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Staff Writer

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Africa Tech Festival (https://AfricaTechFestival.com/), the continent’s longest-running and most influential technology event, today announced that registration is open for the 29th edition of the event, taking place from 16 to 19 November 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa. Based on the success of last year’s event, and ongoing conversations with key stakeholders, Africa Tech Festival 2026 is structured around six interconnected pillars that reflect where investment is flowing, where innovation is accelerating, and where the biggest opportunities lie: Telecoms & Connectivity; Data Centres; AI; Cybersecurity; Startups; and Digital Transformation. Every session, speaker and experience at Africa Tech Festival 2026 is built around these pillars, which will be showcased throughout the event, on eight dedicated stages. For sponsors and exhibitors, Africa Tech Festival is the premier platform where enterprise buyers, technology leaders, and solution providers converge to shape the future of digital transformation across the continent. Leading brands can engage directly with C-suite executives, policymakers, and industry leaders as they showcase solutions in telecoms, AI, data centres, cybersecurity and enterprise innovation. In addition to providing a forum for generating leads and forming partnerships, Africa Tech Festival’s media exposure and pan-African reach create the ideal platforms for boosting brand reputation. First wave of confirmed speakers announced Africa Tech Festival 2026 is already attracting some of the continent’s most influential technology and business leaders. Confirmed speakers to date include: Bunmi Cynthia Adeleye, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited (Owners of Shoprite Nigeria) Dido wa Kalonji, Chief Information Officer, FNB Eswatini Faith Burn, Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa Joost Pielage, Chief Technology Officer, Quro Medical Lazola Ndamase, Group Executive Head: Big Data & AI/ML Technology, Vodacom Mary Mahuma, Chief Information Officer, Sub-Saharan Africa, Philip Morris South Africa Nina Triantis, Head: Global Sponsor Coverage, Client Coverage CIB & Vice Chair/TMT, Standard Bank Group Nirvani Dhevcharran, Chief Technology Officer: Platforms and Operations, TFG (The Foschini Group) Nollie Maoto, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, FirstRand Compliance Office Nomsa Chabeli, Group Chief Executive Officer, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Richard Cazalet, Executive: Strategy and Transformation, Telkom SA Seaparo Phala, Chief Information Officer, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture Senthil Kumar Velayutham, Chief Technology and Digital Officer, African Development Bank Commenting on the importance of the event in advancing Africa’s digital transformation agenda, David Monaghan, VP, Africa Tech Festival, said, “Africa’s digital economy is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, and Africa Tech Festival 2026 is designed to be at the centre of that momentum. Whether you’re a decision-maker looking to shape strategy, an innovator seeking investment, or an organisation ready to put your brand in front of the continent’s most influential technology leaders, this is the event for you. We look forward to welcoming the industry to Cape Town in November.” Register to attend Africa Tech Festival 2026 General registration: https://apo-opa.co/3OvRBqv For more information, as well as exhibitor and sponsor applications, visit https://AfricaTechFestival.com/
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Secure Your Spot at Africa Tech Festival

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iv Muthan Pr Eng, Head of Export Sales and Operations.
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Service as a service

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Çelebi Aviation Enters Kenyan Market, Accelerating Strategic Growth Across Africa
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Çelebi Aviation Enters Kenyan Market, Accelerating Strategic Growth Across Africa

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Emirates’ (www.Emirates.com) flagship A380, long celebrated as one of aviation’s most iconic aircraft, is set to reach new heights as the first installation of next-generation Starlink Wi-Fi onboard has just been completed. The Emirates A380 was one of the first commercial aircraft in the world to offer internet to its customers, with first generation systems offering a total aircraft bandwidth of less than 1 Mbps. Emirates’ installation of three Starlink antennas on each A380 will improve the Wi-Fi available onboard a thousand-fold - offering a ‘better than at home’ connectivity experience for customers, while flying at 40,000 feet. The first Emirates A380 aircraft equipped with Starlink made its return to Dubai this week, after its installation and certification was accomplished in Newquay, UK. With more A380s scheduled for accelerated installation throughout 2026, Emirates customers will soon enjoy a transformative leap in onboard connectivity with the ability to stream, game, browse, and work throughout their journey on personal devices. The service will be complimentary for all customers, across all cabins, with easy sign up and access. Future enhancements will include Live TV streaming over Starlink, initially on personal devices and later integrated into seatback screens. From its celebrated Onboard Lounge to its signature First Class Shower Spa, the Emirates A380 has consistently redefined long-haul travel, beloved by customers from all corners of the globe. With the addition of Starlink’s seamless connectivity across all cabin classes, the Emirates A380 experience evolves once more, delivering a fully connected journey in the sky. A technical first for the world’s largest passenger aircraft As the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the A380 presents unique engineering challenges and opportunities. This industry-first Starlink configuration is designed to meet the demands of the A380’s ‘double-decker’ layout and high passenger capacity and is capable of delivering more than 2 Gbps of total aircraft bandwidth across the cabin. Compared with the Emirates Boeing 777, the Emirates A380 features additional wireless access points and a third antenna to deliver an enhanced connectivity experience for its higher passenger capacity. Optimised inter‑deck integration supports a seamless Wi‑Fi experience, with customers able to enjoy high speeds depending on usage and device capability. Accelerated rollout across an industry-leading fleet Starlink installations will soon begin at Emirates Engineering facilities in Dubai to accelerate deployment across the fleet. Emirates is committed to bringing the best possible connectivity to its entire fleet at the earliest opportunity, with 25 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft already equipped with Starlink and the first A380 now joining service. So far, more than 650,000 Emirates customers have already flown on Starlink‑equipped flights, experiencing the benefits of next‑generation onboard connectivity firsthand. Emirates continuous investment into elevating customer experience The introduction of Starlink on the A380 builds on Emirates’ ongoing investment into redefining the customer journey, including one of the most ambitious retrofit programmes in aviation history. To date, 93 Emirates aircraft have been fully refurbished (https://apo-opa.co/4d9Ldyo) featuring the installation of the widely acclaimed Premium Economy cabins, an enhanced Business Class, refreshed First Class suites, upgraded interiors and finishes in Economy Class and throughout all aspects of the cabin, and expanded and upgraded inflight systems that can offer more than 6,500 channels of entertainment. To complement the significant upgrades across all hardware, Emirates also continues to invest in its training programmes and facilities that are instrumental to customer experience. In mid-2025, Emirates opened an US$ 8 million facility - ‘Centre of Hospitality Excellence’ (https://apo-opa.co/3QpE9VP) to train its 25,000 cabin crew in the art of hospitality onboard – bringing together both the tangible and intangible elements of an outstanding travel experience.
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Emirates A380 to Dubai, Now With High‑Speed Wi‑Fi

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Aurionpro Solutions Limited (www.AurionPro.com) (BSE: 532668 | NSE: AURIONPRO), a global leader in banking technology, announced the expansion and upgrade of its transaction banking engagement with Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), to modernize and enhance the bank’s corporate transaction banking capabilities across multiple countries. Download Document: https://apo-opa.co/4edHUaC This multi-country transaction banking upgrade covering Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania aligns with DTB’s intent to enhance customer experience, streamline operations, and support growing transaction volumes as it expands its regional corporate banking footprint. DTB continues to focus on building a more agile, 'digital-first' banking experience, particularly around payments for its corporate customers across Africa, and is now well positioned to scale these capabilities. As part of its broader transformation agenda, the bank has been steadily investing in platforms that enhance scale, reliability, and service consistency across markets. Aurionpro’s upgraded iCashpro platform for DTB delivers a unified digital experience across payments, trade, virtual accounts, and real-time reporting, enhancing straight-through processing, visibility, and control for both the bank and its corporate customers. By enabling DTB to standardize and scale its transaction banking operations across countries, the platform ensures consistent service levels, stronger control, and improved efficiency. It also supports enhanced user experience, advanced security, and the flexibility to introduce new features as DTB expands its regional transaction banking footprint. Murali Natarajan (https://apo-opa.co/48trPdk), Managing Director & CEO, DTB Kenya commented: “We are delighted to strengthen and broaden our partnership with Aurionpro Solutions as part of DTB’s ongoing digital transformation journey across multiple markets. Our focus on innovation, operational excellence, and customer-centricity continues to guide our technology investments. This upgrade strengthens our transaction banking capabilities, enabling us to deliver greater value to our customers through robust digital channels and seamlessly integrated experiences.” Ashish Rai, Group CEO, Aurionpro Solutions, commented: “We are pleased to deepen our multi-country engagement with Diamond Trust Bank and support the next phase of its transaction banking modernization. As DTB continues to scale across markets, platform resilience and consistency become paramount. Through this partnership, we are proud to lead the next era of transformation in transaction banking, helping DTB enhance operational agility, deliver superior experiences to corporate customers, and create long-term value across geographies.” He added, “Aurionpro’s iCashpro lays a strong digital foundation for transaction & wholesale banks across the globe to grow their corporate and SME client portfolio today, while creating a clear roadmap for next- generation capabilities in AI-driven insights, advanced automation and API-led connectivity for businesses in Kenya and across Africa.”
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Aurionpro expands its multi-country transaction banking engagement with Diamond Trust Bank...

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On April 24, the 19th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (2026) opened. VOYAH (www.VOYAH-Global.com), a high-end smart new energy vehicle (NEV) brand, made an appearance under the theme "Riding the Wind Upward." The recently launched VOYAH Taishan X8 garnered significant attention at the event. VOYAH announced three major internationalization initiatives: "Deepening presence in Europe, expanding into the Middle East, and entering right-hand drive markets." At the same time, the brand unveiled its ESG initiative, "BetterVOYAH," officially advancing its global strategy and sustainable development roadmap. Additionally, VOYAH will embark on a new phase of its pure electric strategy, aiming for pure electric vehicles to account for over 50% of its sales by 2027, while simultaneously building out a fast-charging network to ensure a truly worry‑free pure electric experience. Since its founding, VOYAH has achieved rapid and substantial growth in multiple areas, including brand building, product development, technological innovation, channel expansion, and overseas deployment. Recently, the company successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the "first listed high-end new energy vehicle brand among central and state-owned enterprises." This landmark achievement has reshaped the development logic of the high-end NEV sector. Leveraging its strong growth momentum, VOYAH is also the fastest among central and state-owned high-end NEV brands to expand from domestic to overseas markets. Its products are now sold in more than 40 countries, covering a wide range of European nations as well as the Middle East. The company has established over 240 overseas sales outlets. Thanks to its outstanding product capabilities and high-quality customer service, VOYAH has won broad favor and recognition from global consumers. Looking ahead to global development, VOYAH will continue to deepen its presence in overseas markets, integrate into local industrial ecosystems, and let the world see the unique charm of China's high-end "intelligent manufacturing."
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High-End Smart New Energy Vehicle VOYAH Taishan X8 Draws Widespread Attention

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has signed a Joint Statement of Intent with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) (https://ICD-PS.org) and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) —both members of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group—introducing a new blended finance structure that leverages credit insurance to catalyze private investment in climate-smart sectors. This partnership will unlock capital for green small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and support national efforts to achieve climate and sustainable development goals across the Arab States region. It will support financing across a broad range of sustainability-related areas, including climate change mitigation and energy transition, climate adaptation and resilience, sustainable water usage and governance, circular economy and management, sustainable agriculture and food systems and other green finance sectors. “Across our region, SMEs are the backbone of economies and helping them grow and innovate is critical to strengthening economic resilience and climate ambition,” said Abdallah Al Dardari, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Arab States. “Through this new partnership we will work closely with regional financial institutions to expand SMEs access to green finance, to accelerate inclusive, climate-resilient development in line with UNDP’s flagship Green Finance Platform.” In countries benefiting from the new partnership, ICD will provide financing facilities to partner banks and financial institutions while ICIEC will offer comprehensive credit insurance and risk-sharing solutions to encourage financial institutions to expand financing to green sectors, in addition to leveraging reinsurance partnerships to enhance the facility’s capacity and long-term sustainability. "By uniting ICIEC's risk mitigation, ICD's financing, and UNDP's development network, we are creating a scalable engine for green private sector growth,” stressed Mohammad Asheque Moyeed, Acting Director, Banking Department at ICD. “This partnership is our shared commitment to building a more inclusive and sustainable future for SMEs across our member countries." "Our role in this partnership is to unlock capital for the SMEs driving a greener, more diversified economy,” explained Yasser Alaki, Director of Business Development, ICIEC. “Through our credit insurance solutions, ICIEC provides the essential risk assurance that enables financial institutions to confidently channel financing toward this vital growth sector." Serving as a convener of the partnership, UNDP will facilitate linkages between financial institutions and SMEs engaged in its programmes and will coordinate joint efforts to mobilize resources to lower the cost of risk-sharing mechanisms.
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New strategic partnership in the Arab States region to enhance access...

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Beyond capital, this partnership represents a powerful bridge between European financial expertise and Africa’s rapidly expanding investment landscape. By combining KfW’s global development finance experience with ATIDI’s deep regional risk intelligence and market presence, the collaboration will help unlock new pathways for investment in strategic sectors thus supporting sustainable growth, strengthening trade corridors and enabling investors to participate more confidently in Africa’s long-term economic transformation.
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KfW Development Bank becomes an ATIDI Shareholder, Enhances German Investment Opportunities...

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The organization "Youth for Peace and Dialogue Between Cultures" is honored to announce that its President and Founder, Zakaria El Hamel, has been officially nominated for the prestigious Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize. The Foundation of the Prize, via Deputy Director Vadim Karasev, has confirmed that the nomination has been formally received and accepted for review. Mr. El Hamel’s candidacy is now being evaluated by the international jury in accordance with the foundation’s established procedures. Recognition of Two Decades of Commitment This nomination serves as a milestone in Zakaria El Hamel’s twenty-year journey as a journalist and human rights defender. Based in Oujda, he has dedicated his life to youth empowerment, having reached over 50,000 young people through educational campaigns centered on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Global Momentum for Peace This international recognition follows a major achievement for the Oriental region of Morocco. In March 2026, under Mr. El Hamel’s leadership, Oujda was officially designated as the 468th International City of Peace, solidifying the city’s role as a Mediterranean and African hub for diplomacy and tolerance. "This nomination for the Leo Tolstoy Prize is a recognition that extends beyond myself; it belongs to every young person who believes that dialogue is the only path to overcoming division," said Zakaria El Hamel. About the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize The Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize honors individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the prevention of global conflict, the promotion of disarmament, and the strengthening of mutual understanding between peoples, inspired by the humanitarian legacy of Leo Tolstoy. About Youth for Peace and Dialogue Between Cultures Founded in 2005, the association works to promote tolerance, coexistence, and human rights. It remains a leading voice in grassroots activism and citizen diplomacy within the Mediterranean and North African regions.
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Moroccan Activist Zakaria El Hamel Officially Nominated for the Leo Tolstoy...

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Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (www.AfricaFC.org), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, today announced its equity investment in Dhamana Guarantee Company Limited (“Dhamana”), a credit enhancement facility established to unlock long-term, local-currency financing for infrastructure projects across East Africa. The investment forms part of AFC's approved commitment of up to US$20 million in capital, with an initial tranche of US$10 million in Dhamana’s core capital. Dhamana is designed to provide guarantees that enable infrastructure developers access domestic debt capital markets - particularly pension funds and institutional investors - on improved terms, while also supporting financial institutions to deepen financial inclusion. Dhamana’s operating model builds on the successful framework already implemented by similar Credit Enhancement Facilities in West Africa, notably InfraCredit Nigeria, where AFC is a founding shareholder. Commenting on the investment, Banji Fehintola, Executive Board Member and Head of Financial Services at Africa Finance Corporation, said: “Dhamana represents a strategic opportunity to deepen domestic capital markets in East Africa by linking long-term institutional savings to bankable infrastructure investments. Building on our experience with InfraCredit in Nigeria, AFC is pleased to support the establishment of another credit enhancement facility focused on East Africa that will help unlock local-currency financing, strengthen investor confidence, and accelerate infrastructure delivery across the region.” Also commenting on the investment, Christopher Olobo, Chief Executive Officer of Dhamana Guarantee Company, said: “We are delighted to welcome Africa Finance Corporation as a shareholder in Dhamana. AFC’s investment marks a major institutional endorsement of our mandate to unlock long‑term, local currency financing for infrastructure and priority sectors across East Africa. Drawing on AFC’s deep experience with credit enhancement platforms such as InfraCredit Nigeria, this partnership strengthens our capital base, governance and strategic capability as we scale our guarantee operations. We look forward to working closely with AFC to mobilise domestic institutional capital, deepen local debt markets, and deliver transactions that combine strong risk discipline with measurable developmental impact.” Dhamana is backed by a strong consortium of development partners and institutional investors, with AFC expected to play an active role in governance and strategic oversight. The Company’s pipeline spans multiple infrastructure sectors across East Africa, with a focus on transactions that deliver measurable developmental impact while meeting strong risk management and governance standards. The investment aligns with AFC’s broader strategy to support credit enhancement facilities across Africa, recognising their role in mobilising domestic capital, deepening local debt markets, and improving the financial sustainability of infrastructure projects.
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Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Invests in Dhamana Guarantee Company to Catalyse...

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