Jarana’s pitch is less about cables and more about structure. If connectivity is a bridge, South Africa keeps building it from the wrong side — laying fibre into suburbs that already have a view. The problem isn’t ambition; it’s the business model that assumes high-income users first and everyone else later, maybe. As he puts it, “The standard commercial models created for high-income areas don’t meet the needs of township markets.”

He isn’t wrong. For years, operators have treated lower-income areas as edge cases. The maths is brutal: low returns, high logistics, and the constant friction of geography. So the market does what markets do — it optimises away from the poor.

That’s where the “meaningful” part of meaningful connectivity in South Africa becomes less moral and more mathematical. Jarana’s idea is to break access into pieces: smaller, shared, community-run. A “fractional use” model, he calls it. The analogy he uses is a loaf of bread — some buy the full loaf, others just a quarter. It’s a simple way to say: stop pretending the township market behaves like Sandton. Build systems that flex.

The model also folds in local labour. Instead of flying in teams from elsewhere, Ilitha trains residents to install and maintain infrastructure. It’s a small design choice, but a revealing one. The future of connectivity isn’t only fibre; it’s social architecture — the networks behind the networks.

Still, this kind of talk makes policymakers nervous because it doesn’t fit the usual story of scale and competition. The idea of “fractional” anything cuts across the standard telecoms fantasy of endless growth. But Jarana insists the numbers work if the model does. The point is to treat connection like a public utility — divisible, shareable, priced for actual people.

Government seems to be listening, at least in rhetoric. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi recently called connectivity “a prerequisite for economic participation.” The phrasing is right, but the delivery lags. Projects like SA Connect show what’s possible when the state partners with the private sector — yet they often get stuck in pilot mode. The infrastructure gets built, but the access story stays uneven.

Meaningful connectivity, in contrast, begins with the question of what people can actually do online. It’s the difference between a network that exists and one that enables. In some rural villages, residents now monitor kraals through security cameras when they’re in the city. That’s not a grand innovation story; it’s a quiet form of autonomy.

There’s also something quietly radical about Jarana’s idea of “anchoring.” Build strong, high-capacity internet points in community spaces — schools, clinics, government buildings — and let smaller service providers piggyback to reach nearby homes. It’s a reversal of the usual hierarchy: the public sector becomes the magnet for private expansion, not its afterthought. The Eastern Cape’s fibre partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies is an early example. It isn’t glamorous, but it works.

All of this still depends on politics, of course. The spectrum, the pricing, the willingness of regulators to stop treating connectivity like a luxury market. But the deeper point is cultural. South Africa’s digital policy has spent years chasing modernity through numbers — kilometres of fibre, megabits per second — instead of asking who gets to use them and on what terms.

As Jarana frames it, “Internet access is a basic human right that can exacerbate or bridge divides.” It’s a line that’s been said before, but here it lands differently — not as a slogan, but as a ledger entry. Every policy that ignores affordability, every rollout that skips the townships, adds another line of exclusion to that ledger.

A recent Reframed article on South Africa’s digital quality of life pointed out that affordability isn’t the issue; infrastructure is. But infrastructure alone doesn’t equal access. The future will be built on the quieter, less photogenic work of pricing fairly, training locally, and designing networks that match how people actually live.

Maybe that’s what “meaningful connectivity” really is — not a slogan or a metric, but a way of saying that technology only matters when it bends toward the realities on the ground. And in South Africa, those realities still demand more meaning than megabytes.

The post South Africa wants digital inclusion — but on whose terms? appeared first on Reframed.

Mandela Day is often treated like a checkbox. One hour. One good deed. Then back to business. TECNO and itel are taking a different approach. This year, the two smartphone brands are using the moment to remind South Africans that mobile devices can do more than keep people online — they can help build communities too.

The brands are encouraging people to record their 67 minutes of giving using their phones. Whether it is planting a tree, volunteering, or dropping off food parcels, they want users to snap a photo, shoot a quick video, or livestream the moment. Then post it using the hashtags #MandelaDayWithTECNO or #MandelaDayWithitel. The idea is to create a ripple effect, powered by smartphones that are cheap enough to be everywhere.

For TECNO and itel, this is not just feel-good branding. It is part of a longer-term strategy to frame their low-cost smartphones as tools for social mobility. They are not trying to compete with Apple or Samsung. They are focused on first-time smartphone buyers in emerging markets, where owning a phone means access to education, job opportunities and public services.

“Mobile technology is more than just connectivity. It is a lifeline,” TECNO said in a statement. The company, which operates in over 70 markets, has built its reputation on pairing decent hardware with aggressive pricing. itel, a sibling brand, has taken that even further — ranking as the top global smartphone brand under $75 according to IDC data.

This Mandela Day campaign feels less like a one-off PR stunt and more like an experiment in community-driven content. It blurs the line between purpose and promotion, asking people to become creators of good — and brand-aligned content — at the same time.

But there is a valid point underneath the hashtags. Access to mobile technology for community empowerment remains uneven. Data costs are high. Rural networks are patchy. Device affordability is still a barrier. TECNO and itel are not fixing all of that, but they are pushing the idea that budget phones can still be powerful — especially in the right hands.

Mandela Day may be just one date on the calendar, but TECNO and itel want users to think beyond it. “Live the Mandela magic all year round,” the brands said. It sounds idealistic. Then again, most meaningful tech shifts start with a mindset.

The post How TECNO and itel are using mobile tech to drive community empowerment appeared first on Reframed.

In April, a video of two young South African men went viral. It showed them booting up an old computer in a village with no fibre, explaining how they built it with R700 and parts salvaged from scrapyards. Then it cut to the app they created: NOVAR, a free interactive e-learning platform used by tens of thousands of learners. The video racked up over three million views, was reshared by politicians and influencers, and for a few days, it felt like the country had found its next innovation story.

Now, NOVAR has been officially inducted into IBM South Africa’s Enterprise Development Programme, with Liberty committing R1 million to support the startup’s next phase. Government applauded. The private sector cheered. But that should raise more questions than it answers.

Why did two self-taught coders in Limpopo have to build their own machine to gain access to education in the first place? Why does a startup with proven traction still rely on public sympathy to get resources? Why did it take a viral video to unlock institutional backing?

The truth is that NOVAR’s story is less about innovation and more about survival. Its founders — Shibambu Mikhongelo Marvel and Malunghelo Mathonsi — built the app not because the system worked, but because it failed them. And while their recent backing is deserved and overdue, it also reveals just how fragile the support structures are for startups outside of major metros.

NOVAR’s app, which offers free, curriculum-aligned learning resources, has over 50 000 downloads. It’s being used in schools, townships, and rural communities where textbooks remain scarce. But that traction was not enough, until recently, to open doors. It was the algorithm — not the state — that accelerated their journey.

That tension sits at the heart of South Africa’s tech ecosystem. The country is full of so-called high-potential youth, but the pathway from potential to product remains poorly lit unless a big brand shines a light. Even then, too often that light comes only after public attention has done the heavy lifting.

Government and private partners framed the NOVAR announcement as a blueprint for “whole-of-society” innovation. It’s a nice phrase. But the risk is that it lets institutions off the hook — as though virality, not infrastructure, is the delivery mechanism for opportunity.

Zeenat Dasoo, Executive Director of Transformation and Special Projects at IBM South Africa, says their development programme helps startups leverage global technology to scale. That’s valuable — but without consistent early-stage infrastructure and access, stories like NOVAR’s will remain the exception, not the ecosystem.

The NOVAR founders deserve every cent and every bit of support they’re now receiving. But if South Africa wants more stories like this, it will have to do more than celebrate the ones that accidentally go viral. It will need to interrogate the systems that make talent wait for visibility before receiving validation.

Because if building your own hardware is the precondition for building your own future, we’ve got bigger problems than bandwidth.

The post What NOVAR’s IBM backing really says about South Africa’s tech gaps appeared first on Reframed.

The panel discussion, led by HONOR South Africa CEO Fred Zhou, brought together Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes and Google’s Android Partnerships representative Vinod Nenwani to examine how AI and foldable smartphones might influence African markets.

HONOR’s position in South Africa has been strengthened by investments exceeding R400 million. The company has engaged in local initiatives, participating in the Youth Employment Service (YES) Program and developing its Code with HONOR project. Zhou emphasized the company’s strategy of incorporating AI features into mid-range devices, positioning accessibility as a key differentiator in the market.

Cell C’s Mendes grounded the discussion in practical realities, highlighting smartphones’ fundamental role in education and economic growth. Meanwhile, Google’s Nenwani characterized current developments as a “platform shift,” emphasizing his company’s focus on universal information accessibility.

The significance of these industry discussions was underscored by Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi’s presence at AfricaCom, where he toured HONOR’s showcase of its latest technology.

HONOR’s emphasis on responsible AI deployment aligns with local regulatory frameworks. Zhou stressed the company’s commitment to following local regulations while supporting the Ministry’s balanced approach to AI development—one that aims to maximize potential benefits while protecting fundamental human rights.

The panel highlighted how AI-powered smartphones and device proliferation mark a potential turning point in mobile technology. However, the discussion raised important questions about technology’s role in addressing Africa’s unique digital challenges, from infrastructure limitations to affordability and digital literacy.

These industry perspectives suggest that while AI features represent technological progress, their impact will ultimately be measured by how effectively they address the practical needs of African mobile users. As the continent’s smartphone market evolves, the balance between innovation and accessibility remains crucial to achieving meaningful digital inclusion.

The post African Mobile Future: Tech Giants Weigh In on AI’s Role appeared first on Reframed.