The volume of payment technology news from Africa grows apace with two recent announcements: a payment services licence for Unlimit in Tanzania and two companies – ExiPay and Izwe – teaming up to launch a new point of sale device in Zambia.

Thai operator AIS is in the news again today, this time through the announcement that it is joining forces with IPification to deliver next-generation phone number verification solutions to Thailand.

Technology giant Microsoft has said it will train 100,000 Philippine women in artificial intelligence technology and cybersecurity.

Research group Opensignal has produced its latest analysis of the mobile network customer experience in South Africa, in which, it says, MTN again takes home the largest haul of awards.

AIS partnered with Google Cloud to deliver a suite of business solutions to SMEs in Thailand, a move to push growth in its enterprise segment. 

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) revealed key initiatives on Monday to boost local development of 5G and 6G use cases, as well as a skilled workforce to support it.

Digicel Samoa announced on Monday that it has been granted conditional approval from the Government of Samoa to launch 5G technology, and is already working with Nokia to upgrade its cell tower sites.

NOW Telecom suffered another legal setback in its quest to become the next major telco in the Philippines after the Supreme Court upheld earlier rulings denying its petition for a preliminary injunction against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Networking systems, services and software company Ciena has announced an upgrade to support growing demand for more bandwidth for the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable across the Asia-to-Europe route.

Wholesale connectivity provider Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet), which operates Botswana’s largest fibre network, is boosting its offering with solutions from DZS.

Last week’s inauguration of Tunisia’s Ifriqiya submarine cable is part of a wider plan to boost the country’s international connectivity, according to a number of reports.

Tower company  Edotco Bangladesh revealed on Thursday that it signed an MoU with Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) to collaborate on deploying a telecoms tower in Bangladesh made of fiberglass reinforced plastics (FRP).

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announced on Friday that its next spectrum auction – which will put more 5G bands on the block – will commence on May 20, and has invited all players to apply.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has reportedly opened its long-awaited 5G spectrum auction to all players, starting with the 2500-2600 MHz band, with more bands to follow in the coming days.

Airtel Tanzania managing director Dinesh Balsingh revealed the operator had expanded its coverage with newly constructed towers, as part of an initiative to boost connectivity in rural locations, The Citizen reported.

MTN Uganda Mobile Money managing director and CEO Richard Yego revealed the operator is aiming to almost double its loans to UGX1 trillion (US$256,000) this year. 

As Nigeria’s MVNO sector gathers pace, software solutions provider Mobilise has launched Tier 5 MVNE services to cater to this burgeoning market segment.

Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS) announced on Thursday that it has purchased a new 10-acre plot in Ambattur, Chennai, on which it will build a hyperscale data centre to expand its presence in Southern India.

Cloud service provider Liquid C2 has announced collaborations with global technology leader Google Cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic to deliver advanced cloud, cybersecurity solutions, and generative AI (gen AI) capabilities to African businesses across the continent.

EcoCloud, a leading Kenyan provider of sustainable data centre solutions, and G42, a UAE-headquartered technology holding group, have announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) highlighting plans for a data centre powered by geothermal energy.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) will upgrade its broadband footprint with Netcracker Technology to support expanding demand for its fibre to the home (FTTH) service. 

TowerCo of Africa Uganda has procured funding of US$40 million to boost coverage in rural areas of the country.

Demand for fixed-line telephone services has reportedly spiked in North Korea’s North Pyongan Province due to the easing of border restrictions with China, which has also led to a spike in installation prices.

The Indian government is reportedly set to classify satellite broadband as a telecoms service, which would make global satellite broadband players eligible for 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) automatically.

Chile’s ClaroVTR joint venture has signed a 15-year agreement with fibre optics company OnNet Fibra, which will allow the migration of the joint venture's cable modem customers to fibre optics.

Satellite and space tech company Thaicom has announced the selection of Astranis, a fast-growing satellite manufacturer and operator, to supply Thaicom-9, the newest addition to the Bangkok-headquartered company's fleet of high-throughput satellites, at 119.5 degrees East.

Bangladeshi operator Banglalink announced it will partner with SaaS platform company CSG to enhance its capacity to record daily call detail records (CDRs) to meet anticipated rising volume. 

Inmarsat Maritime, part of satellite communications company Inmarsat, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aramco, a global integrated energy and chemicals company headquartered in Saudi Arabia, to undertake a 5G mesh network trial that aims to provide high-bandwidth connectivity for Aramco’s offshore work in the Arabian Gulf.

Huawei President of Data Storage Product Line, Peter Zhou (pictured), urged the telecoms industry to utilise efficient data infrastructure to effectively leverage AI to bolster their operations.