<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div align="center" style=""><div class="acymailing_online" style=""><a href="http://aficta.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=archive&task=view&mailid=22&key=d82563530c7f65e042e4d3f5c434dd5a&subid=1636-c05b4385b44417b5afe72bb804bb570b&tmpl=component" style=""><span class="acymailing_online" style="">This e-mail contains graphics, if you don't see them <strong style="">»view it online.</strong></span></a></div><table width="600" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center" style=""><tbody style=""><tr style=""><td style=""><table width="600" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style=""><tbody style=""><tr style=""><td valign="middle" align="center" style=""> <img width="106" height="101" alt="Aficta" src="http://aficta.org/images/stories/logo/Aficta.png" style=""></td><td valign="middle" align="center" style=""><h1 style=""><span style="">Africa Information & Communication Technologies Alliance - AfICTA</span></h1><h3 style=""><span style=""><em style="">...connecting African ICT industry players</em></span></h3><div style=""><strong style=""><span style=""><span style="">AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER</span></span></strong><em style=""> Edition 4/Vol 1/23/13</em></div></td></tr><tr style=""><td width="600" valign="top" height="31" colspan="2" style=""><img width="600" height="31" alt="---" src="http://aficta.org/media/com_acymailing/templates/newsletter-5/header.png" style=""></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr style=""><td style=""><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style=""><tbody style=""><tr style=""><td width="30" style="text-align: left;"> </td><td width="540" style="text-align: left;"><strong style=""><strong style=""><h2 style=""><span style="">Season's Greetings from AfICTA</span></h2></strong></strong><div class="field field-name-field-pm-subtitle field-type-text field-label-hidden clearfix" style=""><div class="field-items" style=""><div class="field-item even" style=""></div></div></div><div style=""><img src="http://aficta.org/images/stories/aficta02.jpg" width="520" height="350" alt="aficta02" style=""></div><hr style=""><span style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><h2 style=""><span style="">Africa General Assembly backs Right to Privacy in Digital Age</span></h2></strong><div style=""><span style=""><img src="http://aficta.org/images/stories/generalassembly.png" width="291" height="190" alt="generalassembly" style=""></span></div></strong><div style=""><span style=""><span style="">Deeply concerned that electronic surveillance, interception of digital communications and collection of personal data may negatively impact human rights, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a consensus resolution strongly backing the right to privacy, calling on all countries take measures to end activities that violate this fundamental “tenet of a democratic society.”</span></span></div><div style=""><span style="">By a text entitled “Right to privacy in the digital age,” the Assembly weighed in on the emerging issue, underscoring that the right to privacy is a human right and affirming, for the first time, that the same rights people have offline must also be protected online. It called on States to “respect and protect the right to privacy, including in the context of digital communication.”</span></div><strong style=""><div style=""><span style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46780&Cr=privacy&Cr1=&Kw1=Right+to+Privacy+in+Digital+Age&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UrgfvvRDv6Y" style=""><span class="acymailing_readmore" style="">Read More</span></a></span></div><hr style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><h2 style=""><span style="">ICANN 49 Registration Now Open</span></h2></strong></strong></strong><div style=""><span style="">Registration is now open for ICANN's 49th Public Meeting to be held in Singapore from 23 - 27 March, 2014. The meeting site will be the Raffles City Convention Centre. To register,<a target="_blank" href="https://registration.icann.org/" style="">please visit</a><br style=""></span></div><div style=""><span style="">To make a hotel reservation, </span><a target="_blank" href="https://aws.passkey.com/event/10794518/owner/56292/home" style="">visit</a><span style="">.</span></div><div style=""><span style=""><strong style="">ICANN</strong> holds three public meetings each calendar year in different regions of the globe. Usually comprised of more than 200 different sessions, these week-long meetings are the focal point for individuals and representatives of the different <strong style="">ICANN</strong> stakeholder groups to introduce and discuss issues related to <strong style="">ICANN policy</strong>.</span></div><div style=""><span style="">Participants may attend in person or remotely. Meetings are open to everyone and registration is free.</span></div><strong style=""><div style=""><span style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://singapore49.icann.org/en/about" style=""><span class="acymailing_readmore" style="">For more info visit</span></a></span></div><hr style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><h2 style=""><span style="">Fashola Engages Telecoms’ Stakeholders On Right Of Way</span></h2></strong></strong></strong><div style=""><span style=""><img src="http://aficta.org/images/stories/fashola_19.jpg" width="220" height="164" alt="fashola_19" align="left" hspace="5" style=""></span></div><div style=""> </div><div style=""> </div><div style=""> </div><div style=""> </div><div style=""> </div><div style=""> </div><div style=""><span style="">The Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, has held a meeting with stakeholders in the telecommunication sector to fine-tune ways of tackling challenges observed in the implementation of the Right of Way (RoW) for improved telecommunication operation in the state.</span></div><div style=""><span style="">At the meeting in Lagos, ATCON members, officials from Etisalat, Main One, MTN and Globacom, deliberated on issues such as fees and taxes, restrictions on the rollout of base stations and fibre networks and the decommissioning of sites among others.ATCON members expressed concern that these issues were making it difficult for operators to roll out the much-needed ICT infrastructure in Lagos State.</span></div><strong style=""><div style=""><span style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://leadership.ng/news/201213/fashola-engages-telecoms-stakeholders-right-way" style=""><span class="acymailing_readmore" style="">Read More</span></a></span></div><hr style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><h2 style=""><span style="">Africa: Hello Bitcoin, goodbye Western Union? The future of remittance could be digital</span></h2></strong></strong></strong><div style=""><span style="">For African migrants, sending money back home comes at a high cost: they spend an average of 12.4 percent on transfer fees. Bitcoin entrepreneurs are now coming up with clever ways of bringing the cost of remittance down, all the way to zero. A risky endeavor or a smart fix?</span></div><div style=""><span style="">Shaun Matsheza has gone through the process every month for over five years, ever since he came to the Netherlands. Armed with cash and a customer card, he shows up at Western Union’s bright yellow desk to send money back home to Zimbabwe. The cost to do so is high: on average, about 15 percent of the total money transaction. “And if something suddenly arises, and my family needs 40 euros or so, I have to pay the minimum fee of 17 euros,” says Matsheza, who is a journalist for Radio Netherlands Worldwide. “It can be ridiculous.”</span></div><div style=""><span style="">At the other end of the transaction, the process is not very convenient either. After Matsheza sends his mother a secret code, she or a sibling travels about half an hour into town to collect the money at the nearest Western Union agency.</span></div><strong style=""><div style=""><span style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/hello-bitcoin-goodbye-western-union-future-remittance-could-be-digital" style=""><span class="acymailing_readmore" style="">Read More</span></a></span></div><hr style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="">Be Part of AfICTA Delegation to AGTTS in The Gambia</span></h2></strong></strong></strong><div style=""><span style="">The 2014 African Growth Through Technology summit (AGTTS) will attempt to bring the public and private sector together over a three day period (29th, 30th and 31st of January 2014) to discuss, educate and showcase the possibilities and determine ways in which Africa can achieve its technology ambitions through private business.</span></div><div style=""><span style="">The objective here is a three day long event where different groups from a diverse array of backgrounds and industries can come together to discuss experiences and determine a concrete methodology that can be used by the public sector, NGOs and other businesses, to engage private technology companies to achieve concrete results and success through mutually beneficial alliances.</span></div><strong style=""><div style=""><span style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://aficta.org/index.php?option=com_ckforms&view=ckforms&id=9" style=""><span class="acymailing_readmore" style="">If interested kindly register</span></a></span></div><hr style=""></strong></span></td><td width="30" style="text-align: left;"> </td></tr></tbody></table><hr style=""><br style=""></td></tr><tr style=""><td style=""><table width="600" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style=""><tbody style=""><tr style=""><td width="600" height="14" style=""><img width="600" height="14" alt="--" src="http://aficta.org/media/com_acymailing/templates/newsletter-5/footer1.png" style=""></td></tr><tr style=""><td width="600" height="25" class="acyfooter" style=""><div style=""><a href="http://aficta.org/administrator/index.php#" style="">www.aficta.org</a> | <a href="http://aficta.org/index.php/home/join-aficta" target="_blank" style="">Become a member of AfICTA</a> | <a target="_blank" href="http://aficta.org/index.php/privacy-policy" style="">Privacy Policy</a></div><div style="">Follow us : <a href="http://facebook.com/Aficta" target="_blank" style=""><img width="20" height="22" src="http://aficta.org/images/stories/facebook.png" alt="Aficta on Facebook" style=""></a> <a href="http://aficta.org/twitter.com/Aficta" title="Follow @Aficta on Twitter" target="_blank" style=""></a><a href="http://twitter.com/Aficta" target="_blank" style=""><img width="20" height="22" src="http://aficta.org/images/stories/twitter.png" alt="@Aficta" style=""></a></div></td></tr><tr style=""><td width="600" height="7" style=""><img width="600" height="7" alt="--" src="http://aficta.org/media/com_acymailing/templates/newsletter-5/footer2.png" style=""></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="acymailing_unsub" style=""><a target="_blank" href="http://aficta.org/index.php?subid=1636&option=com_acymailing&ctrl=user&task=out&mailid=22&key=c05b4385b44417b5afe72bb804bb570b" style=""><span class="acymailing_unsub" style="">If you do not wish to continue receiving this newsletter kindly <strong style="">» unsubscribe</strong></span></a></div></div><div><img class="spict" alt="" src="http://aficta.org/media/com_acymailing/images/statpicture.png" border="0" height="1" width="50" style=""></div><div><br></div><div><span style="">Kindly type "Unsubscribe" on the subject line to unsubscribe.</span></div><div>---------------------------------</div><div>Faith Oyeleke</div><div>Programme Officer</div><div>Africa ICT Alliance - AfICTA</div><div>Connecting African ICT players &</div><div>...fulfilling the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa</div><div><a href="http://www.aficta.org" mce_href="http://www.aficta.org">www.aficta.org</a></div><div>M:+234 8098944064</div><div>Skpe:foyeleke</div><div><br></div><div>This email is for the exclusive recipient/s and it may contain confidential materials. If you have received it and is not meant for you, please alert me @ <span style="text-decoration: underline;" mce_style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="mailto:po@aficta.org" mce_href="mailto:po@aficta.org">po@aficta.org</a> </span>or discard at once. Thank you.</div></span></body></html>