BETAR Newsroom

190 posts
Reporting on African technology, policy and capital.
Africa's Two Biggest Telcos Just Chose SpaceX: MTN Zambia First in Africa to Test Starlink Direct-to-Cell, Airtel Follows Across 14 Markets
  • 5 minute read

Africa’s Two Biggest Telcos Just Chose SpaceX: MTN Zambia First in Africa to Test Starlink Direct-to-Cell, Airtel Follows Across 14 Markets

MTN Zambia completed Africa’s first Starlink direct-to-cell field test on March 6 — transmitting a satellite data session and a MoMo fintech transaction using MTN’s own spectrum. Airtel Africa has now signed up 14 markets. The continent’s two largest operators chose integration over competition, and the implications for rural fintech access are significant.
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Africa's AI Data Centre Race: MTN's $240M Lagos Bet, Microsoft's Kenya Gamble, and the Energy Problem That Could Derail Both
  • 7 minute read

Africa’s AI Data Centre Race: MTN’s $240M Lagos Bet, Microsoft’s Kenya Gamble, and the Energy Problem That Could Derail Both

MTN is spending $240 million on an AI-optimised data centre in Lagos. Microsoft and G42 have committed $1 billion to a geothermal-powered campus in Kenya. Google’s Johannesburg region is live and its Umoja subsea cable is coming. Africa’s data centre investment wave is real — but the continent still holds less than 1% of global compute capacity, and energy constraints may keep it that way.
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