A marked rise in demand for digital solutions and automation in mining has led to increased impetus to accelerate this drive across Africa.

Sedna Industrial IT Solutions recently affirmed its commitment to the technological advancement and development of Africa’s mining sector by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nokia at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, or Gitex, 2022 in Dubai. 

Sedna currently partners with Nokia on numerous projects and the MoU aims to expand the partnership to make the company Nokia’s main system integrator for Africa in mining and other industrial applications. 

“By strengthening our partnership, we can help to rapidly accelerate the digitalisation of mining and improve efficiencies and outcomes on their Industry 4.0 journey, ultimately ensuring Africa’s rich mining heritage is protected and maximized thanks to the immense opportunities now on our doorstep,” says Sedna MD Anton Fester.

Sedna is a mining-facing solutions integrator with a focus on safety, sustainability, productivity and efficiency, while Nokia provides wireless connectivity and mission-critical edge solutions.

The agreement will facilitate the instalment of Nokia private long-term evolution (LTE) networks with the aim of delivering safer, and more efficient and productive solutions in operational areas above and underground. Sedna will assist in the solution design and identification of a suitable device ecosystem. 

“Sedna has in-house design and manufacturing capabilities to ensure that dependable networks can be deployed beyond fixed infrastructure limitations. We want to give business leaders the confidence to make business-critical decisions based on real-time, system extracted information delivered via mission-critical communication infrastructure. By leveraging our knowledge of mining operational areas, we continue to deliver engineered solutions safely and predictably,” says Fester.

Nokia has already deployed more than 65 private wireless mining networks with over 35 customers worldwide. Sedna reports that it installed Africa’s first licensed spectrum private LTE network in South Africa as well as Africa’s first underground leaky feeder licensed spectrum private LTE network, among many other innovations in the sector.

Both companies aim to expand their solutions broadly across the continent, including the development of adequate use cases to address customer needs in the region, based on use cases for mine exploration and exploitation – above and underground – such as situational awareness; mobile connectivity for sensors, field workers and drones; mission-critical push-to-talk and push-to-video; as well as geolocation and geofencing for workers’ safety.

“Sedna is a trusted Nokia partner and together we have helped mining companies around the world accelerate their transformation to mining 4.0,” added Nokia head of enterprise business China, Middle East and Africa Kamal Ballout.