• Amazon secured a seven-year landing permit to launch Project Kuiper satellite internet services in Nigeria from February 2026.
• The approval opens Nigeria’s LEO satellite broadband market to direct competition with Starlink, which counts more than 66,000 subscribers.
• Amazon plans Ka-band services with speeds of up to 400 Mbps, targeting households, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

Nigeria has opened its satellite broadband market to a new global player. Amazon secured a seven-year landing permit from the Nigerian Communications Commission, allowing Project Kuiper to launch internet services in the country from February 2026. The decision supports Nigeria’s strategy to diversify connectivity infrastructure and attract next-generation technology investment.

“The approval aligns with global best practices and reflects Nigeria’s commitment to opening its satellite communications market to next-generation broadband service providers,” the NCC said, highlighting the strategic importance of the authorization amid rising demand for connectivity.

The license allows Amazon Kuiper to operate its space segment in Nigeria as part of a global low-Earth-orbit constellation of up to 3,236 satellites. The authorization covers fixed satellite services, mobile satellite services, and earth stations in motion. These services target households, businesses, mobility use cases, logistics, aviation, maritime transport, and critical infrastructure.

Amazon’s entry ends Starlink’s quasi-exclusive dominance of Nigeria’s LEO satellite internet market. Starlink benefited from a first-mover advantage and built an estimated base of more than 66,000 subscribers. Kuiper’s arrival introduces direct competition between two global players with large financial, technological, and industrial resources. That rivalry could reshape pricing, service quality, and coverage.

From a technical standpoint, the authorization covers operations in the Ka frequency band, which supports high data transmission capacity. Amazon plans to use 100-MHz channels and deliver speeds of up to 400 Mbps while keeping terminal costs compatible with mass adoption. These features strengthen satellite broadband as a credible alternative to terrestrial networks, including in urban and semi-urban areas.

Nigeria represents a strategic market for Amazon. The country still faces major connectivity gaps despite its large population. According to the NCC, more than 23 million Nigerians live in unserved or underserved areas, while mobile broadband penetration reached 50.58% in November 2025. In that context, LEO satellites, which offer low latency, support advanced digital uses ranging from cloud computing to digital financial services.

Beyond households, Kuiper’s services could meet demand from businesses in oil and gas, mining, ports, and logistics corridors, where fiber deployment remains costly or technically complex. Amazon, which renamed Project Kuiper as Amazon LEO in November 2025, plans to leverage integration with Amazon Web Services to bundle connectivity with cloud services.

With this authorization, Nigeria strengthens its position as one of Africa’s most dynamic satellite broadband markets. Increased competition among LEO operators should gradually improve internet speed, affordability, and resilience, benefiting consumers, businesses, and Nigeria’s digital economy.

Samira Njoya, Ecofin Agency

• Zoubeir Jlassi won the first Google AI Film Award at the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai.
• The short film Lily used generative AI across characters, animation, narration, and post-production.
• The Google-backed award carries a $1 million prize and drew nearly 3,500 entries from over 100 countries.

Born and trained in Tunisia, Zoubeir Jlassi works as an artistic director, motion designer, and filmmaker. He recently gained international recognition with his short film Lily, which earned him the first Google AI Film Award at the 1 Billion Followers Summit, held in Dubai from Friday January 9 to Sunday January 11.

Running approximately nine minutes, Lily follows the story of an archivist haunted by a doll linked to an accident for which he bears responsibility. Jlassi created the film entirely through a combination of advanced generative artificial intelligence tools. These tools supported character and environment creation, AI-assisted animation and motion synthesis, machine-learning-based visual storytelling, and AI-optimized post-production workflows.

Through this technological framework, the short film examined the ability of generative models to convey complex emotions such as guilt and redemption while maintaining visual coherence aligned with studio cinema standards. Lily won the Google AI Film Award after competing against nearly 3,500 films from more than 100 countries. Google Gemini backed the prize, which carries an award value of $1 million.

Jlassi currently serves as artistic director at Carthage+ TV, a private Tunisian general-interest television channel targeting Arabic-speaking audiences. He graduated from the Higher School of Design Sciences and Technologies, where he earned a national degree in arts and design professions in 2009.

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum

• Stub offers SMEs an integrated platform to manage invoicing, finances, and administrative tasks without complex spreadsheets.
• The platform automates invoicing, bank synchronization, expense categorization, and financial reporting.
• Founder Tayla Dandridge brings fintech and design experience from Absa Group and Finastra.

Tayla Dandridge is a South African entrepreneur based in London, England. She co-founded and leads Stub as chief executive officer. The online platform helps entrepreneurs manage finances and administrative tasks simply, without relying on complex spreadsheets.

Founded in 2023, Stub allows users to create quotes, invoices, credit notes, and customer statements within a few clicks. The platform enables users to convert quotes into invoices, or reverse the process, depending on sales progress. Users can also schedule recurring invoices, bill in multiple currencies, and embed payment links to allow customers to pay online.

Stub extends beyond invoicing. The platform centralizes all documents for each client, including quotes, invoices, credit notes, and statements. This structure simplifies monitoring and follow-ups. At the same time, entrepreneurs access an overview of sales, expenses, profit, and cash flow through ready-to-use reports designed for daily management, tax compliance, and funding applications.

Stub also connects to bank accounts to automatically retrieve transactions. The system then categorizes transactions, leaving users to validate them. Several user testimonials highlight bank synchronization and automatic categorization as features that transform previously unclear finances into clear and actionable data, while saving significant time.

In addition, the platform integrates inventory tracking features to identify out-of-stock items and high-turnover products. Stub also includes asset management tools, with automatic depreciation calculations. The platform relies on a complete accounting framework that generates all required financial statements, while remaining accessible to non-specialists who seek a clear view of their business activity.

Dandridge graduated from Stellenbosch University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2015. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in marketing and advertising, which she obtained in 2016 from the Red & Yellow Creative School of Business.

After completing a marketing internship at Vitality UK in 2016, Dandridge joined Absa Group in South Africa. She successively held roles as a design intern, service designer, and design project lead. Between 2021 and 2022, she worked as a senior consultant at Finastra, a financial solutions company.

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum

• Morocco plans to generate 100 billion dirhams ($11 billion) in additional GDP from artificial intelligence by 2030.
• The government expects AI adoption to create 50,000 jobs and train 200,000 graduates in AI-related skills.
• Morocco will launch the Jazari Root AI network, including a 50-MW sovereign data center, to anchor its national ecosystem.

Morocco has placed artificial intelligence at the center of its economic transformation strategy. By 2030, the kingdom aims to generate 100 billion dirhams in additional GDP, equivalent to about $11 billion, through structured AI deployment. Official projections also link this strategy to the creation of 50,000 jobs and the training of 200,000 graduates in AI-related skills.

Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, unveiled these targets on Monday, January 12, in Rabat during a digital-focused conference. She stated that Morocco’s current GDP stands at around $170 billion and described artificial intelligence as a major growth lever, provided authorities integrate it within a structured, sovereign, and impact-driven framework.

These announcements form part of Morocco’s forthcoming national artificial intelligence strategy, whose roadmap authorities plan to release shortly. The strategy rests on several pillars, including skills development, the build-out of sovereign digital infrastructure, and the expansion of cloud and data-processing services capable of supporting advanced AI use cases nationwide.

To operationalize this ambition and structure the national ecosystem, Morocco also announced the launch of the Jazari Root network, which will serve as a central hub for the country’s artificial intelligence ecosystem. The project will include a 20-hectare campus and a 50-MW sovereign data center. Jazari Root aims to bring together researchers, startups, large companies, and public institutions around applied projects ranging from e-government and smart cities to agriculture, healthcare, and logistics.

By structuring investments and its ecosystem at an early stage, Morocco seeks to position itself as a credible artificial intelligence player at regional and African levels. The kingdom aims to capture part of the value that AI could generate in the global economy, which PwC estimates at nearly $15.7 trillion by 2030.

This article was initially published in French by Samira Njoya

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum