Ghana develops its national data strategy in collaboration with Smart Africa and Team Europe. (Image source: Smart Africa)

The Government of Ghana, in collaboration with the European Union and Smart Africa, has successfully concluded a National Validation Workshop to develop a National Data Strategy

This significant milestone is aligned with Ghana’s Long-term National Development Plan (2018-2057), the National Medium-term Development Policy Framework (2022-2025), and the country's vision for sustainable development.

The workshop aimed to bring together stakeholders in the data governance ecosystem to shape Ghana’s data-driven future. Its objective was to establish a comprehensive national data strategy that includes key elements such as data governance structure, legal and ethical considerations for data collection, usage, storage, and protection, as well as data infrastructure and capacity building.

“Data is a valuable asset across all sectors capable of driving economic growth when managed effectively. Developing a data strategy is crucial to achieving this goal, and we are proud to collaborate with our partners to establish this framework in Ghana and subsequently in other member countries,” commented Lacina Koné, Smart Africa CEO.

The two-day validation workshop involved stakeholders in Ghana’s data ecosystem who reviewed and validated the draft strategy document and provided inputs into the implementation roadmap for the data strategy, paving the way for the country’s data-driven future.

“This nation is well into the bold, deliberate initiatives to digitalise the economy, believing that deploying critical IT systems and technologies acquired will best maximise the use of data by unlocking its potential, promoting data sharing, analytics, and reuse for the general public good. With an increasing adoption of advanced technology in the management of data, the prioritisation of data governance is critical to the success of the digitisation effort,” declared Hon. Charles Acheampong, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation of Ghana.

Commenting on the national data strategy, Patricia Adusei-Poku, executive director of data protection commission, Ghana said, “The Ghana Data Protection Commission has positioned itself as a regional trailblaser and a national forefront enabler of appropriate and authorised processing of quality data in a people-centric digitised ecosystem. The DPC has developed various data strategies to support Data Controllers and Subjects to encourage accountability from all stakeholders.”

Anna Lixi, head of governance and security at the European Union in Ghana, emphasised, “Decisions based on data can greatly improve people’s lives; data can uncover patterns and market trends, making it possible to address problems and leverage opportunities; business start-ups – including those led by Ghana’s young people – may greatly benefit from having access to the right data.”

“Data is the new oxygen of development. It is a powerful enabler for digital innovations, job creation, and enhancing the openness, effectiveness, and inclusiveness of the delivery of basic services to local communities. We congratulate the Government of Ghana and its partner, Smart Africa for developing the Ghana National Data Strategy – a real milestone for leveraging the power of data for sustainable development,” added David Robert, Program Manager, Digital Transformation Center, GIZ Ghana.

This initiative was made possible through collaboration between Smart Africa, the Government of Ghana, the African Union, the European Union, BMZ, GIZ, D4D Hub, and Global Gateway.

The Republic of Benin is undertaking a similar journey to develop its own National Data Strategy and, in addition to contributing to the validation workshop, conducted a peer learning exchange with their Ghanaian counterparts. This effort aligns with continental initiatives to harmonise data policies, spearheaded by the African Union Commission through the Continental Data Policy Framework.

TelCables Southern Africa boosts its network capacity to 800 Gbps, enhancing flexibility and performance for ISPs, CDNs, and operators across Africa and beyond. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

TelCables Southern Africa, a branch of the global ICT solutions and services provider Angola Cables, has enhanced its backbone network infrastructure to handle the increasing data traffic across its network, aiming to deliver quicker and more secure connectivity

Mahen Naidu, head of business solutions at TelCables South Africa, stated that the network upgrades will offer local internet service providers, content delivery networks, and both African and international operators greater flexibility, scalability, and capacity. This will enable them to better manage their specific needs and requirements for IP connectivity and services.

"We have experienced double-digit growth in traffic over our network in recent months and have increased our bandwidth from 500 Gbps to 800 Gbps to provide more seamless connectivity and improved performance to meet the growing demand from business to better manage their SD-WAN, Cloud and data traffic requirements," stated Naidu.

"To make sure that we are also in a position to provide high-quality and high-performance business connectivity solutions to the South African and African market, we have also opened two new Points of Presence (PoP) at NTT Parklands and at Xneelo Samrand in Johannesburg. This is on the back of the recently established Durban PoP, located at the Teraco Riverhorse DB1 facilty," commented Naidu.

Overall, the upgraded network will now give customers 100GE capabilities when routing via Teraco JB1, Teraco CT1 and Teraco DB1.

The real benefit of this is that network providers and other operators will be able to further expand their networks, increase their customer base and reconfigure traffic flows as and when required without disrupting network traffic or incurring multiple cross-connect fees.

"TelCables, which is powered by the robust Angola Cables global subsea network, is able to provide customers with better routing options to markets in Latin America, the USA and Europe. We have also been able to assist customers that have been impacted by cable disruptions in the Red Sea with quick and efficient redundancy routing options – something which is important in terms of business connectivity and continuity. The upgrades will ensure that we can accommodate more traffic from both existing and new cables and offer better, more flexible options for the transit of IP traffic across the continent and to other parts of the world," commented Naidu.

Ooredoo Group partners with NVIDIA to lead the AI revolution in MENA, providing governments, enterprises, and startups with advanced AI-ready platforms. (Image source: Ooredoo Group)

Ooredoo Group has declared it is becoming an NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP), in line with its ambition to become the premier digital infrastructure provider in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region

This collaboration allows Ooredoo to utilise NVIDIA’s advanced accelerated computing platform to drive the AI revolution in the area.

Leveraging the substantial market demand for accelerated computing and hyperconnectivity throughout its MENA footprint, Ooredoo is creating an AI-ready platform powered by NVIDIA’s comprehensive innovation across systems, software, and services.

This platform will be an essential asset, supporting governments and empowering enterprises and startups to securely process their private datasets, producing valuable insights as tokens that drive innovations for its users.

Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group CEO, Ooredoo, commented, “Implementing NVIDIA's full-stack platform for accelerated computing and generative AI, Ooredoo is equipped to be at the forefront of the AI revolution in MENA, driving digitalisation and innovation as the leading digital infrastructure provider in the region. Working with NVIDIA, we aim to meet the significantly growing demand for accelerated computing infrastructure to support advanced AI models.”

Transforming industries with next-generation AI and GPU offerings

This collaboration provides governments, enterprises, and startups in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, and the Maldives access to NVIDIA's latest full-stack AI platform.

Ooredoo intends to deploy thousands of NVIDIA Tensor Core GPUs in its AI data centres to support the region, enabling customers to use a state-of-the-art AI platform with advanced infrastructure, tools, and software

This will optimise processes and enhance operational efficiencies across industries.

Customers will benefit from Ooredoo’s GPU-as-a-Service, which offers on-demand access to some of the most advanced AI and machine learning tools available - including one of the most transformative technologies today, generative AI.

Ronnie Vasishta, senior vice-president of Telecom, NVIDIA, said, “As a trusted regional telecommunications provider, Ooredoo Group combines deep enterprise and consumer relationships with the ability to invest in and deploy AI infrastructure and services. By providing NVIDIA’s full-stack AI computing platform to customers, Ooredoo will help make it easier for their customers to deploy generative AI applications and services.”

Ooredoo driving regional growth through localised Infrastructure and AI hosting solutions

Ooredoo Group’s collaboration with NVIDIA is part of its broader goal to enhance AI infrastructure in the MENA region, while providing improved security, optimised performance, and customisation to meet local standards.

This enables the countries where Ooredoo operates to establish local clouds, fostering the development of local AI ecosystems and applications, and strengthening data security measures.

Ooredoo will offer GPU-as-infrastructure, giving its customers the flexibility to integrate accelerated computing with their own cloud solutions or host them on-premises. This ensures customers have the most efficient and tailored AI processing capabilities available.

This initiative is expected to stimulate economic growth, job creation, and technological innovation across the region by providing customers with a cutting-edge AI cloud platform. Ooredoo will work closely with stakeholders in each country to ensure alignment with local requirements and to maximize the benefits of its AI initiatives to advance sovereign AI goals.

A leading digital infrastructure provider

Ooredoo’s digital ecosystem includes core telecom services and a dedicated data centre platform, along with independent entities focused on wireless towers, financial technology, and subsea cable ventures. This aligns with Ooredoo's strategy to transform into a telecom and infrastructure holding with a de-layered multi-business structure, aiming to become the neutral carrier of choice, creating synergies across its ecosystem while ensuring business sustainability and growth.

The agreement with NVIDIA was signed during TMForum’s DTW24 in Copenhagen in the presence of Ooredoo Group CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo and NVIDIA Senior Vice President of Telecom Ronnie Vasishta.