Author: Anita Bosman

London: TECHz – News Desk CLOWD9, the pioneering fintech recognized as the world’s first 100% cloud-native issuer processor, has announced the appointment of veteran entrepreneur Scott Walker to its Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director. Walker, the former President and CEO of Billmatrix Corporation, brings a wealth of experience in scaling small entrepreneurial firms into market leaders. His appointment is seen as a strategic move to bolster CLOWD9’s leadership as it navigates a global payments market that is projected to reach a staggering $135 billion by 2027. The appointment comes at a high-growth period for CLOWD9, which remains the…

Doha: TECHz – News Desk Ooredoo, Qatar’s leading telecommunications and ICT provider, has announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Darktrace, a global leader in AI-driven cybersecurity. The agreement was formalised during a dedicated signing ceremony attended by Thani Ali I A Al-Malki, Chief Business Officer at Ooredoo, and Thomas Johnson, Channel Director, META at Darktrace. This partnership marks a major milestone in Ooredoo’s mission to deliver next-generation, AI-enabled cybersecurity services to organisations across Qatar. Through this collaboration, Ooredoo’s B2B customers will gain access to the Darktrace ActiveAI Security Platform™, an adaptive cybersecurity platform powered by Darktrace’s real-time…

Cairo: TECHz – Ashraf Gaber During the NEO-GEN Prop-Tech Conference 2025, Eng. Mahmoud Hegab, Chief Executive Officer at Makkook.AI, outlined a practical framework for deploying operative AI across real estate development and construction, starting from a central question: why do most AI initiatives fail to deliver real return on investment? Hegab opened with a stark data point: only 11% of enterprise AI initiatives achieve tangible ROI, and just 6% of executives clearly understand what AI can and cannot do, a gap that explains the disconnect between AI hype and real market outcomes. From Gut-Driven Decisions to Data Platforms, Hegab structured…

Amman: TECHz – News Desk King Hussein Business Park (KHBP) has announced the launch of an AI chatbot service, as part of its ongoing digital transformation and smart city strategy. Now available through the official website, the service was developed in partnership with SmartServe, following the signing of an agreement between the two parties. The AI chatbot serves as an upgrade that complements the AI Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service launched earlier this year with SmartServe’s support. Together, these solutions reflect KHBP’s commitment to enhancing its communication channels and improving the overall service experience. This initiative enables businesses and investors…

Rabat: TECHz – News Desk In a major move for the North African tech landscape, Morocco has officially launched the “Startup Venture Building” (Startup VB) program. The official ceremony, held in Rabat in mid-December 2025, was presided over by the Minister Delegate in charge of Digital Transition, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, and the General Manager of TAMWILCOM, Said Jabrani. This initiative is a cornerstone of the Digital Morocco 2030 national strategy, aiming to transform the country into a premier regional hub for digital innovation. The program is backed by a substantial budget of over 700 million dirhams (approximately $76 million)…

Lusaka: TECHz – News Desk MTN Zambia and UBA Zambia have officially joined forces to launch the Mastercard Virtual Card, a milestone that signals a major shift in the country’s financial landscape. This collaboration, recently highlighted by UBA Zambia’s Country Head of Digital Banking Sales, David Fundanga, serves as a strategic bridge between mobile money convenience and global banking security. By integrating UBA’s robust banking infrastructure with MTN’s massive subscriber base, the partnership effectively turns every mobile phone into a globally recognized payment tool. For the average Zambian, this initiative removes the long-standing hurdles of traditional banking, such as the…

Abu Dhabi: TECHz – News Desk The United Arab Emirates solidified its position as a global digital infrastructure hub in 2025, recording a world-leading 97% utilisation rate of artificial intelligence tools across government entities, while the number of programmers in the country exceeded 450,000. The year was defined by high-stakes international partnerships, most notably the establishment of a 5-gigawatt UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi. Serving billions of users through a mix of nuclear, solar, and gas power, the site represents the largest supercomputing cluster outside the United States. This was complemented by the launch of the “Stargate UAE” project,…

Algiers: TECHz – News Desk The Regulatory Authority of Post and Electronic Communications (ARPCE) has officially announced the launch of its new e-Services platform, marking a pivotal milestone in its ongoing mission to modernize administrative workflows. This initiative is a central pillar of the Authority’s pioneering strategy to update work methods and continuously enhance the quality of service provided to its users. By transitioning to a digital-first approach, ARPCE aims to bridge the gap between regulatory requirements and the fast-paced needs of the modern telecommunications sector. Designed with a focus on user experience, the innovative digital platform facilitates the end-to-end…

Johannesburg: TECHz – News Desk U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Dr. Melanie Anne Zimmerman welcomed the signing of an agreement between the Government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and U.S. telecommunications company Starlink on December 18, 2025. The U.S. Embassy was honored to join a ceremony hosted by the CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, as representatives of the CAR Ministry of Post, Telecommunications, and Digital Economy, and Starlink’s U.S. parent company SpaceX formalized the agreement. Speaking to government and private sector representatives at the event, Chargé d’Affaires Zimmerman committed to continue strengthening the relationship between the United States and CAR, especially…

Johannesburg: TECHz – News Desk As enterprises race to harness the transformative power of agentic AI and cloud computing, Palo Alto Networks and Google Cloud announced a significant expansion of their strategic partnership to enable the secure development and deployment of AI solutions and provide a trusted foundation that helps organizations harness the full potential of AI with confidence. The collaboration combines Google Cloud’s leading AI and infrastructure capabilities with Prisma® AIRS™, Palo Alto Networks comprehensive AI security platform, to secure the next generation of digital business. Palo Alto Networks recent State of Cloud Report, released in December 2025, found…