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Analysis: Pushing Back from Big Tech: Africa’s Hard Road to AI Sovereignty
The continent’s biggest tech economies want to own their AI future. The infrastructure they need still belongs to Big Tech.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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After the Grant Ends: Why Rural Water Utilities Fail — And What We Learned from Building One
For decades, rural water projects in low- and middle-income countries have followed a familiar pattern: Infrastructure is built, communities are trained, a ribbon is cut — and within a few years, the system stops working. After leading the early operations of Max TapWater, a social enterprise providing piped water in rural Bangladesh, Saif Islam identified a fundamental reason for these failures: Investment continues to prioritize capital infrastructure over the operational and maintenance budget needed to sustain it. He explores this challenge, and shares other lessons he has learned about how rural water facilities can sustain operations beyond the grant period.
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Airtel Money Kenya Partners with ChildFund to Improve Education Access in Underserved Counties
The collaboration with ChildFund Kenya is expected to enhance educational opportunities and help equip children in underserved regions with better conditions to learn, grow, and reach their full potential.
- Categories
- Education, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- academia, infrastructure, partnerships, youth
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Courageous Capital: How Africa Built its Own Tech Ecosystem
Africa’s tech sector has been thriving for almost three decades, during which its entrepreneurs have quietly built a self-sustaining ecosystem. And as Marsha Wulff at LoftyInc Capital explains, instead of government and charitable institutions taking the lead, it has been Africa’s own innovators who have developed its tech infrastructure and driven its commercial success. She explores how African entrepreneurs and investors have built a vibrant and resilient tech ecosystem that addresses the continent's unique needs — and taps its massive growth potential.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
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After Securing $260 Million in 2025, Madagascar Billionaire Lands Another €170 Million for Telecom Growth
Madagascar billionaire Hassanein Hiridjee has secured another major vote of confidence from international financiers after AXIAN Telecom landed a €170 million ($196 million) loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), extending a funding streak that has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars into the fast-growing African telecom operator.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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New Report Highlights USD 4 Billion EV Charging Investment Opportunity Across Emerging Economies
Joint analysis by C40 Cities and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) outlines practical pathways for emerging-market cities to scale charging infrastructure and accelerate electric mobility adoption.
- Categories
- Energy, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Arm-Harith Secures $76 Million First Close for Climate Transition Fund
The fund, which targets a final close of $200 million, is designed to mobilise African institutional capital and accelerate investments in energy transition and climate-resilient infrastructure projects across Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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MTN Leads Bid to Share African Digital Infrastructure Costs
The GSMA, the industry’s main lobby group, has reinforced the message, calling for “urgent, coordinated action” between governments, regulators and companies to treat telecoms as infrastructure and adopt a “shared responsibility.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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