Kenya is expanding its partnerships with Malaysia and the technology firm Ericsson in order to encourage innovation and investment in the IT industry and speed the East African country’s digital transformation.
The Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy is leading the initiative.
Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo, who leads the portfolio, met with Malaysian and Ericsson delegations at the ministry’s Nairobi offices on Monday.
The High Commissioner of Malaysia to Kenya, Ruzaimi Mohammed, paid a courtesy visit.
Following the meeting, Kabogo revealed that the two addressed bilateral relations, particularly in terms of technological innovation and investment.
“Kenya’s rapid growth in the tech industry coupled with Malaysia’s expertise in the same field allows for a strategic partnership that will boost our digital transformation agenda,” he said.
The two countries already have strong technological relations.
Last November, at the Malaysia-Kenya Tech Summit in Nairobi, they signed a memorandum of understanding for Malaysia to foster digital transformation in Kenya.
This allows Kenyan enterprises to gain access to Malaysia’s digital knowledge, while Malaysian firms may tap into Kenya’s tech economy.
Yesterday, Kabogo hosted the Ericsson delegation.
The discussions focused on how to improve connectivity and expedite digital transformation.
Kabogo believes that a strong telecom industry is critical to unlocking new potential for businesses and consumers.
“As we strive for a digitally inclusive economy, partnerships with the private sector remain crucial in improving lives, redefining industries, and shaping a sustainable future for all Kenyans,” said Kabongo.
Africa’s digital transformation is more than just connectivity; it’s about creating opportunities for education, healthcare, financial inclusion, and economic growth.
This is according to GSMA Africa, and the Africa Group of Six (G6) mobile network operators, who convened this week at the Mobile World Congress (#MWC25) to review progress, share ideas, and map out the next steps in advancing digital transformation in Africa.
The G6, which was founded in Rwanda in 2023, said the Barcelona meeting was a crucial step forward in the joint endeavour to expedite Africa’s digital transformation.
The group believes that by leveraging strategic partnerships, data-driven insights, and innovative solutions, it can drive meaningful progress in fiscal policy reforms, broadband infrastructure investment, and environmental sustainability, reaffirming its commitment to collaborating with all stakeholders to achieve Africa’s digital and socioeconomic development goals
It added: “Africa’s digital transformation is not just about connectivity—it’s about creating opportunities for education, healthcare, financial inclusion, and economic growth. The G6’s initiatives are critical to ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital revolution.”
At the time of the launch in Rwanda, the G6 urged governments to implement new policies to accelerate the positive and inclusive effects of mobile technology in order to close investment and usage gaps.
The six CEOs represented Airtel Africa Group, Axian Group, Ethio Telecom, MTN Group, Orange Middle East and Africa, and Vodacom Group.
Mobile network operators make 85 percent of the total investment in mobile internet connectivity infrastructure globally.
They play the ‘keystone’ role in funding the networks that underpin modern digital economies worldwide, according to a new report by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) and global management consulting firm Kearney.
The report was published during the Mobile World Conference (MWC) Barcelona 2025, the world’s largest mobile technology event.
The MWC Barcelona 2025 opened on March 3 and is expected to end on March 6, 2025, on the theme “Converge. Connect. Create.
The report demonstrated that with annual investments in mobile internet infrastructure (excluding end-user devices) reaching $127 billion, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) alone contributed $109 billion.
It said mobile operators made these investments despite deriving less economic benefit than other digital ecosystem players from the critical infrastructure.
The report said, for instance, that the amount contributed by MNOs far exceeded the connectivity investments made by other groups of investors, such as cloud service providers and content and application providers.
It underscored the essential role of mobile networks in building critical infrastructure, which enabled global digital transformation, connecting billions of people to everything from banking and education to entertainment services and supporting the economic growth of industries that depend on robust connectivity.
Mr. John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer of the GSMA, said, “This report makes it clear: mobile network operators are the keystone of the internet economy, funding the vast majority of the infrastructure that enables modern digital life.”
He said while others invested in select parts of the world’s connectivity infrastructure, their contributions were a fraction of what MNOs spend to build and maintain the networks that power everything from online banking to remote work and digital entertainment.
“This study demonstrates clearly that if governments wish to unlock the full potential of their digital economies, they must prioritize policies that create a positive investment environment for MNOs,” he added.
The report comes at a crucial moment when governments worldwide are seeking to expand
digital connectivity and foster economic growth through advanced networks, including 5G and future generations of mobile technology.
The report indicated that mobile networks were indispensable to digital progress; from e-commerce and financial services to smart cities and healthcare, nearly every industry relied on mobile infrastructure.
It said infrastructure investment required the right regulatory environment, where policymakers must ensure that regulation and market conditions encouraged private investment in connectivity infrastructure.
The report said core and access networks demand significantly higher investment than backbone infrastructure, and investment in backbone infrastructure was matched by a parallel and much greater investment in core and access infrastructure, where an investment of between 8 (backbone versus core) and 19 times (backbone versus access) was higher.
It said governments should prioritize pro-investment policies to accelerate network expansion and strengthen digital economies.
MTN South Sudan partners with WEEE Center and NCA to enhance e-waste recycling, promoting sustainability and responsible environmental practices across the region.
At MTN South Sudan, we are committed to environmental sustainability and responsible electronic waste management. In collaboration with the WEEE Center (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Center) and the National Communications Authority (NCA), we are taking meaningful steps to ensure a cleaner, healthier future for South Sudan.
Located in Gumbo, Juba, the WEEE Center is dedicated to collecting and recycling electronic waste, reducing environmental hazards, and promoting sustainable practices. During a recent visit to MTN South Sudan, Dr. Tom Musili, Director of the WEEE Center, acknowledged our contributions:
To date, we have received a substantial number of e-waste items from MTN, including computers, laptops, printers, and networking equipment. We are grateful for their support and look forward to further collaboration.
– Dr. Tom Musili, Director, WEEE Center
Our approach to electronic waste management aligns with our broader ESG strategy, ensuring that sustainability remains at the core of our business and contributes to the nation’s long-term growth. We recognize our responsibility in protecting and managing the environment.
– Mayor Angor, Chief of Legal, Regulatory, and Corporate Services, MTN South Sudan
Beyond collection and recycling, the WEEE Center actively raises awareness through workshops, engaging businesses and individuals to promote responsible e-waste disposal.
As MTN South Sudan, we remain committed to shaping a sustainable future—leveraging partnerships, driving ESG principles, and fostering climate-conscious initiatives across the region.
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
MTN Group and Ghana have signed a landmark agreement to work together to support the government’s flagship ‘One Million Coders Program’ to equip young Ghanaians with artificial intelligence, coding and digital skills to drive the country’s digital transformation.
On the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Ghana’s Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Honourable Samuel Nartey George, and MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore areas for collaboration on what the minister called the flagship initiative of the new administration of President John Mahama.
“We engaged with the MTN Group and expressed our desire for a partnership that will lead to fuel the capacity of young Ghanaians in the area of artificial intelligence, digital technology, data governance and cybersecurity,” the minister said, adding that MTN did not hesitate to offer to support the initiative.
“We recognise that, as part of its 25th anniversary, MTN (Ghana) is making significant investments in Ghana. The MTN building, donated to the government of Ghana, will become one of our centres for excellence for artificial intelligence and software development. We are committed to backing MTN in this endeavour,” Minister George said.
Mupita thanked the minister and his delegation for two days of constructive engagements and for choosing MTN as a trusted partner. “We are very focused on understanding the strategy Ghana has and how we as MTN Group and MTN Ghana can support it,” he said.
“We thank you for your commitment in terms of creating an enabling environment for us to carry on the work we are doing, very humbly though, to support the building out of the digital ecosystem that will be a catalyst for growth and expansion and meet the socioeconomic objectives of the Ghanaian government,” Mupita added.
Given that around 3 000 languages are spoken across Africa, it was incumbent on Africans to ensure that they worked on their own large language models to develop the solutions made possible through generative AI. “We must develop our own talent on the African continent; we must develop our own software engineers and we must be doing more around coding to enable us to all be future fit,” Mupita said.
MTN Group Senior Vice President for Markets, Ebenezer Asante, said MTN was delighted to be part of the initiative, which was closely aligned to MTN’s strategic intent. “Between MTN and Ghana we will partner using common projects to advance the cause of African development,” he said.
The MoU follows the introduction in 2023 of the MTN Skills Academy in multiple MTN operating countries, including Ghana. The MTN Skills Academy aims to provide access to digital and financial skills training across the continent. The Academy provides a range of courses, including coding, web development, digital marketing and data analytics, with the aim of ensuring 60% of youth and adults have at least basic proficiency in sustainable digital skills by the end of 2025.
The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) has urged governments to adopt forward-looking regulatory frameworks that encourage investment in mobile infrastructure, streamline spectrum policies and create a fair and sustainable financial environment for operators.
The Association said it would support continued network expansion and innovation. The GSMA made these recommendations in a report release at the 2025 Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
The MWC Barcelona 2025 opened on March 3 and is expected to end on March 6, 2025 on the theme: “Converge. Connect. Create.
The report highlighted that despite limited investment by other players in the connectivity ecosystem, such as cloud and content providers, in backbone and content delivery networks (CDNs), these investments did not replace the need for substantial mobile infrastructure investment by mobile network operators.
It said the core and access networks, which were fully funded by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), remain fundamental to a functioning, capable internet which serves the needs of consumers and businesses worldwide, fuelling growth across the broader digital ecosystem.
As the industry gathers at MWC Barcelona, this research reinforces the need for a collaborative approach to infrastructure development.
It said it was to also ensures mobile operators operate under the right conditions to continue investing in networks that drive economic growth and digital inclusion.
The GSM Association (GSMA) has partnered with the N50 Project, to tackle digital poverty and bridge the digital divide.
The partnership was announced at this year’s MWC Barcelona, formerly Mobile World Congress Barcelona, currently under way in Spain.
Led by GSMA Advance – the GSMA’s educational division – the new skills training initiative will offer over 100 fully-sponsored scholarships to individuals and communities worldwide, providing access to specialised digital training resources and educational courses.
According to the mobile industry body, through the scholarships, applicants will further their knowledge through GSMA Advance’s curriculum, which is centred on the latest advancements in mobile technology.
Speaking at MWC25 Barcelona, Dr Drew MacFarlane, head of GSMA Advance, said: “Digital connectivity is no longer a privilege − it’s crucial for future societal development.
“Our partnership with the N50 Project marks a significant step in strengthening skills and professional development within the mobile and telecoms industry. By equipping individuals and communities with industry-specific knowledge and tools, we are practically taking steps to close the digital divide, while also driving innovation, economic growth and long-term sustainability within the mobile ecosystem.”
Daniel Gutwein, N50 Project CEO, added: “At the N50, we are committed to eliminating digital poverty by bringing connectivity, technology and opportunity to all communities. Through this collaboration with the GSMA, we are not only expanding access but also equipping individuals with critical workforce development skills.”
With over 3.4 billion of the global population still unconnected, the initiative is in line with efforts to accelerate connectivity and address digital barriers.
The GSMA notes 90% of the unconnected population lives in areas with available coverage but are not making use of it. These are the people that fall into what is termed the ‘usage gap’ and is the product of several barriers, including affordability issues, a lack of digital skills and literacy, concerns around security and the lack of relevant or localised content.
The initiative aims to unlock the full power of connectivity by promoting collaboration across industries, governments and local communities.
“Greater connectivity in underprivileged areas can yield transformative benefits, including better healthcare access, high-quality educational opportunities, improved agricultural practices and greater financial inclusion.
“By raising standards, addressing skills gaps and ensuring access to high-quality learning opportunities, the GSMA and the N50 Project aim to democratise digital access and create a more equitable global digital landscape,” stated the industry body.
As the key players in the mobile technology ecosystem gathered yesterday at the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC25) in Barcelona, Spain in 2025, Africa’s largest telecom operator, MTN Group, announced its intention to transform into a tech-enabled platform business.
The message was delivered by Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, who joined industry experts Hatem Dowidar from e& and Makoto Takahashi from KDDI Corporation for the keynote “Beyond Connectivity: The Telco to Techco Transformation,” moderated by Lara Dewar, GSMA chief marketing officer.
The discussion centred on how AI, Cloud, and 5G Standalone are transforming the telecom industry, increasing digital and financial inclusion, and enabling new business models in industries such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and mining.
For MTN, as a 30-year pan-African digital operator with 290 million mobile customers and a fiber network exceeding 114,000 km, the telco said it is committed to transforming the continent.
In a statement, it said: “Our three-platform strategy—Connectivity, Fintech, and Digital Infrastructure—positions us to enhance home connectivity, empower small medium-sized businesses, and build Africa’s digital highways.”
It continued: “We showcased ten impactful AI use cases and emphasised our dedication to strategic partnerships and policy reforms to drive digital progress. Our vision is to evolve into a tech-enabled platform business, delivering dignity, hope, and opportunity for all Africans.”
Meanwhile, the GSMA announced the introduction of a new skills training initiative to combat digital poverty and close the digital gap.
GSMA Advance, the mobile industry association’s skills and training branch, will work with the N50 Project to give at least 100 fully financed scholarships to individuals and communities globally, providing access to specialised digital training tools and educational courses.
Through the scholarships, applicants will be able to further their knowledge through GSMA Advance’s curriculum into the latest advancements in mobile technology.
Ghana’s representatives at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC25) in Barcelona partnered with GSMA Africa to advance strategies for closing the continent’s digital divide, addressing investment shortfalls, and harmonizing energy access with broadband expansion. The talks, which included government officials and mobile network operators, spotlighted Ghana’s proactive stance in fostering equitable connectivity as a cornerstone of national development.
While Ghana has made strides in mobile network coverage, rural and underserved communities still grapple with limited internet access—a challenge mirrored across Africa. During the summit, stakeholders explored solutions such as cost-effective broadband infrastructure, innovative technologies tailored for low-resource settings, and policy reforms to attract private-sector investments. GSMA Africa stressed the urgency of regulatory adjustments to incentivize infrastructure development, particularly in regions where connectivity gaps hinder economic and social progress.
A parallel roundtable co-hosted by GSMA Africa and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) tackled reforms for Universal Service Funds (USFs), mechanisms designed to subsidize connectivity projects in marginalized areas. Despite their potential, many African USFs remain underused due to opaque management and misaligned priorities. With research suggesting that bridging Africa’s 60% mobile internet gap could unlock $700 billion in GDP by 2030, participants called for overhauling USF frameworks to prioritize transparency, targeted projects, and measurable outcomes. GSMA Africa announced pilot reforms in select markets to test streamlined approaches, aiming to create replicable models for other nations.
The dialogues at MWC25 reflect a growing consensus: Africa’s digital transformation hinges on collaborative governance and adaptive policies. For Ghana, the summit reinforced its role as a regional advocate for inclusive tech growth. Yet challenges persist, including balancing infrastructure costs with affordability and ensuring energy grids support expanding digital networks. As global attention shifts to Africa’s tech potential, the pressure mounts to turn dialogue into tangible progress—a task requiring not just funding, but political will and public-private synergy.
Observers note that while forums like MWC25 spark momentum, sustained change will depend on local implementation. Ghana’s next steps—translating summit pledges into rural tower installations, revised USF guidelines, or investor-friendly regulations—will test its ability to lead Africa’s charge toward a connected future.
