Vodacom Eastern Cape will invest more than ZAR400 million (US$22 million) in its network this financial year to expand coverage, boost capacity and extend connectivity to rural communities across the province.

Ghana’s Ministry for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has reportedly revealed plans to merge telecoms players AT and Telecel in hopes of creating a sustainable competitor to market leader MTN.

Orange has appointed Thierry Millet (pictured) as CEO of Orange Money Group, replacing Aminata Kane.

The Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation (TTCL), which operates and maintains all types of telecommunications networks, including ICT systems and services, within and outside the United Republic of Tanzania, has announced plans to construct more than 1,400 communication towers across the country to strengthen national network coverage and support the digital economy.

In what it calls a decisive turning point in its mission to bring finance and essential services closer to citizens, everywhere, for everyone, KaliSpot, which describes itself as a Senegalese fintech born in the United States, has announced the deployment of its first 1Net smart kiosks in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

IDB Invest, a multilateral development bank committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector, has partnered with technology giant Nokia to launch a US$50 million financing facility to strengthen digital connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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.

Axiata’s telecoms infrastructure company Edotco announced on Wednesday that its Sri Lankan subsidiary, Edotco Services Lanka, has received the country’s first licence to provide neutral-hosted infrastructure services in Sri Lanka.

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.

Qatar-headquartered telecommunications and ICT provider Ooredoo and airline Qatar Airways have announced a strategic partnership to enhance artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and cybersecurity capabilities in Qatar.

Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), and VentureOne, ATRC's venture builder, in collaboration with technology group e&, say they have launched QuantumConnect, a next-generation hardware-based encryption solution, in the UAE.

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.

Jio Platforms parent company Reliance Industries (RIL) has announced a joint venture with Meta to build agentic AI enterprise platforms and tools for businesses in India and select international markets.

5G finally arrived in Bangladesh on Monday after telcos Robi Axiata and Grameenphone reportedly launched 5G services within a few hours of each other, and 18 months after receiving licences to streamline 5G rollouts.

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.

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider, has announced that it will boost its current international capacity 23-fold through the integration of the Trans Americas Fiber Systems submarine cable TAM-1.

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.

Vodafone Idea’s infrastructure subsidiary is reportedly seeking loans worth INR50 billion (US$570 million) to finance network expansion.

There’s been a flurry of submarine cable deals in Iraq recently, including two contracts announced this week, one with Batelco and the other involving a company called Breeze Investments.

We’ve been reporting recently on a less than favourable effect of data centre development in Mexico recently: the massive use of water by data centres in areas already suffering shortages.

Argentina has apparently made plans to start allocating spectrum for private mobile networks. Regulator Enacom has assigned the 2300-2400MHz frequency band for private mobile wireless broadband systems. The spectrum allocation will be for ten years and can be used for indoor or outdoor deployments, according to the resolution published on Monday.

Drone technology continues to make inroads into developing markets, as recent news stories from the African Development Bank (ADB) and Movistar Chile indicate.

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.

Kuwait Airways announced on Monday it has signed a joint cooperation protocol with stc Kuwait to explore ways to integrate digital services in the telecoms and aviation sectors in ways that can benefit customers of both companies.

Service provider Orange Egypt says it has signed an exclusive money transfer partnership with Enjaz Payment Services, one of the largest fintech companies in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

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.