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5G Mokki, The African Technology Space Network That Will Impact Global Businesses

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4 years ago

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In a media release in May, the network had announced how it intends to deploy its Tech Spaces to connect the African continent to Europe

HELSINKI, Finland, June 17, 2022/APO Group/ — 

In a panel discussion at Aalto University’s 5G Summer School on Thursday, experts from the U.S., Africa and Europe explored the business opportunities that the latest communications and network technology, remote learning, work, and entrepreneurship from Africa can bring to U.S. companies. These are at the same time opportunities for positive impact on African economies. The webinar was organized by Start North, the Finnish technology learning accelerator network.

One prominent theme was how the 5G Mokki Tech Space network can serve international companies. In a media release in May, the network had announced how it intends to deploy its Tech Spaces to connect the African continent to Europe, promoting the learning and adoption of technology, remote work, and entrepreneurship.

In addition to promoting education, jobs, and the economic development of the regions, the network also aims to curb climate change by utilizing the latest technology.

This time, rather than focusing on the African-European connection, the discussion revolved around the possibilities of a Tech Space network for American companies that are keen on taking advantage of new opportunities swiftly. The purpose of this discussion was to highlight the diverse opportunities and benefits of the 5G Mokki Tech Space network for international companies that recruit tens of thousands of people each year and launch hundreds or thousands of innovation and technology projects each year.

‘Mokki’ is derived from the Finnish word ‘mökki’, meaning ‘cottage’. The cottage enables innovative uses of fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology. Where 5G frequencies and networks are not yet available, Mokki works with previous-generation technologies.

Regardless of the technology it runs on, Mokki already brings knowledge and know-how related to the latest 5G technology and its application in several different areas that are important for each region. Mokki is a catalyst for the development of fixed and 5G networks across Africa, including underserved areas. Investments in fixed networks, the latest mobile technology and green energy, combined with the deployment of Mokkis to accelerate education, work, and other services, is one of the fastest and surest ways to develop regions.

The panel discussion highlighted the many benefits that collaboration with the 5G Mokki Tech Space network offers to international companies.

Professor Leonard Wantchekon from Princeton University cited China and, more broadly, Asia as an example of a region that has boosted business growth and productivity in recent decades. Known for its natural resources and large young population, Africa is the next continent comparable to Asia that will provide businesses with expertise and other resources.

The Covid pandemic has taught us the value of remote learning, work, and entrepreneurship. By taking advantage of the latest technology, new resources can be quickly made available to companies to grow their businesses and promote regional economic development. The 5G Mokki network helps with this.

Professor Wantchekon is also the founder of the African School of Economics with campuses in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Benin, recruiting students from more than 20 African countries. He argues that 5G Mokki can play a crucial role in supporting research activities and providing cutting-edge teaching materials to studies across campuses.

Professor Marko Nieminen from Aalto University in Finland put forward that the latest network and communications technology, together with new solutions for energy and electricity, open up completely new opportunities to export know-how, work and entrepreneurship, even for underserved rural areas. This will bring more expertise and other resources to businesses.

The 5G Mokki Tech Space network has the enormous potential to serve international and local companies

Professor Nieminen elaborated on hands-on development projects such as in remote villages in Namibia and Zambia, where his research team has built electricity and energy systems as well as internet connections. Villages have rapidly moved to a new level of development. As one of the players in the Start North network, Aalto University is now utilizing the 5G Mokki network for research and education to facilitate and accelerate development.

Dr. Olatundun Adelegan from Nigeria, currently a Visiting Professor at Aalto University, presented research findings on what is slowing down or hindering Africa’s development. She highlighted infrastructure deficiencies, poor learning outcomes, and weak internet connections, youth unemployment and adverse effects of climate change and financial exclusion as hindrances to economic growth. She further explained that a robust information and technology network will lead to innovation in education and entrepreneurship and enhance financial inclusion and adoption of digital financial services and mobile money among rural dwellers as well as facilitating trade.

In addition, strong internet and digital technology will reduce the adverse effects of climate change through the provision of early warning systems on extreme weather events (floods, drought, storms, heat waves); boost agriculture yield with digital information on the onset of rainfall and sensors to monitor soil and plant conditions; minimize post-harvest loss from farm-to-fork; and enhance online nomadic education on adaptation techniques to minimize conflicts between herdsmen and farmers induced by climate change.

A robust information and technology network will contribute significantly to improving sub-Saharan Africa’s ability to create new business and attract international companies and investors.

Mr. Boris Ngala, Founder and CEO of BB Incubator in Douala, Cameroon and one of the co-founders of the 5G Mokki Tech Space network, having spent seven years abroad, returned to his home country with a vision to reduce poverty through technology-driven solutions, entrepreneurial training, and business advice.

When he heard about the 5G Mokki concept and its potential to accelerate the learning and application of new technology for the benefit of the region and its youth, he immediately seized the opportunity and set out to promote a concept that connects young people in Africa to each other and to other continents. Young people who are hungry for knowledge, learning, work, and entrepreneurship will make a significant contribution to the development of local and international business, as long as they are provided with advanced environments for learning, technological development and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Douglas Ogeto, Co-Founder and CEO of Ludique Works, the Pan-African video game publishing company in Nairobi, Kenya, said: “The 5G Mokki Tech Space network has the enormous potential to serve international and local companies, to provide creative-economy and technology-based jobs and promote entrepreneurship based on the learning of the latest technology and hands-on projects that serve local conditions. Furthermore, this is supported by extensive national and international collaboration with universities and companies.”

He is also a recent co-founder of the 5G Mokki Tech Space network. Ludique Works conducts numerous game development and business acceleration programs across Africa each year. The 5G Mokki network significantly improves the business opportunities for game developers.

Atte Leskinen, one of the driving forces behind Start North, the Finnish technology learning accelerator network, and one of the inventors of the 5G Mokki learning and technology environment, told that 5G Mokki is a concept invented by young people themselves and developed together with experienced professionals.

The concept has been tested and developed at an early stage in leading U.S. universities such as Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley and USC and has since been developed in cooperation with leading universities and companies in Finland and other Nordic countries.

Mr Leskinen however emphasised that the Mokki is only a tool to accelerate the learning and application of new technology. Most important are its benefits for businesses, young people and the sustainable development of the regions and our planet. Leskinen also welcomes the cooperation with African universities and business incubators and invites U.S. companies such as Microsoft, as well as universities such as Princeton University, to use the network to promote their operations and global sustainability.

The webinar was moderated by Lars Ling, founder of CleanTech Region Impact Group. Mr Ling highlighted his particular interest in developing the new kind of education needed to promote sustainable development in the world.

He ended the panel with the notion that all change starts with a change in an individual’s own behavior.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of 5G Mokki.

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Business

Cassava Technologies strengthens Africa’s cloud resilience with Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro designation in Johannesburg

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14 hours ago

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July 20, 2026

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Cassava Technologies

As the first ExpressRoute Metro location in Africa, Johannesburg joins a select group of global technology hubs offering organisations access to a new level of cloud resilience and security

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 20, 2026/APO Group/ –Cassava Technologies (www.CassavaTechnologies.com), a global technology company, through its businesses – Africa Data Centres and Liquid C2, has expanded Africa’s cloud resilience capabilities after Africa Data Centres was designated a Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location in Johannesburg. This marks a significant milestone for Africa’s digital infrastructure and cloud ecosystem, reinforcing Cassava’s role as a key enabler of secure, resilient, and high-performance digital services across the continent.

 

By leveraging its status as the only provider with an on-net presence in both locations, Liquid C2, Cassava’s cloud and cyber security business, will deliver Secure CloudConnect. This fully managed service combines resilient private cloud connectivity with integrated cyber security solutions, providing organisations with a secure path to Microsoft Azure.

“Being designated a Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location is a defining moment for Africa Data Centres as well as for Africa’s digital infrastructure. It reflects growing confidence in the continent’s ability to support the next generation of cloud and AI-driven services while demonstrating the strength of our One Cassava model. By combining the infrastructure capabilities of Africa Data Centres with the cloud and cyber security expertise of Liquid C2, we are providing organisations with the resilient, secure, and trusted digital foundation they need to accelerate innovation and growth,” said Ziaad Suleman, Senior Vice President of Cassava Technologies South Africa and Botswana.

Being designated a Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location is a defining moment for Africa Data Centres as well as for Africa’s digital infrastructure

As the first ExpressRoute Metro location in Africa, Johannesburg joins a select group of global technology hubs offering organisations access to a new level of cloud resilience and security. Africa Data Centres’ JHB1 facility becomes the second peering location within the Johannesburg metro offering a local ExpressRoute Metro capability. ExpressRoute Metro routes a single connection through two peering locations in the same metro, adding built-in redundancy for mission-critical workloads.

This comes as regulators are placing greater emphasis on operational resilience, business continuity, risk management, and data protection.

Liquid C2’s Secure CloudConnect addresses these requirements by helping organisations reduce the risk of disruption, strengthen their security posture, and simplify the management of complex cloud environments, while meeting regulatory and governance expectations. Customers benefit from a single trusted provider while gaining access to infrastructure designed to support business-critical operations.

“South Africa isn’t waiting for the AI era – it’s helping to shape it, and that ambition rests on digital infrastructure the country can trust. With Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro now available in Johannesburg, organisations across South Africa gain a more resilient and secure path to the cloud for their most critical workloads,” said Vukani Mngxati, CEO of Microsoft South Africa. “When businesses can build on trusted, resilient foundations, they can move faster, compete on the global stage, and turn South Africa’s digital ambition into real economic impact. We are proud to work with Cassava Technologies to help make that happen.”

This milestone marks a significant step forward for African enterprise digital transformation. By bridging hyper-scale infrastructure with managed cloud security, Cassava Technologies is actively future-proofing businesses across the continent, ensuring they have the speed, agility, and protection required to compete in the global digital economy.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Cassava Technologies.

 

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Master Power Technologies Unveils R50m State-of-the-Art Customer Experience Centre at New Midrand Premises

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15 hours ago

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July 20, 2026

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Master Power Technologies

This milestone marks a significant step in the company’s continued expansion and commitment to advancing Africa’s data centre infrastructure

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 20, 2026/APO Group/ –Master Power Technologies (MPT) (https://kva.co.za/), a leading pan-African provider of turnkey data centre and critical power solutions, has unveiled its hi-tech Customer Experience Centre, also home to its new regional headquarters in Midrand.

Master Power Technologies Unveils R50m State-of-the-Art Customer Experience Centre at New Midrand Premises

This milestone marks a significant step in the company’s continued expansion and commitment to advancing Africa’s data centre infrastructure.

Founded in 1999 by electrical engineer Menno Parsons, MPT has grown from its origins as a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) provider into a diversified engineering firm that delivers end-to-end solutions for data centres across Africa and the Middle East. Today, MPT designs, manufactures, and assembles a wide range of products under its flagship brands, SURE and AIVA, tailored to withstand Africa’s demanding operational environments.

The new Midrand facility spans 6 000m2 and will serve as MPT’s African headquarters, housing approximately 200 employees. Strategically located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, the site is positioned close to major data centre hubs, ensuring accessibility for clients and partners.

Hands-on environment

At the heart of the launch is the Customer Experience Centre, a R50 million investment designed to showcase MPT’s engineering capabilities and provide a hands-on environment for customers, partners, and trainees. The centre features advanced test facilities, including a 2 MVA UPS test platform and a 400kW cooling systems test centre, which is the most comprehensive of its kind on the continent.

These facilities enable performance testing to European certification standards, offering clients confidence in the reliability and efficiency of MPT’s solutions, with the company having become the first African business to be officially certified as an Endorser of the European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres in 2025.

The Experience Centre represents a new chapter for Master Power Technologies

“The Experience Centre represents a new chapter for Master Power Technologies. It’s about creating a space where customers can engage with our technology, see it in action, and understand the depth of our capabilities,” says MD and Founder of MPT Menno Parsons.

“This centre will be the most impressive UPS and cooling training facility in Africa, allowing our clients to touch, feel, and work with real systems in a way that has never been possible before.”

Commitment to local

The Experience Centre also highlights MPT’s commitment to local engineering and manufacturing. MPT assembles and engineers complete modular data centre and energy centre solutions within Africa. This approach reduces logistical risks, supports local industry, and ensures solutions are tailored to regional requirements.

Beyond technical demonstrations, the centre will serve as a hub for training and collaboration, equipping engineers and clients with practical knowledge to optimise data centre performance.

It also integrates MPT’s proprietary Advanced Infrastructure Visual Analytics (AIVA) monitoring platform, which manages and records metrics across more than 200 data centres in Africa, offering advanced analytics and operational insights.

“Our business has always been about more than just selling equipment. We engineer solutions for Africa, by Africa. This Experience Centre is a testament to that philosophy, which strengthens our ability to train, innovate and deliver world-class infrastructure while remaining rooted in local expertise,” says Parsons.

The launch of the Midrand offices and Experience Centre underscores MPT’s role as a trusted partner in Africa’s rapidly growing data centre sector. With demand for resilient, efficient, and scalable infrastructure on the rise, MPT’s investment positions the company to meet the evolving needs of clients across the continent and beyond.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Master Power Technologies.

 

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Embracing an Intelligent Future: UnionPay Showcases AI Innovation at WAIC 2026

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15 hours ago

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July 20, 2026

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WAIC

Release of Phased Achievements of the National Pilot Base for AI Application (Financial Sector) Held Alongside the Conference

SHANGHAI, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 20 July 2026 – On 17 July, the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) officially opened in Shanghai. UnionPay unveiled three proprietary AI technologies developed for the financial sector at the Shanghai exhibition area: financial transaction time-series foundation model, the Agentic Payment Open Protocol (APOP) framework, and a privacy-preserving large language model inference solution. As the AI era unfolds, the showcase highlights UnionPay’s continued commitment to accelerating the adoption of digital and intelligent technologies.

On 18 July, UnionPay hosted the Release of Phased Achievements of the National Pilot Base for AI Application (Financial Sector) at the UnionPay Center alongside WAIC 2026. The event brought together more than 100 representatives from commercial banks, Chinese and international partners, leading technology companies, academia, and research institutions. During the event, UnionPay released its “1+6+N” AI achievements framework, announced a series of industry partnerships, and launched a joint initiative calling for greater collaboration on the development and governance of the financial industry. These achievements demonstrate the progress of the National AI Application Pilot Base in building an open innovation platform that accelerates AI adoption across the industry.

Dong Junfeng, Chairman of China UnionPay and UnionPay International, attended the event and delivered a keynote speech. He noted that AI is rapidly reshaping the financial industry. Since the National AI Application Pilot Base was launched in 2025, it has delivered a number of meaningful outcomes through close collaboration across the industry. Mr. Dong elaborated on the vision for the development of the base from through three dimensions: sharing, collaborative governance, and mutual benefits. First, by pooling computing resources, data and models on a centralized public platform, the base helps address industry challenges such as the high cost of computing resources and data silos. This lowers barriers to AI adoption across the financial sector. Second, the base has strengthened AI security by building robust safeguards for large language models and applying AI to enhance transaction risk management and cybersecurity. Such efforts are made to support a safer and more resilient financial ecosystem. Third, the base is accelerating the AI adoption across real-world use cases. It has incubated a range of commercial AI solutions spanning agentic payments, credit risk management, consumption promotion and merchant digital transformation, turning technological innovation into tangible business value. Looking ahead, the future of AI + Finance holds enormous potential. UnionPay looks forward to working with partners across industries to build an open, shared, and well-governed financial AI ecosystem that supports the development of new productive forces through technological innovation.

A highlight of the event was the official launch of UnionPay’s “1+6+N” AI achievements framework.

The “1” represents a unified portal—the National AI Application Pilot Base. Built on a “One Portal, Six Centers” structure, it integrates six specialized centers covering models, datasets, applications, talent development, supply-demand matching, and financial services. Together, the platform currently hosts 11 models, 14 datasets, 59 demonstration applications, and 61 service offerings, bringing together 145 core resources in total.

The “6” refers to six independent and controllable capabilities, including computing resources scheduling through a trusted intelligent computing sharing platform, high-quality financial datasets, finance-specific foundation models, AI-powered financial security services, financial AI standards, and a pilot testing sandbox that supports model training and evaluation. Together, these six capabilities form the base’s shared technology foundation, providing ecosystem partners with the core technical infrastructure.

The “N” represents a portfolio of benchmark use cases, standardized AI solutions, and demonstration applications built on this technology foundation. These applications span five key areas—intelligent payments, inclusive finance, consumption growth, risk management and compliance, and operational excellence—building a multi-tier product portfolio serving consumers, merchants, local governments and financial institutions. This accelerates the application of AI capabilities across diverse use cases.

Together, the “1+6+N” framework of the base connects computing power, data, models, and use cases and forms an end-to-end value chain. By addressing common industry challenges—including limited computing resources, data silos and the high cost of AI deployment—it delivers standardized and widely accessible AI capabilities, providing the financial industry with reusable, highly secure and one-stop AI solutions for intelligent transformation. This also reflects UnionPay’s commitment not only to driving its own business growth, but also to enabling the industry through foundational capabilities and reinforcing financial infrastructure for the AI era.

These achievements have already been made available to industry partners and are beginning to create value. For banks, acquirers and other financial institutions, UnionPay’s shared infrastructure enables rapid access to mature financial AI capabilities without the need to build systems from scratch, significantly reducing both technical barriers and implementation costs. For merchants, UnionPay offers AI-powered marketing, digital analytics and intelligent risk management tools to support smarter operations, improve customer engagement and enhance operational efficiency, enabling even small and medium-sized businesses to benefit from AI innovation. For technology companies and other ecosystem partners, the base enables partners to rapidly adapt AI products for financial applications and complete compliance validation, accelerating the commercialization of technological innovations.

The event also featured six rounds of partnership signing ceremonies, covering areas including AI-themed card, cross-border agentic payment ecosystem development, AI-powered operational empowerment for merchants, joint commercialization of pilot base innovations, and broader ecosystem collaboration across the financial industry chain.

Following the signing ceremonies, UnionPay released the Initiative on the Collaborative Development and Governance of AI Applications in Financial Services, with representatives from participating organizations joining the stage to witness its launch. Building on the “1+6+N” framework, the initiative calls on industry stakeholders to collaborate in four areas: First, advancing trusted AI systems that serve the real economy by establishing governance mechanisms for traceable and explainable algorithms while safeguarding data privacy and security; Second, strengthening collaboration among industry, academia, research institutions and users, leveraging the base to jointly advance core technologies and develop independent and secure financial AI infrastructure; Third, promoting openness and inclusiveness by sharing mature AI models, testing services and implementation solutions to reduce the cost of intelligent transformation, particularly for SMEs; Fourth, improving lifecycle governance through tiered risk management, enhanced compliance standards and coordinated risk prevention. The initiative calls on all industry stakeholders to work together by jointly strengthening the foundation, unlocking greater value through shared capabilities, and reinforcing collaborative governance, with the goal of advancing the sound development of AI in the financial sector and driving digital finance through technological innovation.

 

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