Technology

Ericsson launches telecom field operations learnership in South Africa. (Image source: Ericsson)

Ericsson South Africa has launched the inaugural intake of its five-year field operations learnership programme, an initiative designed to develop technical skills and create career opportunities for young people in the country's telecommunications industry

The first group of 15 learners was officially introduced during a launch event held in KuGompo, Eastern Cape, on 22 July 2026. The occasion brought together Ericsson representatives, learning centre partners, customers and participants to celebrate the beginning of the programme.

The 12-month learnership leads to the Further Education and Training Certificate: Telecommunication Network Operations (SAQA ID 59057, NQF Level 4). Training will be delivered by Human Capital Learning Solutions and is accredited by MICT SETA and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).

Combining classroom instruction with practical on-site training and workplace experience, the programme has been tailored to Ericsson's field operations, rigging and installation activities. It is intended to equip participants with the knowledge and hands-on experience required to become job-ready telecommunications technicians and riggers.

Siseko Ngxola, Head of Ericsson South Africa says: “Skills development is important to the future of South Africa’s digital economy. Through this learnership, Ericsson is helping young people build the technical, safety and workplace skills needed to support telecommunications infrastructure. The program also reflects our commitment to developing local talent and supporting a more capable future workforce in South Africa.”

Participants will receive training in core telecommunications principles, health and safety, communication, telecom infrastructure, rigging, installation techniques, tower climbing and field-based simulations. Alongside classroom learning, they will gain supervised experience on Ericsson projects while completing workplace logbooks and compiling a Portfolio of Evidence (PoE) to demonstrate practical competence and satisfy the requirements for qualification.

The curriculum has been developed to prepare learners for the installation, maintenance and repair of telecommunications networks, while also reinforcing best practices in safety, quality, environmental responsibility and documentation in line with Ericsson's health, safety and quality standards.

Beyond technical competencies, the programme places emphasis on professional development by strengthening communication, teamwork, ethics, accountability and adaptability. These capabilities are intended to help learners perform effectively in project-based environments and contribute to Ericsson's operational activities across South Africa.

The initiative highlights Ericsson's long-term investment in South Africa and its commitment to expanding opportunities for young people through structured skills development. By nurturing locally trained talent with industry-relevant expertise, the company aims to strengthen the country's technical workforce, support employment creation and contribute to South Africa's digital transformation and economic development. The programme also supports Ericsson's objective of building a skilled local workforce capable of carrying out network deployment, modernisation and restoration projects safely, efficiently and sustainably.

A newly certified drone pilot explains how one of the nine drones works. (Image source: African Development Plan)

Mozambique has strengthened its disaster preparedness capabilities following the successful completion of its Drone Technology Project, a programme that has equipped the country with advanced drone technology and trained its first cohort of certified drone pilots to support emergency response and climate resilience

The project concluded with the graduation of 30 certified drone pilots during a ceremony attended by prime minister Maria Benvinda Levi, who highlighted the growing role of innovative technologies in protecting communities from climate-related disasters.

"The use of drones in the management of natural disasters is an initiative that embodies the Government's commitment to adopting innovative technologies for monitoring extreme weather events, conducive to the protection of human life and the social and economic fabric of our country," the prime minister said.

Addressing the graduates, she added, "The certificate you receive today is more than authorisation to pilot. From now on, you will become part of the country's first line of response. This mission must be undertaken with discipline and responsibility, because a well-piloted drone can accomplish in a short time what a team would take days to do in disaster areas. A well-piloted drone allows search and rescue teams to obtain precious information about who needs support and what kind of support."

Drone technology strengthens disaster resilience

Mozambique continues to face increasing climate-related risks, including cyclones, severe flooding, prolonged droughts and rising sea levels that threaten communities, infrastructure and food security. As these extreme weather events become more frequent, authorities are turning to digital technologies to improve disaster preparedness and emergency response.

The Drone Technology Project was supported by the African Development Bank Group in partnership with the Government of Mozambique and financed through a US$967,000 Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund grant. Implemented over 15 months after its launch in April 2025, the initiative was designed to build national capacity in drone operations, geospatial technologies and digital disaster management.

Building long-term technical capacity

According to Rômulo Cunha Corrêa, African Development Bank Country Manager for Mozambique, the project has established a sustainable foundation for the country's future disaster management efforts.

"This project is more than the delivery of equipment. It is about technology transfer, capacity building, innovation, and long-term resilience," Corrêa said, adding that it had helped Mozambique "build the human and technical foundation needed to use drones, sensors, geospatial data, and digital systems to better protect communities and infrastructure."

Corrêa said the programme aligns closely with the African Development Bank's priorities for climate resilience, digital transformation and sustainable development across Africa. He noted that the collaboration between the Bank, the Government of Mozambique, the Republic of Korea and Busan Technopark has established a strong platform for continued innovation in drone-enabled disaster management.

Beyond supplying drone equipment, the project introduced a locally managed disaster assessment and emergency response system while strengthening the technical skills required to operate and maintain it over the long term.

Korean expertise supports implementation

The project was implemented with technical support from the Republic of Korea, led by Busan Technopark in partnership with Hojung Solution and PNU Drone of Pusan National University.

Working alongside the African Development Bank Group and Mozambican authorities, the partners delivered customised drone systems, specialist training programmes and a disaster management platform tailored to Mozambique's operational requirements.

The system proved its effectiveness shortly after deployment when severe flooding affected the country during January and February 2026. Emergency drone teams worked alongside national authorities to conduct real-time flood assessments, providing the first practical demonstration of the project's operational capabilities.

Thirty certified drone pilots graduate

A key outcome of the initiative was the graduation of 30 newly certified drone pilots, who have received training in disaster response, agriculture, surveying and infrastructure management.

The graduation ceremony included a live drone flight demonstration showcasing emergency aerial operations.

Graduate pilot Eunicia Sambo highlighted the responsibility that accompanies the new qualification.

"Today we celebrate an achievement, but we also assume a new responsibility. The certificate we received marks the beginning of a mission that requires permanent updating, innovation and commitment to the public service," Sambo said. "On behalf of graduates, we reaffirm our commitment to serve Mozambique with competence, dedication, professionalism and public service spirit."

Officials from Busan Technopark described the newly trained pilots as the project's greatest achievement, while representatives from PNU Drone said the programme establishes a long-term foundation for Mozambique's emerging drone industry. Hojung Solution also pointed to the successful flood response earlier this year as evidence of the immediate value delivered by the initiative.

Expanding Africa–Korea digital cooperation

The completion of the Drone Technology Project marks another milestone in cooperation between Mozambique, the African Development Bank Group and the Republic of Korea.

Building on the programme's success, stakeholders plan to expand technology-driven partnerships across Africa, with further discussions expected during the 8th KOAFEC Ministerial Conference, which will be held in Seoul from 8–11 September 2026 under the theme "Harnessing AI and Digital Infrastructure for Africa's Transformation."

The initiative demonstrates how digital technologies, skills development and international collaboration can strengthen disaster preparedness while supporting climate resilience and sustainable development across the continent.

Demand for data centres in Africa is rising (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Reducing risk and boosting uptime: The value of the right commissioning partner in African data centres — Gracious Monyeke, project sales manager at Aggreko, talks about how the commissioning phase is the most critical and underestimated stage of any new data centre build in Africa

Africa’s data centre market is expanding rapidly. As recently as 2020, the continent had only around 140,000 sq m of data centre space, roughly the same as Switzerland, but serving a population of around 1.26 billion rather than 8.5 million. The installed IT power capacity is also estimated at only a few hundred megawatts against a foreseeable requirement of at least 1,000MW over the coming decade. And this highlights a structural supply gap that must be closed.

Data centre supply has already more than doubled since 2020, and it is projected to continue growing strongly, underpinned by rapid digitisation and rising cloud usage across the continent. Cloud adoption across manufacturing, financial services and healthcare, combined with tightening data protection and localisation requirements that are pushing companies to host data closer to where it is consumed, is driving waves of new investment into facilities in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Lagos and a growing number of emerging hubs such as Harare and Kigali.

This investment is welcome, but the development of the data centre footprint in Africa is only one part of the story. A data centre is only as reliable as the commissioning process that proves its critical infrastructure operates efficiently, especially in the African context where the unreliability of local grids has long been a challenge for ages which pose more threats for the data centre infrastructure and development. Furthermore, with many original equipment manufacturers still based outside Africa, and those within the continent focusing mainly on final assembly, lead times for spares and parts are extended. This often results in increased downtime, as operations managers are hesitant to hold underutilised inventory in their warehouses.

The stakes attached to commissioning a data centre correctly are far higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world.

Commissioning is a structured process of verifying that every system in a new data centre has been correctly designed, installed and tested before the facility goes live. It covers the full range of critical infrastructure from incoming electrical distribution and transformers through to uninterruptible power supplies and standby generation, to mechanical cooling. The goal is to confirm systematically and at every level that each component performs to its designed specifications and that the facility responds correctly when all systems are running under real load conditions.

During the construction of a new data centre, there are five levels of testing across power and cooling infrastructure. Level one is factory acceptance testing that evaluates equipment before and after assembly to confirm it has been built and operates in accordance with design specifications. For generators and UPS systems, resistive and reactive load bank testing simulates full electrical loading at both leading and lagging power factors and verifies that backup systems synchronise correctly. Any issues identified at this stage can be resolved before the equipment arrives on site and eliminates the significantly higher cost of resolving problems after installation.

Level two is site acceptance testing where the OEM and installing contractors verify that equipment meets the specifications and check for damage before it enters the facility. Level three, pre-functional testing, confirms that every device has been correctly installed, wired, torqued and earthed prior to initial energisation, and level four, evaluates each piece of equipment individually. Then level five is integrated systems testing across the entire facility as a single integrated system at full load.

Comprehensive testing identifies inefficiencies and costs, allowing for accurate assessment of power consumption and ensuring that compliance and warranties remain intact. Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) warranties can be voided if required testing has not been completed and contractors and operators run the risk of financial penalties if their completion deadlines are missed. And if critical equipment fails after a facility goes live, there are brand reputation and customer relationship consequences.

These risks also impact the opportunity for ongoing investment. The market is working hard to attract sustained international investment to fund the next phase of digital infrastructure development so a commissioning failure at a major new facility negatively influences the broader investor community in African digital infrastructure as an asset class.

This is why commissioning should move from the end of the build to the start. It should become an inherent part of the design and development of the facility from the outset. Why? Because issues identified during design review cost a fraction of those identified during integrated systems testing. Problems in wiring, piping and sequencing that appear late in a build require changes to infrastructure that is already in place, and this generates additional costs and delays. The commissioning team’s involvement at the design review stage has the potential to catch as many issues as possible as early as possible, effectively cutting the costs of mistakes further down the line.

For operators building or managing multiple data centre facilities, which is an increasingly common model among Africa's growing tier of regional operators, a standardised commissioning framework delivers compounding benefits. More than 70% of all data centre outages globally are caused by human error rather than infrastructure design failure and so consistency in the commissioning process directly reduces exposure to the most common source of failure and provides a reliable performance baseline that supports maintenance planning, fault diagnosis and benchmarking across a portfolio of sites.

Aggreko's modular, standardised equipment fleet means the same commissioning programme is deliverable regardless of where in Africa a new data centre is located. This is particularly relevant on a continent where supply chain complexity and longer lead times remain a live operational reality so having a partner with standardised, available equipment removes a significant variable from the commissioning timeline.

The cost savings realised by thorough commissioning far outweigh the cost of the commissioning process itself. A properly commissioned data centre delivers more uptime, lower operations and maintenance costs across the facility's lifetime, a safer working environment, and a full documentation set that supports benchmarking, trend analysis and maintenance decisions for years ahead. The total cost of ownership of the facility's critical infrastructure is lower. The risk of the kind of failure that carries financial penalties and reputational consequences is materially reduced, and Aggreko has the tooling, expertise and capability to support data centres at every stage.

The right commissioning partner can assist with the new construction or extension of a data centre.

When issues arise due to human error or equipment failure on site, it is essential to engage a commissioning partner with the right expertise. They should not only understand the process thoroughly but also support OEMs by identifying faults early, right from the initial stages of commissioning, rather than allowing them to surface later, when downtime becomes more costly.

The right commissioning partner will give you peace of mind by ensuring full fleet availability across both your electrical and cooling plants.

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Master Power Technologies unveils new regional base

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At the opening of MPT’s new Midrand base (Image source: MPT)

Master Power Technologies (MPT), a pan-African provider of turnkey data centre and critical power solutions, has opened a new regional headquarters in Midrand, South Africa

The site also contains a new ‘Customer Experience Centre’, a R50mn (US$3mn) investment designed to showcase MPT’s engineering capabilities and provide a hands-on environment for customers, partners and trainees.

The centre features advanced test facilities, including a 2 MVA UPS test platform and a 400kW cooling systems test centre, which is the most comprehensive of its kind on the continent.

In a statement, the company said it marked a step in the company’s continued expansion and commitment to advancing Africa’s data centre infrastructure.

“The Experience Centre represents a new chapter for Master Power Technologies. It’s about creating a space where customers can engage with our technology, see it in action, and understand the depth of our capabilities,” said MPT founder and managing director, Menno Parsons, a former electrical engineer.

“This centre will be the most impressive UPS and cooling training facility in Africa, allowing our clients to touch, feel, and work with real systems in a way that has never been possible before.”

Founded in 1999, MPT has grown from its origins as a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) provider into a diversified engineering firm that delivers end-to-end solutions for data centres across Africa and the Middle East.

Today, it designs, manufactures, and assembles a wide range of products under its flagship brands, SURE and AIVA, tailored to withstand Africa’s demanding operational environments.

The new Midrand facility spans 6,000 square metres and will serve as MPT’s African headquarters, housing approximately 200 employees.

Strategically located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, the site is positioned close to a number of major data centre hubs.

The launch of the Midrand offices and Experience Centre underscores MPT’s role as a trusted partner in Africa’s rapidly growing data centre sector, according to Parsons.

The Experience Centre also highlights MPT’s commitment to local engineering and manufacturing.

MPT assembles and engineers complete modular data centre and energy centre solutions within Africa, an approach that reduces logistical risks, supports local industry and ensures solutions are tailored to regional requirements.

Beyond technical demonstrations, the centre will also serve as a hub for training and collaboration, equipping engineers and clients with practical knowledge to optimise data centre performance.

It also integrates MPT’s proprietary Advanced Infrastructure Visual Analytics (AIVA) monitoring platform, which manages and records metrics across more than 200 data centres in Africa, offering advanced analytics and operational insights.

“Our business has always been about more than just selling equipment. We engineer solutions for Africa, by Africa,” said Parsons.

“This Experience Centre is a testament to that philosophy, which strengthens our ability to train, innovate and deliver world-class infrastructure while remaining rooted in local expertise.”

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