Technology Archives - Page 4 of 7

Technology

Africa Spent $2 Billion on Chinese AI Surveillance. No Country Has Laws to Govern It.

Eleven African countries spent $2B+ on Chinese-financed AI surveillance. Not one has laws that adequately govern it. BETAR maps the country-by-country regulatory gap and the compliance risks for African businesses.

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M-PESA's Phone Number Decision Is East Africa's Biggest Merchant Data Change in a Decade

7 minute read

Technology

M-PESA’s Phone Number Decision Is East Africa’s Biggest Merchant Data Change in a Decade

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

M-PESA begins phone number masking on March 24 for P2P transactions. By year-end, merchants won’t see full customer numbers at all. What PSPs and merchant-side fintechs need to rebuild — and why Kenya’s ODPC made this inevitable.

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Africa's Regulatory Sandbox Wave: 25 Programmes, 15 Markets, One Continent Testing AI and Fintech in Safe Harbours

6 minute read

Technology

Africa’s Regulatory Sandbox Wave: 25 Programmes, 15 Markets, One Continent Testing AI and Fintech in Safe Harbours

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

Africa has more active regulatory sandboxes than any other emerging market region. Ahead of GITEX Africa 2026, we map the continent’s safe-harbour ecosystem: which markets are open, what startups qualify, and which create the clearest path from test to licence.

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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

Technology

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

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

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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COMESA's Meta Probe Passes First Deadline: Africa's Biggest AI Competition Case Explained

5 minute read

Technology

COMESA’s Meta Probe Passes First Deadline: Africa’s Biggest AI Competition Case Explained

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

COMESA’s first-ever digital platform investigation targets Meta over WhatsApp Business API restrictions that lock out rival AI. The March 16 stakeholder submissions deadline has passed. Here is where the case stands and what it means for Africa’s AI startup ecosystem.

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Google's African AI Push: 13 Languages Get AI Search, 21 Get Open Speech Data

5 minute read

Technology

Google’s African AI Push: 13 Languages Get AI Search, 21 Get Open Speech Data

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

Google made two announcements, six weeks apart, that together represent the most significant commitment to African-language AI in the company’s history. WAXAL released open speech data for 21 languages. AI Overviews rolled out across 13. The gap between them is the story.

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Nigeria's Regulatory Architecture Is Building the Next Unicorns. The Hard Question Is Whether They're Innovators or Gatekeepers.

6 minute read

Technology

Nigeria’s Regulatory Architecture Is Building the Next Unicorns. The Hard Question Is Whether They’re Innovators or Gatekeepers.

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

The CBN…

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Google's African AI Push: 13 Languages Get AI Search, 21 Get Open Speech Data — But 2,000+ Are Still Waiting

5 minute read

Technology

Google’s African AI Push: 13 Languages Get AI Search, 21 Get Open Speech Data — But 2,000+ Are Still Waiting

BETAR Newsroom
March 22, 2026

In February and March 2026, Google made two distinct African language AI moves — the WAXAL open speech dataset for 21 languages and AI Overviews for 13 African languages in Search. Together they define what tech companies think African AI localisation looks like. The gap between 13 and 2,000 is the story.

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Showmax Is Over. What the $429 Million Failure Means for African Content.

7 minute read

Technology

Showmax Is Over. What the $429 Million Failure Means for African Content.

BETAR Newsroom
March 21, 2026

The shutdown of Showmax is not a pivot, a restructuring, or a market pause. It is a verdict. Africa’s most capitalised attempt to build a home-grown…

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Africa Clean Energy Finance Q1 2026: DFI Dominance, Commercial Bank Breakout, and the $8B Quarter That Rewrote the Investment Map

6 minute read

Technology

Africa Clean Energy Finance Q1 2026: DFI Dominance, Commercial Bank Breakout, and the $8B Quarter That Rewrote the Investment Map

BETAR Newsroom
March 21, 2026

Q1 2026 produced more than $8 billion in committed clean energy capital across Africa. But the bigger story is structural: commercial banks are finally arriving on their own terms.

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Technology

Africa Spent $2 Billion on Chinese AI Surveillance. No Country Has Laws to Govern It.

M-PESA’s Phone Number Decision Is East Africa’s Biggest Merchant Data Change in a Decade

Africa’s Regulatory Sandbox Wave: 25 Programmes, 15 Markets, One Continent Testing AI and Fintech in Safe Harbours

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

COMESA’s Meta Probe Passes First Deadline: Africa’s Biggest AI Competition Case Explained

Google’s African AI Push: 13 Languages Get AI Search, 21 Get Open Speech Data

Nigeria’s Regulatory Architecture Is Building the Next Unicorns. The Hard Question Is Whether They’re Innovators or Gatekeepers.

Google’s African AI Push: 13 Languages Get AI Search, 21 Get Open Speech Data — But 2,000+ Are Still Waiting

Showmax Is Over. What the $429 Million Failure Means for African Content.

Africa Clean Energy Finance Q1 2026: DFI Dominance, Commercial Bank Breakout, and the $8B Quarter That Rewrote the Investment Map

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