SA has a clear opportunity to become Africa’s first AI-powered economy – if it can successfully combine its AI, power supply and spectrum strategies. This is according to Naveed Kashif, market unit head for southern Africa, Mobile Networks at Nokia.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town this week, Kashif said AI represents the next industrial revolution.
The company, he said, wants to work with its partner ecosystem to optimise networks and connect intelligence with machines and people, laying the foundation for an AI-driven digital economy.
Nokia asserts that applying AI to networks can improve power distribution, spectral efficiency and drive automation, which it says leads to reduced opex and capex.
“We’ve always spoken about connecting people to the network. AI means connecting intelligence, people, machines and industrial sensors, along with all capabilities required for digitisation,” said Kashif.
Fixed wireless access-driven 5G
Danial Mausoof, VP of technology and portfolio at Nokia in MEA, said there is continued focus on the roll-out and development of fixed wireless access (FWA), fibre and 5G to bolster access to connectivity.
According to Nokia’s MEA Broadband Index Report 2025, which cites research from the GlobalData subscription database, 5G will surge from 4% in 2024 to 25% by 2030, driven by faster speeds and demand for advanced services.
An excerpt from the report reads: “With a CAGR of 36.8% (2025-2030), 5G will enable IOT, smart cities and enterprise solutions. Its adoption is rising due to strong operator investments and government-led digital transformation initiatives, positioning it as a key driver of future connectivity.”
Nokia also aims to advance the development and roll-out of AI-RAN (radio access network) to bolster network optimisation. The plan is to leverage partnerships, such as its alliance with Nvidia, to support this technology drive, Mausoof added.
In late October, the companies made headlines after it was announced that Nvidia would invest $1 billion in Nokia, securing a 2.9% stake in the Finnish company, according to a Reuters report.
Nvidia's AI chips will be combined with Nokia's mobile network technology to make base stations smarter, improving network efficiency to help address challenges such as power supply.
Mausoof explained that Nokia will use Nvidia’s GPUs in its base RAN solutions within its AirScale RAN portfolio. He said it already has its anyRAN platform in place – software that allows it to work with current hardware.
This allows Nokia to use a single software to drive use cases at the edge, which is expected to encourage more widespread application of the technology and create more use cases to attract investment.
The intention is to make the technology accessible to all market segments, including large-scale roll-out to public sector organisations and utilities.
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