Technology
Microsoft Airband to Connect nearly 40 Million People across Latin America and Africa
Microsoft Airband Initiative GM, Vickie Robinson (Article: Microsoft)
Microsoft is announcing new and expanded Airband partnerships set to provide high-speed internet access to nearly 40 million people across Latin America and Africa. These partnerships in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda mark significant progress in our commitment to extend high-speed internet access to 250 million people living in unserved and underserved areas around the world, including 100 million in Africa.
Across both Latin America and Africa, limited access to broadband can mean that people have fewer opportunities to develop the digital fluency and skills needed to participate in the digital economy.
At Microsoft, we believe that internet access and meaningful connectivity is a fundamental right. The Microsoft Airband initiative was launched to bring transformative connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Through the Airband initiative and its partners, Microsoft is serving as a catalyst to enable affordable access to connectivity, specifically focusing on regions with lower digital connectivity rates.
Connecting communities across Latin America
In recent years, about 37 percent of Latin Americans in rural areas have connectivity options, compared with 71% of the urban population. Airband together with Wayfree in Guatemala, Fundacion Pais Digital in Chile, Brisanet in Brazil, and Anditel in Colombia will deliver 18 million people with access to high-speed internet.
Latin America combines thriving urban cities and rural areas with vast cultural heritage sites, however, like most places, there are unique challenges in advancing connectivity in certain regions. With greater access to the internet, Airband through its partners, hope to address societal issues, such as employment and education that can be strengthened through greater connectivity.
- Brazil: Airband is expanding our footprint to Brazil, the largest market in Latin America, as part of our new partnership with Brisanet. Working with Microsoft and NGOs like Amigos do Bem and Mais Unidos, Brisanet will extend high-speed internet access to more than 11 million people and support social and economic development in low-income regions of the country.
- Chile: Fundación País Digital is a nonprofit organization working to develop Chile’s digital economy, expand connectivity, and improve digital literacy throughout the country. Through their newest initiative, Programa Conectando Territorios, Fundación País Digital will expand connectivity to rural and underserved areas in two regions: the Biobío Region in central Chile, which has been significantly impacted by earthquakes; and the Antofagasta Region, known for its mining industry. With Airband support, in addition to connectivity, the program will target economic opportunities through training and employing local community members to maintain the new networks and will bring internet access to an additional one million people by the end of 2025.
- Colombia: Our commitment with longtime partner Anditel to provide coverage for more than 600,000 people in five years has gone well ahead of plan. To date we have nearly doubled that target and are now expanding our partnership to cover an additional three million people by the end of 2025. Partnering with the Colombian government on ICT 360, the national connectivity program, Anditel aims to cover 85% of Colombians by 2026.
- Guatemala: Wayfree is the leading provider of Internet connectivity in Guatemala. They are deploying wireless access zones in towns and villages, already covering over 40 percent of the 340 Guatemalan municipalities with the goal of making universal wireless internet access a reality. Airband’s support will catalyze deployments in the remaining municipalities in Guatemala and ultimately provide three million people with access to high-speed internet coverage by the end of 2025.
Crossing the continent of Africa
Our efforts on the African continent are some of our most longstanding and farthest reaching. Today many African nations are rising economic powers, but on a continent with so many vast rural areas, delivering connectivity can be a challenge. On average Africa has a 40 percent internet usage rate. Partnerships are key to the success of the Airband model, and we are building upon our existing partnerships in Africa, including with Mawingu and Tizeti.
- Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda: Microsoft Airband’s relationship with Kenyan service provider Mawingu began in 2014 with a pilot in Nanyuki and has since expanded to deliver high-speed internet access to four million Kenyans living in rural areas. Mawingu was Airband’s first partner, and thanks to the public-partnership model, today the company is Kenya’s leading internet service provider dedicated to rural and peri-urban markets. This latest expansion of our partnership with Mawingu will bring coverage to an incremental 16 million people across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda by the end of 2025, ultimately covering a total of 20 million people.
Mawingu provides meaningful internet access to locations throughout Kenya, such as hotspots, vocational schools and businesses. Just one example of Airband’s partnership has resulted in the deployment of more than 700 hotspots and connectivity for more than 100 primary schools, enabling community members to access digital skills training and essential education materials. The company has also partnered with Unilever and Microsoft Philanthropies to provide access and skills to female entrepreneurs.
- Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire: Airband partner Tizeti has brought coverage to more than 900,000 people in Nigeria, expanding from Lagos to focus on underserved states across the country. Microsoft and Tizeti are expanding this partnership to Cote d’Ivoire, a cultural crossroads of West Africa, to bring internet access to almost 5 million people. Given that electricity is frequently unavailable, insufficient or unreliable in many parts of Africa, this expansion of our partnership includes infrastructure support and deployment of eight solar powered towers to help provide connectivity to households, small businesses and hotspots. This access will empower greater access to education, healthcare, and employment.
Bringing more digital opportunities to more people
Through partnering with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, organizations have additional support to create the infrastructure needed to provide connectivity support in many different ecosystems that ultimately drives self-empowerment and sustainable development and growth. These partnerships are essential in providing local expertise and experience to help achieve a greater goal tied to what can be harnessed with the support of connectivity.
As technology, like AI, advances, being connected provides a path forward to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
At IFA 2024, LG Electronics launched its latest range of energy-efficient home appliances, designed to reduce power consumption and address Africa’s unique energy challenges.
In line with the global push for sustainability, LG’s new appliances boast industry-leading energy efficiency, aligning with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 goal of transitioning to a green economy.
“As a responsible global citizen, LG Electronics is dedicated to developing eco-friendly solutions, reducing carbon footprint, and promoting sustainable living in Africa,” said Oktae Kim, Product Director, Home Appliance Division, LG Electronics Nigeria. We will continue to leverage our advanced core technologies, including inverter and component solutions, to deliver an expanded lineup of appliances with industry-leading energy efficiency,
LG’s latest washing machine and dryer set new standards for energy efficiency. The washing machine can perform a new drum motion that helps deliver clean laundry while minimizing the energy consumption of its Artificial Intelligence Direct Drive (AI DD™) motor. The washer intelligently adjusts the motor’s RPM in real-time, contributing to the appliance’s impressive A-55 percent energy rating and preventing laundry from tangling or twisting. Additionally, LG’s new washing machine comes with a Microplastic Care cycle that reduces the shedding of microplastics from laundry, as well as the ezDispense™ feature, which automatically dispenses the right amount of detergent for each load.
Meanwhile, the efficient, new dryer has an A+++-26 percent energy rating. Both of LG’s latest laundry appliances are equipped with AI-driven innovations; the washing machine’s AI DD motor and AI Wash feature offer enhanced fabric-sensing capabilities and strong performance, while the dryer’s AI Dry™ provides accurate moisture detection and optimal drying for a range of different materials and laundry items. The washing machine can also automatically set cycle and temperature options based on usage patterns and change the order in which cycles are displayed on the control panel (according to usage-frequency) for a more convenient user experience.
Refrigerators with High Efficiency and Premium Design
Offering the lowest energy consumption of any refrigerator currently on the market, the new LG bottom-freezer refrigerator has an A-25 percent energy rating and brings style to the kitchen with its premium flat door design. In addition, the new model generates only 29dB during operation for a more peaceful kitchen environment. To give European customers greater choice, LG is expanding its line of highly efficient refrigerators, introducing a large capacity side-by-side model in addition to the new bottom-freezer. The new side-by-side refrigerator offers convenient features, such as the company’s unique Craft Ice spherical-ice maker, and easy hygiene management with UVnano™ technology.
Convenient and Efficient Kitchen Solution
Along with A++ energy efficiency, LG’s new 60-centimeter (24-inch) built-in InstaView™ oven presents a variety of cutting-edge features and AI technologies to elevate the culinary experience. The oven provides a total of 80 Auto Cook modes, and, with Gourmet AI™️, can identify the dish being cooked through its built-in camera, and automatically select the appropriate cooking mode from a database of 30 recipes. Making life in the kitchen that much easier, LG’s InstaView technology lets users check on their meal’s progress without even having to open the door, helping to preserve the temperature inside the oven and prevent energy waste.
Incorporating the company’s power-saving Inverter Direct Drive Motor™, the new LG QuadWash™ dishwasher has an energy efficiency rating of A-20 percent. The dishwasher also enhances convenience with its Side Rack and 3rd Rack options, offering users the loading flexibility to accommodate a variety of different kitchenware.
For more information about LG Home Appliances product, kindly visit https://www.lg.com/africa/home-appliances
Press Release
Sumsub Achieves Full Compliance Across African Jurisdictions in Independent FINTRAIL Audit
Sumsub co-founder and CTO, Vyacheslav Zholudev (Image: Supplied)
FINTRAIL, a UK-based consultancy helping companies manage their exposure to financial crime risk & maintain regulatory compliance, examined Sumsub’s Non-Doc Identity Verification solution and reviewed respective legislation, asserting full regulatory compliance of document-free identity verification in 18 jurisdictions. Based on the audit’s findings and internal expertise, Sumsub shares a free guide to non-documentary verification.
“FINTRAIL has conducted a regulatory-led audit of Sumsub’s non-documentary identity verification product, and has reviewed local regulation and guidance in the markets where non-documentary identity verification is permissible to confirm solutions deployed by Sumsub are compliant with local regulations and guidance” – FINTRAIL writes in their report.
Non-documentary identity verification, or Non-Doc, enables verifying customer identities without requesting their IDs. Instead, a person only needs to type their document number and undergo a quick liveness check. While this relatively new practice is gaining popularity among both client firms and verification vendors, Non-Doc has already proved to be a compliant KYC method in many African jurisdictions and showcases Sumsub’s ability to seamlessly navigate the often complex regulatory environments each jurisdiction poses.
Other key benefits of document-free VS document-based verification include:
- Faster and more convenient user onboarding: verification time is reduced from 30 seconds to 4.5 seconds on average;
- As a result, companies see +35% growth in customer pass rates (with as high as x2 increase in some cases);
- Opportunities for business growth and scaling to emerging markets thanks to over 95% population coverage in each country;
- Enhanced productivity and simplified case management with automated user data extraction and immediate updates, resulting in 53% reduction in verification processing time.
Sumsub’s Non-Doc Verification works in 13 countries (including Argentina, Brazil, India, the UK, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and the US), with 10 more to be added in the near future (such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the UAE). The solution has been tested by FINTRAIL based on two main criteria: regulatory compliance in each jurisdiction (AML/CTF legislation, crypto and trading regulatory guidelines along with other industrial requirements), and technical effectiveness (whether technical processes like identity data authentication or bank credentials checks are conducted in accordance with local regulatory conditions). Additionally, FINTRAIL considered if document-free verification is permissible in each country.
Sumsub’s product has proved its reliability and full regulatory compliance of the existing or proposed solution in 18 jurisdictions, receiving the highest product scores for those of them where the Non-Doc solution is currently working. The full audit report includes detailed findings on each country.
“FINTRAIL has conducted a regulatory-led audit of Sumsub’s non-documentary identity verification product, and has confirmed at the time of the review in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya that non-documentary identity verification is permissible and the solution deployed by Sumsub is compliant with local regulations and guidance“.
“We believe that Non-Doc will soon become the new golden standard for user onboarding globally, as it guarantees exceptional user experience while being fully compliant to local regulations. Sumsub is currently providing Non-Doc Verification solution for the highest number of jurisdictions, and our team will continue to find the best ways to make this innovation available for thousands of businesses and billions of people in Africa and around the world,” comments Vyacheslav Zholudev, co-founder and CTO at Sumsub.
To access Sumsub’s free guide on Non-Doc Verification, please visit: https://sumsub.com/guides-reports/non-doc-verification-compliance-guide/
Huawei, a global leader in telecommunications and digital solutions, has announced its commitment to support Tower Companies (TowerCos) across Africa in their efforts to diversify energy sources and adopt sustainable practices in powering telecommunications infrastructure. The initiative aims to help TowerCos reduce their carbon footprint, enhance operational efficiency, and explore new business frontiers.
In his speech titled: “Lighting Up the Road to Multiple Business Future for TowerCos” delivered at the TowerXchange Meetup Africa 2024 in Nairobi, Li Shaolong, President of Huawei Site Power Facility Domain, said African continent is accelerating the construction of ICT infrastructure, and towercos, which play an important role in this process, are facing new challenges and opportunities.
“As the demand for mobile connectivity continues to rise, TowerCos face increasing pressure to ensure energy reliability and sustainability, particularly in regions with limited access to stable power grids. Tower sites, often located in remote areas, rely heavily on diesel generators, which are costly to operate, environmentally unfriendly, and vulnerable to fuel supply challenges. Huawei’s energy solutions are designed to address these challenges by integrating renewable energy technologies, such as solar power, and advanced energy storage systems,” Mr. Li said.
Mr. Li emphasized Huawei’s long-term vision to help Africa’s TowerCos transition towards greener energy solutions, adding that by integrating digital and power electronics technologies, Huawei Site Power Facility remains committed to providing towercos with end-to-end energy infrastructure and intelligent O&M solutions.
A Path to Diversification
In addition to energy sustainability, Huawei aims to support TowerCos in their diversification strategies, enabling them to explore new business models and revenue streams.
“This will drive towercos to become energy producers through innovative solutions and business models, thereby achieving diversified business development, revenue growth, and continuous success in energy operations.” Mr. Li said.
Mr. Li noted that by deploying Huawei eMIMO smart power solution, towercos can centrally manage multiple energy inputs (such as grid, PV and energy storage) and multiple outputs (such as 12 V to 220 V electrical devices) through a single power platform.
“In this way, revenue-generating services such as environmental protection and emergency response can be developed in addition to communications services,” he said.
He further noted that the major aims of Huawei Site Power Facility Domain are to support network evolution and increase tenancy ratio, help TowerCos Reduce energy costs and achieve green development, and improve power availability (PAV) and reduce O&M costs for sites.
“Huawei will continue to work with towercos to innovate and promote the iteration of energy infrastructure towards “green, simple, and intelligent”, accelerating the construction of African carrier networks and digital Africa,” Mr. Li said.
