FAST CONGO’S DRC FIBER HIGHWAY FULLY OPERATIONAL

Africa, Automation Control Solutions (ACS), have showcased the company’s automation portfolio for industrial applications at the Africa Automation Technology Fair in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In line with the exhibition’s theme ‘For Africa from Africa’, the companies featured new technologies and digital solutions aimed at achieving safety, reliability, operational excellence and sustainability for industrial companies.

Fast Congo, the Paratus subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has announced that its 620 km fiber optic network link between Muanda and Kinshasa is now active.

Originally installed and funded by the World Bank, the fiber highway will deliver high speed connectivity to the region through the Paratus Group’s pan-African network.

Société Congolaise de Fibre Optique (SOCOF), a DRC Government entity, announced last year that Fast Congo had won the tender to deploy, operating and maintain the link in an exclusive 15-year licence contract. In the time since, Fast Congo installed the necessary infrastructure to connect the network so that it is now live and fully operational.

Speaking at the event, Paratus Group CEO, Schalk Erasmus, said, “This is a major milestone in delivering high quality and high-capacity network services in the DRC. We are uniquely placed to connect the country to Angola and Zambia and beyond through our network in southern Africa.”

Emerson Highlights Digital Solutions At Africa Automation Technology Fair

Emerson, a global automation technology and software leader, and its local business partner in

Acknowledging the ever-changing and highly competitive market in Africa, Mark Tapson, chief operating officer at Automation Control Solutions, said that together ACS and Emerson are offering a comprehensive automation portfolio to tackle their customers’ biggest challenges, including those around operational efficiency and sustainability.

LIQUID INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES TO ACCELERATE ZAMBIA’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Zambia to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and provide reliable connectivity to all Zambians.

Liquid Zambia has committed to launching a new data centre that can respond to increasing datahosting needs from local businesses and hyperscalers establishing their presence in the country.

Raxio Group And Meridiam To Accelerate Digital Transformation In Africa

Raxio, Roha and Meridiam have announced that they have secured a sustainability-linked debt facility of up to US$170mn in multiple tranches for Raxio Data Centres, a leading pan-African data centre developer and operator.

The financing will enable Raxio to progress with its ambitious roll-out strategy of state-of-the-art, highly reliable and efficient Tier III certified, data centre infrastructure across the continent.

The financing package will support Raxio’s strategy of continuing to build Africa’s digital backbone and support the sustainable growth of Africa’s digital economy. It will also focus on construction, and expansion of existing and new facilities in the region.

It is linked to sustainability as well, and anchored in ESG principles. Raxio said it will promote energy efficiency, responsible water use practices and female empowerment.

Mtn Deploys One Of The First 5g Standalone Core In Africa

control plane, user plane, and administration nodes, were completely installed in the South Africa Azure Region for the proof of concept. The project gave MTN the chance to test the advantages of setting up a core network in Azure, such as quick deployment (days as opposed to months) and simplicity of scaling. The lessons inspire a paradigm shift in network design that takes sustainability, business models, automation, and disaster recovery into account. MTN will use the proof of concept to drive further innovation in the cloud domain.

Telkom And Clickatell Partner To Launch Mobile Messaging Payments In South Africa

MTN has conducted a proof of concept for a 5G Stand Alone Core fully deployed in Microsoft Azure. All of the 5G Stand Alone Core components, including the

Clickatell has launched a Chat 2 Pay feature for South African customers using Telkom services. The feature will be available on WhatsApp, which is the country’s largest messaging platform.

Telkom’s chatbot offers customers mobile support by accessing their accounts and billing information, plus allows them to view sales deals, check for mobile or fibre upgrades, do cancellations, make directory inquiries and more. With the addition of Chat 2 Pay, customers benefit from a convenient and personalised service to pay bills and VAS top-ups via Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards.