Two more fintech alliances have been announced in the last week, one involving a virtual and physical cards collaboration in Nigeria and another a financial infrastructure initiative that aims to be extended across the continent.

U Mobile, Malaysia’s newest 5G network provider and wholesale operator, has announced that it has added VIBE Mobile, part of the Elite Links supply chain and distribution company, to its list of strategic mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partners.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says it is strengthening Jordan’s position as a regional digital hub with a US$14.1 million loan to digital ecosystem Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH) in Aqaba, a coastal city located on the Red Sea.

Telekom Srbija has secured a $50 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to support the expansion of its 5G network across Serbia.

Chinese satellite operator Guodian Gaoke has reportedly received a two-year trial licence from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to offer LEO satellite-based IoT services in China.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin announced on Friday it has officially launched the Pukpuk Submarine Cable System (Puk-Puk 1) that provides a direct subsea link between Indonesia’s Papua province and Papua New Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea has officially signed a construction and maintenance agreement (C&MA) to join AFR-IX Telecom’s Medusa Africa cable project, which would give the country its second international subsea link.

Pan-African operator Airtel Africa has announced a delay to the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its mobile money business, initially planned for the first half of 2026. Reuters reports that the IPO will now take place in the second half of 2026.

Airtel Africa posted strong results for the year ended March 31, 2026, with revenue growth accelerating across its core mobile, data and fintech businesses.

Suriname’s state-owned operator Telesur has signed a letter of intent to connect to EllaLink’s Caribbean subsea cable system, in a move aimed at strengthening the country’s international connectivity.

International network services provider RETN announced on Thursday it has launched a new end-to-end backbone route through Romania that links the Balkans to Moldova and Ukraine.

Thai telco AIS has launched its 5G-Advanced service that leverages the 3GPP Release 18 standard, as well as carrier aggregation for faster downlinks and uplinks.

Qatar’s Ooredoo Group announced on Thursday it has signed a partnership deal with du to land Ooredoo’s planned Fibre in the Gulf (FIG) subsea cable system in the UAE.

Smartphone financing is back in the news again – this time via a smartphone credit scheme launched across parts of Somalia.

Indian commercial and industrial renewable energy company CleanMax has announced two deals relevant to the telecom market recently. One is with Iron Mountain Data Centres. The other is with Apple.

South African network planning and installation specialist Duxbury Networking has announced a new distribution partnership with Northwest Towers, a manufacturer of hardened, mission-critical network infrastructure designed for deployment in demanding environments.

Telecel Zimbabwe is reportedly facing a deep financial crisis, with the operator requiring around $50 million to remain operational.

Safaricom posted strong financial results for the year ended March 31, 2026, with group net income rising to KES100 billion (US$774 billion) on the back of customer growth and increased adoption of digital services.

Veon’s Ukrainian telco Kyivstar announced on Wednesday it has expanded its collaboration with LEO satellite player Starlink with a new agreement to resell Starlink's broadband services and hardware for businesses and public sector institutions.

Kenyan telco Safaricom says it has launched what it claims is Kenya’s first fibre to the room (FTTR) solution for home broadband networks in partnership with Huawei.

Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) said on Wednesday it has approved three data centre projects – the biggest one involving TikTok – with a combined investment value of THB913 billion (US$27 billion).

Data centre and fibre solutions provider Digital Edge and private power producer B.Grimm Power have announced the successful signing of a US$880 million green loan to finance the development of the joint venture's 100MW BKK Campus in Chonburi in eastern Thailand.

A number of new offerings underline the growth of fintech-related businesses across Africa, a trend also highlighted in a recent report by a major consulting group.

Analyst company Dell’Oro Group predicted the emerging AI Systems Security (AISS) market will grow from zero to US$8 billion by 2030 as enterprises shift to AI technology across their operations.

MTN Nigeria’s margins reportedly face a potential US$87.5 million hit as diesel prices rise, a situation that may have been exacerbated by the war in Iran, although the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023 has also played a part.

Two companies headquartered in India – Pixxel, a company that builds and operates advanced imaging satellites, and artificial intelligence technology company Sarvam – have announced a strategic partnership to develop and build India’s first orbital data centre satellite.

The EllaLink submarine cable system and Mauritania have announced the successful landing of a new subsea cable in Nouadhibou, giving the country a second direct, diverse and secure connection to European and international digital hubs.

Space solutions company SES has announced that it will provide service on its high-capacity medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network O3b mPOWER to Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, to connect multiple new floating production, storage and offloading systems (FPSOs).

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and Japan’s KDDI have partnered to launch a new mobile service targeting young, digitally native users in Vietnam.

Satellite operator Speedcast's Brazilian operation, SC CapRock, says it has developed and implemented a hybrid solution for mining company Mineração Taboca to provide more resilient connectivity for its operations in a remote area in the Amazon.

Burundi’s state-owned telco Onatel has signed a US$5.9 million contract with PAFEN Burundi to deploy 4G in underserved rural communities.

Algerian telco Djezzy has signed a strategic partnership deal with startup accelerator Algeria Venture and tech startup Taubyte to launch a full-stack AI development workspace for startups, developers, young talent and project leaders.