Le gouverneur André Wameso de la Banque centrale du Congo (BCC) a reçu, la semaine passée, une délégation de l’Association mondiale des opérateurs de téléphonie (GSMA) pour explorer des coopérations visant à améliorer la connectivité en RDC. Les échanges ont porté sur la digitalisation, l'inclusion financière et les infrastructures, dans le cadre des initiatives de la BCC pour moderniser le secteur.

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Quickteller Travel, service numérique de voyage développé par la fintech Interswitch, vient d’obtenir la certification de l’Association du transport aérien international. Cette accréditation renforce sa crédibilité pour les réservations aériennes et la gestion de voyages en Afrique. Positionnée comme partenaire fiable des compagnies aériennes et des entreprises, la plateforme s’appuie sur l’infrastructure de paiement sécurisée d’Interswitch pour offrir une expérience de voyage numérique fluide et conforme aux standards mondiaux.

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• Egyptian startup Knot develops an AI-based online ticketing platform.
• The solution targets fraud, resale losses, and weak demand visibility.
• The platform has been tested with over 50 professional clients across three regions.

Knot is an online ticketing solution developed by Egyptian startup Knot Technologie. Based in the United Kingdom and Egypt, the company offers a platform designed to modernize traditional ticketing systems, which are often seen as inefficient, vulnerable to fraud, and opaque for event organizers. The startup was founded in 2025 by Ahmed Abdalla and Hussein ElBendak.

The current ticketing model for concerts, festivals, sports events, and other large gatherings has become a major source of economic leakage. Organizers struggle to assess real demand, a significant share of revenue is lost to unregulated secondary resale markets, and fans are frequently exposed to fraud or inflated prices.

Knot’s platform integrates artificial intelligence at several levels to address these structural challenges. It authenticates buyer identities, manages ticket distribution, and monitors demand in real time. These functions allow organizers to limit unauthorized transfers, recover revenue lost to secondary markets, and access detailed data on how events are marketed and consumed.

Following successful pilot programs with more than 50 professional clients in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, the company is positioning itself as a core infrastructure player for the next generation of digital events. The platform aims to deliver more secure, seamless, and data-driven experiences for organizers, venues, and audiences.

Adoni Conrad Quenum

The 2026 RegTech Africa Conference, scheduled for May 20–22, will host a regional qualifying round of the Startup World Cup in Abuja. The event will give African startups a platform to pitch their solutions to investors and policymakers. The winner will advance to the global final for a chance to secure a $1 million investment and boost its international visibility.

The 2026 Albert Schweitzer International Prize, with a total prize fund of €50,000, supports healthcare projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Three winners will receive €25,000, €15,000 and €10,000, respectively, to implement practical solutions to improve healthcare access and quality within 12 months. Applications are open until February 6, 2026, through the Dutch fund’s online portal.

The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has launched the Insat online portal to receive complaints, inquiries and suggestions from the public about postal and telecom services. The platform offers a simple, secure and transparent way to submit and track requests, with faster processing times.

The EridanSeed SME Venture Scale 2026 program is open to high-growth Nigerian small and medium-sized businesses looking to scale. It offers $25,000 in funding, mentorship and networking, and aims to help founders build new sources of revenue. Open to all sectors, the program combines capital with operational support. Applications close on Jan. 31, 2026.

• Guinea launched Univ Connect to interconnect higher education institutions through a national fiber-optic network.
• Authorities connected 13 university sites, with 9 fully operational and 4 under activation, and plan to reach 17 institutions.
• The project targets nearly 80,000 students, researchers, and lecturers under the Simandou 2040 digital strategy.

Under the leadership of Rose Pola Pricemou, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy, Guinea officially launched “Univ Connect” in late December 2025. The National Agency for Universal Telecommunications and Digital Services (ANSUTEN) leads the fiber-optic interconnection project, which aims to equip higher education institutions with faster, more stable, and more secure Internet infrastructure.

“This initiative marks a decisive step in supporting the digital transformation of Guinea’s education sector and will enable our institutions to deliver academic services that meet international standards,” ANSUTEN said.

On the operational front, authorities have already connected 13 sites to the national fiber network, according to information released at the launch. Nine sites now operate fully, while four sites remain under commissioning. In addition, authorities announced four more sites in the deployment phase. Ultimately, the program plans to connect and interconnect 17 higher education institutions to form a nationwide high-speed and secure academic network.

According to ANSUTEN, the project aligns with the government’s broader digital transformation drive under the Simandou 2040 sustainable socio-economic development program. Authorities aim to strengthen access to modern and reliable digital infrastructure for public and private universities across Guinea.

Beyond Internet access, the government seeks to create a full “academic network” that enables institutions to share resources and modernize services. Univ Connect will expand access to digital libraries, online learning platforms, and research tools while improving exchanges among nearly 80,000 teachers, researchers, and students.

The interconnection will also enable more intensive uses, including videoconferencing, hybrid courses, inter-university collaboration, access to scientific databases, and hosting of educational applications. Over the medium term, this digital backbone could support national research and innovation platforms.

However, sustainability remains a key challenge. The network’s long-term impact will depend on equipment maintenance, the resilience of internal campus networks, energy availability, and the implementation of cybersecurity standards. In other words, fiber infrastructure forms only the foundation, and durable governance will determine whether Guinea reaches its targeted international standards.

This article was initially published in French by Muriel EDJO

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum

Les start-up ghanéennes peuvent postuler pour la sixième cohorte de l’UNICEF StartUp Lab, un accélérateur de six mois dédié aux innovations tech au service des Objectifs de développement durable (ODD) pour les enfants et les jeunes. Les équipes sélectionnées bénéficieront d’un mentorat, d’un accompagnement sectoriel, d’un financement de prototype pouvant atteindre 6 000 dollars et, pour les trois meilleures, de 15 000 dollars pour passer à l’échelle.  Les candidatures sont ouvertes ici jusqu’au 20 février.

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