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Social Finance First: Standard Bank Pioneers $29 Million Helios Towers Facility
Standard Bank has launched its first social documentary credit facility, providing Helios Towers with a $29m trade finance solution structured under the Loan Market Association's social loan principles.
- Categories
- Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Xoom, a PayPal Service, and Flutterwave Enable Direct Money Transfers to Nigeria
By combining Xoom’s expansive reach with Flutterwave’s local compliance and banking partnerships, the two companies are providing a more accessible financial corridor for the continent.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Globe Launches Philippines’ First Starlink Satellite-to-Mobile Service
Globe said the launch supports its broader strategy to strengthen digital inclusion and improve disaster resilience by ensuring reliable connectivity remains available during emergencies and in underserved locations.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- South Asia
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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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