According to a number of recent news reports, the government of Equatorial Guinea is considering joining the Medusa subsea cable to improve network stability.

Medusa is a submarine cable system linking the Mediterranean countries with the Atlantic and the Red Sea. While it was initially planned to connect Mediterranean countries, the project has been extended to Africa.

Medusa has been designed as an open access submarine cable system providing a full portfolio of services, including full fibre pairs and half fibre pairs. The system is designed to deliver a capacity of 480 terabits per second through a total of 24 fibre pairs.

The plan for Equatorial Guinea to join the cable, estimated to cost at €20–60 million (about US$23.1 million to US$69.3 million), with rollout targeted for 2029–2030, could cut outages, lower costs and expand digital access.

If it goes ahead, the city of Bata could be a logical landing point due to its population density and proximity to the capital, La Paz.

That said, this appears to be only a proposal at present; it is one of the priority measures outlined in a strategic study conducted by digital and technology consultancy Mason to modernise the country’s digital infrastructure.

The study highlights the need to strengthen the country’s links to high-capacity international networks to address current limitations.

The study was presented to government last week. Vice President Nguema Obiang Mangue has said it would be reviewed in detail by a technical committee in coordination with Medusa project officials.

The Ecofin news service says that in February the government of Equatorial Guinea signed a cooperation agreement with Nigeria to deploy a separate subsea fibre optic infrastructure. Nigeria is already connected to seven major international subsea cables.

Equatorial Guinea relies mainly on the ACE cable for its international connectivity, though it also operates several regional links.

African payments technology company Flutterwave has announced that it has secured a Nigerian banking license.

This license, it explains, enables the company to hold funds and deposits directly, strengthening its financial infrastructure across its largest market and permitting more efficient financial services and settlement flows for consumers, businesses and enterprises.

Flutterwave says it will continue to work closely with banking partners across the broader financial ecosystem. However, the license enables the company to internalise key elements of its financial value chain, improving operational efficiency and supporting faster product development.

This shift strengthens operational autonomy and allows Flutterwave to capture more value from the transactions processed within its ecosystem.

For over a decade Flutterwave says it has powered payments for millions of Nigerians and businesses across the world. With this license, the company explains, it is bringing that same infrastructure into a new generation of banking built for a number of areas including consumer financial services, notably seamless accounts, transfers, and payments for everyday users within the SendApp ecosystem, which enables users to send money internationally.

There will also be a focus on business financial tools, including accounts, payouts, payroll, and multi-currency capabilities; enterprise treasury infrastructure, including tools to manage complex financial operations, treasury, and liquidity; and digital platforms – embedded financial services for marketplaces and platform operators.

For developers there will be programmable financial infrastructure enabling the creation of financial products through APIs.

The banking license also enhances Flutterwave’s core payments business. Over a million people using SendApp will now access enhanced financial services, including personal account numbers and instant transfers, without switching apps. In addition, over two million businesses can now open accounts, manage payouts, run payroll, and access multi-currency capabilities.

Flutterwave says it will also introduce data-driven financial services, including working capital financing and merchant lending powered by real transaction data, alongside treasury and savings products.

Huawei and Jazz, Veon Group’s telco subsidiary in Pakistan, announced on Friday that they have deployed solar power systems across 1,000 base station sites nationwide, with a total installed capacity of 13 MW.

The project leverages Huawei’s integrated green site solutions, combining solar power, battery storage, and intelligent energy management to optimize performance across diverse operating conditions.

Huawei senior VP Steven Yi said the solution enables Jazz to transition traditional sites into more efficient, low-carbon infrastructure while improving overall energy availability.

Yi also said the solar-powered sites are expected to generate approximately 11 GWh of clean energy annually, reducing carbon emissions by around 15,000 tons per year.

Apart from the environmental benefits, the project also boosts Jazz’s network reliability, particularly in energy-constrained and underserved areas, enabling more consistent connectivity for customers, said JazzWorld CEO Aamir Ibrahim.

“Expanding solar across our network allows us to reduce our environmental footprint while improving service reliability for our customers,” he said in a statement.

Ibrahim added that Jazz will continue to expand its use of renewable energy across its network as part of its broader commitment to sustainable operations, which also aligns with Veon’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

South African open-access fibre network provider Maziv has announced a major investment to expand its network connectivity across South Africa over the next five to seven years.

Maziv, which owns a number of major brands in the country, including fibre network operator Vumatel and open-access fibre infrastructure and connectivity provider Dark Fibre Africa, committed to a R9 billion (about US$530 million) investment, with an additional pledge to create 10,000 new jobs, at the recent 2026 South African Investment Conference.

According to news resource MyBroadband, the company says it will prioritise low-income and underserved areas with the rollout of new fibre infrastructure and has promised to deliver high-quality broadband to these communities.

It also plans to provide 1Gbps free, uncapped internet access to every public or private school, public clinic and library within its network coverage area as part of its social mandate.

The 10,000 new job opportunities over the next seven years will either be created directly as part of the infrastructure rollout, or indirectly through the company’s partner ecosystem of local SMMEs, fibre installers and community-based service providers, many of which are likely to be involved in the expansion of its fibre network.

MyBroadband notes that the investment is good news for fibre rollout programmes in South Africa, which have slowed across the industry as companies struggled to secure capital for more infrastructure.

Capital expenditure across the industry apparently stagnated as a transaction through which operator Vodacom aimed to acquire a 30% stake in Maziv had trouble getting approval from the Competition Commission.

As we reported in November last year, the deal finally went ahead after a number of concessions were offered that allowed the Competition Commission to withdraw its objections to the transaction. It was then approved by telecommunications regulator ICASA.

The knock-on effect of the deal finally being allowed to proceed, it appears, has been to help unlock industry-wide investment, as this announcement indicates.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Paul Wright, Chief Revenue Officer at CBNG

For much of the past decade, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has been marketed around peak sector throughput. Vendors highlight multi-gigabit physical layer rates. Operators quote headline sector capacity. Lab demonstrations showcase ideal single-user speeds under pristine radio frequency (RF) conditions. … [visit site to read more]

Lots of interesting news from around the industry to catch up with before Easter: … [visit site to read more]

Telecoms infrastructure provider Helios Towers has unveiled a plan to invest US$100 million to expand its telecoms infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with backing from the National Agency for the Promotion of Investments (ANAPI).

Under an agreement between Helios Towers DRC and ANAPI, Helios’ expansion program will cover all 23 provinces including Kinshasa, Upper Katanga, Kongo Central, Maniema, Ituri, Kasai Central, Eastern Kasai, Kwilu, Mai-Ndombe, Mongala, North Kivu, North Ubangi, Sankuru, South Kivu, Lualaba, Tanganyika, Tshopo, Ecuador, Upper Uélé, South Ubangi, Upper Lomami and Kasai.

Helios said it aims to significantly strengthen network coverage throughout the DRC and meet growing demand for connectivity and digital services.

ANAPI said it has been supporting Helios Towers projects in the DRC since 2011, injecting more than US$200 million across several phases of investment.

ANAPI director general Rachel Pungu Luamba said that apart from the telecoms infrastructure gains, the latest expansion project will also create around a hundred direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs for young Congolese.

« This investment illustrates the renewed confidence of international partners in the economic potential of the DRC, as well as the effectiveness of the reforms undertaken to improve the business climate, » she said at a press event in Kinshasa announcing the investment plan on Tuesday.

She added that the Helios investment also serves the government’s National Digital Plan « Horizon 2025 » and the « DRC Digital Nation 2030 » vision, which aim to make digital tech a pillar of economic and social development.

BDx Data Centers, an owner and operator of data centres in Asia, has announced the successful close of a US$320 million loan facility, marking what it calls a major milestone in the company’s commitment to building world-class digital infrastructure across Asia.

The transaction is led by Bank Permata, BCA, and KB Bank.

This facility will support several strategic initiatives, including the further development of CGK3, BDx’s AI-focused data centre campus in Jakarta’s emerging central business district, which went live in September 2025.

Purpose-built to meet the rapidly growing demand for high-density compute infrastructure, CGK3 is among the first liquid-cooled campuses in Jakarta, which is designed to support the most advanced and power-intensive AI workloads being adopted by enterprises and hyperscalers.

In addition, the loan proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt on more favourable terms and to fund investments to increase the high-voltage grid capacity at BDx’s Jatiluhur (CGK4) and Suryacipta (CGK5) campuses, also in Indonesia, to 1.2 GVA. BDx says these campuses are being developed to cater to the increasing demand from US and regional hyperscaler and AI customers.

The focus on Indonesia appears to be no coincidence. BDX says Indonesia represents one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic digital growth markets, and BDx’s investments in energy-efficient facilities designed for long-term resilience and sustainable growth are aligned with the region’s accelerating AI and cloud adoption.

Mayank Srivastava, CEO of BDx Data Centers, adds: “By investing in AI-optimised liquid-cooling infrastructure, high-voltage power platforms, and scalable campuses, we are developing the next generation of infrastructure for ‘AI factories’ with ultra-high-density GPU workloads.”

The rumor mill went from zero to 60 late yesterday afternoon after a report by TMT Finance. Uniti Group might be getting an offer soon, with T-Mobile and TPG looking to divide things up. T-Mobile is interested in the last mile, while TPG would be looking at the wholesale and enterprise fiber. … [visit site to read more]