News
Communication Networks & Infrastructure Security (1)
Africa is growing…..
The continent’s rate of growth is projected at between 5 – 7 % over the next 3 years (World Bank). Compared to the sub- 3% rates of growth for Europe and North America (if you are to disregard recession rumours), and you can see that Africa is indeed growing.
With the increasing rate of development, both within individual countries and across the regions, there has been an increase in the exploitation, extraction and development of natural assets and resources. This has led to the consequent growth in creation and development of infrastructure, industries, factories, and the capital assets and inventory across the African landscape. The Chinese for example, has trade worth US$50 billion as of Africa. Much of this has been tied to infrastructure developments and investments.
The new investment and development ‘race’ for Africa by investors, extractive industries, speculators, joint ventures, Foreign countries et. al, has spawned a side-effect that has to be taken account of. With rapid growth and the creation of wealth and capital assets, there has been an increasing need for quality and comprehensive Communications and Security infrastructure . This is required to provide a capability to monitor, track and manage the increasingly critical additions to the natural, economic and infrastructural landscape that we now see within and about us.
Firstly, when you create infrastructure; roads, schools, bridges, industries, factories, dams, power stations, etc. you need to plan how to design, equip, supply (raw materials in the beginning; supplies after launch), manage and maintain these assets.
To plan, you need to communicate; to bring people, ideas, tasks, requirements, instructions and updates to their personnel and stakeholders that need to be aware, kept in the loop; instructed, updated.
Having planned (and hopefully been successful), you then need to manage.
You manage the infrastructure assets for much the same reasons as when you are planning, but with more of a focus on the need to report, monitor, update, pass instructions and updates on progress, utilisation, performance and the like to stakeholders and interested parties.
However, an key aspect of infrastructure implementation in Africa, especially when compared to comparative asset implementation in the first world, has to do with the need to manage assets and inventory over large distances, especially when considering distance from asset to manager and from source to consumer.
Hospitals, power stations, grid and distribution infrastructure, Mobile and public telecomms networks, switching and transmission assets, factories, industries, extractive, mining and agro-allied operations – all need to be managed.
Locally and often in a regional or centrally co-ordinated Command-and-Control model to bring about the necessary efficiencies (Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)) and Return on Investment (RoI) for their investors, stakeholders – hopefully resulting in improved, quality delivery of public services to the communities and peoples who are supposed to be receiving this benefit.
So there are two parts to this equation – firstly internal communications between the nodes of control and organisation within the entities and organisations that either own and/or maintain these infrastructure assets and inventory.
Then there are the external communications systems that provide communications between the infrastructure managers and the stakeholders interested in their delivery – government and their agencies, regulatory bodies, communities, etc.
How are these set up? What priority is given to the design, planning, implementation and, upon launch, maintenance and upgrade (yes, upgrade) of this vital resource to support the effective management of these vital assets towards meeting their key Priority objective – Delivery?
How well can we remotely monitor our often widely-dispersed (and not easily reachable) assets out there in the field? How effective are we in tracking their location (GPS), performance (IP, Data networks), maintenance requirements, (SCADA) etc.?
How well do we use networked communications – in a secure (can’t be hacked or intercepted), resilient (multiple levels of backup and transmission) and redundant (multiple, independent means of operation) manner to ensure that assets that have been developed and implemented at often high capital costs in terms of foreign-acquired currency, are being maintained and manage at an optimum level of performance and efficiency?
What priority is given to its budget, assessment, resilience, redundancy ..? Is a Single Point of Failure (SPOF); e.g. single power source; that goes, it all goes.
I know of an incident at a Petroleum Product Tank Farm facility where the single power/network resource ran for the entire plant and all assets on it; i.e. no resilience, no redundancy. As the fire took out the network, so went the firefighting capability at a stroke….
You can imagine what happened to the facility after that…
And as to the rebuilding/replacement costs (value of money/NPV) and the impact on supply of a critical commodity for economic development,….
And then, there’s the Security component… but that’s another article
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Entrepreneurs backed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) have generated more than $4.2 billion in cumulative revenue since the organisation began its grant programme in 2015, according to Somachi Chris-Asoluka, chief executive officer of the foundation.
Chris-Asoluka, revealed this during a virtual media briefing, where she also stated that over $100 million has been distributed to nearly 24,000 young entrepreneurs across Africa.
She noted that the beneficiaries of the programme have gone on to create about 1.5 million jobs, both directly and indirectly, across various sectors of the continent’s economy.
The performance, she said, has strengthened the resolve of the foundation and its partners to scale up financial support for emerging businesses.
Chris-Asoluka emphasised that the foundation’s interventions are anchored on the conviction that entrepreneurship is central to reducing poverty and reshaping Africa’s economic future.
She explained that selected participants receive a $5,000 seed capital grant, in addition to structured business training and mentorship designed to help them either expand existing enterprises or establish new ones.
Highlighting operational challenges faced by entrepreneurs, she identified inadequate electricity supply as a major constraint.
According to her, many small businesses spend as much as 60 per cent of their earnings on alternative power solutions, including generators and inverters.
To mitigate this challenge, she disclosed that Tony Elumelu, TEF founder, alongside the foundation’s leadership, has been engaging governments across Africa on the urgent need to improve power infrastructure.
She further stated that investments by programme beneficiaries cut across critical sectors such as agriculture, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and technology innovation.
Chris-Asoluka also announced that the foundation’s 2026 cohort of entrepreneurs will be formally unveiled by Elumelu in Abuja.
A new financial operations platform, Morney, has officially launched in Nigeria to help businesses face growing pressure to digitise their finance processes as the country’s shift towards electronic invoicing.
Developed by Morzoe Technologies Inc. and introduced locally through its partner, BuySimply Services Limited, the platform is designed to help organisations streamline and automate financial workflows.
Speaking at the launch, Head of Growth at BuySimply, ‘Mide Olubi, said many Nigerian organisations still depend on fragmented systems such as emails and spreadsheets to manage expenses, supplier invoices and payments.
According to him, this approach often results in inefficiencies, delayed processes, weak oversight and a higher risk of errors.
He noted that Nigeria’s increasing adoption of electronic invoicing and tax digitisation frameworks is accelerating the need for structured and transparent financial systems. Businesses, he said, must move away from manual processes and adopt platforms that provide clear visibility into financial operations.
Morney integrates payments, procurement, expenses and invoicing into a single system, enabling finance teams to automate approvals, monitor transactions in real time and maintain accurate records.
The platform also supports supplier onboarding and invoice processing, helping organisations better manage operational spending.
The company revealed that businesses across sectors such as FMCG, manufacturing, energy, banking and telecommunications are already adopting the solution to improve efficiency and strengthen financial control.
It added that the partnership with BuySimply reflects a broader trend of digital transformation, as organisations respond to evolving regulatory requirements and the demand for more efficient financial management systems.
Dr Krishnan Ranganath (Krish) to Lead UniCloud Africa in Continental Digital Infrastructure Push
UniCloud Africa Limited, the premier pan-African cloud platform dedicated to advancing the continent’s digital sovereignty, has announced the appointment of Dr. Krishnan Ranganath as its Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Krish, a seasoned industry leader known for building and scaling digital infrastructure while maintaining rigorous operational excellence, steps into the role as UniCloud Africa accelerates its mission to redefine the continent’s digital landscape.
The appointment coincides with the groundbreaking launch and immediate availability of UniCloud Africa’s enterprise-grade Sovereign Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure across six key markets: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Senegal, and Mozambique, even as it plans to launch in Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Uganda, Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire as part of further continental expansion.
Operating under the mission of “One Cloud, One Africa,” UniCloud Africa provides governments and enterprises with a world-class, fully compliant sovereign cloud alternative to high-latency offshore providers,ensuring a robust, scalable foundation tailored to Africa’s unique environmental and economic needs.
“UniCloud sits at the epicentre of Africa’s cloud evolution. We are committed to deploying 100% sovereign infrastructure across the continent. My focus is on driving high-growth partnerships and scaling the next generation of resilient, sustainable cloud infrastructure to accelerate the evolution of the African digital ecosystem,” said Dr. Krish, CEO of UniCloud Africa Limited.
He disclosed that his focus at UniCloud Africa is on driving high-growth partnerships and scaling the next generation of resilient, sustainable cloud infrastructure, and will deploy GPUs in certain economies based on market potential and need.
While admitting that the challenges from AI integration to the green energy transition are immense, Dr Krish believes that the opportunities are greater. “I am eager to collaborate with our partners and customers to redefine the digital frontier and accelerate the evolution of the African digital ecosystem,” he added.
Ladi Okuneye, Co-founder and outgoing CEO (who remains as a director on the board) remarked: “As we enter this new chapter of growth, I am confident that Dr Krish’s extensive experience in the African digital landscape will add immense value. His technical depth and regional insight make him the ideal leader to drive UniCloud Africa forward.”
Before he was appointed CEO of UniCloud Africa, Dr. Krish was, until last month, the Regional Executive – West Africa at the Africa Data Centres (ADC).
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