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CIO Africa

Africa Is Connected. So Why Are 906 Million People Offline?

Ninety-two per cent of Africa’s population lives within reach of a mobile broadband network, yet only 36 per cent uses mobile internet.Those figures, published by the GSMA in its State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2026 report this month, reveal a usage gap of approximately 906 million people who have network coverage but remain offline. Another 122 million people lack mobile broadband coverage altogether.The ratio is roughly seven to one. For every African who cannot access a mobile broadband signal, seven others live within coverage but do not use mobile internet.At a side event during the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said Project Bridge had attracted more investment offers than the project required.Project Bridge is a roughly $2 billion national fibre backbone project designed to deploy at least 90,000km of fibre-optic cable. The initiative aims to expand Nigeria’s core connectivity infrastructure through a public-private partnership.The World Bank committed $500 million in January 2025, while the African Development Bank approved $200 million in April 2026. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has also pledged funding.Bridge Open Access, the company incorporated in August 2026 to manage the build, is structured to give the federal government a 25 to 49 per cent stake, with private investors holding at least 51 per cent.The delivery timeline has been compressed to three years, with rollout scheduled to begin in October. Government projections put the potential return at up to $5 billion in tax revenue and 229,000 jobs.The project follows a wholesale model. Bridge OA will sell network capacity on equal terms to operators and service providers rather than serve consumers directly.The difficulty is that Nigeria already has tens of thousands of kilometres of backbone fibre. Broadband penetration passed 56 per cent this year, driven largely by mobile connections.Fibre-to-the-home reaches a fraction of the population. Operators report tens of thousands of fibre cuts annually, alongside access denials and theft. Right-of-way charges still vary by state, and efforts to harmonise them remain incomplete.At the ITW Africa panel in Nairobi this month, Telkom Kenya’s Kibati put national network coverage at roughly 90 per cent of the population, against mobile internet usage of closer to 28 per cent.Rwanda presents an even sharper contrast in the GSMA’s data. Its 4G network reaches 96 per cent of the population, while 3G coverage extends to 99 per cent. Yet only 21 per cent of the population used mobile internet in 2025.Three countries, three extensive network footprints, and one shared challenge: infrastructure that has not translated into widespread internet adoption.The GSMA and the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa identify barriers that cannot be resolved simply by laying more fibre.An entry-level smartphone costs about 76 per cent of average monthly income in sub-Saharan Africa. Smartphone shipments across the continent fell 7 per cent year on year, while shipments of devices priced below $100 declined 34 per cent.Close to 600 million Africans lack reliable electricity, constraining both network economics and the ability to charge a handset.More than 600 million mobile connections still rely on 2G and 3G networks. Beyond affordability, the report identifies limited practical digital skills, a shortage of locally relevant services and a lack of perceived value in going online as barriers to adoption.“Africa has already built much of the network foundation for its digital future,” said John Giusti, chief regulatory officer at the GSMA. “The urgent task now is to close the usage gap by making smartphones and services affordable.”Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia and co-chair of the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa, framed the challenge as an integrated one.“If we bring together connectivity, electrification, affordable devices and digital skills, we can ensure that the continent’s digital transformation leaves no community behind.”The partnership’s three priorities are migrating more than 600 million legacy connections to 4G and 5G handsets, integrating energy and connectivity planning, and lowering rural service costs through shared infrastructure, results-based public funding and anchor demand from institutions.The GSMA’s modelling indicates that halving the usage gap across 11 assessed markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa, could bring approximately 245 million additional people online.Backbone projects are relatively easy to finance because their outputs are easy to measure.Kilometres of fibre laid provide a clear metric. Development finance institutions can verify the infrastructure, ministers can announce progress, and contractors can be paid against measurable milestones.It depends on device affordability, electricity reliability, right-of-way administration across dozens of subnational jurisdictions and whether people have access to services they consider worth paying for.

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CIO Africa

Absa Kenya Launches Absa Next, An All-in-one finance App

 Absa Bank Kenya PLC has launched Absa Next, a digital platform that lets people save, invest, borrow and manage their money in one place, whether or not they bank with Absa. The platform was built in Kenya on scalable cloud-based infrastructure, and the bank intends it to serve as a blueprint for digital banking across the wider Absa Group.The savings and investment side is built to work individually or in groups. According to the bank, users can save at rates of up to 7 per cent and invest for returns of up to 16 per cent, with goal-based and gamified savings tools sitting alongside them.Credit comes through the same app. Absa says users can access instant loans from as little as USD 3.86(KES 500) up to USD 7,710(KES 1 million), for personal or business needs. To widen access, the bank says the platform uses alternative credit scoring, which draws on a broader range of financial behaviours and data points when assessing a borrower.Everything feeds into a single dashboard covering both personal and business finances. According to Absa, open banking lets users add accounts held at other financial institutions to that view, and they can link both Absa and non-Absa Visa cards, so the picture isn’t limited to what they hold with the bank. A split-expenses feature lets them share costs with family and friends from the same place.The bank says Absa Next was shaped by extensive customer engagement and continuous testing, and will keep evolving with customer feedback.At the launch, Absa Bank Kenya Managing Director and CEO Yusuf Omari said the product reflects a shift in how financial services are designed and delivered, in line with the bank’s purpose of “Empowering Africa’s tomorrow together, one story at a time.”“Consumer expectations are changing rapidly. People want financial solutions that are intuitive, personalised and seamlessly integrated into their daily lives. Absa Next represents our response to this shift. Rather than digitising traditional banking, we have reimagined the banking experience around our customers’ goals, behaviours and aspirations,” Omari said.Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Absa Group Chief Executive for Personal and Private Banking, said Kenya’s record in financial innovation made it the natural market to pioneer the product. “Kenya has consistently demonstrated its ability to develop innovations that solve real customer challenges and influence financial services across the continent. Absa Next builds on that legacy. It is an innovation informed by Kenyan consumers, and one that has the potential to shape how we serve customers across Africa,” he said.Consumer Banking Director Moses Muthui tied the design to how people now use money, saying the platform responds to emerging consumer behaviours and the growing overlap between digital lifestyles and financial needs. “The next generation of consumers expects banking to be simple, intelligent and always accessible. Digital is no longer just a channel; it is the primary way people engage with brands, services and their finances. Absa Next has been designed to deliver that experience,” he said.

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CIO Africa

TCS Sovereign Cloud Goes Live In Nairobi

Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) sovereign cloud platform is now live in Kenya, hosted at iXAfrica Data Centres’ Nairobi facility and delivered through a partnership between TCS and regional systems integrator Sybyl.The launch was announced on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at an event held at the Harvard Club in New York.Ambassador Philip Thigo, Special Envoy on Technology to the President of Kenya, made the announcement alongside Snehar Shah, chief executive officer of iXAfrica Data Centres; Frank Mwiti, chief executive of the Nairobi Securities Exchange; John Mwendwa, chief executive of the Kenya Investment Authority; and TCS representatives.The platform provides government and enterprise users with in-country cloud infrastructure designed to support data residency, security, regulatory compliance and digital transformation, Thigo said.“As AI, digital public infrastructure and data become increasingly central to economic competitiveness and public service delivery, countries need trusted infrastructure through which they can exercise greater agency over their digital future,” he said.The three-way partnership was announced on 13 November 2025 and has now moved into production.TCS provides the sovereign cloud architecture, deployment frameworks and security expertise through its TCS Sovereign Secure Cloud offering. Sybyl handles local implementation, customer support and regional technical expertise across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. iXAfrica provides the underlying data centre infrastructure.The platform targets government agencies and public sector institutions, regulated industries such as banking and telecommunications, large enterprises with data sovereignty requirements, and regional financial institutions and utilities.“Our sovereign cloud fuels future-forward business models while meeting stringent privacy and regulatory requirements,” said Satishchandra Doreswamy, vice president of TCS’s cloud unit for growth markets, when the partnership was announced.Shailendra Yadav, Sybyl chief executive framed the proposition in economic terms, arguing that digital independence must deliver tangible benefits by reducing currency exposure and foreign policy risk.“African data stays in Africa, secure, sustainable, and ready to power innovation,” said Shah.The platform runs on iXAfrica’s NBOX1 campus on Mombasa Road, which the company describes as East Africa’s first and largest carrier-neutral, AI-ready hyperscale data centre.NBOX1 has a design capacity of 22.5MW across two phases. NBOX1.1 provides 4.5MW of IT load across 780 racks, while NBOX1.2 adds 18MW across 3,744 racks.The campus supports high-density workloads of up to 40kW per rack, operates at a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25 and uses free-air cooling. It draws power from the Kenyan grid, which iXAfrica says generates more than 90 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources.Two additional campuses are planned. NBOX2 is designed to deliver more than 53MW on an 11-acre site at Tilisi, approximately 40km from the existing facility. NBOX3 is planned for a site southeast of NBOX1.1.The African Actors of Data Center Association’s 2026 economic report puts the continent’s total installed data centre capacity at approximately 360MW, equivalent to about 0.6 per cent of global capacity.The same campus hosts Oracle’s Kenya public cloud region, making iXAfrica the physical home of multiple cloud platforms serving the Kenyan market.Neither TCS, Sybyl nor iXAfrica has disclosed the commercial terms of the arrangement, the capacity allocated to the sovereign cloud platform or its pricing.

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Nairobi Wire

Ruto Takes Fresh Swipe at Sifuna Over Famous Chicken Housing Row

President William Ruto took a lighthearted swipe at Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna while advocating for the Affordable Housing Programme during a development tour in Taita Taveta County. Speaking to a crowd in Taita Taveta, the president stressed that rural counties should benefit from multi-story residential developments similar to those underway in major cities, lightheartedly addressing previous opposition critiques regarding high-rise living and rural lifestyle needs. “Yale yanafanyika, kama ghorofa inajengwa Nairobi, nimesema ghorofa ijengwe na huku pia. Na kama kuna shida ya kupandisha kuku, tuweke lifts. Itapanda na kuku pia. Salala, mko na mambo nyinyi!” Ruto joked, drawing laughter from the crowd. Translation: (“What is happening, if a multi-storey building is being constructed in Nairobi, I have said a multi-storey building should also be constructed here. And if there is a problem carrying chickens upstairs, let us install lifts. It will go up with the chickens too. My goodness, you people are something else!”) Background to the Chicken Feud The President’s remarks stem from an exchange that began in July 2026, when Senator Sifuna criticized the design of 12-storey affordable housing blocks constructed in Funyula, Busia County. Sifuna argued during an interview that high-rise apartment models fail to account for the everyday lifestyle of rural and semi-urban households...

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Nairobi Wire

Gachagua’s 2027 Alcohol Plan: 53 Firms Targeted, Bars to Close at 11pm

Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has issued a warning to 53 companies he accuses of manufacturing and distributing lethal, illicit alcohol, promising to close them down within a month if the United Opposition wins the 2027 General Election. Speaking during a diaspora caucus in Dallas, Texas, the former deputy president alleged that corrupt manufacturers are putting the lives of Kenya’s youth at risk while paying off senior state officials to remain in business. “Within one month, we’ll shut down those 53 companies that are manufacturing killer brews. I want to put those owners on notice and make as much as you can between now and then,” he said. “Give Kindiki and Ruto money every Friday between now and then and save some money to invest in something else after the election; try tea, coffee, avocado, tourism but that business of killer brews would not take place within the borders of the Republic of Kenya next year … We shall not allow hard drugs, cocaine, or cannabis within our borders.” Gachagua at the same time announced plans to institute a radical nationwide restriction on alcohol consumption hours if the United Opposition captures power in the 2027 General Election. The former deputy president decried the proliferation of around-the-clock drinking, pledging that his administration will enforce strict operating schedules for bars. “We will regulate...

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Nairobi Wire

Funny Trending Memes To Kickstart New Week

This special weekly collection takes you on a rollercoaster through Kenyan social media’s humor-filled landscape, showcasing the best of internet hilarity with witty quips, hilarious observations, and random photos. The post Funny Trending Memes To Kickstart New Week appeared first on Nairobi Wire.

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Nairobi Wire

Kalonzo Fires Back at Ruto Over 40-Year Career, Vows to Skip Raila Memorials

Kalonzo Musyoka addresses the congregation at the Seed of Hope Church, Donholm. Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka has fired back at President William Ruto’s repeated jabs regarding his four-decade career in Kenyan politics, asserting that his long tenure remains unblemished by political atrocities. Speaking to a gathering in Bondo town, Siaya County, the former Vice President acknowledged his 40-year presence on the national stage but contrasted his clean record with the actions of younger political figures. “It’s true I have been around for 40 years, as Ruto claims, but I have not killed anyone’s child. I have defended the rule of law together with many other leaders,” Kalonzo stated. “I have been here for 40 years, but I haven’t done what others have done in 5 or 10 years.” President Ruto has frequently used Kalonzo’s lengthy career as a political talking point, accusing the Wiper leader of delivering minimal development during his decades in public office. Ruto routinely points to the unpaved road leading to Kalonzo’s rural home in Tseikuru, Kitui County, as a symbol of poor stewardship, claiming credit for initiating its recent repair under the current administration. Skipping Government Memorials for Raila Odinga Kalonzo also reaffirmed his loyalty to his late political ally, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, while announcing he would boycott official joint me...

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Nairobi Wire

Hilarious Kenyan Tweets on X to Beat the Monday Blues

Kick off a new and productive week on a lighter note by exploring the hilarious world of Kenyan Twitter. We’ve handpicked the funniest and most trending posts on X to help you shake off those back-to-work Monday blues. The post Hilarious Kenyan Tweets on X to Beat the Monday Blues appeared first on Nairobi Wire.

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Business Today Kenya

NDOC Steps Up Flood Response as Counties Prepare for Heavy El Niño Rains

Kenya is stepping up preparations for the expected El Niño rains, with the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC) working with counties, security agencies, the Kenya Red Cross and telecommunications companies to strengthen emergency response and communication. NDOC Director Col (Rtd) David Samoei said authorities were conducting exercises to improve coordination between disaster response teams and […]

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