MSME Market Access (India): QCI and NSIC signed a five-year MoU to help MSMEs adopt quality standards and expand market reach, tying ZED certification to digital commerce, ONDC onboarding, AI product cataloguing, and export promotion. AI Skills Push (South Africa): Telkom pledged R100m to create an AI Institute aimed at job-ready training for young people, small businesses, and underserved communities. Startup Breakout (Cambodia): Khmer Enterprise and 2080 Ventures backed PharmKulen, building a medicine-search and pharmacy stock system using a large, multilingual medicine dataset and fine-tuned pharma AI. On-Device AI (Tech): Apple discussed with PrismML how to run larger AI models on iPhones, using a dense model approach that could boost on-device performance. Chip Manufacturing Bet (Europe): Munich startup QuantumDiamonds raised €91m to scale a diamond-based “microscope” for finding defects inside advanced chips, supported by EU state aid under the Chips Act. IP for Growth (Liberia): Liberia outlined WIPO-led intellectual property reforms focused on better services for creators and entrepreneurs, plus treaty submissions for ratification. Late Payments Fix (Europe): Aria raised €7m and launched a €240m debt facility to speed invoice financing and tackle Europe’s payment delays. SME Banking Win (Namibia): FNB Namibia was named Best SME Bank in Namibia, citing its nationwide SME support and entrepreneur training. Workforce Reality Check (UK): A UK survey found many small employers struggle to find qualified applicants, with immigration limits and skills mismatch cited as key drivers.