Microsoft exceeds its 2025 connectivity target and partners with AfDB to accelerate digital and agricultural transformation across Africa

During the B20 South Africa Summit last week, Microsoft revealed that it has now connected more than 117 million people in Africa to the internet, surpassing its original 2025 goal

The company also announced a new partnership with the African Development Bank to strengthen small and medium enterprises in the agriculture sector through a combination of financing support and technological solutions.

Bridging the digital divide

Microsoft’s expanded connectivity efforts stem from a commitment made in 2022 to broaden internet access and provide digital skills training across Africa. The achievement was made possible through collaborations with regional Internet Service Providers, hardware manufacturers, and global development organisations. This milestone marks a significant leap forward in narrowing Africa’s digital divide and advancing inclusive socioeconomic development.

“Connectivity is a key enabler for AI adoption and inclusive growth,” Melanie Nakagawa, chief sustainability officer, Microsoft said. “Without access to the internet, the promise of technology remains out of reach. To meaningfully participate in this moment of transformation, we must also empower people with the skills to use these digital tools.”

Microsoft plans to integrate increased connectivity with AI-powered solutions designed to advance economic opportunities. Expanded internet access has already delivered tangible improvements: enhanced patient care through video consultations in rural Kenya, more affordable devices and youth gaming hubs in South Africa, and high-speed broadband paired with free public Wi-Fi to support community learning and local business engagement.

Transforming African agriculture through digital innovation

Microsoft also confirmed its support for the African Development Bank’s creation of a continent-wide financing mechanism dedicated to agricultural SMEs. This fund will merge financial resources with improved digital infrastructure to strengthen productivity and enhance climate resilience, leveraging both Microsoft’s technology capabilities and AfDB’s financial expertise.

Digital connectivity, paired with AI tools, is positioned as a catalyst for growth, resilience and broader participation across African economies. Microsoft noted that the continent’s growing digital ecosystem — together with the launch of the AfDB Financing Agribusiness SME Trust Fund — illustrates how coordinated financial and technological efforts can scale solutions. As the company emphasized, no single organization can eliminate the digital divide or fully unlock AI-driven opportunity on its own.

Paratus Botswana upgrades FTTH and SKY-Fi services with faster speeds

Paratus Botswana has revised its Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) offerings and pricing structure, strengthening its position in the market by continuing to provide uncapped home internet with low contention ratios and zero fair usage limitations, a notable contrast to typical industry practices

The FTTH service remains accessible across most of Gaborone, subject to feasibility checks.

The new updates mirror shifting consumer expectations, as more households seek higher speeds, reduced costs, and shorter contractual terms. Reflecting these preferences, Paratus has phased out 36-month agreements and standardised its contracts to 12 months, while still offering a 24-month option for users wanting lower monthly fees. Current customers with active contracts will also benefit from speed upgrades aligned with the value of their existing plans, ensuring that service performance matches evolving usage needs.

Commenting on these changes, Shawn Bruwer, Managing Director of Paratus Botswana, says, “The demand for higher internet speeds at home has increased dramatically due to popularity of social media, streaming services and higher definition media. Older packages are now obsolete and frustrating. Anticipating this increase in demand, Paratus invested significantly into our privately-owned network to accommodate exponentially more bandwidth for Botswana, and maintaining what we are known for – quality, great service and reliability.”

In locations where fibre has yet to be deployed, Paratus has also revised the pricing of its SKY-Fi fixed wireless service. SKY-Fi continues to be offered as an uncapped solution, designed with the same low contention and no-FUP approach, backed by the company’s carrier-grade backbone and international connections. To keep pace with advancements in fibre, Paratus has tested and begun deploying new fixed wireless technologies capable of delivering fibre-like speeds. These enhanced SKY-Fi options are scheduled for rollout during the first half of 2026.

This partnership further positions Ghana as one of Africa’s most internationally connected countries

CSquared, a pan-African technology company dedicated to enhancing digital connectivity across the continent, has officially submitted its application to join LINX Accra, Ghana’s newly established Internet Exchange Point (IXP)

The move aligns with CSquared’s broader mission to foster a more inclusive and interconnected Africa and follows the company’s recent expansion of its West African fibre network.

Operated by the London Internet Exchange (LINX), LINX Accra is a fully redundant, multi-site interconnection hub built to future-proof digital services and strengthen Ghana’s connectivity landscape. The exchange currently operates at Onix and PAIX data centres, with a third site planned at Digital Realty’s ACR2 facility. LINX Accra provides low-latency, cost-efficient peering solutions that keep local traffic local, reducing dependence on international transit routes.

Jennifer Holmes, CEO of LINX, said, “Having CSquared not only as a new network to the LINX community, but as one of our first champions connecting to LINX Accra is amazing. We value the support of such a key player in the region for connectivity.”

CSquared’s application follows its significant infrastructure achievement: the deployment of a strategic cross-border fibre backbone across West Africa. This network connects coastal and landlocked nations, including Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Burkina Faso, delivering high-capacity, low-latency connectivity that complements subsea cable systems such as Equiano, where CSquared serves as the landing partner in the Republic of Togo.

“Joining LINX Accra is a natural step in our journey to empower Africa’s digital future,” said Ian Paterson, CEO of CSquared.

“Our expanded fibre backbone is designed to reduce single points of failure and deliver resilient, scalable connectivity. By peering locally in Ghana, we’re helping to build a stronger, more efficient Internet ecosystem for the region.”

The combination of CSquared’s terrestrial fibre network with LINX Accra’s interconnection platform is expected to accelerate digital transformation, support local ISPs and enterprises, and attract global digital services to West Africa. This partnership further positions Ghana as one of Africa’s most internationally connected countries, leveraging its strategic location, thriving technology ecosystem, and robust digital infrastructure.

Fast, secure cloud connections across providers

AWS has announced the preview of AWS Interconnect – multicloud, a solution designed to provide simple, resilient, high-speed private connections to other cloud service providers (CSPs)

Google Cloud will be the first launch partner, with Microsoft Azure following later in 2026

As customers increasingly adopt multicloud strategies and migrate more applications to the cloud, they seek greater interoperability, flexibility to choose the technology that best meets their needs, and faster deployment across diverse environments. Previously, connecting workloads across multiple cloud providers required a “do-it-yourself” multicloud approach, creating complexity in managing large-scale, multi-layered networks globally.

AWS Interconnect – multicloud is the first purpose-built product of its kind, redefining how clouds connect and communicate. It allows customers to rapidly establish private, secure, high-speed network connections with dedicated bandwidth and built-in resiliency between Amazon VPCs and other cloud environments. This solution simplifies integration with AWS networking services, including AWS Transit Gateway, AWS Cloud WAN, and Amazon VPC, enabling connections to other CSPs in days instead of weeks or months.

Currently, Interconnect – multicloud is available in preview across five AWS Regions. Customers can enable the capability directly via the AWS Management Console, while CSPs can adopt it using a published open API package available on GitHub. For further details, see the AWS Interconnect – multicloud documentation pages.