This week marked a significant milestone for Telkom as the Consumer Business CEO, Lunga Siyo, and Huawei Technologies South Africa CEO, Will Meng, supported by Group CEO, Serame Taukobong, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in China.
This collaboration is a crucial step in advancing our OneTelkom strategy, aimed at strengthening our position as Africa’s leading convergent service provider.
Our partnership with Huawei is set to enhance our ability to deliver seamless connectivity and innovative services. By focusing on advancements in mobile and home broadband, we aim to deliver superior network experiences to our customers. This collaboration will further drive enterprise business success through comprehensive solutions that meet evolving market demands.
– Excerpt from Telkom’s Announcement
The announcement mentioned that this alliance supports South Africa’s digital transformation goals since they are going to be leveraging advanced technologies in data centres and digital power services.
We are committed to bridging the digital divide and empowering communities across the continent.
We are excited about the opportunities this partnership brings and look forward to a future of innovation and growth.
The Malagasy government plans to connect more than 1,600 villages to telecommunications services, in partnership with Chinese technology company Huawei. This initiative aims to accelerate the country’s digital transformation. The project was revealed last week by Stéphanie Delmotte (pictured), Minister of Digital Development, Posts and Telecommunications, during an interview with Huawei.
The village coverage project will follow the “Digital Menabe Project,” which aims to connect 200,000 people in the Menabe region and for which a partnership agreement has already been signed with Huawei. The Malagasy government is also targeting coverage in 95% of remote rural areas. For example, Ms. Delmotte praised Huawei’s solutions, including “Rural Star ,” which are “technologically advanced, offer wide coverage, are cost-effective, easy to deploy, and perfectly suited to large-scale deployment.”
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the 4G network covered only 33% of the Malagasy population, estimated at around 31.2 million in 2023. 2G and 3G covered 88.5% and 68.2%, respectively, while the 5G coverage rate was 6.12%. Regarding usage, the ITU estimates the internet penetration rate at 20.6% of the population. The organization indicates that 38.1% of Malagasy people own a mobile phone, reflecting the mobile phone penetration rate.
“We must therefore start by improving network coverage in remote areas. In collaboration with major players in the telecommunications sector, such as Huawei, we have implemented a program of innovative initiatives to ensure that no region is left behind in the digital world,” the minister said.
It should be noted, however, that the minister did not specify the implementation timeline for the program to connect villages to telecom services. Furthermore, beyond deploying infrastructure and expanding network coverage, the Malagasy government will need to address the obstacles limiting the effective adoption of these services by the population. These challenges include accessibility to terminals (phones and smartphones), the high cost of services, and the lack of digital skills.
Huawei introduced the Pura X to the Chinese market, a flip-style foldable which is the first smartphone to come with the latest version of its Harmony OS.
The Pura X runs Huawei’s Harmony OS 5.0.1 and features AI assistant Xiaoyi, which uses models from the vendor’s Pangu and DeepSeek.
Xiaoyi can be used for tasks including managing calls, downloading videos and automatically generating video logs.
The latest device in the Pura series features a wider form-factor than typical flip phones, Huawei noted, incorporating a 16:10 aspect ratio for its 6.3-inch internal display.
On the outside, its 3.5-inch cover display is designed for users to manage brief interactions including answering calls, navigating music and viewing notifications without having to unfold the device.
It sports a 40MP ultra-wide and 8MP telephoto lens offering 3.5-times optical zoom, with a 10.7MP front camera.
Sales are due to commence in China on 30 March at price of CNY7,499 ($1,036) for the standard version offering 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage.
A variant featuring 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM is set to retail for CNY9,999.
In a translated statement on the launch Huawei executive director and consumer group CEO Richard Yu (pictured) hailed the device as breaking “the boundaries of traditional device forms, offering an e-book-like reading experience, tablet-level immersive viewing and the compact convenience of a foldable phone”.
During MWC25 in Barcelona, Huawei and GSMA Intelligence jointly released the latest research report of Super App, Fintech, mobile money and the rise of super-apps (hereinafter referred to as the research report), aiming to enable financial service providers to quickly unlock a new age of digital life.
According to the research report, the Super App brings essential capabilities such as multi-functionality, a consistent user experience, a strong ecosystem, and digital payment services. Users can utilize a Super App as a gateway to various daily lifestyle services from payment, social networking, shopping, and entertainment and more. For service providers, building a Super App as a super gateway can significantly enhance user engagement and platform value.
The Super App platform should be able to integrate and scale up partnerships quickly. For instance, by integrating mini-programs which can be quickly developed by partners and connected to the super-app, using low/no-code platforms to reduce the development threshold, shorten the time to market, minimize costs and help merchants to quickly launch applications. Additionally, the platform must have robust scalability and security to allow rapid and seamless customer and merchant onboarding while simultaneously not exposing the core platform and its underlying data to breaches.
The rise of Super Apps has had a significant impact on digital financial services, especially in emerging markets. By offering a diverse range of financial services such as digital payments, loans, wealth management, and insurance, Super Apps enhance seamless user experiences and engagement, greatly promoting financial inclusion. In addition, Super Apps also enable personalized service recommendations and digital marketing campaigns, helping platforms and merchants efficiently expand their potential user base and drive business growth. For example, KBZ Bank in Myanmar launched the KBZPay Super App, offering one-stop services to 17.7 million users and 370,000 merchants, while also diversifying its revenue streams.
As a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, Huawei is committed to advancing the popularization and innovation of digital financial services. Huawei’s cloud-native, agile, open, and intelligent digital finance solutions have provided inclusive financial services for more than 480 million users worldwide. The cooperation between Huawei and GSMA Intelligence aims to promote the Super App, building a super gateway for financial services, further driving the development of the global digital economy, and enabling inclusiveness of digital finance.
This research report is an important reference for practitioners and decision makers in the fintech and digital payments fields, providing insight into the rise, social value and market opportunities of Super Apps.
Huawei Technologies launched an AI-Centric Network solution during the opening of the 2025 Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
Mr. Yang Chaobin, Huawei’s Director of the Board and CEO of the ICT Business Group, said the emergence of high-quality, low-cost, and open-source AI models would give rise to a wide range of new innovation in applications and accelerate the advent of an intelligent world.
Mr. Yang was speaking at the Huawei Product & Solution Launch during MWC Barcelona 2025 in Spain.
MWC Barcelona 2025 opened on March 3 and is expected to end on March 6, 2025, on the theme “Converge. Connect. Create.
It is the global intersection of social policy, business leadership, and digital innovation.
He said essentially, AI-centric networks would allow carriers to go beyond traditional traffic-based monetization and start monetizing experience itself.
“This will unleash the full potential of connectivity and open up new revenue streams,” he added.
The director said advancements in AI would transform society at three levels, and they would enable a truly individualized experience for consumers, drive intelligent collaboration in organizations, and lay the groundwork for more inclusive intelligence for everyone.
He said that as for the ICT industry, while evolving technology and a more diverse range of application scenarios would create unprecedented growth opportunities, they would also raise the bar for network infrastructure.
To make the most of these opportunities, carriers need to make sweeping breakthroughs in network bandwidth, latency, coverage, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M).
He said Huawei’s AI-Centric Network solution was designed to address these needs.
“It revolutionizes network capabilities to enable all-domain connectivity. It will power a shift towards application-oriented O&M and will reshape telecom service and business models to take full advantage of new opportunities presented by AI,” Mr. Yang said.
He said AI-centric networks had a four-layered approach.
Mr. Yang explained Huawei’s solution could help carriers better prepare for a surge of new AI-powered applications since they faced some challenges moving forward with all-domain connectivity.
“With more in-depth collaboration between AI and networks, carriers will be able to optimize resource orchestration for routing, bandwidth, and so on,” he said.
This will provide intelligent applications with universal network access, ultra-high uplink and downlink, and service-level agreement (SLA) assurance.
The director said with application-oriented O&M, advances in AI applications would give rise to more complex service scenarios and massively diverse experience requirements.
This will necessitate a shift from traditional, resource-oriented network O&M to a more application-oriented approach.
He said Huawei’s Telecom Foundation Model supported predictive and proactive O&M, experience optimization based on application-level awareness, and tailored, more fine-grained operations.
“Carriers will be able to significantly enhance the efficiency of network O&M while taking user experience to entirely new levels,” he said.
On the Enhanced AI-to-X services, he said at the individual user level, AI-centric networks could deliver the right experience for different AI scenarios by assigning the exact levels of bandwidth, latency, and reliability needed.
“At the organizational level, they can break through bottlenecks in capacity and response times configured for person-to-person interactions, evolving networks to support person-to-agent and even agent-to-agent interactivity,” he said.
Mr. Yang said AI-centric networks would enable ubiquitous connectivity to speed up AI adoption in public services like education and healthcare, providing more inclusive value for communities around the world.
Innovative business models.
“We need to join hands and work together across the telecom industry,” Yang Chaobin added.
“By exposing network capabilities, collaborating with different industries, and engaging in scenario-specific innovation, we can make the most of new growth opportunities in the age of AI and bring the world one step closer to a brighter, more intelligent future,” he said
Zimbabwean Internet Service Provider (ISP) Dandemutande is planning to build a USD 15 million data centre in the country. The company made the commitment under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Partner2Connect programme, which was revealed on Tuesday, February 18, via a post on X.
The technical capabilities of the data center have not been specified, but it is confirmed that it will be Tier 3. This standard guarantees a redundant infrastructure with multiple paths for power supply and cooling, thus limiting theoretical downtime to just 1.6 hours per year. In addition, the data center will be carrier-neutral, meaning that different providers will be able to host their infrastructure there without restriction.
“The data centre will provide high-quality, reliable and scalable services in the SADC [Southern African Development Community] region , creating jobs and economic activity, while contributing to the local tax base. It will target underserved segments such as small businesses, content providers, financial institutions, government agencies and healthcare providers,” the ITU explains on its website.
Dandemutande has committed to completing the data centre by 1 June 2026. The facility is expected to boost the ISP’s capacity to “meet the growing demand for data services driven by digital transformation and economic growth”. The ITU estimates internet penetration in Zimbabwe, where the population was 16.3 million in 2023, at 32.6%, according to the World Bank. In this segment, the company faces competition from telecom operators (TelOne, Econet, NetOne and Telecel) and satellite internet service provider Starlink.
In addition to strengthening its telecom infrastructure, Dandemutande is positioning itself in the fast-growing data center market. According to data portal Statista, the data center market revenue in Southern Africa is expected to reach USD 1.42 billion in 2025. This figure is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.14% over the period 2025-2029 to reach USD 1.73 billion.
Chinese telecoms firm Huawei has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to promote the conservation of a marine protected area on Kenya’s south coast.
NAIROBI, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) — Chinese telecoms firm Huawei has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to promote the conservation of a marine protected area on Kenya’s south coast.
The three-year project, which was unveiled Monday, seeks to protect the ecological health of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve, a biodiversity hotspot located on the edge of Kenya’s south coastal county of Kwale.
Other implementing partners in the Tech4 Nature project include Kenya Wildlife Service and Wildlife Research and Training Institute, a state agency, according to a statement by Huawei issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Tuesday.
The project is aligned with Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative and the IUCN Green List as its primary goal is to improve the monitoring and management efficiency of the marine protected area, which is home to pristine coral reefs as well as iconic but endangered species, like green turtles and bottlenose dolphins.
Huawei Kenya Media Director Khadija Mohammed Ahmed underscored the need to leverage technology and innovations to boost the health and resilience of marine ecosystems, threatened by climate change and human activities.
“Innovative thinking and smart solutions are already helping to mitigate some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems,” Khadija said.
The project will entail the deployment of underwater cameras, photogrammetry and audio monitoring technologies to monitor marine life, including biomass and parrot fish populations, at the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve, according to Huawei.
The technological solutions will also monitor substrate cover in the reef ecosystems, seagrass cover and the occurrence of green turtles and bottlenose dolphins, classified on the IUCN Red List as endangered and vulnerable, respectively.
Innocent Kabenga, the country representative at the IUCN Kenya Country Office, said the introduction of the novel technology will help capture and analyze data in the marine protected area, boosting its conservation and unleashing benefits to local communities.
The technological solution deployed by Huawei and partners is artificial intelligence trained to recognize specific target species by sight and sound, providing real-time data-driven insights into the behaviors, population dynamics and distribution of biodiversity in the marine reserve.
It will also be able to identify boats used for illegal fishing and send alerts for rangers to intervene in real time, said Huawei, adding that a digital power solution and improved network connectivity at the park and watch tower will enhance rapid transmission of collected data to a cloud server for analysis.
Adan Kala, the senior assistant director at Coast Conservation Area at Kenya Wildlife Service, said that digital tools, if deployed in a targeted manner, are key to revolutionizing marine conservation in the country.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is playing a pivotal role in unlocking the enormous potential of the digital economy, which has grown over 2.5 times faster than the global GDP over the past 15 years.
The embattled Chinese tech giant, Huawei Technologies has unveiled a string of new products including a brand-new high-end smartphone brand Ultimate Design as it further revives its consumer device businesses.
The 8th Huawei Connect Conference (HUAWEI CONNECT 2023) is scheduled to take place at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Hall and Shanghai World Expo Center from September 20 to 22, 2023.
The Conference is aimed to bring together thought leaders, business elites, technical experts, partners, and developers to explore ways to enhance industry intelligence across various industries and fields.
The event will be on the theme: “Accelerating Industry Intelligence.”
A statement issued said during the conference, Huawei would host over 100 keynote speeches, summits, and forums, providing participants with ample opportunities to engage in meaningful discussions and learn from expert’s insights.
Moreover, a sprawling 17,000-square-meter exhibition area would allow attendees to experience cutting-edge technologies and applications up close and personal, interact with technical professionals, and discover innovative solutions, development tools, and best practices.
The 7th Huawei Connect Conference 2022 was held from November 7-9, 2022, and featured various topics such as Kunpeng, Shengteng, AI large-scale models, scientific intelligence, and the foundation of digital intelligence.
