Privet,
Victoria from Techpoint,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Telecom Egypt, NaiTel launch 15km subsea system
- Can Decide outsmart ChatGPT
- YouTube makes Nollywood a global hit
Telecom Egypt, NaiTel launch 15km subsea system
Telecom Egypt and Jordan’s NaiTel have finished laying a brand-new subsea cable called Coral Bridge, linking the two countries across the Gulf of Aqaba. It’s the first direct digital bridge between Egypt and Jordan in more than 25 years.
The 15km system stretches from Taba, Egypt, to Aqaba, Jordan, and is loaded with 48 fibre pairs capable of moving over a petabit of traffic. That means faster cloud computing, AI, and digital applications across the region at lower costs and with much less lag.
On Egypt’s side, Coral Bridge is the first cable to land at Telecom Egypt’s new Taba station, part of its growing infrastructure push in Sinai. In Jordan, the cable terminates at Aqaba Digital Hub’s Tier III carrier-neutral facility, giving businesses and hyperscalers in the region new backup and recovery options.
Both operators say the system is more than just a cable; it’s a strategic corridor. It connects Africa, Asia, and Europe seamlessly, strengthening resilience for subsea networks while opening up new routes for regional and international data flows.
Eyad Abu Khorma, CEO of Aqaba Digital Hub, called Coral Bridge a “strategic asset” that boosts Jordan’s market access and supports one of MENA’s largest data centres. Telecom Egypt boss Mohamed Nasr added that the system will “aggregate regional traffic” and channel it through Egypt’s diverse routes to the Mediterranean.
The launch comes at a time when subsea cable projects are booming around Africa. From Google’s Equiano and Umoja cables to Meta’s 2Africa system and the new Asia-Africa-Europe-2 (AAE-2) project, the continent is becoming one of the busiest hubs for global Internet infrastructure — and Egypt is right at the centre of it.
Can Decide outsmart ChatGPT?
Building something that can outdo ChatGPT sounds impossible, right? That’s what I thought too until Bolu met Abiodun Adetona. The former Flutterwave developer launched an AI product that pulled in 1,000 users within just 24 days, and here’s the kicker: he spent zero on marketing.
The product is called Decide. True to its name, it helps people, well, decide. You can type in a simple prompt like, “Give me a dashboard of Nigeria’s economic outlook”, and instead of code, the platform spits out a ready-to-use website filled with charts, figures, and commentary.
Now, ask ChatGPT the same thing, and you’ll likely get lines of code that only a developer can make sense of. Decide cuts out that middle step, no coding knowledge required, and even lets you upload and clean your own datasets before turning them into neat dashboards.
Adetona admits the magic isn’t about doing what ChatGPT or Gemini can’t do. Instead, it’s about doing things differently. Decide is built on OpenAI, LLaMA, and Google Gemini, and routes your query to whichever model is best suited to answer. Then it crunches the data with Python to keep things accurate and less “hallucinated.”
But unlike ChatGPT, Decide shows you the process. If you ask it to fetch data from the Internet, you’ll see it analyse your prompt, run a Google search, and then build the dashboard. “With ChatGPT, you have to pay to even turn this on. We turn it on for you by default.”
Of course, there’s risk: an OpenAI update could break everything. But with thousands of dashboards already generated and rivals like Julius AI pulling millions of users, Adetona isn’t worried. He’s betting Decide’s dashboard-first approach will carve out its own niche. Curious? Find out more in Bolu’s latest story here.
YouTube makes Nollywood a global hit
Did you know that most of the people watching Nigerian content on YouTube don’t even live in Nigeria? At a workshop in Lagos on August 22, YouTube revealed that over 70% of the views on Nigeria-produced content actually come from outside the country.
For Nollywood producers, broadcasters, and creators, that’s a game-changer. It means their content isn’t just local anymore; it’s global. Think of movies, skits, and even music videos like Rema’s Calm Down, which has racked up more than 1 billion views.
What’s more interesting? Creators are increasingly skipping the Netflixes and Primes of this world and going straight to YouTube. Audiences seem to be following them too. Nollywood films and shows are amassing millions of views, and YouTube is becoming the default cinema.
The numbers are eye-opening. Watch time for Nigeria-produced content grew 55% as of October 2024, and over 2 million Nigerians now prefer watching on TV screens instead of just phones. At the same time, Gen Z is also picking YouTube as their go-to platform.
Still, with Nigeria’s massive population of over 200 million and nearly half the country online, you’d think more of those views would come from home. But YouTube says the lion’s share is international, proving just how global Nollywood and Nigerian creators have become.
For the creators, that’s both an opportunity and a challenge, reaching more markets, but also thinking about who exactly their content is speaking to. Either way, one thing’s clear: Nigerian stories are travelling faster and wider than ever.
In case you missed it
- NDPC cracks down on 1,369 Nigerian firms over data privacy violations
What I’m watching
- Neil & Anil Seth Discuss Consciousness in the Universe
- Why Seedless Fruit Is a Disaster Waiting To Happen
Opportunities
- Businessfront, the parent company of Techpoint Africa, is looking for a Managing Editor (FMCG). Apply here.
- Africa’s venture scene takes the spotlight at the Lagos Venture Finance Summit on September 5th, 2025. Hosted by Vencapital, the Summit gathers top LPs, GPs, policymakers and ecosystem leaders for high-level conversations, networking and dealmaking. A must-attend for those shaping Africa’s next wave of venture capital. Register here.
- Paystack is hiring for several roles in Nigeria and South Africa. Apply here.
- Paga is recruiting for several positions. Apply here.
- Want to attend an evening of connection, conversation, and insight on how data is shaping East Africa’s creative economy? Join Communiqué on Thursday, August 21, at 6pm, at Alliance Française, Nairobi, featuring Brian Kimanzi, Mars Maasai (HEVA Fund), Ezy Onyango (PAIPEC-CCI), Wangui Njoroge and more. Register here.
- Moniepoint is hiring for several positions. Apply here.
- Businessfront, the parent company of Techpoint Africa, is looking for a Researcher and Scriptwriter Intern for Businessfront TV. Apply here.
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Have a lovely Tuesday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
