PROJECT LATEST
1
MALAWI
The US Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to Malawian Internet service provider Converged Technology Networks Limited ( CTN ) for a feasibility study to expand digital connectivity to underserved communities in Malawi . CTN selected California-based Connectivity Capital LLC to conduct the study . USTDA and CTN signed the grant agreement in a ceremony held at the US – Africa Leaders Summit .
“ Across Africa , USTDA works with partners such as CTN to bridge the digital divide and expand Internet connections for unserved and underserved communities ,” said Enoh T . Ebong , USTDA ’ s Director . “ USTDA ’ s support for CTN ’ s project will help deploy innovative solutions that are specific to Malawi ’ s needs .”
2
EGYPT
Tech Mahindra , a leading provider of Digital Transformation , consulting and business re-engineering services and solutions , has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency ( ITIDA ) to establish a global delivery centre in Cairo . Tech Mahindra aims to hire more than 1,000 employees over the next three years to serve both global and local customers from its newly inaugurated centre in Cairo . Dr Amr Talaat , Minister of Communications and Information Technology , said : “ With its unique central location at the crossroads between three continents , Egypt delivers a resilient high-quality digital infrastructure and provides a supportive legislative framework catching up with the global rapid growth .”
3 SOUTH AFRICA
4
TANZANIA
NTT , a leading IT infrastructure and services company , has announced the opening of its latest data centre in Johannesburg , South Africa . Johannesburg 1 Data Centre is part of NTT ’ s expansion into the African continent with a capacity of 12MW covering 6,000m ² of IT space once fully built out . The technical infrastructure is supported by N + 1 uninterruptible power supply systems ( UPS ), N + 1 generator backup and highly redundant cooling systems . This will provide clients with dedicated sustainable infrastructure , operational control and the design flexibility required to support their high-performance needs The facility will cater to hyperscalers and enterprises , providing them with an opportunity to use NTT ’ s full ICT stack of services , including managed hybrid cloud , network management , collaboration , security and application monitoring .
Y9 Bank has announced a strategic partnership with the Algorand Foundation to integrate the Algorand Blockchain into part of its suite of mobile offerings . The Y9 mission is to bring meaningful financial services to unbanked and underbanked populations , focusing first within Tanzania with a roadmap to expand to other Eastern and Western African markets . The integration of the Algorand Blockchain will bring unmatched efficiency , security and transparency to value exchange processed within Y9 ’ s mobile applications . Y9 ’ s current suite of services will include , among others , the Buy Now Pay Later short-term loans to finance everyday purchases . To date , they have reached a few thousand customers across Tanzania , working on a highly localised , community-tocommunity basis .
24 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com