Author: Kaluka wanjala

Open Access Data Centres (OADC), a subsidiary of WIOCC Group, has acquired a portfolio of seven data centre facilities in South Africa from NTT DATA. The transaction was advised by Verdant IMAP and includes strategically located facilities that form part of NTT’s South African data centre operations. The assets support enterprise, wholesale and cloud connectivity services, and play a key role in South Africa’s digital infrastructure ecosystem. According to the parties, the acquisition strengthens WIOCC Group’s position as a multi-regional digital infrastructure provider. OADC serves hyperscalers, content delivery networks (CDNs), network operators, ISPs and enterprise clients. It offers carrier-neutral data…

Truecaller and AnyMind Group have partnered in a move that makes the latter its direct sales reseller partner. This partnership aims to accelerate the growth of its advertising business across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia (SEA). AnyMind Group will now act as the exclusive intermediary for Truecaller’s advertising inventory in key markets. These markets include Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. The partnership enables brands and agencies to access Truecaller’s premium ad formats, allowing them to reach highly engaged, high-intent users through data-driven advertising solutions on the platform.…

Safaricom has secured regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to roll out a long-awaited data minimisation feature on M-Pesa that will mask customers’ phone numbers during transactions. The approval was granted last month and clears the way for Safaricom to implement number masking for peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers and eventually extend the same protection to merchant payments made via Till and PayBill numbers. In a letter to Safaricom, the CBK confirmed it had reviewed the company’s application and supporting submissions before approving the implementation of data minimisation for P2P transactions. “This is to inform you that the CBK…

The 2026 AI & Cyber Frontier Report by digital trust and cybersecurity firm Smartcomply warns of a widening “execution gap” across the region. Awareness of cyber risk has not yet translated into operational resilience. Kenya accounts for 68% of East Africa’s total digital attack surface. The good news is successful breaches remain relatively low at 0.3%. This shows the country has implemented stronger defensive controls. Between April and June 2025 alone, more than 4.5 billion cyber threat events were recorded in Kenya. The report estimates Kenya lost approximately KES 29.9 billion (about $230 million) to cybercrime in 2025. Effects of…

AUI Global, a pan-African executive education provider specialising in artificial intelligence programs, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) to deliver AI workshops and executive certification programs to the board and staff of Kenya’s flagship smart city. Companies operating within the Technopolis will also be able to register their teams in AUI Global’s certification programs. “Partnering with Konza Technopolis allows AUI Global to deepen our roots in the Silicon Savannah,” said Deborah Bartlett, Executive Lead at AUI Global. “Together, we will accelerate AI adoption and literacy in Kenya, ensuring that Kenya’s leaders are certified in AI to responsibly…

iHUB, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has opened applications for Cohort 4 of the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship in Kenya. The programme will select 12 early-stage EdTech startups building solutions that expand access to education and improve learning for underserved learners. The startups that are selected will receive $100,000 in equity-free funding and participate in a 12-month structured acceleration programme. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. The programme provides mentorship, technical support and access to ecosystem partners to help startups refine their solutions, strengthen implementation readiness, and prepare for sustainable…

M-PESA Ethiopia and Gebeya have launched the Dala AI Bundle. This makes it easier for Ethiopians to access advanced AI creation tools and pay for the tools using their M-PESA wallets. Through Dala Studio, subscribers will gain access to localized AI tools designed for builders, entrepreneurs and creators. Features include: The bundle is currently available on the Dala Studio platform and is expected to be integrated into the M-PESA application. Amadou Daffe, CEO of Gebeya Inc., said the partnership expands access to digital creation tools beyond traditional tech hubs. “We’re not just adding another product, we’re handing the keys of…

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has today confirmed the full repayment of its ZAR term loan and USD revolving credit facility. In tandem with this repayment, Liquid has agreed $410 million in new ZAR and USD credit facilities from a syndicate of commercial and development finance lenders. Cassava Technologies is further reinforcing Liquid’s financial position by injecting $195 million in fresh capital into the business. Commenting on these developments, Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO stated: “These transactions, alongside the recent sale of a minority stake in a data centre subsidiary in South Africa, are part of a significant strengthening of our…

Pesalink has partnered with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to enable real-time cross-border payments. The partnership will allow instant 24/7 cross-border payments from PAPSS participants into banks and mobile money operators within the Pesalink network in Kenya. Transactions will be settled in local currencies and this will help reduce the need for correspondent banking arrangements and dependence on foreign reserve currencies such as the US dollar. PAPSS is an initiative of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat. It facilitates cross-border payments between African countries. Under the new arrangement, Pesalink…

Red Hat has announced Red Hat AI Enterprise, a new integrated AI platform designed to help organisations deploy and manage AI models, agents and applications across hybrid cloud environments. The launch expands the company’s AI portfolio, which already includes Red Hat AI Inference Server, Red Hat OpenShift AI and Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI, and is accompanied by the release of Red Hat AI 3.3, featuring major updates across its AI stack. The company says the platform provides a comprehensive “metal-to-agent” stack,” integrating Linux and Kubernetes infrastructure with AI inference and agentic capabilities. The goal is to help enterprises move…