of an ever-evolving sector. This milestone edition introduces a special category – the Top 50 Digital Economy Leaders in Africa – spotlighting individuals shaping the continent’s digital future. This year’s event will be…

Sonatel Group, a subsidiary of global telecommunications giant Orange, has appointed Brelotte Ba as its new Chief Executive Officer. Ba succeeds Sékou Drame, who has led the company since 2018 and will conclude his tenure on July 31, 2025. The Senegalese national telecom announced that Ba, with 24 years of telecommunications experience, will steer the company toward maintaining its leadership in Africa’s digital economy and advancing digital transformation across the continent. His appointment follows a distinguished tenure as Deputy Managing Director of Orange Middle East and Africa since 2022. A graduate engineer from Ecole Polytechnique de Paris and Ecole Nationale…