Johannesburg, 18 Nov 2025
The largest technology event in Africa, AfricaCom 2025, took place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 11 to 13 November 2025. At this annual gathering, an increasing number of operators revealed they are focusing on inclusive networks and seeking solutions for reliable communication connections in remote areas.
Digital inclusion is now a key driver of fulfilling all 17 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to GSMA, while mobile networks now cover 96% of the global population, 3.1 billion people within these coverage areas remain trapped in a "digital desert" due to usage gaps.
In this context, during AfricaCom 2025, Huawei delivered its innovative Single SitePower Solution for the core pain point of "affordability". This solution achieves resilient mobile connectivity and provides inclusive basic services at a low cost, promoting digital inclusion in rural areas.
Resilient connections protect life from disaster
Years of conflict and extreme weather have left the mobile networks in South Sudan critically fragile, with base station outage rates exceeding 90% in remote areas. Residents infected with malaria often could not access medical care within the crucial 48-hour window, rendering the disease one of the deadliest for women and children in the country.
Change began with Huawei's innovative Single SitePower + intelligent RAN management system. By equipping base stations with a "weather brain", which analyses real-time meteorological data, the system automatically enters energy-saving mode and prioritises critical services during the rainy season, keeping sites online and safeguarding the lifeline for remote residents, who no longer need to panic during peak malaria season.
Stable networks illuminate students' futures
In rural areas of Côte d'Ivoire, downpours in the rainy season often cut students off from school, leaving the dropout rate for girls as high as 38%. Unstable power and mobile networks remained the "last mile" barrier to effective distance learning.
With Huawei's Intelligent Site Health Inspection (ISHI) system and FME Mate intelligent O&M system, base stations can accurately predict network traffic and power consumption, enabling minute-level power policy optimisation to ensure backup energy during severe weather and strengthening network resilience.
Across dozens of villages covered by Huawei's solutions, network outage rates have fallen by 70%, and girls' continuation rates have risen by 28%. Stable remote education is helping more young women gain digital skills.
Inclusive services activate rural economy
In Cameroon's northwest highlands, nearly half of the country's rural residents face the problem of "cell phone without power".
That changed with Huawei's base station service point. Using Huawei's intelligent iDMU module, solar and lithium battery energy from the base station can be converted into AC power for mobile charging. Local villagers can fully charge a phone for just US$0.10 and easily top up SIM cards or purchase devices.
The service point has also catalyses the digital economy. With a fully charged phone, women can find buyers in the capital for their agriculture products, fetching between two to five times the previous price. In practice, this has raised women's daily incomes by US$1.20 – enough to pay the school fees for four children.
Digital inclusion drives global sustainable development
Huawei's vision and mission – "bring digital to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world" – aligns deeply with the UN's 2030 SDGs, which can be effectively boosted with increasing digital inclusion.
Through Huawei's innovative Single SitePower Solution, global digital inclusion is transitioning from a lofty vision to a new phase that is measurable, replicable, and scalable for mass deployment. The true meaning of digital inclusion – enabling everyone to thrive and develop in the digital world – is becoming a reality.
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