Whish Money, a Lebanese fintech company, has collaborated with payments giant Mastercard to enable inbound and outbound remittance flows for consumers in Lebanon.

A feared increase in telecom service prices, an apparent extension of a 5% excise tax previously earmarked for telecommunications services in Nigeria, may not now happen.

The Kenyan government is mulling a division of the nation’s largest publicly listed company, Safaricom, into mobile, tower, and mobile money units, citing potential efficiency and value gains.

NaiTel, a licensed telecommunications service provider in Jordan and the telecom arm of Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH – Jordan's largest carrier-neutral data centre), and telecom services provider Telecom Egypt, have announced the completion of the laying of the 15-kilometre express subsea cable Coral Bridge connecting Egypt and Jordan, the first direct subsea cable between the two countries in over 25 years.

Technology giant Nokia says it has been selected by INX-ZA, the internet exchange point division of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), a South African internet industry representative body, to modernise its exchange infrastructure. INX-ZA says it operates the only completely neutral and community-run internet exchange points in South Africa.

Turkey is officially going ahead with 5G spectrum auction plans. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced earlier this week that the 5G frequency tender would take place in October.

Ghana and Burkina Faso have reportedly begun a bilateral meeting to address cross-border signal interference. The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana and Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) of Burkina Faso began the meeting, held virtually, on 19 August.

Chinese technology company Lenovo has announced plans to establish a regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, along with the appointment of its executive leadership team for the country, marking what Lenovo describes as a key milestone in the company’s regional growth strategy.

Airtel Tanzania has reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zanzibar Communication and ICT Infrastructure Agency (ZICTIA) that outlines a framework to collaborate on key infrastructure projects in Zanzibar to expand access to telecoms and internet services.

The UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) and e& money, the fintech arm of technology group e&, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide wage protection services via the e& money platform. This enables individuals to manage salary payments for domestic workers in line with applicable legislation and regulatory frameworks.

Namibian operator Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) says it has launched a strategic rural network optimisation initiative following a comprehensive network audit in northern Namibia. The audit aimed to gain first-hand insight into coverage gaps and service quality challenges in underserved and uncovered rural areas.

Apple is reportedly ramping up iPhone production at five factories in India as part of its ongoing strategy to reduce reliance on China-based manufacturing.

Vodafone Idea has continued its rapid 5G rollout in India, with Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram the latest cities to go live.

Data centre news is still pouring in from the Middle East, including recent announcements of significant developments in Dubai and coastal Oman.

MTN announced a reshuffle of its leadership, appointing group chief risk officer Ferdi Moolman as CEO and executive director of MTN South Africa, succeeding Charles Molapisi as part of a strategic review and operational shift.

Operator Airtel Congo has announced the signing of a strategic partnership with Wing Wah, a private oil company under Congolese law and a subsidiary of the Chinese Southernpec group, for the deployment of a private telecom network at the country's Banga Kayo oil site.

Huawei announced on Friday that Ethio Telecom has deployed its tri-band massive MIMO solution that it says significantly improves the telco’s 4G network both in terms of performance and user experience.

South Africa’s Competition Commission has approved Cell C’s proposed acquisition of Comm Equipment Company (CEC).

e& UAE says it has launched a new business continuity service – billed as "monitoring-as-a-service (MaaS)" – that it says provides enterprises complete observability over their infrastructure environments.

ZTE announced on Thursday that China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), which operates under the brand Zong 4G, is the first operator to commercially launch its high-power 8T8R ultra-broadband radio (UBR) and digital intelligent antenna (DIA) solution.

Alipay+, a global wallet gateway, and Kaspi.kz, the leading super app in Kazakhstan, say they have enabled international cross-border QR payment acceptance in Kazakhstan.

Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA), the statutory body responsible for regulating Lesotho’s communications sector, has announced a strategic partnership with CTM360, a leading name in digital risk protection.

Global digital operator Veon said on Wednesday it has completed the sale of its 50.1% indirect stake in Kyrgyzstan mobile operator Sky Mobile (a.k.a. Beeline Kyrgyzstan) – but to the government via state-owned Eldik Bank, and not CG Cell Technologies as originally planned.

IoT connectivity solutions enabler floLIVE has announced the launch of what it calls a groundbreaking connectivity offering designed to revolutionise the monitoring of transportation and logistics in sub-Saharan Africa.

Hytera Communications, a provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, says it has successfully deployed its SmartOne Unified Communication Platform to support the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MoI) in overhauling Baghdad’s emergency services.

Guyana telco ENet says it has completed a multibillion-dollar subsea cable connecting the town of Bartica – billed as the gateway to Guyana’s interior – to its fibre-optic backbone.

Operator and global technology group e& UAE has deployed what is described as the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC’s) first dual band 64T64R MetaAAU (active antenna unit), an advanced radio unit from technology vendor Huawei, on its live 5G network, a new technology that not only improves how 5G networks perform but also uses less energy and reduces the amount of equipment needed.

The communications regulators of the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Angola have reportedly taken what is called a decisive step in bilateral cooperation in the management of radio frequency spectrum to reduce interference problems along the common borders of the two countries.

Gabon has broken ground on what is described as a landmark data centre in Nkok Special Economic Zone, a multi-sectoral industrial park 27 kilometres from Libreville.

Chilean telecoms regulator Subtel has launched an online platform that aggregates mobile and broadband providers, aiming to make it easier for citizens to get connected and advance the country’s goal of closing the digital divide.

MX Fiber has tapped Nokia for a new high-speed optical transport backbone network which will deliver reliable, high-capacity connectivity across Southeast Mexico.

Uzbektelecom (a.k.a. Uztelecom ) announced on Saturday that it will focus on deploying high-speed GPON and FTTx solutions across Uzbekistan starting this month as part of its telecoms infrastructure modernisation programme.

Airtel Money Africa, the mobile money arm of pan-African operator Airtel Africa, has announced an extended partnership with Africa’s largest mobile money payment service provider (PSP), pawaPay, to enable seamless cross-border payments for licensed international money transfer operators (IMTOs) across seven key Airtel Africa markets.