Ghana Targets 70% 5G Coverage by March 2027 After Policy U-Turn

Ghana wants 70% of its population within reach of a 5G network by March 2027, Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George announced at an International Telecommunication Union conference in Qatar. The target is ambitious for a country that abandoned its original rollout plan only months ago.

Ghana initially placed its 5G ambitions in the hands of Next Gen InfraCo, a shared infrastructure company with exclusive rights to build a wholesale 5G network for ten years. Mobile operators were expected to rent capacity rather than build competing networks. The arrangement failed. By May 2026, Next Gen InfraCo reportedly had just 49 sites, and no major operator had signed up. In July, the National Communications Authority ended the exclusivity and opened 5G spectrum licensing to competitors. By October, MTN Ghana and Telecel had received 5G permits. The government is also completing 2,016 rural telecommunications sites and upgrading older networks. Ghana is betting competition will speed deployment, though affordable smartphones, data prices and actual demand will decide whether coverage becomes usage.

What is driving Egypt's record remittances?

Remittances to Egypt reached a record $38.2 billion in the first nine months of 2026, according to the Central Bank of Egypt. Between July and September alone, Egyptians sent home $13 billion, up 20.4% from the same period last year. The rebound has held despite renewed currency pressure and fears that Gulf-based workers might cut transfers amid regional conflict.

The mechanism dates to March 2024, when Egypt allowed its currency to trade more freely. Before then, Egyptians abroad could get better exchange rates outside official banking channels. Closing that gap pushed transfers into banks, where the dollars support the wider economy. The catch: remittances reached $47.3 billion in the financial year ending June 2026, yet the merchandise trade deficit widened to $64.8 billion and the current account deficit hit $22.5 billion. Until exports grow, Egypt stays dependent on its diaspora.

Why is Kenya building a sovereign security centre?

Kenya has launched the SecureKE Sovereign Security Operations Centre about 65 kilometres southeast of Nairobi. The Konza Technopolis Development Authority established the facility with SecureKE, a Kenyan cybersecurity company, to give government institutions and private organisations shared monitoring and incident-response services. It complements the existing National KE-CIRT/CC response system.

The numbers explain the urgency. INTERPOL's 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment found cybercrime accounts for more than 30% of reported crime in both West and East Africa, and 90% of African countries surveyed needed significant improvements in law enforcement or prosecution capacity. Kenya detected 4.56 billion cyber threat events in late 2025, while reported banking cyber-fraud losses reached KES1.9 billion ($14.6 million).

Can Telkom unlock South Africa's ownership rules?

Telkom, the South African operator in which the government holds a 40.5% stake, has challenged the country's telecoms ownership requirements in a submission to ICASA, the regulator. The rules are too rigid, Telkom said, and overlook other routes to economic empowerment such as skills development, local supplier investment and infrastructure funding. The stakes extend beyond one company: Telkom argues rigid ownership requirements make it harder for operators to attract foreign capital and expand infrastructure.

South Africa's Electronic Communications Act requires individual licence holders to have at least 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged groups. That requirement has blocked Starlink, which has resisted selling a 30% stake to local investors. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi proposed Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes letting foreign companies contribute through local investment instead of share sales; ICASA opposed the plan in May, and Malatsi was accused of trying to accommodate Starlink. A major local operator now raising the same objections may reshape that debate.

Elsewhere on the tech beat

Reuters reported that a Chinese university with military ties bought two Nvidia H200 chips for $123,000 despite being on a US trade blacklist, with procurement records showing other restricted chips reaching Chinese research institutions through local suppliers. In crypto markets, Bitcoin traded at $73,479, down 12.01% for the month, while Ether fell 19.03% to $2,042 and Solana dropped 23.32% to $82.88 as of November 12, 2026. The seventh Ogun Digital Summit runs November 25–27 in Abeokuta, featuring a hackathon with a ₦5 million prize pool.