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Zineb Kamri from Casablanca, Morocco. (Image source: Vertiv)

Internet

Vertiv, a global leader in digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, has restructured its African operations to strengthen market outreach and improve customer relationships across the continent

The company has reorganised its operations into four focused regional clusters, each under the leadership of experienced regional directors:

  • Northwest Africa – Led by Zineb Kamri from Casablanca, Morocco

  • Northeast Africa – Headed by Ehab El Hefnawy in Cairo, Egypt

  • Central-Southern Africa – Managed by Gary Chomse in Johannesburg, South Africa, with operational support from Lagos, Nigeria

  • Eastern Africa – Overseen by Rohan Patil in Nairobi, Kenya

Each of these directors reports to Wojtek Piorko, Vertiv’s managing director for Africa. With deep-rooted experience and leadership within the company, they bring extensive knowledge of regional dynamics and customer needs. The restructure is designed to build stronger connections with partners and clients, ensuring faster service delivery and enhanced support through better deployment of solutions, training, and technical expertise.

Sharpening regional agility

“This strategic move positions Vertiv closer to its local customers, enabling a deeper understanding of their unique needs and a more effective response to local market dynamics within each region,” explained Piorko. “It will also facilitate the strategic alignment of resource investments with market growth and customer expectations.”

Piorko continued, “By enhancing our regional presence, Vertiv aims to support African businesses in their digital transformation journeys, providing them with access to experienced experts and a broad portfolio of power, cooling, IT management and services solutions to help accelerate the growth of compute in the region.”

Also read: Vertiv launches power shelf for AI data centres

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most active region for mobile money, with East and West Africa seeing the highest growth in registered accounts and monthly usage. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Mobile

The ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2025’, published by the GSMA Mobile Money programme, highlights two major milestones for the mobile money industry in 2024—crossing two billion registered accounts and more than half a billion active monthly users worldwide

This marks a significant acceleration in adoption, as it took the industry 18 years to reach one billion registered accounts and 250 million active users, but only five more years to double that growth.

According to the report, transaction volumes and values saw strong double-digit increases in 2024. An estimated 108 billion transactions, worth over US$1.68 trillion, were processed through mobile money accounts. Compared to 2023, transaction volumes surged by 20%, while values rose by 16%, up from 13% the previous year.

Vivek Badrinath, GSMA director general, commented, “Mobile money has emerged as a powerful driver of financial inclusion and economic growth. Its continued success depends on supportive regulatory environments that promote innovation, accessibility and help unlock the full socio-economic potential. To ensure mobile money remains accessible, affordable, and safe, it is vital for governments and regulators to work with financial service providers to support financial literacy programs, empowering underserved populations and opening new opportunities for financial decision-making.”

Sub-Saharan Africa leads

The report also underlines mobile money’s growing economic impact. By the end of 2023, countries offering mobile money services experienced a collective GDP that was over US$720bn higher than it would have been without them, translating to a 1.7% increase. Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for US$190bn of this, affirming the region’s leading role in mobile money innovation.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most active region for mobile money, with East and West Africa seeing the highest growth in registered accounts and monthly usage. In 2024, East Africa led monthly active account growth, followed by Southeast Asia and West Africa. The East Asia-Pacific region also made significant gains, ranking second in growth of monthly active accounts—driven by favourable regulatory conditions in Cambodia, Fiji, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

According to the GSMA, providers in East Asia and the Pacific are increasingly evolving into full-service financial platforms. “The most successful providers are often those who are actively innovating the breadth of their offerings,” the report noted.

Mobile money services have expanded to include adjacent financial products like credit, savings, and insurance. As of June 2024, 44% of providers offered credit—making it the most common—while about a third offered savings, and 28% provided insurance products.

Despite this momentum, the report flags ongoing adoption challenges, particularly among women. Of the 12 countries surveyed, eight still report a gender gap in mobile money ownership, with minimal improvement since 2023. Barriers such as limited awareness and low digital financial literacy persist—especially for women.

However, women who do own accounts are nearly as likely as men to have used them within the last 30 days. “To address these challenges,” the GSMA explained, “nearly 60% of mobile money providers have launched digital financial literacy initiatives to improve financial skills and drive adoption over time.”

Vox joins Q-KON as a OneWeb Partner, enhancing LEO satellite connectivity options for enterprise customers in Southern Africa. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Satellite

Q-KON and Vox have announced that Vox has officially become a OneWeb Partner with Q-KON, the provider of Twoobii Super Smart Satellite Solutions for enterprise customers

With a strong reputation in B2B satellite connectivity, Vox has become a choice for LEO (Low Earth Orbit) solution providers. Q-KON has confirmed that Vox has selected Twoobii-OneWeb as its preferred LEO partner.

Enterprise clients of Vox will now benefit from LEO satellite technology, gaining lower latency, greater reliability, and higher data transfer speeds. With this robust connectivity, Vox customers can use Twoobii-OneWeb as a primary connectivity solution or as a backup to existing terrestrial networks.

This partnership has also expanded connectivity options for a previously underserved market segment, now enabling reliable voice services over satellite along with enterprise-grade services featuring defined Quality of Service (QoS) configurations.

Becoming a Twoobii-OneWeb reseller strengthens Vox’s satellite connectivity offering, allowing enterprise customers across Southern Africa to access world-class LEO services. This move further reinforces the business case for satellite connectivity in various industries.

"Securing Vox as a Twoobii-OneWeb reseller represents a valuable extension of our existing partnership and being able to provide world-class LEO services to enterprise customers throughout southern Africa further strengthens the business case for satellite connectivity across all sectors. OneWeb LEO services will further enhance the connectivity options available to our B2B customers," remarked Hendrik Bezuidenhout, account director: key accounts, Q-KON

"Signing up as a OneWeb Partner with Q-KON makes perfect sense as it allows both companies and all our customers to benefit from synergies and added value across the board. African enterprise customers can now look forward to enjoying all the additional benefits of LEO satellite connectivity," commented Theo van Zyl, head of Wireless Solutions, Vox.

"At Vox, we’ve always based our growth on building partnerships with trusted technology companies. Now that we are a partner of the Eutelsat OneWeb LEO service through Q-KON, we can go to market with a full suite of connectivity options," stated Kathleen Morris, satellite product manager, Vox.

James Saruchera, co-founder of Afrik. (Image source: Afrik)

Commerce

Afrik introduced its decentralised financial and governance platform at the Global AI Summit in Rwanda, an exclusive gathering hosted by president Paul Kagame and the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR)

Designed to drive Africa’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Afrik enables the financing of green energy and AI-driven projects by leveraging blockchain and artificial intelligence. The platform creates a transparent funding mechanism through a globally tradable digital asset, opening up access to capital from both institutional and individual investors.

Empowering African innovation

“Africa is poised to lead global sustainability in the Fourth Industrial Age. The continent holds 30% of the world’s mineral resources, vast renewable energy potential, and a young, growing workforce. Moving beyond the outdated model of extractive economies, The Afrik Foundation aims to unlock capital to accelerate green innovation and energy projects,” commented James Saruchera, co-founder of Afrik. “By providing African nationals with financial leverage in global markets, Afrik fosters prosperity through greater transparency, governance, and security in investments.”

Afrik’s model empowers communities and governments to fund development on their own terms. “The Global AI Summit highlights the need for Africa to take ownership of its technological and economic destiny. AI, blockchain, and decentralised finance will define the continent’s next growth phase. Afrik is a solution that integrates these technologies to empower communities and governments to finance development on their own terms,” Saruchera adds.

Co-founder Jean-Marc Bourreau emphasised the platform’s innovation, “Afrik enables funding through a digital asset that is globally tradable, that includes innovative features, such as smart contracts, and that will help African economies to direct more resources towards the private sector involved in 4IR. The objective is to boost productivity in Africa and close the economic development gap with the most advanced economies. Afrik is about developing Africa at the speed of AI.”

Afrik has received support from prominent figures across fintech and policy. Arlinda Peixoto, CEO of Pagali, said, “Afrik aligns strongly with the need for African self-reliance and economic independence, leveraging digital transformation to break dependency on external financial structures. By integrating technology and finance, it positions Africa to take advantage of AI-driven economic models, blockchain technology, and decentralised financial systems. Crucially, the emphasis on broad discussions, feedback, and inclusivity suggests an effort to create a grassroots movement rather than imposing a top-down solution.”

Patrick Sergant, a leading lawyer in Dakar, called it “the most innovative instrument I have seen for the financing of Africa’s development.”

“Africa has the potential to lead in AI and digital infrastructure, but it must control the economic frameworks that power these sectors. Afrik offers a borderless financial model that allows African innovation to be funded by African capital. Afrik marks a pivotal shift toward an Africa-driven economic model built on financial sovereignty and equitable access to capital. The insights gained from the Global AI Summit will further inform Afrik’s mission as it prepares to introduce its funding platform to the market,” concluded Saruchera. 

Also read: Africa leads mobile money growth – GSMA report

Huawei supports African TowerCos with sustainable energy solutions and diversification strategies for telecom infrastructure. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Power

Huawei, a global leader in ICT infrastructure and smart devices, has announced its commitment to assisting Tower Companies (TowerCos) in Africa in diversifying their energy sources and adopting sustainable energy practices for powering telecom infrastructure

This initiative aims to help TowerCos reduce their carbon emissions, improve operational efficiency, and explore new business opportunities.

During his speech, "Lighting Up the Road to Multiple Business Future for TowerCos," delivered at the TowerXchange Meetup Africa 2024 in Nairobi, Li Shaolong, president of site power facility domain at Huawei Digital Power, noted that Africa is accelerating the development of ICT infrastructure. TowerCos, as key players in this process, are facing new challenges and opportunities.

“As mobile connectivity demand rises, TowerCos are under increasing pressure to ensure energy reliability and sustainability, especially in areas with limited grid access. Tower sites, often in remote locations, depend heavily on diesel generators, which are costly, environmentally harmful, and vulnerable to fuel supply issues. Huawei’s energy solutions address these challenges by incorporating renewable energy technologies like solar power and advanced energy storage systems,” Li explained.

He emphasised Huawei's long-term commitment to helping Africa's TowerCos transition to greener energy solutions, leveraging the integration of digital and power electronics technologies. Huawei Site Power Facility aims to provide TowerCos with comprehensive energy infrastructure and intelligent operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions.

A path to diversification

In addition to energy sustainability, Huawei is supporting TowerCos in their efforts to diversify by helping them explore new business models and revenue streams.

“This will drive TowerCos to become energy producers through innovative solutions and business models, leading to diversified business development, revenue growth, and sustained success in energy operations,” Li said.

He highlighted that with Huawei's eMIMO smart power solution, TowerCos can centrally manage multiple energy inputs—such as grid power, photovoltaics (PV), and energy storage—and multiple outputs ranging from 12V to 220V devices through a single platform.

“In this way, revenue-generating services like environmental protection and emergency response can be developed alongside communications services,” he said.

Li further stated that Huawei Site Power Facility Domain's main goals are to support network evolution, increase tenancy ratios, help TowerCos reduce energy costs while achieving green development, improve power availability, and reduce site O&M costs.

“Huawei will continue collaborating with TowerCos to innovate and advance energy infrastructure towards a 'green, simple, and intelligent' future, accelerating the growth of African carrier networks and contributing to a digital Africa,” Li added.

Kaspersky and Smart Africa collaborate to enhance cybersecurity skills, policies, and infrastructure, strengthening Africa’s digital security landscape. (Image source: Kaspersky)

Security

In a strategic move to bolster Africa’s digital security, Kaspersky has signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Smart Africa

This agreement marks a significant step toward expanding cybersecurity capabilities across the continent through collaborative initiatives.

A core aspect of this partnership is cybersecurity skills development, with training programs led by the Kaspersky Academy. Founded in 2010, the Academy aims to provide top-tier cybersecurity education to foster a safer digital world. Additionally, the initiative seeks to bridge gender gaps by supporting programs that empower women and girls in cybersecurity, STEM, and ICT. This aligns with Kaspersky’s ongoing efforts to encourage more female participation in the IT sector.

Beyond skills development, the collaboration prioritises policy standardisation, bringing together stakeholders to create harmonised regional and national cybersecurity frameworks. This includes law enforcement agencies, industry leaders, cybersecurity authorities, and emergency response teams, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive approach to digital security.

The partnership also aims to reinforce Africa’s technological defenses by establishing critical cybersecurity infrastructure. This includes security operations centers (SOCs), emergency response teams, and expert technical support to mitigate cyber threats.

Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa, emphasised, “This MoU marks a significant milestone in our quest to secure Africa’s digital future. By joining forces with Kaspersky, we are not only building essential cybersecurity skills and bridging the gender gap but also setting the stage for robust regional cooperation and state-of-the-art cyber infrastructure.”

Eugene Kaspersky, founder and CEO of Kaspersky, added, “Our strategic partnership with Smart Africa is designed to help create a more secure cyberspace across the continent and beyond. We see this initiative as a commitment to empowering both individual users and organisations to ensure that everyone can navigate the digital world safely and with confidence.”

This partnership reinforces Kaspersky’s dedication to strengthening global cyber resilience through strategic collaborations. It also complements the African Network of Cybersecurity Authorities (ANCA)—a Smart Africa initiative designed to unite cybersecurity agencies across Africa to combat cyber threats.

With Smart Africa’s mission to build a secure, inclusive, and digitally empowered continent, this collaboration is set to tackle evolving cyber challenges and position Africa as a leader in digital security innovation.

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