The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), launched the Coalition for Digital Africa, an initiative aimed at expanding  internet access in Africa. 

Conceived by ICANN, the Coalition is an alliance of like-minded organizations committed to building a robust and secure internet infrastructure to bring more Africans online. Home to the youngest population on the planet, 70 percent of whom are under age 30, Africa has one of the fastest-growing internet penetration rates in the world. Internet connectivity...

Microsoft and Viasat have announced a new partnership to help deliver internet access to 10 million people around the globe, including 5 million across Africa.

Viasat, a global communications company, is the first satellite partner to work with Microsoft's Airband Initiative and together, they will deepen Airband's work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States, as well as prioritize expanding the program, Senegal, and Angola to deliver much needed internet...

The World Bank has earmarked about $15 million to enhance and accelerate regional digital integration efforts across the East African Community (EAC).

The Bank through its Single Digital Market (SDM) initiative aims at supporting the region to become a more deeply integrated and dynamic digital investment, innovation, and growth hub. The project will focus on connectivity market development and integration, which entails creating an enabling legal, regulatory, and ICT institutional environment...

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to Nairobi-based internet service provider Poa Internet for a feasibility study to help expand affordable internet connectivity to one million households in low-income urban areas outside of Kenya.

USTDA and Poa Internet signed the grant agreement in a ceremony held at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. “Poa Internet’s use of fixed wireless technology is particularly well suited to urban areas. It is also a segment in which U.S...

The Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) has launched an Applications Performance Monitoring tool that will help monitor and track the performance of the National Electronic Single Window System, which is also known as the Trade Facilitation Platform. 

The Trade Facilitation Platform facilitates trade in Kenya by reducing delays and lowering costs associated with clearance of goods at the Kenyan borders, while maintaining the requisite controls and collection of levies, fee and duties...

Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cables operators in the region, and Grid Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, have signed a collaboration agreement to build a subsea system connecting Egypt and Greece.

Egypt’s Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, witnessed the signing ceremony held in Cairo, Egypt. The Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, Adel Hamed, and the Chairman and CEO of...

For the first time, high speed internet coverage was provided on Uhuru Peak, at the top of Africa's highest mountain at 5,985 metres above sea level, as well as rest huts along the way, including Horombo and Kibo.

From now on, visitors will be able to share updates via the internet as they ascend to the summit. Most importantly, if there is an emergency, visitors will also be able to call for help. Earlier in the year, all rest camps below 3,795m on Kilimanjaro were connected to high-speed internet and Wi-Fi coverage...

Telecommunication company Qualcomm announced it is set to launch Make in Africa Startup mentorship program to identify promising early-stage startups keen on applying advanced connectivity and processing technologies to innovative end-to-end systems solutions and guidance on protecting intellectual property.

As the first initiative of its kind in Africa, this equity-free mentorship program will identify promising early-stage startups keen on applying advanced connectivity and processing technologies to innovative end-to-end systems...

e-Commerce, messaging and payments platform Hubtel announced it has spread its tentacles to Tamale, the Northern Region of Ghana.  

Hubtel has doubled down on efforts to take digital inclusion to every corner of the nation. Earlier this year, the company launched operations in Cape Coast and followed it up with a community engagement launch in the flower city - Koforidua. This was after it successfully launched in Takoradi a year prior. By this announcement, Tamale has become the 7th...

Huawei and OPPO have announced the signing of a global patent cross-licensing agreement, which covers cellular standard essential patents, including 5G.

"After more than 20 years of continuous innovation, Huawei has developed multiple high-value patent portfolios in the global marketplace in domains like 5G, Wi-Fi, and audio/video codecs," said Alan Fan, Head of Huawei's Intellectual Property Department. "We are delighted to have reached a cross-licensing agreement with OPPO. The mutual recognition of...

The total amount of data created and consumed globally is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes by 2025, almost three times the 64 zettabytes of 2020.

This makes data the cornerstone of any successful business in a digitally-transformed world. Several trends will help guide organisations on their path to becoming more data-driven. “Increasingly, data science and analytics will be an integral component of organisational procedures in 2023 and beyond. However, the key to success will be in unlocking the...

The opportunities for banking in Africa are immense. The region is a ‘sleeping giant’ when it comes to accessing traditional bank accounts, digital banking, and affordable financial services.

According to the World Bank, 57% of Africans still do not have any kind of bank account, including mobile money accounts. This translates to about 360 million adults in the region and approximately 17% of the total global unbanked population without access to formal financial services, a recent study by...

When the early days of the pandemic pushed industries across East Africa into survival mode, it sparked a wave of cloud adoption that has swept through the region. 

Focused at first on ensuring business continuity, investment into cloud technologies and digitalisation has since helped organisations in the region build greater resilience and unlock new business models and revenue streams. Even the most reluctant businesses and their customers have now come online. One of the reasons is that the benefits of greater...

Apart from fueling one of the greatest financial crises in modern memory, the COVID-19 pandemic also fundamentally changed the world of work. Due to the circumstances the outbreak created, digital transformation was essentially forced upon companies.

Survival depended on adopting technological practices, online platforms, and digital solutions that many businesses would’ve preferred to adopt over several years, not within a few months. This means that the digital transformation wave...

Startups have become vital engines of change that can have an outsized impact on an economy. They are crucial in fueling innovation and enhancing economic and digital competitiveness. They improve access to products and solutions while significantly contributing to employment.

In recent years, amid global economic volatility and uncertainty, Africa's startup ecosystem has shown continued growth, attracting record amounts of funding. According to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association...

Kenyan consumers have expressed a strong desire to buy more discretionary products during the festive season while coming out of the pandemic.

However, Christmas and New Year's Eve holidays for many online businesses are not only a pleasant time that you can spend summing up your achievements of the year, planning your long-term prospects, and making gifts to your employees, clients, and loved ones. Unfortunately, at the end of December online fraud reaches its peak. Online...

In 2022, ransomware continued to reign king and became one of the most common and dangerous threats facing healthcare organisations and software supply chains. The war on Ukraine created heightened concern over zero-day threats wreaking havoc for organisations worldwide.

The cyber gang Conti with Russian-linked ties managed to disrupt financial operations throughout Costa Rica, and it seems there is no end in sight to the hacking group Lapsus$, which has proven itself to be a formidable threat actor...