Author: Neel Achary

Binance Launches INR 2 Crore Holi Community Campaign for Verified Indian Users

Feb 27: Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and the largest digital asset exchange by trading volume and user base, is excited to announce a ₹2 crore in USDT community rewards campaign for its verified Indian users, ahead of the vibrant festival of Holi. This initiative is part of Binance’s continued commitment to strengthening engagement within India’s rapidly growing digital asset community.

 The month-long campaign, themed #IndiaTurnsYellow – in the festive spirit of Holi, and inspired by Binance’s iconic yellow – will run from February 26 to March 25, 2026. It is exclusively open to users who have completed India-based KYC verification on the Binance platform.

Verified users can participate by inviting new users through a limited-time referral link. Upon successful registration, KYC verification, a minimum deposit equivalent to $5, and completion of qualifying transactions, both the inviter and invitee become eligible to unlock reward boxes. Each reward box contains USDT token vouchers valued between ₹300 and ₹1,200.

The total reward pool is ₹2 crore in USDT token vouchers, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Each eligible participant can unlock up to 20 reward boxes during the campaign period.

In addition, users are invited to join an exciting week-long social challenge, featuring an additional prize pool of $10,000 in USDT. To participate, users simply need to follow Binance India’s official X and Instagram channels and engage with the social giveaways for a chance to win additional rewards.

Localizing Global Brand Engagement

This campaign exemplifies Binance’s approach to integrating global brand initiatives with India’s rich cultural calendar, aligning with the increasing interest in digital assets among Indian retail users. As India leads the global crypto adoption index, Binance remains committed to promoting safe and responsible adoption by offering comprehensive educational resources through Binance Academy, empowering users to become fully acquainted with digital assets before engaging in the crypto ecosystem.

Participation in the rewards campaign requires mandatory identity verification and is subject to predefined eligibility criteria and anti-abuse safeguards to ensure a fair experience for all participants.

Eligibility and Considerations

The campaign is open exclusively to verified Indian users, with certain trading pairs excluded as per the campaign’s terms. Rewards are issued as USDT token vouchers and credited to users’ accounts in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions.

Binance reminds users that digital asset trading involves market risk, and participants should carefully review platform policies and campaign details before joining.

Verdant IMAP Advises Open Access Data Centres on South African Data Centre Acquisition

Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb 27: Verdant IMAP is pleased to announce that it has advised on the acquisition of a portfolio of South African data centre assets from NTT DATA, by Open Access Data Centres a subsidiary of WIOCC Group.

NTT operate global technology and digital infrastructure platforms, and the assets form part of their South African data centre operations.

The transaction comprises seven data centre facilities, strategically located in key centres across South Africa, forming an important platform within South Africa’s digital infrastructure ecosystem. The assets support enterprise, wholesale, and cloud connectivity requirements and represent critical infrastructure underpinning the country’s growing digital economy.

The acquisition strengthens WIOCC Group’s position as a multi-regional digital infrastructure provider, expanding its footprint in South Africa while complementing its broader pan-African and international network and connectivity assets. The transaction enhances the group’s ability to serve its diverse client group, which includes hyperscalers, CDNs, network operators, ISPs, and enterprise clients with scalable, resilient, and carrier-neutral data centre capacity across multiple markets.

The transaction reflects continued investment momentum in African digital infrastructure, underpinned by sustained growth in data consumption, cloud adoption, and increasing demand for neutral, carrier-dense data centre facilities in strategically located markets.

The transaction has received approval from the Competition Commission of South Africa.

Verdant IMAP acted as financial adviser to OADC (A WIOCC Group Company). The transaction involved navigating a highly complex and negotiated process, including the resolution of complex commercial, legal, and structural considerations. The transaction required extensive coordination across financial, commercial, legal, and operational workstreams over a prolonged negotiation period, reflecting the complexity typically associated with large-scale digital infrastructure transactions.

Verdant IMAP operates as part of the global IMAP platform, a long-established international investment banking network with a strong presence across major markets worldwide. IMAP forms an integral part of Verdant IMAP’s business, providing access to global sector expertise, international best practice, and cross-border perspective that underpins the firm’s advisory capabilities across complex transactions in digital infrastructure, telecoms, fintech, and technology-enabled sectors.

The transaction builds on Verdant IMAP’s growing digital infrastructure advisory franchise, reflecting the firm’s continued focus on data centres, fibre networks, telecoms, and technology-enabled infrastructure assets across Africa. Verdant IMAP continues to advise on some of the region’s most complex digital infrastructure transactions, supporting both strategic and financial clients across the investment lifecycle. The transaction is Verdant IMAP’s fourth completed transaction for WIOCC Group. 

African Development Bank Group and African Union renew push for visa-free travel to accelerate Africa’s Economic Transformation

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Feb 27 — African policymakers, business leaders, and development institutions have renewed calls for visa-free travel across the continent, describing the free movement of people as essential to unlocking Africa’s economic transformation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The call was reinforced at a High-Level Symposium on Advancing a Visa-Free Africa for Economic Prosperity, co-convened by the African Development Bank Group and the African Union Commission on the margins of the 39th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa.

Participants framed mobility as the missing link in Africa’s integration agenda, arguing that while tariffs are falling under AfCFTA, restrictive visa regimes continue to limit trade in services, investment flows, tourism, and labour mobility.

Alex Mubiru, Director General for Eastern Africa at the African Development Bank Group, said that visa-free travel, interoperable digital systems, and integrated markets are practical enablers of enterprise, innovation, and regional value chains to translate policy ambitions into economic activity.

“The evidence is clear. The economics support openness. The human story demands it,” he told participants, urging countries to move from incremental reforms to “transformative change.”

Amma A. Twum-Amoah, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development at the African Union Commission, called for faster implementation of existing continental frameworks, describing visa openness as a strategic lever for deepening regional markets and enhancing collective responses to economic and humanitarian crises.

Former AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reiterated that free movement is central to the African Union’s long-term development blueprint, Agenda 2063. “If we accept that we are Africans, then we must be able to move freely across our continent,” she said, urging member states to operationalise initiatives such as the African Passport and the Free Movement of Persons Protocol.

Ghana’s Trade and Industry Minister, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, shared her country’s experience as an early adopter of open visa policies for African travellers, citing increased business travel, tourism, and investor interest as early dividends of greater openness.

The Symposium also reviewed findings from the latest Africa Visa Openness Index, which shows that more than half of intra-African travel still requires visas before departure – seen by participants as a significant drag on intra-continental commerce.

Mesfin Bekele, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, called for full implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), saying aviation connectivity and visa liberalisation must advance together to enable seamless travel.

Regional representatives, including Elias Magosi, Executive Secretary of the Southern Africa Development Community, emphasised the importance of building trust through border management and digital information-sharing systems.

Gabby Otchere Darko, Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network, urged governments to support the “Make Africa Borderless Now” campaign, while tourism campaigner Ras Mubarak called for more ratifications of the AU Free Movement of Persons protocol.

Participants concluded that achieving a visa-free Africa will require aligning migration policies, digital identity systems, and border infrastructure, alongside sustained political commitment.

In a symbolic gesture, attendees signed a “passport wall,” signalling support for accelerated reforms to make movement across African borders easier for citizens.

The African Development Bank Group and the African Union Commission said they will continue working with member states and regional bodies to advance coordinated approaches to mobility – seen as a cornerstone of Africa’s integration, competitiveness, and long-term growth.

African Development Bank Group awards $16.6 million grant to International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to scale agricultural technologies in Africa

African Development Bank Group awards $16.6 million grant to International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to scale agricultural technologies in AfricaThe agreement, signed on 18 February 2026 in Abuja, bolsters a shared commitment to modernise African agriculture by scaling proven technologies, strengthening seed systems, and expanding partnerships

ABUJA, Nigeria, Feb 27– The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (www.AfDB.org) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have signed a $16.61 million grant agreement to launch the third phase of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Program (TAAT-III), aimed at scaling climate-resilient food production across the continent.

The agreement, signed on 18 February 2026 in Abuja, bolsters a shared commitment to modernise African agriculture by scaling proven technologies, strengthening seed systems, and expanding partnerships among research institutions, governments, and private sector actors.

Since its launch in 2018, TAAT has become one of Africa’s most effective and transformative platforms for agricultural innovation, reaching nearly 25 million farmers and boosting productivity across major staples. The initiative has expanded climate-resilient agricultural practices across over 35 million hectares.

Working closely with the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR) and national and regional partners, TAAT has increased crop yields as much as 69 percent and generated more than $4 billion in additional agricultural value. Countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria have recorded notable gains in staple crop productivity and resilience to climate shocks.

Nigeria has been a key beneficiary of TAAT initiatives. Under its Wheat Compact, farmers adopting improved heat-tolerant varieties more than doubled yields from 1.7 tons per hectare to 3.5 tons per hectare. Programme‑supported seed system assessments also helped inform national reforms to expand access to certified, climate-resilient seeds.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Abdul Kamara, Director General of the Bank Group’s Nigeria Country Department, said the new phase will focus on scaling innovation more rapidly: “TAAT-III underscores the Bank’s commitment to ensuring that proven, climate-resilient agricultural technologies reach farmers faster and at scale. This phase strengthens the systems that deliver innovation, helping countries boost productivity, enhance resilience, and align agricultural transformation efforts with the Bank’s four new areas of emphasis, dubbed the Four Cardinal Points.”

Financed through the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional lending window, TAAT-III will consolidate earlier gains while introducing a more sustainable, private sector-driven delivery model. The initiative aims to reinforce seed and technology distribution systems, deepen partnerships with governments and agribusinesses, and expand the digital tools, including its technology e-catalogues and real-time monitoring platforms, to speed up deployment of high‑impact solutions.

Simeon Ehui, Director General of IITA, remarked: “TAAT-III allows us to deepen the delivery of science‑based solutions that improve farmers’ yields and livelihoods. Working with the Bank and our partners, we are scaling technologies that make Africa’s food systems more resilient and competitive.”

TAAT featured prominently in supporting the Bank Group’s Africa Emergency Food Production Facility, helping countries to rapidly deploy improved seeds and technologies to stabilise food supplies during recent global disruptions. The programme’s third phase seeks to embed these innovations within long-term national agricultural investment strategies.

TAAT-III is expected to reach an additional 14 million farmers across 37 low-income and vulnerable countries served by the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional financing window.