MTN South Africa reportedly plans to shut down its 3G mobile network by the end of this year – a full year earlier than initially planned – following a successful pilot project in Cape Town to migrate 3G users to 4G and 5G.

Cameroon-based cloud services provider ST Digital has launched GPU Cloud Africa, a GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) offering that aims to provide African businesses and institutions with access to Nvidia GPUs to develop AI applications.

Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Samuel Nartey George, has revealed plans to establish an interministerial committee aimed at addressing the high cost of data in Ghana.

Kenyan operator Safaricom and global NGO Opportunity International last week announced the launch in Kenya of FarmerAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot aimed at providing real-time, relevant farming best practices to smallholder farmers in underserved communities – notably potato farmers.

Satellite operator Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) to supply satellite connectivity for the NGO’s operations, while separately announcing it has hit its ITU Partner2Connect target of connecting 1 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa well ahead of schedule.

M-Pesa Safaricom said on Thursday it is partnering with Dashen Bank and CashGo to launch a new international remittance service in Ethiopia that enables users to receive money from abroad directly into their M-Pesa mobile wallets.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX withdrew from a planned public hearing where it was set to propose a new licensing framework for satellite services in South Africa, drawing criticism from an industry body representing MNOs.

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC), one of the three arms of government that conduct the affairs of the country at the federal level, has approved two major initiatives to advance Nigeria’s digital economy: the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project and the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trust.

The Zambian Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has penalised Airtel Zambia with a ZMW4 million (US$143,000) compensation bill following continuous service disruptions on its network.

The global smartphone market grew by 7% to 1.22 billion units in 2024, marking a rebound after two consecutive years of decline, with emerging markets highlighted as the industry’s key growth driver.

The latest African roaming agreement comes from the west of the continent, where the governments of Liberia, The Gambia and Sierra Leone have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at reducing telecommunications costs through improved roaming services.

It looks like SIM card registration in Ghana, supposedly over and done by May 2023, isn’t quite finished yet, at least according to Ghana’s Minister-Designate for Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovation, Sam Nartey George.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$160 million loan to Axian Telecom to support the operator’s plans to upgrade its nine subsidiaries in Africa and explore expansion into new markets.

The GSMA and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have launched a fund to equip enterprises in developing markets with the means to harness emerging technologies, including AI.

Aspiring Nigerian mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Vitel Wireless said on Thursday it has been issued  a mobile number series by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), making it the first of the country’s dozens of MVNO licencees to receive one.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) – Nigeria's largest labour union – has reportedly called for a nationwide protest next week to oppose a government-approved plan by telcos to raise tariffs by 50%, as the GSMA has waded in to support the increase.

Vodafone Group has unveiled a new satellite connectivity service designed to eliminate coverage blackspots across its footprint.

Safaricom has reportedly sought permission from the Communications Authority of Kenya to build its own subsea cable, aiming to reduce reliance on third-party providers and enhance network resilience following last year’s major cable cuts.

Telecom Namibia says it has restored the satellite feed for its Satlink VSAT platform after it lost connectivity in October following the failure of Intelsat’s IS-33e satellite.

Oracle has equipped its Enterprise Communications Platform (ECP) with connectivity from Space X's Starlink low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites , enabling clients to access its cloud applications in remote locations.

Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications Innovation & Digital Economy (FMCIDE) and WIOCC Group, a provider of digital infrastructure and connectivity solutions, have announced a strategic partnership.

Satellite communications provider Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) and Eutelsat Group, a global leader in satellite communications, have announced what they describe as a groundbreaking multi-year, multi-million-dollar partnership to deliver low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services in Nigeria.

South African communications regulator ICASA has approved the transfer of operator Cell C’s spectrum and network licences to Blue Label Telecoms, paving the way, except for one more approval, for the technology company to take control of Cell C.

While the growth of 5G private networks in Africa may not so far have been as spectacular as some operators had hoped, such networks are certainly gaining traction in South Africa, as a recent agreement signed by operators MTN and China Telecom and tech giant Huawei seems to indicate.

The Angolan government plans to sell its shares in the troubled state-owned operator Unitel as part of broader efforts to privatise the country’s economy.

Independent investment benefit corporation and asset manager Meridiam says it has acquired a majority stake in Ilitha, an innovative telecommunications company whose main objective is to provide affordable, unlimited internet solutions to underserved areas in South Africa.

MTN Nigeria has renewed its spectrum band licence (referred to as Channel 1) in Nigeria for an extra ten years, effective from the start of this year.

PAIX Data Centres, a leading data centre provider in Africa, has announced plans for the construction of a new state-of-the-art data centre in Dakar, Senegal.

Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony and Airspan announced on Tuesday that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on testing Open RAN technology in Kenya.

Airtel Malawi, one of the two dominant mobile operators in the Southeast African country along with TNM, has announced plans to boost its network with additional data links and to enhance reliability.

Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) has reportedly struck a multi-year, multi-million-dollar partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb to deliver LEO satellite services across Nigeria.