The Republic of Sudan has become the 32nd African country to join the Smart Africa Alliance by signaling a strong intention to place technology at the center of Sudan’s reconstruction. One of the marks of its return to the international scene after the lifting by the United States in 2017 of the embargo to which it was subject since 1993. The government of Sudan will benefit from the support of Smart Africa, the alliance of African countries committed to accelerate the socio-economic development of the continent through information technology and communications, in achieving its digital ambitions. Several agreements were signed in this sense by members of the Sudanese government and Lacina Kone, the CEO of Smart Africa, during his working visit to the country.
General News
A drop in telecom prices is expected in Seychelles
Telecommunication services in Seychelles will get a boost from a new cable system that will be leased by Intelvision, a local service provider, with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
ICASA: Licensees must return temporary radio frequency spectrum by Nov 30
According to a statement from the Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the temporary radio frequency spectrum assigned to licensees – Telkom, MTN, Vodacom, RAIN Networks, Liquid Telecoms – will now have to be returned to the authority by no later than November 30, 2021.
Tizeti addresses post-pandemic ‘new normal’ with new connectivity offerings
To enable more Africans to take advantage of digital offerings in a new world defined by the Covid-19 pandemic, West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet and voice service provider, Tizeti (www.Tizeti.com), has launched new connectivity offerings.
Egypt to raise ICT sector’s GDP contribution to 5% by 2025
Egypt's ministry of planning and economic development plans to raise the contribution of the telecommunication and information technology sector in the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 5% by 2025, from an expected target of 2.6% for fiscal year (FY) 2020/2021, minister of planning and economic development Hala El-Said has revealed, according to state news reports.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise establishes sales center of excellence in Egypt
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced the opening of a new regional sales center of excellence (CoE) in Cairo, Egypt, to serve the Middle East and Africa region. The sales hub will build on strong growth opportunities in the digital economy and will respond to customer demand for secure connectivity, remote work solutions, data analytics capabilities and as-a-service solutions. HPE will also launch an accompanying recruitment drive in the region.
Egypt's Aswan governorate to get 81 mobile towers through ‘Decent Life’ initiative
Egypt’s Aswan governorate will receive a number of projects, including the construction of 81 mobile towers to support the communications service, and the connection of fiber-optic cables to 110,000 homes, in addition to developing 44 post offices.
SES’s O3b mPOWER MEO system to provide additional connectivity as more critical workloads move to cloud
SES announced Microsoft as the first cloud provider customer for its next-generation medium earth orbit (MEO) system – O3b mPOWER. Microsoft plans to leverage the MEO high-performance connectivity services to showcase its Azure Orbital solutions that integrate satellite connectivity with Azure services. Microsoft will use SES’s current MEO to provide connectivity now before migrating to O3b mPOWER next year.
Teraco completes latest Isando Campus data center expansion
Teraco Data Environments Proprietary Limited, Africa’s largest vendor-neutral data center and interconnection services provider, has completed the JB3 data center facility, located within the Isando Campus in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, South Africa.
New branches added to 2Africa subsea cable system
The 2Africa consortium, comprised of China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC, announced the addition of four new branches to the 2Africa subsea cable system.