<blockquote style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote"><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Worldreader.org chose Ghana because according to Risher:”Its Government was
stable and it was focused on education.”</span></font><br></blockquote><br>May God help my country....:) congrats to Ghana and Africa as a whole!!<br><br>Regards<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Anne-Rachel Inne <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:anne-rachel.inne@icann.org">anne-rachel.inne@icann.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; color: white;">Issue no 528<br>
29th Oct 2010</span></p>
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<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_topstory"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Worldreader.org trials Amazon
Kindles in Ghanaian schools and plans to roll-out in other African countries</span></a><span style="font-size: 7pt;"></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Worldreader.org’s CEO David Risher is passionate about
encouraging reading. After a “road to Damascus” moment in an orphanage in
Ecuador with a locked library, he decided with his co-founder that Kindle
e-readers would be an effective way of relighting the reading habit in
developing country schools. He chose Ghana to try out this idea and this week
he talks to Russell Southwood about progress so far.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/48/0/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 8pt; text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="Gateway Communications Banner" height="80" width="550" border="0"></span></a><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"></span></p>
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<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/770/0/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="SES WORLD SKIES banner" height="80" width="550" border="0"></span></a></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">telecoms news</span></h3>
<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_tel01"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Safaricom signs M-Pesa
Mobile Money deals with Uchumi Supermarkets and Naivas<br>
</span></a></span></h4>
<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_tel02"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Telecom Namibia Battles
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</span></a></span></h4>
<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_tel03"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Telkom Kenya Calls Back
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_tel04"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">France Telecom steps up
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_int01"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">MTN relaunches UUNet as
MTN Business in Kenya and targets the corporate market<br>
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_int02"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Spectrum Out With Back-ups
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_int03"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Mobile Internet Revolution
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_comp01"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Controversy Brews at Addis
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_comp02"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Plans to Set Up Science
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_comp03"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Mauritius to Employ 30,000
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_money01"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Zimbabwe
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<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_money03"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Lower
revenues, higher ad costs prompt net income slump for MobiNil in 3Q10</span></a></span></h4>
<h4><span><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_money04"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Rural
Varsities Get Better Connected in South Africa in R28 million funding deal</span></a></span></h4>
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<h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/899/0/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="Sky2net banner" height="80" width="550" border="0"></span></a></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); font-weight: normal;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); font-weight: normal;">Worldreader.org trials Amazon Kindles in
Ghanaian schools and plans to roll-out in other African countries</span></h1>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Worldreader.org’s CEO David Risher is passionate about
encouraging reading. After a “road to Damascus” moment in an orphanage in
Ecuador with a locked library, he decided with his co-founder that Kindle
e-readers would be an effective way of relighting the reading habit in
developing country schools. He chose Ghana to try out this idea and this week
he talks to Russell Southwood about progress so far.<br>
<br>
David Risher took his family off round the world on a year long vacation,
visiting places in Asia and Latin America. He and his wife schooled their
children while away using books on an Amazon Kindle e-reader. During one part
of their trip, they visited an orphanage and found that what had once been a
library was padlocked and no-one could find the key.<br>
<br>
”The girls in the orphanage had lost interest in reading.” These two things
came together and he and his co-founder began to think about how they could
give access to books to students using the Kindle e-reader device:”The
technology is useful in the developing world where paper can’t reach.”<br>
<br>
Worldreader.org chose Ghana because according to Risher:”Its Government was
stable and it was focused on education.” It ran a two week trial and during
that time it became clear that the students felt it was like using a mobile
phone. However, there were four hours training time over the two weeks for
both teachers and students. <br>
<br>
Now it is in the process of putting e-readers into six schools, two from each
different education level: primary, junior high and secondary. A research
project will be conducted with another set of schools that have no e-readers
for the purpose of comparison. So there will be 500 teachers and students
with access to the device and 500 without. <br>
<br>
An international donor is paying for the research that will ask two fairly
fundamental questions: do the students with access to the Kindles read more
and does their reading level increase? Alongside these two questions, it will
look at how the Kindle is used in the family setting and how the teacher
incorporates new material into the curriculum. Refreshingly, Ritter wants the
research to be “arms-length and credible for us and the funders” rather than
a piece of advocacy work.<br>
<br>
The Kindle e-readers will have three roughly equal categories of material:
classics like Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo and Nathanial Hawthorne for
advanced years study (where the material is out of copyright); local books in
English and vernacular languages that it has helped Ghanaian publishers
digitise; and text books. Among the local books is one called The Shark about
a student wrongly accused of having an affair with her teacher.<br>
<br>
Content will be rolled out in three phases. Phase 1 will be pre-loaded books
that come with the Kindle loaded on by Worldreader.org. Phase 2 will be
materials that the teachers have added. And phase 3 is where it might get
really interesting. Students will be given US$15-20 to buy any books they
want:”If we give children a budget to rent or buy books, it will become
demand-driven.”<br>
<br>
So how well can the Kindle survive the rough and tumble of the school
environment?: “It is good but not great. School is where kids throw things
around. We haven’t lost any to this kind of damage yet. We partnered with
M-Edge who make neoprene jackets for them and they’ve donated jackets that we
hope will protect them.” In the medium to long-term, he’d like to be able to
influence their design to make them faster and more rugged.<br>
<br>
The money to be able buy the US$250 readers has come from a range of
different sources, largely private: from some ex-Microsoft employees in
Seattle who wanted smart ways to invest their money socially and through
“in-kind” donations. Amazon donated some initial readers and is offering
discounts on the rest.<br>
<br>
Worldreader.org chose the Kindle because it is more or less a single function
machine and is therefore cheaper than its equivalent tablet devices like the
iPad:”For the developing world, an iPad is overkill.” Risher also believes
that as a reader only it is less distracting for students. The 3G capability
means that books can be delivered in relatively far-flung places as 3G
networks expand. It has only limited Internet capability:”You can get it to
cough up a Wikipedia article but its Internet functionality is very limited.”
Furthermore, the 1 hour recharge lasts in most instances two weeks but
obviously makes access to electricity a must.<br>
<br>
The mid-term ambition once the pilot has been evaluated is two-fold: firstly,
to learn the lessons of the pilot and to continue to expand and secondly, to
roll-out to more countries, some of which will be in Africa in the near
term:”In choosing, there are many factors but two are really important. There
are infrastructure factors: is there 3G coverage? But the real issue is we’re
trying to change human behaviour. So in the next geography we go to, it will
be about the willingness of Government to embrace this.”<br>
<br>
Worlreader.org are not the first organisation to travel this road so it’s
worth reviewing some of the general issues raised when this kind of project
comes into view:<br>
<br>
* Africa’s not a reading culture: Yes, Africa has a wonderful oral tradition
of storytelling and should have for many years to come. But reading is a key
skill from the most basic functional literacy (filling in a form) to
accessing the new digital world (SMS and the Internet). Notwithstanding the
continuing debates about the dumbing- down impact of global culture, there is
a clear causal link between reading levels and the development of a society.
And perhaps this may be as strong a causal link as the roll-out of broadband.
There are issues of local language and the availability of local materials
but these are more likely to be solved if there is a distribution system in
place.<br>
<br>
* It’s a waste of money. Why don’t they just spend more money on education
(or something else that the person thinks is important)?: This is a classic
development argument that is both self-defeating and unreal. Ten years ago,
development experts were arguing that more water stand-pipes were needed, not
the Internet. The truth is that the development community does not really get
to make these choices. Middle class African parents will buy themselves or
their kids iPads or Kindles and get ahead in the race to succeed. Private
investors put in 3G networks that others will use. Classrooms that have no
windows when the Kindles arrive will simply demonstrate uneven development
and in the best of circumstances, inspire people to improve things more
generally. They find money to build churches and mosques, so why not money to
improve schools? However, this will only happen if the teachers, parents and
children love the device that is introduced and prove it can work. And on
things like the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the jury’s still out.<br>
<br>
* Africans can’t afford it: At US$250, this puts it squarely out of the reach
of all but the LSM9-12 categories. However, at US$100, which is where the
price of Kindle-type devices is most likely headed, then it’s easier to
imagine a wider range of users wanting to buy it for their children. We’ve
seen iPad knock-offs that Chinese manufacturers are claiming that they can
bring in at under that price. All over Africa, there is a thirst for
education amongst parents of a wide range of backgrounds and incomes, and if
they are convinced that reading will help their children get ahead, then it
will begin to succeed both inside the market (where parents buy them) and
outside the market (where donors buy them).<br>
<br>
* But it doesn’t give them Internet access or full this or full that: The
Kindle is uni-functional as against something like the OLPC, which is
multi-functional. The strength of uni-functional is that it brings the price
down and in concentrating on one thing allows the user to get quick access to
that single function. You don’t always have to be worrying about software
glitches, incomprehension at operating systems and the delicacy of PC innards
in a tropical climate. However, there a ladder of expectations across all
technologies. If some of your friends start getting smartphones to access
Facebook, you don’t say to yourself, “well, I’ll just sit this one out while
they get on with it.”<br>
<br>
Too much African education is repetition and rote learning. The more students
and their parents as knowledgeable, or even more knowledgeable, than
teachers, the greater the opportunities of raising the level of expectation
beyond learn and repeat-type lessons. Demand-driven education – both inside
and outside the classroom – may well expand horizons faster than any Ministry
of Education or curriculum can keep up with. The digital transition in
broadcast has already seen education channels introduced in Kenya and
Nigeria. Who knows, we may even get to a position where students understand
how to analyse problems and then begin to solve them. And in that they’d
certainly be ahead of most of the current elderly generation of African
leaders. But hey, maybe I’m just an optimist.<br>
<br>
It’s worth repeating that Africa now has the bandwidth to make these kind of
technology interventions that ten years were the embarrassing failures where
things like PCs were sometimes not even unpacked from their boxes in schools.
Now there is the bandwidth to deliver to the edges of the 3G network, so the
question will be: will students love to use this device and will it make
reading more widespread?</span></p>
</div>
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<p style="margin-right: 1.2pt; margin-bottom: 4.8pt; margin-left: 0in; text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-decoration: none;">Back to top</span></a> </span></p>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_tel01"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Safaricom signs
M-Pesa Mobile Money deals with Uchumi Supermarkets and Naivas</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Safaricom has started to target high turnover retail chains
business using its money transfer service, M-Pesa with its latest deal with
Uchumi Supermarkets. The deal, which will enable Safaricom's subscribers to
use the M-Pesa service to buy goods from two of Kenya's leading retail chains
was signed last Friday, deepening the country's foray into the era of
cashless transactions.<br>
<br>
The partnership involving Uchumi Supermarkets, which is Kenya's second
largest retail chain by annual turnover, and fourth placed Naivas deepens the
mobile money transfer platform's transformation into a key electronic
commerce tool with the potential of upsetting the cash-based transaction
system that currently dominates the country's commerce.<br>
<br>
"Our aim is to bring about a situation where M-Pesa subscribers will
leave home with money in their M-Pesa accounts and not need any other form of
cash to transact during the day," said Michael Joseph, the outgoing
Safaricom CEO. "This is only the beginning of a new revolution because
we also plan to sign up petrol stations, restaurants, hotels, and chemists as
M-Pesa Buy Goods partners," he said.<br>
<br>
The move comes at a time when Safaricom's main income earner - sale of
airtime - is under severe pressure from a fierce price war that has seen calling
tariffs drop to rock bottom levels in the past two months.<br>
<br>
Safaricom's signing up of more retailers is hinged on the expectation that
use of the service by the estimated 12.5 million M-Pesa customers will boost
the company's top line, and help scale down its reliance on voice calls as
the main revenue earner. Joseph said the service will initially be free, but
will later attract charges.<br>
<br>
The Uchumi supermarket's chief executive, Jonathan Ciano said about 20
million shoppers visited Uchumi's stores last year, an indication of the high
revenue potential based on the low-margin, high volume pricing model. In the
year ended June 2010, shoppers at Uchumi spent Sh9.6 billion. As a listed
company, Uchumi is the only supermarket in Kenya that publishes its annual
accounts.<br>
(Source: Daily Nation on the web) <br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_tel02"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Telecom Namibia
Battles Underground Cable Damage</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">tFrequent cable cuts by contractors and builders are resulting
in a sharp increase in telecommunications service disruptions, Telecom
Namibia said this week. Cut cables usually mean that communications services
are needlessly interrupted in a neighbourhood, town or even in a wider area,
affecting hundreds of homes and businesses.<br>
<br>
Telecom spokesperson Oiva Angula said the disruptions were impacting on the company's
business both from a quality and financial perspective. "In order to
provide end-to-end, always-on connectivity, other service providers rely on
leased circuits procured from Telecom Namibia. This service provisioning is
backed by strict Service Level Agreement (SLA) norms due to the need for high
quality and resilient connectivity.<br>
<br>
"However, frequent stoppages due to cable cuts experienced in the
networks cause serious losses to Telecom Namibia - which pays significant
penalties on account of non-conformity to SLA norms," Angula said in a
statement.<br>
<br>
He said the "unpleasant surprise" could be avoided if construction
companies and others first contacted the nearest Telecom Namibia office
before starting a project that involved digging or disturbance of the earth
of any kind.<br>
<br>
"A severed cable can be costly to the person or company responsible for
the damage, and even more hurtful to someone who needs to make an emergency
call but cannot because the phone line is cut," he said.<br>
<br>
He called on contractors and builders to familiarise themselves with all
services - electrical, water and telephone - at a site before they start
work. Telecom Namibia said it will issue a drawing, free of charge, detailing
all the information it has on underground cables in the area where work is to
be carried out.<br>
<br>
"In recent months we have discovered contractors working without mark-up
drawings on site - this is a highly dangerous practice and steps must be
taken to ensure proper safety procedures are followed," Angula said. He
said anyone who failed to comply could be liable for repair costs or civil
penalties. <br>
(Source: The Namibian)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_tel03"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Telkom Kenya defends
its landline turf with lower CDMA charges</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Telkom Kenya has moved to defend its landline turf which has
been hit by stiff competition from mobile phones by slashing its tariff on
the wireless network offered on CDMA technology by 71 per cent. Subscribers
will now make calls for Sh2 per minute down from Sh7 per minute charged
previously within the network. Calls from the CDMA wireless service to other
networks will cost Sh4 per minute.<br>
<br>
The telecoms company has also cut its SMS charges to Sh1 within network while
to other networks will be billed at Sh2. Telkom Kenya CEO Mickael Ghossein
said the move has been informed by the changing market dynamics and
facilitated by the recent successful integration of the different platforms
used to support all their telephony services. "This is part of our
ongoing commitment to making communication affordable to all, irrespective of
the time", Ghossein said.<br>
<br>
The high cost of maintaining landlines, estimated at Sh2 billion annually and
operate on copper cable prone to vandalism has limited Telkom Kenya from
lowering its rates. The high calling rates has seen more consumers shift to
cheaper options.<br>
<br>
The number of fixed lines uses saw a decline of 0.5 per cent, having
decreased to 245,791 in March 2009 down from 247,082 in December 2009. This
was against the backdrop of increase in number of mobile users from 19.4
million to 19.9 million in the period under review, registering a growth of
2.7 per cent, statistics from Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK)
indicate.<br>
<br>
At the same time, the number of fixed wireless subscriptions experienced a
decline of 41 per cent from 551,132 in December 2009 to 325,022 in March
2010. The new Orange fixed line tariffs will see a reduction in the cost of
calling per minute from Sh14 to other networks to Sh12 per minute. Calls to
other Orange fixed line handsets, Orange Wireless and Orange mobile will now
be charged at Sh.6 per minute from the previous Sh7.<br>
<br>
Telkom Kenya will also be offering 30 bonus on-net minutes for all post-paid
fixed customers, with the new tariffs is a move at wooing customers.
"The bonus minutes will be applied automatically and will be consumed
before any billable minutes", he said.<br>
<br>
The CEO also said that there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of
new fixed line operators despite stiff competition from the mobile sector.
Orange has in the past three months lowered its mobile calling tariffs and
internet access costs. Orange is the only wireless service (CDMA) provider in
the country so far, and dominates the fixed line market<br>
(Source: Business Daily)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_tel04"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">France Telecom steps
up interest in Benin</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Financial journal Les Afriques writes that France Telecom
(Orange) has stepped up its interest in taking over state-owned Benin
Telecoms, according to an unnamed source speaking to the publication. <br>
<br>
France Telecom is known to have held talks on entering the Benin market
through a planned privatisation deal, since indicating its interest back in
2007, when the proposal was aired by the African state, but according to the
quoted source, the French giant has recently entered a ‘final round of
negotiations’ with Benin Telecoms’ board and the government. ‘Since the idea
of privatisation was announced, a number of internationally known operators
have expressed an interest,’ said the source, adding that financial and
technical offers remained under scrutiny, whilst it has been rumoured that Orange’s
submission is in pole position, helped by intense lobbying efforts from the
company’s delegation in Benin over the past few months. <br>
<br>
Another persistent rumour is that a possible deal could also include Bell
Benin Communication, a cellco owned by businessman and politician Issa
Salifou, despite Benin Telecoms also owning a 100% GSM subsidiary, Libercom.
Regardless of the details, the potential takeover fits into Orange's
expansion strategy in Africa, with the group currently finalising
acquisitions in Togo and Morocco. In the latter market – where it has agreed
a minority share purchase of Medi Telecom – it will compete with Maroc
Telecom, owned by France rival Vivendi, which is another company previously
mentioned in connection with a possible purchase of Benin Telecoms.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_int"></a><span style="font-size: 7pt;"><br>
<br>
<a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/35/0/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="Balancing Act Banner" height="80" width="550" border="0"></span></a></span></p>
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<h2 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.05in; margin-left: 0in; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(153, 153, 204); vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: white;">telecoms
briefs</span></h2>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-right: 3pt; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 3pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(204, 204, 255);"><span style="font-size: 6.5pt;">- Cell C has made a pit stop in Polokwane
in its race to hook up the country’s main towns and cities to its
third-generation mobile network.Polokwane, the capital of Limpopo province,
will have 67% network coverage for now, slightly lower than many of the other
cities in which the company has launched its new network.<br>
However, Cell C’s Head of Marketing, Simon Camerer, says the city will have
98% coverage by January next year.Residents of Polokwane, will receive
average download speeds of between 6Mbit/s and 9Mbit/s.Gauteng residents will
be hoping Pretoria and Johannesburg will be the next on Cell C’s list. Cell C
CEO Lars Reichelt has said Gauteng should go live in mid-November. However,
he has also said that the Gauteng roll-out has been more difficult than
expected. <br>
<br>
- An argument over whether South Africa’s telecommunications regulator has
jurisdiction to rule in a dispute between Telkom and Vodacom, MTN and Cell C
over interconnection fees, could spell bad news for the traditionally
fixed-line operator. Telkom wants the mobile operators to pay it 93c/minute
for calls it carries from them onto its new mobile network, 8ta. In turn, it
wants to pay them the lower “termination rate” of 89c/minute (in peak times)
and 77c/minute (off-peak) for calls in the other direction. The three
incumbent operators are fighting tooth and nail to prevent the asymmetrical
regime that Telkom wants imposed and has taken the matter to Icasa for
resolution. Vodacom on Friday argued that the Icasa committee does not have
the right to set an interconnection rate. It said the Electronic
Communications Act only allows Icasa, as a full council, to make a decision
on pricing. However, Telkom said the act fully empowered the committee to
make a ruling on the matter. The committee was required to investigate and
make an appropriate finding on an interconnection dispute if requested to do
so by the Icasa council, it said.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1280/0/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="Balancing Act Report - African Mobile ARPU and Subscriber Forecasts" height="213" width="150" border="0"></span></a></span></p>
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<p style="margin-right: 1.2pt; margin-bottom: 4.8pt; margin-left: 0in; text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-decoration: none;">Back to top</span></a> </span></p>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_int01"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">MTN relaunches UUNet
as MTN Business in Kenya and targets the corporate market</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Last Wednesday UUNET was re-branded as MTN Business Kenya, to
reflect its principal shareholder. MTN group is Africa's largest
telecommunications operator with nearly 130 million cellular subscribers in
the region and in the Middle East. "We are leveraging on MTN's
continental footprint to up our game in the internet market," said the
new outfit's managing director, Tom Omariba.<br>
<br>
This is anticipated to renew rivalry in the corporate data market, where the
firm currently has about 700 customers. Its competitiors AccessKenya,
Safaricom and Telkom Kenya are also fighting from their end to remain strong.
According to Omariba, the new structure will give the firm impetus to play
within the data sphere and will carry internet traffic from pan-African
networks to the rest of the world by leveraging on MTN Business.<br>
<br>
"With the rebrand, one of our core objectives is to open up the region
for business with additional VAS offerings," said Mr Omariba. In 2004,
Verizon South Africa bought UUNET Africa, including the Kenyan subsidiary.<br>
<br>
However, in 2008, South Africa-based mobile operator MTN bought 100 per cent
of corporate internet service provider Verizon South Africa, which was owned
by US-based Verizon Communications (70 per cent) and local group Jay &
Jayendra (30 per cent).<br>
<br>
Later, MTN (60 per cent) and Telkom South Africa (40 per cent) in a joint
venture formed SDN Mauritius that took over 70 per cent of UUNET Kenya. The
other 30 per cent is taken by local shareholding.<br>
(Source: Daily Nation on the Web)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Tanzania: National Electoral Commission’s web site not ready
for forthcoming election</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">With only four days to go before the 2010 General Election,
information on the National Electoral Commission (NEC) website is shockingly
outdated as very few facts and figures are available about the October 31
elections.<br>
<br>
The total number of visitors to <a href="http://www.nec.go.tz" target="_blank">www.nec.go.tz</a>, currently standing at about
3,500, is an indication of how few people are relying on it as a source of
information, although the outdated and limited details can be frustrating.<br>
<br>
A quick visit proves that NEC was yet to post up-to-date details of voters
and polling centres, or the presiding officers as deployed countrywide.
Coupled with constant breakdowns, and the continued use of obsolete
information, the site could mislead those intent on using it to monitor or
follow the voting progress on Sunday and the subsequent counting exercise.<br>
<br>
It is not clear why NEC is yet to update some of the information, including
changing the names of former MPs, some who are deceased and others who had
already been replaced during by-elections. An example of the site's
shortcomings is the retaining of the status of deceased MPs such as Juma
Akukweti, Richard Nyaulawa and others as members of the National Assembly.
There is also no list of presidential candidates running this year, with
Chadema's Dr Willibrod Slaa still being referred to as MP for Karatu.<br>
<br>
Under the tag of Voter Register, the latest entry is an update for 2007/2008
that put the total number of voters at 18 million, with an additional 2
million new entries. NEC had indicated this year that those who have been
cleared to vote stand at over 19 million.<br>
<br>
Last week, the NEC principal education officer, Ms Ruth Masham, told The
Citizen in a phone interview that the Commission had been experiencing
technical problems in running the website. Asked why tit had not updated it,
she said: "This is an internal matter whose details I can't disclose to
you but we are working on it and will soon bring it to date." However,
part of the problem appears to be a shortage of staff, including those with
IT skills.<br>
<br>
"We have been overwhelmed by preparations for the General Election and
as a result the person tasked to update and manage the website could not get
time to do so," Ms Christina Njovu, NEC's public relations officer told
The Citizen last week in a telephone interview.<br>
<br>
Only a few websites including that of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), parliament
and the national bureau of statistics appear updated, modernised and busy.
Some websites belonging to ministries have not been updated with critical
information for the past year. The ministry of East African Cooperation is
another huge non-performer.<br>
<br>
Unlike the corresponding websites of other East African partner states, the
local website has no single material posted regarding the East African Common
Market protocol that came into force in July. For more than two years, the
ministry of Energy and Minerals website is more or less like a
"dummy." It has neither energy nor minerals statistics posted on
it. "Statistics coming soon," it reads.<br>
<br>
The EAC ministry website is outdated, despite its first page claiming that:
"It is our fervent hope that our website provides you with beneficial
information and assists you in understanding the EAC integration process."
The director for Information and Communication Technologies at the ministry
of Communication, Science and Technology, Dr Zaipuna Yonah, says the
responsibility to manage the websites is within the ministries and agencies
themselves.<br>
<br>
He said the authorities have realised there is a deficiency in ICT
utilisation for communication and has called a meeting for tomorrow
(Thursday) to discuss, among other things, matters pertaining to
mismanagement of government websites.<br>
<br>
"It is unfortunate that the government is not harnessing fully the
potentials of the ICT infrastructure it has improved," said Mr Mwenda,
chief executive officer of WiA Group, a telecommunications investment
management firm in Tanzania. He said lack of effective use of ICT was hurting
the country because many potential local and international investors
increasingly relied on the internet to get information.<br>
(source: The Citizen)</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_int03"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Mobile Internet
Revolution Takes Zimbabwe by Storm</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Zimbabwe entered a new digital era last week Friday when the
largest mobile phone network Econet Wireless launched its mobile broadband
package available to their estimated 4.5 million subscribers.<br>
<br>
Econet CEO Douglas Mboweni said this was the most ambitious project they had
undertaken since 1998 when the company was launched adding the broadband
would be pivotal in reconstructing the country's economy.<br>
<br>
Reporting from Harare our correspondent Simon Muchemwa said three broadband
packages were being offered; "On the Go" for customers on the move
using internet capable handsets and laptops, the "@Home" package
for home users surfing for leisure, school and light business and
"@Work" for business users.<br>
<br>
Muchemwa said customers were asked to send a blank text message to 145 and a
confirmation would then be sent by Econet confirming if the line has been
activated. Subscribers can then buy internet 'bundles' ranging from 1 to 1000
megabytes to allow them to connect to the internet. Each megabyte costs 50 US
cents although many customers were given a free promotional 100 megabytes.<br>
<br>
The project has cost Econet close to US$100 million and covers many of the
major cities. Previous attempts at launching the service in September last
year resulted in an over-subscription and Econet had to suspend offering the
service to new customers until the necessary upgrade had been completed.<br>
<br>
While the economic advantages are obvious, Muchemwa reports that activists
are excited at the prospect of the technology helping to discourage rights
abuses. 'Anyone with a camera or video phone can capture incidents of
political violence and within minutes the whole world will be watching,' he
said.<br>
<br>
Cost however will remain the main stumbling block for the service to take
root effectively. At 50 US cents per megabyte, many people will struggle to
afford the luxury of sending and receiving large files. Early signs are
promising though with Muchemwa saying in the first day of the launch hundreds
of people in Harare could be seen glued to their phones and laptops surfing
the internet.<br>
(Source: SW Radio Africa)</span></p>
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briefs</span></h2>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-right: 3pt; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 3pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(204, 204, 255);"><span style="font-size: 6.5pt;">- Broadband Infraco, the new State-Owned
Enterprise (SOE) that will sell high capacity long distance transmission
services to network service providers in South Africa, has confirmed that it
will unveil its new ZAR1 billion (USD144.1 million) network during the third
week of November. The company has been plagued by licensing issues since its
inception three years ago. Broadband Infraco has since confirmed that it will
operate exclusively within a wholesale business model, targeting both fixed
and mobile operators, as well as internet service providers. Licensed
operators may buy multiple capacity increments of 155Mbps - up to 10Gbps.
Broadband Infraco’s lowest capacity service reportedly offers transmission
speeds akin to 20 HD movies being screened simultaneously.<br>
<br>
- AccessKenya has announced that it has expanded its WiMAX network to the
towns of Nyeri, Nanyuki and Mukurwe-ini in central Kenya. The company said
that there have been numerous requests for its services in these areas, with
AccessKenya identifying sufficient commercial potential in the region. New
customers will benefit from Layer 2 and Layer 3 Virtual Private Networks
(VPNs), inter-branch connectivity, MPLS and other value-added services, all
of which will be linked to AccessKenya's backbone. In 2009 AccessKenya
expanded its WiMAX network from Nairobi and Mombasa to Nakuru, Eldoret and
Kisumu in order to meet the growing demand for its services. AccessKenya had
signed up 3,000 residential customers during 2009, and is expecting to reach
7,000 by end-2010. Corporate leased-line connections increased from 2,550 to
3,150 during 2009. In August 2010 AccessKenya claimed that it had a 42% share
of corporate customers.<br>
<br>
- The prospect of having affordable and unprecedented high speed internet
services by telecom consumers became brighter last week as Nigeria's Second
National Operator, Globacom, formally commenced the commercial services on
its multi-million dollar international 10, 000 kilometres submarine optic
fibre cable, Glo 1.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1279/0/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="Balancing Act Report on Fibre and Satellite Markets" height="213" width="150" border="0"></span></a></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: normal;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_comp"></a><b><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: white; text-transform: uppercase;">COMPUTER NEWS </span></b></p>
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<p style="margin-right: 1.2pt; margin-bottom: 4.8pt; margin-left: 0in; text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-decoration: none;">Back to top</span></a> </span></p>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_comp01"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Controversy
Brews at Addis Chamber Over IT Solution Buy</span></h4>
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<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">The acquiring of a multimillion Birr software solution by the
secretariat of the Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association
(AACCSA) has provoked stern controversy among the board and management,
following a deal entered into between the chamber and CIMAC Inc, an Information
Technology (IT) firm based in California.<br>
The chamber is installing an expanded enterprise resources planning (ERP)
solution which it procured with 5.2 million Br in funds from the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The ERP solution
includes financial, membership, project, human resources, and procurement
management as well as payroll and property administration.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
Teshome Beyene, secretary-general of the chamber, signed the contract
agreement with Seyoum Bereded, representative of CIMAC in Ethiopia, on August
13, 2010. While SIDA granted the chamber close to one million dollars in
2008, the process of selecting an IT vendor took a little over a year.<br>
Meant for seven components of the chamber, the lion's share of the money is set
aside for IT. The secretariat hired Africom Technologies Plc, a local
company, in July 2008, which it paid 150,000 Br to consult the chamber on its
technology requirements.<br>
Africom produced a strategy document and terms of reference (ToR) for the
public tender. The document was sent for evaluation by GAIA, a Swedish
consultant which the chamber had contracted for evaluation.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
Subsequently, a team of three went to the Paris Chamber of Commerce in March
2009, and the East Sweden Chamber of Commerce (ESCC) in May 2009, to
determine whether an in-house developed IT solution or a standard
off-the-shelf solution would be better for the chamber. The team settled on
solution provided by Microsoft.<br>
"Based on the assessment of the team made after the visit and recommendations
from Africom and GAIA, it was decided that an off-the-shelf solution was best
for the chamber," Teshome told Fortune. "Wes decided to use a
solution provided by Microsoft."<br>
For the country's oldest private sector institution which has a 40 million Br
annual budget, installing a state of the art IT solution will transform its
operation, particularly in managing the status of its 7,000 members on its
database, argue those who support the decision by the chamber to buy the
solution.<br>
However, not everyone is on the same page regarding the purchase. The issue
of whether the chamber's operations require the acquisition of a highly
sophisticated and very expensive ERP solution was debated by the board of
directors.<br>
A strong critic of the board's decision is Demissie Assefa, a board member
who was elected with the second highest number of votes next to Brehanu
Getaneh, president of United Bank (UB).</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
ERP is more appropriate for companies with multiple and diverse operations
such as manufacturing plants and airlines, Demissie told Fortune. Its licence
and ownership fees are much higher than the original price to acquire the
solution.<br>
After a majority of the board of directors voted in favour of the project,
the chamber signed an agreement with its Swedish counterpart for the purchase
and delivery of computers and servers at a cost of 2.7 million Br, on October
10, 2009.<br>
Five companies which are agents of the Microsoft solution and based in East
Africa were invited to take part in the bid. Only four showed interest, of
which two, CIMAC and TechnoBrain, submitted technical and financial
proposals. They also held their respective presentations to the technical
team and executive council members as well as a special advisor and experts
from different departments of the chamber.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
A technical committee comprised of four - Ketema Bayou, IT manager and
chairperson of the committee; Ahmed Aboubeker, capacity building manager;
Abdulkadir Hussien, training centre head; and Ayalneh Zerihoun, planning and
project services head were tasked with evaluating the proposals.<br>
Both companies scored above 70pc in their technical proposals, according to
the findings of the technical committee.<br>
Ketema, chairing the technical team, voiced his dissent with the score given
to TechnoBrain in a letter he sent to the secretary-general after the
evaluation was concluded. The proposal of TechnoBrain did not meet the
specifications in the ToR, he argued.<br>
"TechnoBrain's proposal, while it had Microsoft components, also
contained other components which it had developed in-house and which was a
complete deviation from our specifications," Ketema told Fortune.With
three of the technical committee members voting otherwise, both companies
were eligible to bid on their respective financial offers.<br>
However, after three meetings, the chamber's top management decided to drop
TechnoBrain from the bidding process and opened the financial proposal made
by CIMAC, which had scored 80.25pc, but not of that of its contender.<br>
This was done in a clear violation of the bid document floated for the
procurement, according to which a bidding company that scored above the
cutoff point of 70pc would qualify to be evaluated financially. TechnoBrain
had scored 75.25pc.<br>
The decision to drop TechnoBrain was made after a recommendation from the
chair of the technical committee and GAIA pointing out that its proposal
contained solutions that were not Microsoft certified, according to Teshome.
In addition, "a tender shall be rejected if at this stage it does not
respond to important aspects of the ToR," according to SIDA's
procurement guideline.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
Controversy began after two of the technical committee members and those on
the board of directors called for the cancellation of the existing tender and
suggested that the chamber redo the bid. The removal of Ayalneh from his
position and sending him on forced leave was considered retaliation by the
secretariat for his dissent in the handling of the bidding process.<br>
"I believe that I am under pressure to leave my job because of my
dissent in the selection of an IT [vendor] while I was working as a technical
committee member," Ayalneh appealed to the board of directors in a
letter dated August 2010. He questioned the relevance of the technical
committee if in the end the management selects its own preferred bidder.<br>
Despite the existence of such dissent within the technical committee, the
secretariat decided to consider only CIMAC's financial proposal. As a result,
Teshome wrote to SIDA explaining the basis of his decision and requested a
"no objection," which he was granted in a positive response on June
17, 2010.<br>
The financial offer of 6.4 million Br before VAT made by CIMAC was included
and opened on June 21, 2010. After six rounds of negotiations between the
chamber and CIMAC, a deal was made at 5.2 million Br. CIMAC's offer included
a licence fee for two years, although the chamber has to pay for it on a
yearly basis after that.<br>
The agreement for the delivery of the solution was for one year; CIMAC, which
does not have any experience installing the software in Africa, will finish
the project in less than the agreed period, according to Seyoum.<br>
However, the board of directors who voted for a budget of 4.8 million Br for
the procurement of the ERP solution was not informed before the signing of
the agreement, which involved a higher cost than they had approved.<br>
"The deal, which was more than the allotted budget, came as a surprise
to the board when it read about it in the chamber's newspaper," Demissie
told Fortune.<br>
The amount approved by the board was only for the fiscal year, while what he
had signed for was to be disbursed over the coming years, Teshome argued.<br>
Ayalew Zegeye, president of the chamber, declined to comment on the matter,
saying that he had been away when the agreement was signed and is not aware
of such disputes brewing within the chamber.<br>
(Source: Addis Fortune) <br>
<br>
</span></p>
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<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_comp02"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Plans
to Set Up Science & Technology Park in Gambia</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">The government of The Gambia, in partnership with UNESCO and
the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) are
exploring ways and possibilities of setting up a science and technology park
in the country.<br>
<br>
This development was unveiled Tuesday afternoon at State House in Banjul
during a meeting by the Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh with a six-man experts
delegation from UNESCO-ISESCO, who are in the country to assess the potential
for The Gambia to set up the aforementioned project. The project described as
the initiative of the Gambian leader, if successful, would be the country's
first science and technology park to be established as part of the relentless
drive towards the realisation of the country's development vision.<br>
<br>
The president reaffirmed that his government wants to develop this country
very rapidly, and stressed that for that to really come true, it takes more
than just agriculture, tourism and other sectors, thus, the need to embrace
science and technology. He pointed out those countries such as Japan,
Malaysia amongst a host others, achieved development thanks to science and
technology. Given the importance of this initiative, the president again
stated that this is a golden opportunity for The Gambia, which it must not miss,
while challenging the concerned stakeholders to take the issue with
extra-seriousness and total commitment to see it through. He said that the
future of this country depends on the initiative.<br>
<br>
"This is one thing that we have to take very seriously because the
future of our country depends on this. This is a golden opportunity,
something that money cannot buy. It is the only way that we would be able to
achieve Vision 2020. Without science and technology, forget it," he
emphasised, while further challenging the government officials assigned to
the initiative to show unquestionable degree of dedication and commitment.<br>
<br>
President Jammeh also used the opportunity to stress that if Africa does not
take science and technology seriously, the continent will continue to lag
behind. "We are the richest continent in terms of natural resources and
to exploit these resources, you need technology. So if you don't have the
technology, no matter what you have underground, it will not benefit
you," he emphasised. He then concluded by reiterating gratitude to
UNESCO and ISESCO for coming to help The Gambia out in its development needs.<br>
<br>
For her part, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, the vice president and minister of
Women's Affairs was equally thankful to UNESCO and ISESCO for the move, and
underscored the significance President Jammeh attaches to science and
technology. She said that with the existence of the science and technology
park in the country complimented by the education system in place, the
country is creating a knowledge-based society. Like President Jammeh, VP
Njie-Saidy also reiterated the importance of science and technology, noting
that without it in this day and age, one cannot be anywhere. She described
that science and technology as very key to development, while observing that
many countries are developed due to science and technology.<br>
(Source: Daily Observer)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
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<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_comp03"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Mauritius
to Employ 30,000 Ugandans to position itself as IT hub</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Mauritius wants to recruit about 30,000 Ugandan graduates of
information technology as it positions itself as an IT hub. The Mauritius
government recently contacted the faculty of computing at Makerere University
over the deal. The faculty graduates about 900 IT students every years ago,
the highest in the region.<br>
<br>
Michael Niyitegeka, an official of the faculty, said Mauritius first
contacted the faculty about two years, but the programme stalled over the
global economic slowdown. However, Mauritius recently revived interest in
recruiting Ugandan IT graduates. "We are waiting for clarification from
Mauritius on the specific types of skills," said Niyitegeka.<br>
<br>
Mauritius is reportedly compiling more data from local technology firms on
the specific IT skills required. Niyitegeka said initially the programme was
supposed to be handled by Makerere, but the university is now co-opting the
Government so that the state can own the process and manage the recruitment
process. Makerere is seeking to involve relevant government authorities like
the National Information Technology Authority that have promised to follow up
on the offer.<br>
<br>
Industry sources expect the process to start early next year. Experts advise
that the country's Ministry of Labour has to cross-check the work terms and
conditions to ensure that Ugandans are not exploited. "They (Mauritius) have
the infrastructure and the facilities but lack the human resource. Uganda has
the advantage of numbers compared to any country in the region," said
Niyitegeka from the corporate affairs department.<br>
<br>
The faculty has emerged as a centre of excellence in the region, with a
global appeal. Niyitegeka said the skills needed are largely in database
management systems, application development and the applicants must know
English and French.<br>
Click to learn more...<br>
<br>
Uganda now has to move first to grab the opportunity in the globally
lucrative sector of business process outsourcing, he added. This involves
call centres, data entry, software development, e-learning and transaction
processing. The salary is expected to be about $500 depending on skills,
experience and competence. In Uganda, graduate trainees are paid about $100
monthly.<br>
(source: New Vision)</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/454/0/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="" alt="BA banner" height="80" width="550" border="0"></span></a></span></p>
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<h2 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.05in; margin-left: 0in; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(153, 153, 204); vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: white;">Computer
briefs</span></h2>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-right: 3pt; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 3pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(204, 204, 255);"><span style="font-size: 6.5pt;">- Twenty one civil servants from the
Workforce Development Authority (WDA), Kicukiro College of Technology and
Tumba College of Technology have completed a six-week course in Cisco
applications.The training was organised by WDA in partnership with Cisco Networking
Academy.<br>
<br>
- Hackers on Monday hacked into the servers of MWEB and posted the login
details of some clients on the web while the internet service provider was
migrating to new servers. It is not the only South African company to be
targeted by hackers. According to HackingStats, a South African electronic
crime investigation company and website where more than 17,000 hackers post
their successes, 1558 websites have been hacked in South Africa this month.
More than 14,000 websites were hacked since January - 53 of them government
sites.</span></p>
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<p style="margin-right: 1.2pt; margin-bottom: 4.8pt; margin-left: 0in; text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-decoration: none;">Back to top</span></a> </span></p>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_money01"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Zimbabwe
Parliament Ratifies U.S.$45 Million Loan for NetOne</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Last Wednesday Wednesday Zimbabwe’s Parliament ratified a
US$45 million loan from the Import Export Bank of China for NetOne's second
(2G) and third generation (3G) network rollout project set to transform the
information communication technology (ICT) industry in the country through
connection of the Zimbabwean optic fibre-network to the undersea cable in the
Mozambican channel.<br>
<br>
Minister of Finance Tendai Biti moved the motion for the ratification of the
loan that was contracted on June 1 in Harare between the government and the
Chinese bank. The loan has a grace period of five years during which period
only the interest and no principal is payable by the borrower to the lender,
and goods, technologies and services to be purchased by the proceeds of the
loan should preferably come from China.<br>
<br>
Biti urged parliament to ratify the loan saying it was good for the nation
which still lags behind in technological advancement when compared to the
region and the world. The minister said: "Zimbabwe is 23 years behind in
technological infrastructure development. The loan will enable us to increase
capacity to move to third and fourth generation phone technology (3G and 4G).
The country's use of ICT leaves a lot to be desired. There are only 371,000
fixed telephone lines serving only 3% of the population while only 1.4
million people have access to the Internet. We are ranked 132 out of 135 on
the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness on Report on technology
readiness.<br>
<br>
The minister reassured parliament that the loan would not be abused as in the
past because of the manner in which the agreement was structured.
"Huawei Technologies of China will manage and implement the roll out
project. This project will have maximum impact on the rural communities.
NetOne will only be a partner in the project but will not have direct access
to the resources," the minister said.<br>
<br>
The loan is also expected to put NetOne on a good footing to compete against
its main competitors locally. Econet leads the pack in subscribers with a
massive 4.1 million subscribers, followed by Telecel with 1.,27million and
lastly NetOne with 1.1 million subscribers.<br>
<br>
Biti said the government was considering offers from international companies
that were willing to become strategic partners to NetOne when it is finally
privatised in the near future. "The cabinet has agreed on privatising
state telecoms utility. Privatisation is on course and I cannot mention the
potential suitors now suffice to say some big players on the continent are
sniffing around," he said.<br>
(Source: Zimbabwe Independent)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_money02"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Red
tape holds up Microsoft BEE deal</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Microsoft is waiting for the department of trade &
industry to give it the go-ahead for its empowerment plan so it can proceed
with plans to invest nearly R500m in several local black-owned software
development companies.<br>
<br>
Red tape appears to be holding up the process. Micosoft had been expected to
announce the names of the companies it will invest in at the end of May.<br>
<br>
“If it were up to me, we would have the process underway already,” says
Microsoft SA MD Mteto Nyati, who has now requested a meeting with trade &
industry minister Rob Davies to ascertain if there is a way of accelerating
the process. Nyati says the company has identified four companies from 650
applicants.<br>
<br>
KPMG has assisted the company in the process. Representatives of the
Shuttleworth Foundation, the Black Management Forum and the Centre for
Entrepreneurship helped make the final selection of four.<br>
<br>
But Nyati says the company’s investment plans now require the nod from the
department, which has got involved to ensure Microsoft is giving the four
black-owned businesses a “fair deal”.<br>
<br>
The software giant announced its “equity equivalence” plan in April. In terms
of the plan, it will invest R472m in the identified companies over the next
seven years.<br>
<br>
The plan was hatched between Microsoft and the department because, like other
US companies, Microsoft can’t sell a stake in its SA operation for regulatory
and other reasons.<br>
<br>
Nyati says trade & industry is doing the right thing by reviewing the
process. “They have to make sure that the companies we have chosen will get
the best out of the investment,” he says.<br>
(Source: TechCentral)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_money03"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Lower
revenues, higher ad costs prompt net income slump for MobiNil in 3Q10</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Egyptian cellco MobiNil has released its financial results for
the three months ended 30 September 2010, revealing a 41% plunge in net
profit, which the operator attributed to lower service revenues and higher
costs related to advertising during the month of Ramadan. <br>
<br>
In its third fiscal quarter MobiNil posted turnover related to mobile
services of EGP2.707 billion (USD467 million), down 3.1% year-on-year, and
while takings from connection fees, handsets and roaming all grew against the
same period a year earlier, service revenue, which accounts for the bulk of
the company’s turnover, fell by 4.7% to EGP2.501 billion. <br>
<br>
Net income from mobile services stood at EGP289 million for the three-month
period, down 41.2% from EGP491 million a year earlier. Despite the declines,
MobiNil CEO Hassan Kabbani did note that the quarter had seen ‘a slowdown in
the rate by which revenues are declining despite the seasonal affect of
Ramadan.’<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, including financial results from the company’s fixed line
operations – MobiNil finalised the acquisition of local ISP LINKdotNET and
has begun consolidating its results – total company revenues for the quarter
were EGP2.74 billion, representing a 2% y-o-y drop, while consolidated net
income was EGP280 million, down 42.9% against 3Q 2009. Earnings before
interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the operator
were down 14.1% at EGP1.083 billion.<br>
<br>
At the end of September 2010 MobiNil reported that its mobile subscriber base
had risen to 28.4 million, up from 24.6 million a year earlier.<br>
(Source: Telegeography)<br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_money04"></a><span style="font-size: 7pt;"><br>
<br>
</span></p>
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Rural Varsities Get Better Connected in South Africa in R28
million funding deal</span></h4>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">R28 million has been approved to partially fund internet
access networks for rural higher education campuses. Higher Education South
Africa and the Tertiary Education Network of South Africa (TENET) had
requested to further extend points of presence on the existing network to
strengthen universities research and teaching capabilities.<br>
<br>
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande said funds had been
approved because the capacity of universities to conduct research was of
great importance as it would allow each university to have all its campuses
connected at sufficiently high bandwidths.<br>
<br>
"This enables shared production and distribution of teaching and
learning materials, deployment of centralised administrative systems and
processes for the efficient management of multi-campus institutions, access
to high performance scientific computing facilities and other educational and
research resources via the existing backbone and equitable internet access to
other research and education networks globally," Nzimande said.<br>
<br>
The first phase of the project, funded by Science and Technology Department
for a three year period ending on 31 March 2010, connected seven major cities
and towns to a high speed (10 gigabytes per second) network, providing 70
university and research campuses with high speed connection of at least one
gigabyte per second to points of presence on the high speed backbone.<br>
<br>
It also delivered optical fiber metropolitan access network in Johannesburg
that interconnects seven different campuses of the University of Johannesburg
and the Witwatersrand, high speed connection from the Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR) satellite application centre at Haretbeesthoek
to the CSIR main campus and the Wits main campus and optical fiber access
networks in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.<br>
<br>
However, Nzimande noted that due to network coverage limitations caused by a
lack of adequate funding for the project, the full rollout of the project was
compromised by not being extendable to the majority of South Africa's remote
and rural campuses.<br>
<br>
"By being able to provide additional funding toward the completion and
extension of this network coverage, there will be enormous benefit to
institutions that are not able to connect to the network or who are not able
to connect at sufficiently high speed," Nzimande said.<br>
<br>
The second phase of the project will see the backbone network being extended
to points of presence in Grahamstown, Makhado, Middleburg Nelspruit,
Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane, Potchefstroom, Vanderbijl Park and Witbank while
TENET will secure at least 50 rural campuses to the presence points.<br>
(Source: BuaNews Tshwane)</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<a name="12bfc995e707a429_others"></a></td>
<td style="width: 124.75pt; padding: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; font-size-adjust: none;" valign="top" width="208">
<div style="border: 1pt solid rgb(153, 153, 204); padding: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 4.8pt;">
<h2 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.05in; margin-left: 0in; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(153, 153, 204); vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: white;">On the
Money briefs</span></h2>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-right: 3pt; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 3pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(204, 204, 255);"><span style="font-size: 6.5pt;">- The Algerian government has declared
that it is only willing to negotiate with Orascom Telecom about the purchase
of the company’s local mobile unit, Djezzy, and not with Russian telco
Vimpelcom, which has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Algerian telco.
Earlier this month, Vimpelcom, Russia’s second-largest mobile operator by
subscribers, and Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris agreed to merge their
telecommunications assets in a transaction valued at about USD6.5 billion.
Algerian government envisions a figure in the range of USD2 billion–USD3
billion for the cellco.<br>
<br>
- The government of Guinea-Bissau has announced that Portugal Telecom (PT) is
no longer a shareholder in the country’s fixed line monopoly Guine Telecom
(GT) and its mobile arm Guinetel. A press release from the government states:
‘The minister of economy has informed the Council of Ministers about the
progress of negotiations, which based on a friendly agreement led to the
cession of the shares held by PT, representing 40% of GT’s share capital, and
the shares held by Portugal Telecom Internacional (PTI), representing 55% of
the share capital of GT.’ PTI bought a 49% stake in GT in 1989, but its
decision to leave the country in June 1998, at the outbreak of the civil war
forced the state to take management control of GT in July 2008, amid
accusations that PT had effectively walked away from the two companies. In
February 2009 the situation was muddied when PTI claimed it still held a 40%
stake in GT and Guinetel. <br>
<br>
- MTN Nigeria has signed a deal worth over USD40 million with Chinese
equipment supplier Huawei Technologies for the deployment of rural telephony
infrastructure in roughly 350 villages across the country before the end of
May 2011 while 500 villages will be covered in the second phase before the
end of December 2011.’ Following research into Nigeria’s telecoms sector, MTN
concluded that around 500 villages and communities and 40 million Nigerians
do not have access to basic telephony services. Under the project, Huawei
will deploy environment friendly base stations that consume low energy.<br>
<br>
- The head of the Tunis stock exchange has confirmed that Tunisie Telecom
(TT) is planning a dual listing by the end of this year on the Tunis exchange
and a European bourse. Speaking to Reuters, Mohamed Bichiou, chief executive
officer of the Tunis stock exchange, said the Tunisian state would contribute
10% of the company's shares, while a further 10% would come from the
company’s United Arab Emirates shareholders. TT is majority owned by the
state while Dubai’s TECOM Investments and Dubai Investment Group (DIG)
jointly hold 35%.Last month Tunisia sold a 3G licence to Tunisie Telecom’s
wireless arm Tunicell for USD80 million, putting it on a level footing with
rival wireless network operator Orange Tunisia, which secured its W-CDMA
concession in July 2009 and has been offering 3G services since May this
year.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 6.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_troc"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none;">Telecoms, Rates, Offers And
Coverage</span></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; line-height: normal; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-transform: uppercase;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 6.5pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_wmd"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none;">Web and Mobile Data news</span></a>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; line-height: normal; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-transform: uppercase;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; line-height: normal; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-transform: uppercase;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
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</div>
<p style="margin-right: 1.2pt; margin-bottom: 4.8pt; margin-left: 0in; text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="#12bfc995e707a429_top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51); text-decoration: none;">Back to top</span></a> </span></p>
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<br>
<a name="12bfc995e707a429_telrates"></a><a name="12bfc995e707a429_troc"></a></span></p>
<div style="border-width: 2.25pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(102, 102, 153) -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color; padding: 5pt 0in 0in;">
<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">Telecoms
Rates, Offers and Coverage</span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">- In South Africa, Vodacom has thrown down the gauntlet to
competitors with the launch of a R1.40 all-day voice call tariff to all
mobile operators. Shameel Joosub, the MD of Vodacom SA, said the new rate is
the "lowest per-minute rate to mobile networks available to prepaid
customers anywhere in SA". He said Vodacom will bill in 30-second
increments after the first minute, as opposed to other offers in the market,
which are billed in 60-second increments after the first minute. Vodacom has
also introduced a flat rate of 50c per SMS for text messages - the same as
8ta. But 8ta gives 50 free SMSes after five sent messages.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">-
Kigali — Mobile subscribers in Rwanda grew by 44.7% between January and
September this year, the industry regulator shows. Statistics obtained from
Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) indicate that mobile users grew
from 2,497,170 in January to 3,615,467 in September. This is more than a half
of the government target of 6 million users by 2012 an indication that the
market is growing fast.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="border-width: 2.25pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(102, 102, 153) -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color; padding: 5pt 0in 0in;">
<h4 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_data"></a><a name="12bfc995e707a429_wmd"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">Web and Mobile Data News </span></h4>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Technology Revolution Hits
HIV Testing and Treatment</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<br>
Delayed test results often mean HIV patients in Mozambique fail to get timely
treatment, but new technology is reducing the need to send tests to far away
laboratories, and speeding up test results and HIV treatment.<br>
<br>
Mozambique's Ministry of Health has increasingly begun experimenting with new
technology to make diagnosing and monitoring HIV patients quicker and easier.
After a successful 2009 pilot the country has nationally rolled out SMS or
text message printers, which transmit the results of infant HIV tests
electronically from two central reference laboratories in Maputo and the
northern provincial capital, Nampula, to more than 275 health centres.<br>
<br>
Previously test samples and results would have taken on average three weeks,
and up to several months to be transported to and from clinics via car, plane
and even kayak in remote parts of the country.<br>
<br>
According to research conducted by the Ministry of Health and the Clinton
Health Access Initiative (CHAI), who developed the technology, the time it
took for clinics to receive test results dropped from an average of about
three weeks to about three days after the printers were introduced. Research
presented by the Ministry of Health and CHAI at the International AIDS
Conference 2010 in Vienna, Austria, showed that this, in turn, reduced the
time it took to start infants on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as part of
national prevention of mother-to-child (PMTCT) HIV transmission services by
about four months. The number of infants starting treatment also increased by
60 percent.<br>
<br>
How the technology works: Clinics collect dried blood spot samples from
infants and transport them to the nearest reference lab, where technicians conduct
the HIV tests. Results are entered into a database and uploaded onto an
online server, which then uses a wireless phone network to transmit results
back to clinics. These clinics receive a small, receipt-like print out of the
results alongside a patient identification number.<br>
<br>
With interruptions in electricity and wireless network signal, the system has
an added failsafe - if printers are offline, results are safeguarded in an
online queue until the printer is available. The printer's small size also
makes storage easy in space-constrained clinics, which must also ensure that
the printer is kept in a secure room to guarantee patient confidentiality.<br>
<br>
Clinic-based, or point-of-care (PoC), CD4 count machines - vital to measuring
an individual's readiness to start antiretroviral treatment - will also be
rolled out to selected clinics by the end of November 2010, following
positive results from a seven-site trial.<br>
<br>
The introduction of an SMS printer to a Matola city clinic, about 30 minutes
outside Maputo, has not only meant that babies who test HIV-positive can be
started on ARVs sooner - a potentially life-saving intervention - but also
reduced the numbers of new mums who disappear from the clinic's PMTCT
programme during the long wait times or after having spent time and money on
multiple clinic visits to check for results.<br>
<br>
The clinic in Matola was also one of initial sites to pilot the PoC CD4 count
machine. Smaller than a cash register, it has decreased the wait time for a
CD4 count from one week to about 20 minutes, according to lab technician
Gerardo Cumbane, who received one day of training on how to operate the new
equipment.<br>
<br>
As many doctors are hesitant to start patients on ARVs without evidence that
their CD4 counts have dropped below 250 - the threshold for treatment
initiation in Mozambique - the faster results mean quicker access to the
life-prolonging drugs. Currently, the CD4 count machines cost about US$5,000
each.<br>
(Source: IRIN Plus News)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Creation
of a Banana Wiki to give reliable spatial information</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<br>
Soon all information on banana in Africa including the banana growing areas,
yield, socio-economic status of the farmers and spread of pests and diseases
will be available at the click of a mouse, after experts launched a crop's
website.<br>
<br>
The banana wiki, (<a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1423/0/" target="_blank">http://banana.mappr.info</a>) developed by Philippe Rieffel a
student of Science in applied Geography at the University of Muenster,
Germany under supervision of scientists at the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA), hopes to make a wide range of reliable spatial information
on banana readily available to researchers, policy makers and development
workers. "Wiki" was obtained from the free Wikipedia on the
internet - websites where anyone can add information. So the banana website
has the same concept as anyone will be free to add information.<br>
<br>
According to Hein Bouwmeester, a GIS specialist with IITA, currently the
website is focusing on banana-growing areas in Africa but if successful, will
expand to include the whole world. He said the website was developed entirely
with open source software and uses 'crowdsourcing' to build onto an existing
geo-database. "The idea behind 'crowdsourcing' is that currently there
is no accurate geospatial data on bananas in Africa. So, the platform will
outsource the data from local experts in Africa," he said. "The
core of the website is the editor that enables a user to view and edit banana
growing areas and define their characteristics."<br>
<br>
According to Bouwmeester, the website is important as it will allow
information to be shared across projects and organisations for research and
development work. The platform comes in handy as scientists are grappling
with the spread of two deadly diseases that are ravaging the crop and
threatening the livelihoods of millions farmers. These are the Banana
Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) and the viral Banana Bunchy<br>
(Source: The Monitor)</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="border-width: 2.25pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(102, 102, 153) -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color; padding: 5pt 0in 0in;">
<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_people"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">People </span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">- Safaricom appoints new CEO Robert William Collymore
who replaces Michael Joseph.<br>
<br>
- The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has a new councillor
in the form of Ntombizodwa Ndhlovu, who was sworn in on Wednesday. Ndhlovu is
one of three new councillors at the authority. Earlier this month, William
Currie and Joseph Lebooa were sworn in at Icasa’s Sandton offices.<br>
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="border-width: 2.25pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(102, 102, 153) -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color; padding: 5pt 0in 0in;">
<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_events"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">Events </span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">G- South Africa</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<i><span>8-9 November 2010, Cape
Town, South Africa</span></i><br>
Google is inviting Computer Science students, developers and entrepreneurs to
G-South Africa. Some of Google’s best engineers, product managers,
business managers and leadership will be speaking about Google’s open
web and mobile technologies. <br>
For further information visit <a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1376/0/" target="_blank">http://sitescontent.google.com/gsouthafrica/</a></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">ONLINE
EDUCA BERLIN 2010 - Learning for All</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<i><span>1-3 December, Berlin, Germany</span></i><br>
Under the banner of Learning for All, ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010 will dig deep
into 4 themes that form the pillars of innovation: Learning Content, Learning
About Learning, Learning Ecosystems and Learning Environments, which will
contribute to successful learning outcomes in the three learning domains:
Institutional Learning, Workplace Learning and Lifelong Learning.<br>
For further information visit <a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1384/0/" target="_blank">www.online-educa.com</a></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">2010
Euro-Africa Week on ICT Research & e-Infrastructures</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
</span></b><i><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">7-8 December 2010. 7-8, Helsinki, Finland</span></i><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
The “3rd Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research” will be an event
filled with discussions and debates, networking opportunities and knowledge
sharing among key stakeholders in the field and policymakers coming from all
over Europe and Africa. This Conference represents definitely a unique
opportunity for all parties interested in the ICT domain to increase the
visibility and impact of their activities, to network and expand their
knowledge.<br>
For further information <a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1382/0/" target="_blank">click here. </a></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">ICT
Finance Emerging Markets Global Summit 2010</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<i><span>6-7th December 2010,
London UK BIS Conference Centre</span></i><br>
The ICT Finance Emerging Markets Global Summit 2010 takes place at a critical
time of opportunity for the world’s growth markets. In joining forces, The
Commonwealth Telecom Organisation and BroadGroup TMT Ventures, will launch
this compelling content and networking rich platform uniquely connecting key
players from government and operator organizations in emerging markets with
investors, financiers and professional advisors.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: "MS Gothic"; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">
</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">For
further info, please visit the event website: </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1413/0/" target="_blank">http://www.tmtfinance.com/cto/ict/Default.aspx </a>or email <a href="mailto:events@cto.int" target="_blank">events@cto.int</a>.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">5th
Africa Economic Forum 2011</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<i><span>7-9 March 2011, Cape
Town, South Africa Venue BMW Pavilion, V&A Waterfront</span></i><br>
Our 5th Africa Economic Forum 2011 (AEF-2011) in Cape Town at the BMW-Imax
Theatre, with Africa Exhibition, over 7-9th March 2011, is a landmark
Conference on Africa and significant business networking occasion for the top
corporate players active in, across and involved with the development of the
African continent - Cape-to-Cairo, with Governments and officials in key
industries and state institutions.<br>
Contact: <a href="mailto:babette@glopac.com" target="_blank">babette@glopac.com</a>
or visit <a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1414/0/" target="_blank">http://www.petro21.com/events/?id=578</a></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">ICT
For Development in Africa – Sustaining The Momentum, Extending The Reach</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<i><span>23-26 March 2011, Ota,
Nigeria</span></i><br>
The conference will initiate research and practice agenda where ICTs will aid
the academia, organizations - public and private and non-governmental to
improve socio-economic conditions and directly benefit the disadvantaged in
some manner. <br>
For further information visit <a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/1377/0/" target="_blank">http://www.ictforafrica.org/</a></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">eLearning
Africa 2011 - Spotlight on Youth, Skills and Employability</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<i><span>25-27 May 2011, Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania</span></i><br>
The 6th event in the series of pan-African conferences and exhibitions will
focus on Africa's youth. Africa has the highest percentage of young people
anywhere in the world. How can it unlock the vast reservoir of talent? How
can technology support education and training?<br>
For further information visit <a href="http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/8396/239012/184/0/" target="_blank">www.elearning-africa.com</a></span></p>
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<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_jobs"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">Jobs and Opportunities </span></h3>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">SENIOR SAP ISU/AMI
CONSULTANT</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt; font-size-adjust: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Cape
Town</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<b><span>South Africa</span></b></span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<br>
Young, Dynamic International Company is offering an opportunity of a
lifetime...<br>
If you have SAP ISU/AMI experience/knowledge don’t let this slip through your
fingers but must have 8 YEARS SAP and minimum 5 YEARS ISU experience.<br>
<br>
Qualifications:<br>
Bachelors Degree<br>
Proven Track Record of SAP AMI, CRM and ISU Knowledge and Implementation
experience.<br>
<br>
Duties and Responsibilities:<br>
Must have SAP AMI master Data knowledge and Implementation experience.<br>
SAP AMI account, Contact Management knowledge as well as Implementation
experience.<br>
<br>
Must have working knowledge of synchronization with ERP orders and
notifications.<br>
Knowledge of SAP Middleware concepts and configuration synchronization.<br>
Must have knowledge of the SAP ISU module including interfaces meter
readings.<br>
Interested candidates can forward their comprehensive written applications to
the following e-mail: <a href="mailto:it.jobs@hireresolve.co.za%20" target="_blank">it.jobs@hireresolve.co.za
</a><br>
<br>
Correspondence will only be conducted with short listed candidates. Should
you not hear from us within 3 working days after the closing date, please
consider your application unsuccessful<br>
<br>
</span></p>
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<h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.6pt; margin-left: 0in; border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><a name="12bfc995e707a429_contracts"></a><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-transform: uppercase;">Contracts </span></h3>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">INEC Shortlists Zinox,
Haier to Supply Ddc Machines -Signs Contract Next Week</span></b><span style="font-size: 7pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br>
<br>
Abuja — In what appears to be a recurring decimal, the Independent National
Electoral Commission has for the second time in weeks issued three Requests
for Quotation to manufacturers of computers and other hardware appliances
needed for the voter registration exercise expected to commence in January
2011.<br>
<br>
The firms that got the RFQs are Nigerian firm Zinox Technology, Chinese-based
Haier Electrical Applia-nces Technology and Avante Technology, a U.S. ICT
company.<br>
<br>
All three will be expected to deliver 132,000 pieces of notebook computers
along with other components that will used during the voter registration.<br>
<br>
Under the RFQs, Zenox, was asked to submit quotations for 80,000 units for
biometric data capture, an increase from the 42,000 units initially awarded
to it before the invalidation of original tender process started by INEC two
months ago.<br>
<br>
Haier Electrical, which was expected to deliver 90,000 units before the
cancellation, will now supply 30,000 units while Avante, which previously was
dropped for not meeting the Bureau of Public Procure-ment's criteria, was
asked to quote for 22,000 units.<br>
<br>
INEC sources said 12 companies applied for the multibillion naira contract,
which based on the commission's budget of $2,000 per unit, is estimated to
cost over N40 billion ($264 million), but only three were considered capable
after they had made their presentations last week.<br>
<br>
It was also reliably gathered that the quotations submitted by the three ICT
firms are expected to be screened by the BPP between now and Monday, while
the Federal Executive Council may give final approval for the contract during
its meeting next week.<br>
<br>
It was further gathered that the benchmark for the supply of the DDC machines
has been pegged at $1443 per unit, which was the lowest quote submitted by
one of the companies.<br>
<br>
Other companies will be expected to match the lowest quote, in the process
saving INEC $557 per unit or $$73.5 million.<br>
<br>
Haier had previously bid $843 per unit, which it did to undercut other
companies, with the hope of asking for a contract review as the contract
progressed.<br>
<br>
But the tactic forced INEC to cancel the entire process and restart it from
scratch.</span></p>
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<h2 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; margin-left: 0in; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(153, 153, 204); vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: white;">TO
CONTACT US:</span></h2>
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need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions
in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns. </span></p>
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Act, 54 Walnut Tree Walk, London SE11 6DN </span></p>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><blockquote style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Seun Ojedeji,<br>System Analyst/Network Admin<br>ICT Centre,<br>University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.<br>web: <a href="http://www.unn.edu.ng" target="_blank">http://www.unn.edu.ng</a><br>Mobile: +2348035233535<br> +2348072290744<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:seun.ojedeji@unn.edu.ng" target="_blank">seun.ojedeji@unn.edu.ng</a><br> <a href="mailto:seun.ojedeji@gmail.com" target="_blank">seun.ojedeji@gmail.com</a><br>skype: seun.ojedeji</blockquote>
<br>