OMEA and IFC unite to develop sustainable digital infrastructure in eight African countries. (Image source: IFC)

Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) has entered a strategic partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to boost access to digital services across eight African nations

The agreement was formalised during the Africa CEO Forum held in Abidjan on 12–13 May.

Focusing on underserved regions in West and Central Africa, this alliance aims to enhance digital inclusion and sustainability. It combines OMEA’s regional expertise and infrastructure with IFC’s development financing capabilities. Over the coming years, the collaboration will support the rollout of key telecom infrastructure, including towers and fibre networks.

The initiative builds on IFC’s prior involvement in the sector, such as its support for West Africa’s first telecom securitisation operation and its provision of sustainable financing to Sonatel. These efforts, valued at around US$75mn in 2024, have already strengthened Senegal’s digital infrastructure by expanding 4G and fibre coverage, particularly in rural areas.

Through this partnership, OMEA and IFC aim to establish a scalable investment model that bridges the digital divide, fosters financial inclusion, enhances regional resilience, and generates employment—especially in the digital sector.

“This partnership with IFC is a major step in accelerating our ambition to reduce the digital gap by offering quality, sustainable, and accessible connectivity to as many people as possible, especially in rural or underserved areas. By combining our strengths, we aim to build a more equitable digital future for everyone in Africa,” said Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.

“Increasing access to digital connectivity in Africa is a key priority to foster innovation, expand financial inclusion, and create jobs. Strengthening our partnership with Orange Middle East and Africa demonstrates our commitment to positioning digital technology as a strategic lever for sustainable economic transformation, benefiting individuals and businesses,” added Ethiopis Tafara, IFC vice-president for Africa.

Nokia partners with Reflex to enhance ISP onboarding and broadband access across South Africa’s regions. (Image source: Nokia)

Nokia has announced that Reflex will roll out its advanced Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) solution to upgrade and scale its infrastructure, accelerating ISP onboarding and enhancing broadband services for South African communities and enterprises

The deployment will also improve space and energy efficiency, ensuring Reflex’s network can support long-term national growth.

With digital transformation driving rising broadband demand across both urban and rural South Africa, underserved areas remain a persistent challenge. Reflex is tackling this head-on by replacing legacy BNGs with Nokia’s scalable solution—designed to bridge connectivity gaps and empower more ISPs to expand their reach. Research has shown that broader broadband access could significantly boost Africa’s economy, reinforcing the importance of initiatives like Reflex’s network upgrade. Nokia’s technology supports this evolution by addressing network scalability, efficiency, and sustainability.

“Working with partners like Reflex from Myriad Group, which recognises the importance of Neutral Host models providing flexible and scalable networks, is crucial in addressing the connectivity challenges across South Africa. By replacing the legacy BNGs and investing in our Nokia 7750 Service Router platform, Reflex can onboard multiple ISPs and their subscribers with minimal equipment’s needs, lowering up-front investment, reducing energy use and supporting a more sustainable and inclusive digital future,” said Toni Pellegrino, managing director of South Africa and head of network infrastructure for Southern and Eastern Africa at Nokia.

“Reflex’s mission is to give every ISP in South Africa an instant, carrier-grade on-ramp to a truly Tier 1 network. Being a value-added reseller of Nokia, we believe in the solutions they provide so much that we deploy it in our core network ourselves,” remarked Charles Castle, commercial & sales executive at Reflex Carrier Solutions.

“By integrating Nokia’s 7750 SR-1 Broadband Network Gateways and carrier-grade NAT into the Reflex backbone, we are adding capacity and intelligence while reducing space, power and complexity. The result is a future-ready platform that is scalable, secure and always-on—delivering unrivalled uptime, rock-solid redundancy and the high-speed performance our partners need, to grow with confidence. With Nokia as our technology partner, Reflex can light up new services for ISPs nationwide in days instead of months, ensuring that the ISPs who rely on our VISP offering—and the communities they serve — enjoy the best possible broadband experience today and far into the future, supported by our highly accredited local engineering teams,” Castle concluded.

Reflex’s network upgrade is built on Nokia’s 7750 SR-1 platform, integrated with Carrier-Grade NAT (CG-NAT), enabling expanded reach and improved operations across South Africa while promoting a faster, more inclusive and resilient digital economy.

Demand for data centre services in Africa is rising fast

Africa Data Centres has deployed a self-cooling rack by Gold Synergy at its CPT1 facility in Cape Town to boost performance while minimising energy consumption

The installation represents a significant advancement in the evolution of high-density computing in Africa and supports Africa Data Centres’ commitment to sustainable, efficient infrastructure solutions, the company said in a statement.

The innovative self-cooling rack, commissioned in January 2025, is designed to meet the increasing demand for high-performance computing while minimising energy consumption, said Adil El Youssefi, CEO, Africa Data Centres.

As the region experiences rising power and cooling challenges driven by artificial intelligence, big data and enterprise workloads, self-contained cooling technologies offer a smart and scalable solution, according to Adil El Youssefi, CEO. Africa Data Centres, a business of Cassava Technologies.

“Our collaboration with Gold Synergy introduces new efficiencies in high-density hosting,” said El Youssefi.

“By integrating this cutting-edge cooling solution at CPT1, we are creating a model for how data centres in Africa can scale intelligently while remaining aligned with global sustainability targets. The success of this deployment positions both Africa Data Centres and Gold Synergy to expand CDU-based cooling technologies across the region, further supporting Africa’s growing need for next-generation infrastructure.”

Gold Synergy brings a wealth of expertise in advanced cooling solutions.

The deployment at CPT1 demonstrates the viability of self-cooling racks in African conditions, setting the stage for broader collaboration in supporting regional ESG objectives, said Fortune Utubor, executive at Gold Synergy.

“Our self-cooling rack solution is a game-changing approach for high-density computing environments. This deployment reflects our shared commitment to energy efficiency and operational excellence.”

South Africa remains a strategic digital hub for the continent. With its reliable infrastructure, favourable location, and increasing demand for cloud and AI services, the country plays a pivotal role in the digital transformation of Africa.

As enterprises move mission-critical applications closer to home, infrastructure capable of supporting such workloads efficiently becomes essential.

The deployment not only increases the CPT1 facility’s hosting capacity without requiring major infrastructure modifications, but it also reinforces Africa Data Centres’ position as a leading carrier-neutral data centre provider on the continent.

The new solution helps reduce reliance on traditional cooling systems and contributes to operational cost savings for both clients and facility operators.

Eutelsat and InterSAT expand satellite partnership to boost fixed data services across Eastern and Central Africa. (Image source: InterSAT)

Eutelsat Group has renewed and expanded its collaboration with InterSAT through a new multi-year agreement for Ku-band capacity on the EUTELSAT 7C satellite

This renewed commitment enables InterSAT to strengthen its fixed data service delivery across Central and Eastern Africa. In addition to the new contract, InterSAT has extended its current agreement on the EUTELSAT 70B satellite. Both companies are also in active discussions to incorporate OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) capacity to support services in East Africa.

InterSAT Communication Services, a prominent satellite-based internet solutions provider in Africa, serves a wide range of clients including government agencies, corporate institutions, and private enterprises.

The EUTELSAT 7C satellite, stationed at 7° East, delivers robust coverage for African markets, while EUTELSAT 70B at 70.5° East offers extensive reach with four high-performance fixed beams and high on-board connectivity.

“We are delighted to deepen our relationship with our long-standing partner, InterSAT, to support their growth in Africa. This partnership highlights the ongoing relevance of our powerful geostationary in-orbit assets to deliver a cost-effective and reliable connectivity service to the remotest areas. Furthermore, we are excited to discuss the possibility of adding LEO capacity to further optimize the service offering,” said Philippe Baudrier, vice-president for Connectivity, Africa at Eutelsat OneWeb.

Hanif Kassam, CEO of InterSAT, added, “With their optimal orbital locations over Africa, EUTELSAT E7C and E70B provide InterSAT with wide coverage and efficiency across the Horizon. Additionally, our state-of-the-art Teleport investments leveraged in this solution provide growth capabilities for our diverse customers in the region. We look forward to adding One Web to our service portfolio whereby our customers across the African Continent can benefit from low-latency and reliable connectivity.”