The edge decides the SLA: why African data centres need African-ready connectivity
26 February 2026
Ralph Berndt, Head of Sales and Marketing at inq. South Africa
Some may ask how EdgeSentry fits into the data centre discussion. The answer is simple: you can build the most advanced, perfectly cooled, and redundantly powered facility imaginable, but if the final stretch of connectivity to the branch is fragile or unaffordable, uptime becomes a theory, not a reality. In Africa, that last kilometre is where reliability and cost collide, and where the success of every SLA is ultimately decided.
Across the region, we still contend with fibre breaks, uneven last-mile coverage, and intermittent power that push downtime risk onto the enterprise WAN. That is not an indictment of local operators but a design reality. Imported SD-WAN solutions typically assume stable fibre, perpetual power, and dollar-based licensing, which makes them costly to own and slow to support here. The result is a performance and budget gap that branch IT teams live with every day. That is the gap EdgeSentry was built to close.
Find out more UNDP and Africell to enhance digital access for young entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone and The Gambia
26 February 2026
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has teamed up with telecommunications operator Africell to improve internet connectivity at University Innovation Pods (UniPods), dedicated innovation hubs supporting young entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
This collaboration is part of Timbuktoo, a UNDP-led initiative aimed at boosting innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment in African startups.
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IBM launches Sovereign Core to embed digital sovereignty into Cloud and AI workloads
20 February 2026
IBM has introduced IBM Sovereign Core, a groundbreaking software foundation designed to embed digital sovereignty controls directly into the architecture of cloud-native and AI workloads. The launch responds to growing concerns over cross-border data access, operational control, and compliance amid escalating geopolitical tensions and increasingly stringent regulatory environments.
As digital sovereignty extends beyond simple data residency, it now encompasses control over infrastructure, software, identity and access management, encryption keys, auditability, and the jurisdiction where AI models are hosted and inference is conducted. IBM Sovereign Core aims to give enterprises, governments, and service providers sovereignty "as an inherent property of the software," allowing them to operate within their own jurisdictional boundaries without relying on overlays or external controls.
Find out more Central African Republic’s cryptocurrency ambitions turn sour amid risks of criminal exploitation
20 February 2026
What was heralded as a bold move to modernize its economy and gain financial independence has largely unraveled in the Central African Republic, according to a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Three years after adopting Bitcoin as legal tender and launching a string of digital currency projects, the nation’s cryptocurrency experiment is revealing the darker side of blockchain—opaque, vulnerable to criminal exploitation, and failing to deliver on its promises of inclusion and sovereignty.
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