It’s clearly been a busy week in Cape Town, where a number of deals have been announced at the Africa Tech/ AfricaCom event, including a strategic agreement between Vanu and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

Eutelsat and pan-African telecoms network services provider Paratus Group say they have signed a new multi-million, multi-year agreement to expand delivery of Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity services across Southern Africa.

Efforts to curb alleged misuse of pre-registered SIM cards in Nigeria are continuing. Telecommunications regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced new measures aimed at eliminating the sale and use of these cards, according to local reports.

Operator MTN Zambia and tech company Huawei have jointly launched what is claimed to be the world’s first AI-powered adaptive power backup solution for emergency resilient networks.

Huawei has secured a contract worth US$70 million to upgrade the network of Ghanaian operator Telecel, as part of a nationwide modernisation effort.

Vodacom Group revealed on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with Starlink to leverage its LEO satellite service across Africa for enterprise connectivity and mobile backhaul, although not yet in its home base of South Africa, where Starlink has yet to receive regulatory approval.

Thuraya, a subsidiary of Space42, the UAE-based AI-powered spacetech company, has announced the commercial rollout of its next-generation mobile communications satellite, Thuraya-4, in South Africa.

Satellite technology company Avanti Communications announced on Tuesday it has expanded its partnership with Türksat with a new agreement that aims to extend high connectivity solutions across Africa, particularly underserved regions in Southern Africa.

SES and Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) announced on Tuesday they have successfully upgraded over 200 telecoms sites across Côte d’Ivoire to deliver 2G and 3G mobile data services to over 500,000 people in rural and previously underserved areas.

UN partners, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and GSMA, announced on Monday they are working on expanding efforts in Chad and other refugee-hosting countries to provide affordable connectivity to millions of forcibly displaced people and local communities in the next five years.

Pan-African telecoms network services provider Paratus Group announced on Monday it has launched “Paratus 500”, a service that leverages all of its licenced fibre and satellite operations in 15 sub-Saharan markets as a single network.

It’s a major news day for data centre developments in Nigeria, and specifically Lagos, a city for which two leading names in Africa, Equinix and Rack Centre, have just announced big data centre and cloud service plans.

Paratus Botswana announced on Friday it is extending its national network coverage to Tati Siding, near Francistown, as part of its broader strategy to increase access to quality internet services for more communities and businesses across the country.

Digital transformation projects focused on younger end users have been highlighted this week in West Africa where operator Orange Liberia has signalled its support for digital literacy and the government of Guinea has targeted internet provision for schools.

UAE-based Space42 announced on Wednesday that its next-gen Thuraya-4 satellite is now globally available for customers in Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, with new markets including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia.

Pan-African telecoms and network services provider Paratus Group announced on Wednesday it has expanded its operations into Uganda via a joint venture with Kampala-based ISP and managed solutions provider Roke Telkom.

Axian Telecom’s fibre subsidiary, Axian Telecom Fibre, has completed the acquisition of 99.63% stake in Wananchi Group, a fixed broadband provider, as it looks to strengthen its position in high-demand fibre markets across East Africa.

There is bad news for operators in both Chad and Zambia, whose telecommunications regulators have highlighted what they see as serious quality of service (QoS) deficiencies in their mobile communications offerings.

Tanzania has been accused of shutting down internet access and restricting social media around recent elections that saw protests accusing the state of hindering democracy after the main opposition party, Chadema, was barred from participating, and its leader, Tundu Lissu, was arrested on treason charges.

Orange submarine cable subsidiary Orange Marine announced the construction of two new cable ships to boost the resilience of digital infrastructure across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Digital Realty has launched ACR2, its first data centre in Ghana, that it says will serve as a critical hub in Ghana’s digital ecosystem by connecting it to global markets and empowering businesses with highly connected infrastructure.

Ericsson said on Monday it has successfully completed MTN Nigeria’s first field trial of a triple-band FDD massive MIMO radio that integrates the telco’s entire 4G mid-band spectrum into a single, compact radio unit.

Two submarine cables – one linking the UAE and Kenya and the other linking Tunisia with France – have made news recently, the former thanks to a new launch, the latter because of a successful landing.

Automation and orchestration specialist Inmanta expanded its sovereign cloud automation offering to Africa, aiming to help telecom operators and datacentre providers boost efficiency and maintain data sovereignty as infrastructure investment accelerates across the continent.

Wingu Africa, a specialist provider of carrier-neutral, Tier III-standard data centres in East Africa, has entered a strategic partnership with Africa Data Centres, which operates the continent’s largest network of interconnected facilities.

Mozambique’s government has made 5G coverage compulsory in all provincial capitals, while scrapping its earlier plan to auction spectrum licences to mobile operators.

It may come as a surprise to some readers to hear that, more than three years after the telecommunications regulator laid the groundwork for MVNOs to come to market, only this week is Nigeria preparing to welcome its first virtual mobile operator (MVNO).

MTN MoMo South Africa is expanding its strategic collaboration with Mastercard in a bid to increase access to digital financial services and support greater financial inclusion across South Africa.

Singapore-headquartered global payment platform Thunesand pan-African financial institution Ecobank Group signed an agreement on Wednesday to collaborate on enabling instant cross-border payments for individuals and businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa, starting in Togo.

Safaricom has officially confirmed it is partnering with Meta subsidiary Edge Network Services to establish the Daraja subsea cable system that will connect Kenya and Oman.

Logistics solutions company DP World says it has launched the rollout of its Port Community System (PCS) platform in Kenya, marking what it calls a major milestone in the country’s journey towards more efficient and transparent trade.