Belgium-based ATOMNIA is enhancing its global reputation as a leader in digital transformation and cybersecurity. Supported by the Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX) and Belgian tech incubator IGNITY, ATOMNIA has joined forces with Smart Hands Africa (SHA) to strengthen digital infrastructure and secure, scalable connectivity across the African continent. The partnership was launched with a contract signing event at the Belgian Consulate in the presence of the Belgian Consul General himself, Nicolas Fierens Gevaert, and Catherine Bauwens of the Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX)
The collaboration is designed to empower African businesses, organisations and governments by delivering OMNIA – the fully integrated, flexible and scalable networking and cyber security solution – continent-wide, including the most underserved locations.
OMNIA: Seamlessly Integrated SASE, SD-WAN & AI-Driven Threat Detection – in one affordable solution
The OMNIA solution stands out thanks to its advanced, affordable, all-in-one Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) cybersecurity and SD-WAN technology, which combines multiple layers of connectivity, advanced security and AI-driven threat detection.
Importantly, ATOMNIA’s financing model replaces expensive, inflexible contracts with an affordable pay-as-you-go and monthly subscription approach, helping small and medium-sized businesses adopt world-class technology without high upfront costs.
The platform supports a range of connection types, including fibre, LTE/5G, and satellite (such as Starlink) and features the ability to run on a 12-volt battery, providing reliable performance even in regions with unstable power and internet.
How Belgium is Empowering Africa’s Digital & Data Sovereignty
“Belgian business partnerships – including this one between ATOMNIA, Smart Hands Africa, AWEX and IGNITY – are crucial for driving both digital inclusion and economic growth in Africa, whilst supporting African digital and data sovereignty, ” says Anthony Senter, CEO and co-founder of ATOMNIA. “By integrating local expertise with global innovation, we’re helping African businesses, telcos, MSPs and government departments increase uptime, boost data protection and scale confidently as part of the global digital economy.”
Belgium ranks as South Africa’s fifth-largest supplier and third-largest customer – highlighting the nation’s commitment to fair, balanced and high-value trade in the region. In 2024, Belgian exports to South Africa reached EUR 1.5 billion, with imports peaking at EUR 2.9 billion, underscoring two-way business growth.
ATOMNIA and Smart Hands Africa Driving African Digital Transformation
Smart Hands Africa helps bridge the enduring gap between global vendors and local IT talent networks. By leveraging SHA’s on-the-ground engineering teams and training programs, OMNIA’s rollout ensures that cutting-edge technology is deployed and maintained by African professionals.
“The ATOMNIA Smart Hands Africa partnership is shaping Africa’s digital destiny,” says Anton Jacobsz, CEO of Smart Hands Africa. “By empowering local partners and fostering ownership, we’re strengthening infrastructure and skills for the long term. In the Smart SASE model SASE stands for Smart Access Secure Edge, a next-generation evolution that goes far beyond the industry’s traditional secure access service edge.”
Support for ATOMNIA at the Highest Levels
IGNITY, one of Europe’s leading tech incubators, is supporting ATOMNIA’s global expansion, alongside AWEX, ensuring Belgium plays a key role in delivering high-value digital transformation projects that enable advanced, affordable and resilient ICT solutions across Africa.
As Nicolas Vanhaelen of IGNITY, affirms, “We saw in ATOMNIA a hidden gem — a team capable of delivering top-tier (and even beyond) network security solutions, rooted in Wallonia yet reaching out to the entire world. We were impressed by their background and technical references, but also by their vision: delivering easy-to-access security solutions, independent from the traditional giants. In 2025, any business, anywhere in the world, needs secure networks — and everyone deserves access to them at an affordable price. Security shouldn’t be a privilege. ATOMNIA aims to bring independent security to the world, and IGNITY is proud to help them achieve this goal.”
By uniting European expertise with local African leadership, the partnership between ATOMNIA, Smart Hands Africa, AWEX and IGNITY stands at the forefront of Africa’s digital future. This collaboration offers African enterprises the power to achieve digital and data sovereignty, harness the advantages of secure networking and build a foundation for sustainable, tech-enabled growth.
