Changing the narrative on Africa.
North African countries are sprinting ahead in 5G, completing a Mediterranean connectivity arc that leaves the rest of the continent behind. From Tunisia to Libya, the region now offers a live blueprint for how policy, investment, and urban density can drive Africa’s digital transformation.
Africa’s mobile phone market is experiencing a surge as consumers in the continent’s biggest cities increasingly opting for higher-spec devices previously considered out of reach.
Driven by policy reforms, private capital, mobile financial services, and global partnerships, Africa’s telecom transformation is creating one of the most dynamic telecommunications markets. The competition that once seemed distant is now shaping a future where connectivity, innovation, and inclusion go hand in hand.
Regulators are reasserting control over Africa’s digital credit market that has expanded rapidly on the back of mobile money, thin oversight and unmet demand for bank lending.
Africa is witnessing a sharp rise in regional satellite investment as governments turn to space technology to accelerate development, boost security, and expand economic opportunities.
Rwanda is turning its domestic digital reforms into an exportable model for governments abroad. Its tech agencies and private firms increasingly deliver software and digital services beyond the continent, proving that African-built public systems can compete on performance and reliability.
On a humid afternoon in North Kivu, a group of farmers crowd into a low, corrugated-roof community hall, passing around basic feature phones as a young facilitator replays a Jambo Radio podcast on shifting rainfall patterns and the economics of oil extraction in Africa.
When Alexander Tsado talks about artificial intelligence, he talks about everyday people, farmers, students and health workers in small towns across Africa and how their lives could change if they had access to the same powerful tools driving innovation in Silicon Valley.
A simple laptop and an internet signal are shields and bridges, a way for digitally-savvy youth in Eastern Congo to find work, preserve their dignity and make a contribution to their societies.
A coalition of Africa’s top mobile operators and the GSMA is racing to deliver a low-cost, high-quality smartphone to millions of first-time users, but it requires governments to reduce taxes to achieve the dream.