MainOne, a West African premier connectivity and data center solution provider, has been chosen by the government of Burkina Faso with financial backing from the World Bank to provide PAV-Burkina with bulk capacity to nodes in Bobo Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.

Being a landlocked nation, Burkina Faso has been faced with a lot of challenges in terms of accessing world-class connectivity and widespread internet access due to the lack of infrastructure and the reluctance to explore operational broadband service delivery in the country by major operators.

In response to this challenge, the Burkina Faso government in collaboration with an association of mobile operators and internet service providers, has come up with the PRICAO Initiative.

The PRICAO Initiative was created to bring about the birth of virtual landing points as a platform for the extension of broadband network coverage in the country. The Initiative aims to upgrade the quality of connectivity, increase the use of the internet, and facilitate the overall performance of ICT services in the country.

With the support of the World Bank, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Postal Services has created a cooperative association to set up an independent and competitive structure for connectivity services. The association brings together significant electronic service stakeholders to complete a turnkey project that will make fiber optics transmission between Ouagadougou and Dakola possible.

Burkinabe State has been able to set up a 200km fiber optics transmission link from Ouagadougou to Dakola, thanks to the $20 million plus the World Bank shelved out in support of the PRICAO Initiative.

The first phase of the project commenced in 2018, phase two of the project will commence in the second quarter of 2020 and MainOne has been appointed to deliver phase two of the project.

MainOne is expected to provide Ouagadougou with 10Gbps broadband and Bobo Dioulasso with 5Gbps.

With the financial support of the World Bank and the technical support of the PAV BF cooperative, broadband internet penetration increased from 10% to 19% in 2019.

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In a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus and improve the screening rate of suspected individuals with the disease, MTN Business has announced the donation of 5,000 smartphones to the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health.

Each device will be pre-loaded with 3GB of data and will be distributed to field workers for the screening of citizens, conducting tests and tracing people that may have come in contact with patients of the coronavirus.

In addition to this kind gesture, the telecommunication company has also promised to carry out free repairs, servicing, account management, and on-site device support on all devices.

Limpopo recorded 54 cases of the coronavirus, 28 recoveries, and 3 deaths as of May 11. The number of documented cases has increased to more than 10,000, with a total of 194 lives lost.

Matthew Kumalo, the General Manager of Regional Operations at MTN says one of the vital equipment required by health and field workers to fight the spread of the virus is the smartphone.

‘’We believe that the provision of these devices will provide the relief workers the tools needed to carry out their duties seamlessly,’’ he added.

MTN has been expanding its footprints and infrastructure to contribute to the national effort to prevent the transmission of the virus.

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), has ridiculed news making waves on different social media platforms claiming that 5G is live and operational in Nigeria. The commission urged Nigerians to pay no attention to reports stating that the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry is going to activate the operation of 5G in Lagos sometime this week.

Back in November, a trial test for the 5G network technology was approved by the NCC for three months after which all installations were decommissioned. Amongst other reasons, the test was carried out to study and observe any security or health threats the presence of the network might pose when it goes live.

“Relevant stakeholders and major security agencies were invited to participate while the trial test was being conducted,” said Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC.

5G is an improvement on the 4G technology we have today, and the commission is clearly stating that it has not issued any license for 5G in the country so the telephone network companies cannot activate such technology.

The commission also made it known that the laying of fibre optics cable in Lagos and some other parts of the country is to strengthen the already existing 3G and 4G technology we have in place to improve network performance.

“As network regulators, we plead with Nigerians to seek legit information from us rather relying on rumours peddled on various social media platforms,” Danbatta added.

According to reports from TechEconomy.ng, a leading investor of private capital into global markets, Actis, has successfully acquired a majority stake in Rack Center. Rack Centre is a leading provider of cloud services and data center colocation services in Nigeria.

After a detailed assessment of the key players in the African market, the decision to go ahead with the purchase of the majority stake in Rack Center was finalized- the company has the most significant potential to expand and flourish in Africa.

Jagal, a highly regarded conglomerate institute that operates energy business established and owns Rack Centre. Since the start of operations in 2013, Rack Center has set a high-quality bar in the African Industry. Having a global reputation of excellence, Rack Centre was the first in Africa to be Tire III constructed facility certified in April 2017.

In a recent virtual press briefing, Dr. Ayotunde Coker, The Managing Director of Rack Center, said the deal with Actis was struck at the right time as Rack Center is also improving its facilities.

“Actis has been a wonderful partner, they are introducing new ideas to complement what we already have, and it’s great to have them on board before the COVID-19 epidemic became a global issue,” said Dr. Coker.

“We are proud of the deal, and with Actis in the picture, we are incredibly building our client base,” he added.