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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday.
ISSUE NO 144 WITH THE WAR NEARLY OVER, THE TELECOMS BOOM BEGINS...With the slow ending of one of Africa’s largest conflicts, large parts of the DRC are beginning to get back to something more like a normal life. There are bound to be further upsets along the way but the growing peace clears the way for the economy to function more normally again. This change in business climate has opened up a considerable boom in telecoms and as elsewhere in Africa, largely of the mobile variety. Not so long ago Vodacom had only 33,000 subscribers in the country. Now it has 200,000. Nico Tshintu identifies the main players. The first phase of telecoms development was through L’Office Congolais des Postes et Télécommunication (OCPT) which as elsewhere in Africa was a monopoly. During this period, landline coverage was mainly for the Government’s local administration and only extended to larger population centres. Only a tiny percentage of local government officials and the well-off middle classes had access to a telephone. The majority of the population were simply cut off from this form of communication. The second phase of telecoms development was marked by the opening up of the market to the private sector and the emergence of public call boxes. This contributed to the connecting up of centres of production and the centres of consumption, the towns. And thus the proliferation of commercial activities drove the process with their need for funds transfers and sending messages (at a cost of US$0.40 for five minutes). The third phase was when the market was opened to companies like Stracel(ex Télécel) et Comcell who began to exploit mobile telephony. These were the times when the mobile companies were able to take advantage of users. The cost of calling was US$2.50 a minute and only fell to US$1.50 a minute when companies like Tatem Télecom, Lam Télécom, Usan Télécom entered the market. The fourth phase of growth was marked by the emergence of mobile operators offering GSM, companies like Celtel, Sait Télécom, Sogetel, Vodacom, Congo Chine Télécom. It is during this period that that the mobile telecom habit really became implanted across many layers of society. All Congolese now had the means to buy phones and pre-paid cards. Having bought a phone (at a cost of around US$75) it now cost US$0.24 a minute for local and national calls. Poorer users could now access the same services at the "cabines privées" for US$0.28 per minute. These prices are the lowest they’ve been at any time. But it’s not all good news. Interconnection between different operators costs double the rates quoted above, except for Vodacom. The complex pattern of telecoms coverage is as follows. The companies listed below wholesale OCPT minutes in Kinshasa:
Those companies offering their own networks (either partially or completely) are as follows:
TELECOM EGYPT TO LAUNCH 3RD GSM OPERATOR IN LAST QUARTER 03Egypt’s state fixed-line operator Telecom Egypt plans to launch the country’s third GSM mobile telephone network together with a foreign partner in the last quarter of this year, a Telecom Egypt official said last week, according to Reuters. "The mobile operation will be (launched) before the end of this year... in the last quarter of this year," said the official, who declined to be named. Telecom Egypt was legally able to launch a network from December 1, 2002 after an exclusivity agreement with the first two operators Vodafone Egypt VOD.L and the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) EMOB.CA expired.But it has yet to finalise the project and announce a foreign partner it said it would use for the venture. Telecom Egypt must also select a company to build the network. The official said Telecom Egypt was still in talks with a foreign operator over a possible deal that would give the partner at least 20 percent in the third mobile network in the most populous Arab country of some 70 million people.Market speculation has centred around Austria’s Mobilkom TELA.VI , Spain’s Telefonica TEF.MC , Telecom Italia Mobile TIM.MI and Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE as possible partners for Telecom Egypt, as well as some Arab operators. NIGERIA’S NCC TO RESOLVE GSM INTERCONNECTION DISPUTEIn a determined move to break the continued deadlock of the interconnectivity talks among Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) operators and NITEL, the Nigerian government has mandated the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to resolve the crisis. The mandate, it is envisaged, would enable the NCC come up with an interconnection regime that will be binding on all parties. (source: Media in Nigeria) MOROCCO’S SECOND GSM OPERATOR, MÉDITÉLÉCOM PICKS UP SPEEDMorocco’s communications market is the first market in the region to undergo a very clear ³fixed to mobile substitution² phenomenon. The voice services (fixed and Mobile) still constitute the biggest share of the market with the mobile capturing the winning position. While Maroc Télécom’s GSM service boomed, its fixed service declined. MédiTélécom, which garnered a larger share of new mobile subscribers additions in 2002 than Maroc Télécom, seems to be securing its position as a viable operator in the country. The year 2002 has been a disappointing year for the liberalization process of the communications market in Morocco. Neighboring countries closely watched Morocco since it was the first country in the region to try to liberalize its fixed communications market. The spectacular success of introducing effective duopoly competition in the GSM market did not replicate itself in the fixed segment, quite possibly because of the boom of the GSM market. A newly released report, ³Morocco Communications Projections Report 2003.² was released to the Arab Advisors Group’s (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Service subscribers on Jan 31, 2003. The 58-pages report fully analyses the Moroccan communications market and sheds analytical light on the regulatory landscape and investment rules and regulations and Communications market segments. The report’s table of contents can be viewed at http://www.arabadvisors.com/latestresearch.htm SA GOVT APPOINTS TOP OFFICIAL TO OVERSEE SNO BIDDING PROCESSThe SA Communications Department has appointed a top official to oversee the second bidding process to find a suitable investor for a 51 percent equity stake in the Second National Operator (SNO) in the country’s telecommunications sector.The decision on the successful applicant will be taken in three months by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. Goldleaf has dropped its threatened legal action and will take part in the bidding process. Welcoming the Minister’s decision, Goldleaf CEO Peter Archer says the new process is probably the only pragmatic way forward given the slowdown in the global telecommunications industry. (source: http://www.itweb.co.za) IN BRIEF- South Africa’s Vodacom says that it now has over 8 million customers on the African continent. There are 7.5 million Vodacom customers in South Africa, 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 380,000 in Tanzania and 67,000 customers in Lesotho.A year ago, there were 6 million Vodacom customers in South Africa. There were just 33,000 in the DRC, 150, 000 in Tanzania and 22, 000 customers in Lesotho. - According to Maroc-Hebdo, the troubled Vivendi Universal group is looking for someone to buy its share in Maroc Telecom. - The North African telecommunications market experienced 14 percent growth in 2002, after record growth in 2000 and 2001. The telecom services market in the region is expected to rebound to a 20 percent growth in 2003. The increase will be driven by a resumption of growth in the Egyptian telephony and mobile market, and a boom in Algeria and Tunisia’s mobile revenue, according to a recent IDC study. - The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the concession granted to Intercellular and other unlicensed mobile phone operators would soon be withdrawn. - Botswana’s Mascom cellular company has donated a computer, a printer and a modem to Thuto Boswa Rehabilitation Centre in Ramotswa.
NIGERIA’S NITDA PLANS OFFENSIVE AGAINST 419 SCAMMERSDisturbed by the negative impact of the increasing wave of cyber crime on the image of the country, the Nigerian Government says it will put legislation in place to deter the culprits. Gabriel Ajayi, Director-General of the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) who disclosed this, said the government is drawing up a comprehensive plan that would make cyber crime on the internet unattractive to the perpetrators. Part of the offensive, he said, is the review of the current IT legislation. He disclosed that his agency has already forwarded a bill to the National Assembly. The bill, when passed, is expected to make adequate provisions for dealing with internet-based Advance Fee Fraud, otherwise known as 419. Ajayi stressed the need for constant review of IT laws to match the dynamics of the industry. The menace of cyber-crime has resulted in some internet hosts abroad threatening to cut off some Nigerian ISPs from their networks. DURBANITES COME OUT ON TOP OF INTERNET USE SURVEYThe preliminary results of a UUNet survey on Internet usage by the small, micro and medium enterprise (SMME) sector in Cape Town, Durban and Gauteng show that Durbanites are the most well versed in Internet usage. Only 44.3% of Durban respondents spent less than 30 minutes connected to the Internet when they first began using it, while 53.9% of respondents in Gauteng and 54.4% in Cape Town spent less than 30 minutes connected to the Internet.At the other end of the scale, 12.3% of Durbanites spent more than 120 minutes connected to the Internet compared with only 5.3% in Cape Town and 4.5% in Gauteng. Another finding is that almost three quarters (71.2%) of Durban SMMEs have their own Web sites compared with 64.4% in Gauteng and only 54.4% in Cape Town. Durban SMME dependency on the Internet for revenue generation is also far higher than in the other two centres. (source: http://www.itweb.co.za) IN BRIEF- Investec is to offer an online foreign exchange product to individuals, allowing them to trade commission-free and at interbank rates, in real-time, according to the bank’s treasury division. Investec already has an online corporate forex product called Market Maker, but that product has a sophisticated settlement engine behind it, says Gary Gorman of Investec Treasury. ³This product is a trading product,² he says.
STMICROELECTRONICS OPENS CHIP DESIGN CENTRE IN MOROCCOExpanding its presence in Morocco, STMicroelectronics last week announced the inauguration of its new IC design and software development centre in Rabat. The ceremony, held Wednesday, was attended by the Prime Minister of Morocco, Driss Jettou, with Pasquale Pistorio, ST’s president and CEO, in the presence of the French and Italian ambassadors to Morocco, and adds to the company’s original back-end and test operations. Initially, the Rabat plant will focus on IC design for digital consumer applications ­ specifically digital TV, DVD players, flat-screen displays and digital still and video cameras - and the development of customer application software. The scope of the centre’s activities will be extended over time to include the development of embedded systems and application boards, with the aim of establishing expertise in this field in Morocco, ST added. ST said it plans to employ close to 150 Moroccan engineers by the end of 2004, many of which will be recruited directly out of university. Around 20 graduates from the Mohammadia School of Engineers, which houses the design centre, in addition to another 20 from other schools in Morocco and around the world have already been recruited for the first phase of the centre’s development. "Complementing the long-standing success of our manufacturing facilities in the country, our latest IC design and software development centre takes our relationship with the people of Morocco to a new level," Pistorio said. "We have been impressed by the skill and enthusiasm of young Moroccan engineers and are excited by both the contribution they can make to our world-beating portfolio of innovative products and technologies and the contribution that we can make in stimulating the growth of a dynamic semiconductor design industry in Morocco." (source: http://www.electronicsweekly.co.uk) CENTRAL BANK OF UGANDA REVAMPS INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT GROWTHUganda’s Central Bank has chosen Oracle to help the growth of its operations. With the growth of the Banks activities, it found itself with several isolated legacy information systems, which presented to the Bank a number of challenges: lack of integration of systems, information duplication and redundancies, complex interfaces which provided limited functionality. Also certain applications were old and therefore not compatible with new information technology and support services for existing systems were not guaranteed. The Central Bank of Uganda’s successful implementation of the financial modules of Oracle E-Business Suite has set the Bank on a course towards growth and banking best practice. The implementation of the inventory, purchasing, order entry and the banks recurrent & capital budget modules took just four months to complete and was managed by the Consulting division of Oracle African Operations, and a team from the Bank of Uganda. According to the Bank of Uganda (BOU), there was a requirement for an integrated system that could provide a high level of automation and support best practices. The Banks need to plan for future growth and compliance to statutory requirements meant that a number of its financial systems had to be re-engineered, says Mr Magued Mahmoud, Head of Oracle African Operations consulting division. IN BRIEF- The SA Post Office has paid a damages settlement of R711000 to stave off threatened legal action for software piracy. The out-of-court settlement is the largest victory to be won so far by the antipiracy organisation, the Business Software Alliance (BSA). - Dan Abodakpi, Ghana’s former minister of Trade and Industry and Victor Selormey, former deputy Minister of Finance, had been jointly accused of fraudulently transferring the sum of ¢2.7billion from the Trade and Investment Programme (TIP) interest account. The money, which was meant for feasibility studies of the science and technology park/valley project, was transferred into Dr. Fred Owusu Boadu’s personal account lodged with Ecobank Ghana Limited.Dr. Owusu Boadu was the consultant to science and technology park/valley project. The accused persons pleaded not guilty on charges of causing financial loss to the state and they are on a ¢3billion each self-recognisance bail.
GHANA TELECOM LOSING US$1MILLION A WEEKGhana Telecom is losing about US$1 million a week, according to a report in the Ghanaian Chronicle. According to the paper the company has gone from earning US$42 million a year on its international telephone traffic to losing US$14 million over the last four years. According to the paper’s sources in the company there are losses amounting to ¢560 billion. In 1998, the International Telephone Traffic Revenue yielded US$42 million. The following year, it dropped by $8.14 million to $33.98 million followed by a further drop in 2000 of $7.63 million to $26.4 million in 2001. This further reduced by $7.06 million to $14.14 million last year. These figures show losses incurred in respect of international telephone calls usually made by internet service providers who apply for huge number of phone lines to run their business but in actual fact use them for these services and split the revenue with the International arm of agencies. The shocking shortfall has alarmed the government given the fact that some 100,000 new lines have been installed since 1998 by GT. The more likely explanation is that the value of international telephone traffic has fallen consistently over the period highlighted and that "grey market" VOIP traffic is unlikely to account for more than 10-15% of the losses. Time for Ghana Telecom’s new management to get its international rates to a more competitive level and to stem the losses by making the company more efficient. EGYPT’S MOBINIL REPORTS US$76.4 MILLION PROFITThe Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) recorded 422 million Egyptian pounds ($76.4 million) in consolidated net profits for 2002, a 23.8 percent increase compares to last year’s figures. Fourth quarter revenues came in at 51.5 million. MobiNil reported active subscriber base of 2.282 million for the last three months of last year, compared to 1.859 million at year-end 2001 representing an increase of 22.7 percent. The company’s EBITDA reached EP 1,358 million representing an EBITDA margin of 52.7 percent compared to EGP 1,06 million and 45.9 percent in 2001. This EBITDA growth represents an improvement of 27.5 percent over the previous year. Operating since May 1998, MobiNil is currently the largest wireless service provider in the Middle East. The company’s network covers over 93 percent of Egypt’s populated areas with roaming agreements signed with over 75 international carriers. NEW EMERGING AFRICA FUND WILL TARGET TELECOMSFollowing a successful competitive tender the UK’s DFID has selected a consortium led by the Standard Bank Group, together with Barclays PLC, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Emerging Markets Partnership (EMP), to establish the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (Emerging Africa) to make available long-term debt financing for private sector infrastructure companies in sub-Saharan Africa. Emerging Africa is to be managed by Standard Infrastructure Fund Managers (Africa) Limited, a Standard Bank Group, FMO and EMP joint venture. Emerging Africas initial financing comprises committed equity capital of US$100 million, underwritten by DFID; a tranche of US$85 million of development finance debt from FMO, DEG and DBSA; and US$120 million of commercial debt from Standard Bank Group and Barclays. DFID is combining with other European donors to provide additional equity capacity to enable Emerging Africa to grow to around US$450 million on a similar level of gearing. Among the sectors it will target will be telecoms. The innovative structure of the fund has reduced the risk of lending to levels that will enable Emerging Africa to offer competitive long-term lending terms within a 15 year period, to significant infrastructure companies throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of lending will be US$ based, although the Fund may also offer guarantees to local banks to facilitate local currency lending where this is beneficial. IN BRIEF- African Lakes will delist from the London and Nairobi stock exchanges as a further cost-cutting move by 3 March. The company will then seek an Alternative Investment Market (AIM) listing.  RESPONSESISSUE 143: ONLINE PAYMENT - THE AFRICAN ECOMMERCE NIGHTMARE POST 9-11 Re your story on the negative impact of 9-11 security precautions on e-payments for Africa, I have discussed a possible alternative payment system in a write up which can be found at http://www.ftpiicd.org/iconnect/dox/chege1.doc Non credit-card based systems already exist in many parts of the world including the Middle East and South America. In my opinion, a safe and convenient e-payment method could well be the killer app that will help drive Internet adoption on the continent. I’d be happy to hear from anyone who may be interested in backing the idea. Mike Chege MASTER INTERNET MERCHANT ACCOUNTS THE WAY TO GO rufaa.com with the collaboration of a US based company and some African financial Institutions is working on a project that I believed could be help to create a real e-commerce business in Africa. The concept involves the setting up of a website with a Master Internet Merchant Account. It will also involve the development of a software to handle payment on client’s website (in a small e-commerce site in Africa). The process will further entail the development of agents network that will be responsible to execute payment cash/or on retailer bank account (like Western Union). The agent will need to pay a set up fee for the software and access with the network. This will be basically an Online money Transfer System. We’re still consulting with all parties to come up with a suitable payment solution, If you’re interested to bring you point of view, feel free to email. Pasquale Goder Any interested please send them to: info@balancingact-africa.com and we will forward them.
SA’S MEDIA24 SEEKS TO WRESTLE DOMAIN NAME FROM HOST24.COMSouth African ISP host24.com finds itself in a position where its name could be outlawed. The Naspers-owned Media24 Group is in the process of registering "24.com" as a trade mark in South Africa. Johan Pretorius of host24.com found himself the recipient of a threatening letter from Media24: "We’ve received a rather nasty letter from them whilst the trade mark application was still pending, just imagine what they will do once the mark has finally been registered!" Although he has not registered host24.com, both terms contained in "24.com" are generic. The numbers 2 and 4 obviously indicate that services are rendered on a 24 hour basis, and the .com suffix forms an integral part on the Internet as we know it today. As Pretorius puts it:"Nobody should therefore be able to register a trademark containing only those terms. As a matter of fact, a similar application by MIH IntelProp on behalf of Naspers to register "24.com" as a trade mark in the USA has been abandoned. We have objected to the intended trade mark registration, and urge everybody that is passionate about the Internet and/or unfair and restrictive business practices to do the same". For details of how to write a letter of protest to the Department of Trade and Industry go to: http://nobodyowns24.com/ SA’S MAIL AND GUARDIAN AND ANANZI FORM ONLINE ALLIANCEThe Mail & Guardian Online and Ananzi have formed a strategic online content and advertising alliance. M&G Online will provide Ananzi with a breaking news and feature news feed for the search engine’s homepage and news section. The deal also includes an advertising revenue share agreement. More initiatives between M&G Online and Ananzi are in the pipeline, they say. Matthew Buckland, editor of M&G Online, says new options are being considered. "Together with M-Web, M&G Online is considering a new paid-for content strategy and weighing up the associated pitfalls and advantages. Considering the lukewarm reception it has received overseas - with reported user conversion rates of only about 1% - we are approaching the model cautiously". NEW ZIMBABWEAN ONLINE PUBLICATION LAUNCHES THIS WEEKThe Zimbabwe Online Messenger (zim-messenger.com )will launch this coming week on Thursday. According to Kotsanai Mangwana, one of those behind the launch:"Zimbabwe Messenger On-line is comprised of voluntary employees that also include proffessionals in journalism as well as editors. It is not funded by anyone as the whole team works hard to play their part and thus make the paper successful. The purpose of the on-line paper is to keep Zimbabweans living abroad to stay informed about events taking place in Zimbabwe. The on-line paper also provides links to other Zimbabwean newspapers". IN BRIEF- At the end of January the artisan’s village of This in Senegal launched its own website. Financed by USAID through Dyna Enterprises, it seeks to promote the artisan products of the village. See: http://www.senartisanat.sn/ - There is now a .museum domain. For more information: http://musedoma.museum/ - The YCDO Coalition is comprised of organizations committed to realizing the potential of young people as leaders in using information and communications technologies (ICTs) to achieve more sustainable development in their communities and around the world. YCDO Coalition members seek to improve the coordination and harmonization of efforts to achieve the following objectives. Learn more: http://www.ycdo.net/
AFRICA’S DIGERATI: IDN’S FRANCIS QUARTEY ON GT CONTRACT AND MUCH ELSEIDN’s Francis Quartey is one of the leading players in the Ghanaian ISP market and is looking to expand regionally. News Update interviews him about his future plans and the Ghana Telecom/Telenor contract. How many subscribers has IDN got? IDN has more than quadrupled its subcriber base since the introduction of of our home grown designed low cost broadband solution. The nature and conditions prevailing in the Ghanaian market (and most developing markets) is such that businesses/people are yearning for products that could curtail the high initial start-up costs and at the same time offer a reasonably reliable solution which can improve the struggling internet market penetration. I think, IDN introduced the "SAVA" low cost broadband solution at just about the right time. We currently have the largest broadband wireless subscriber base in the country. Who are your main competitors? IDN recognized a niche market and we have focused on addressing the relevant issues confronting our customers. The problems include reliability, consistency, and affordability. We have invariably engineered processes that tackles these concerns. And we are backing them up with professional customer service sensitivity. Surprisingly, these are knacks which are grossly misunderstood in our environment/market. But we do not take them for granted. Indeed, we have narrowly focused on the aforementioned. Undoubtedly, it drives every work process that we embark on. In that regard, I believe IDN is "miles ahead" of our competitors. We are in the business of providing solutions. Now that is not necessarily limited to internet and communictions. We just happen to be providing internet related service to this extent as of now. How do your prices compare with them? Our prices are are generally very competitive. In fact, IDN is currently providing the best price for value in the sub-region. However, I am not a fan of the "price war game". IDN focuses on what our customers needs are based on their activities and feedback from them. We strive to create solutions that impact our customers business models positively. The feelers that we look for are variables that always would provide economic value addition to the customers models. This is our approach to service provision. What can you offer users that they can’t? Value! Value!Value!. At IDN ,we constantly look for the value addition to the customer experience. Not only do we provide service, there is certainly a direct or indirect value component available as part of the customer experience- whether we are dealing with a corporate or a cybercafe or even a dial-up customer. How have you been innovating in technical terms as a company? The entire IDN concept is a unique process. Our culture, which by the way is one of IDN’s vital assets, perpetuates an engine of creativity and innovation. Our culture is that of free " thinkers ". It is carefully designed so that we (the employees) share a " common bond". We try to appreciate freedom of expression; we try to appreciate honesty and hard working , and we definately appreciate and encourage all manner of communications. To that end, we value inputs right from the gate keeper to the engineers and to the top. The buttress of these rooted qualities has created a beautiful phenomena. Technical innovation and creativity is one of the by products evolving from the process. When will VOIP be legalised in Ghana? The Director General of the NCA which is the regulating body of communications in the country as well as the Minister of communication have both publicly stated their readiness to license VOIP operators. In any case, I do not believe VOIP is illegal in Ghana- at least not in the eyes of the rule of law of the land. When will voip be legalised in Ghana? I suppose when we gather the political will. How will this change the market? The market will go through a series of phases. Starting from vertical voice telephony as the immediate benefit to Ghanaians. Then to integrated voice/data applications and extending to intelligent driven convergent applications. All of these activities will contribute immensely to the economic base in diverse ways. It would be a win-win situation for for the people and businesses that recognize the opportunities. Do you think that the Telenor management contract will make Ghana Telecom better at delivering connectivity? Well I am not privy to the details of Telenor-Ghana Telecom contract. But my opinion as an informed telecom person is this: Telenor is a competent, well capable company. In that regard. I am certain that they will deliver whatever was bargained for and agreed to. However, your question and to a large extent the question that many people focus on is on technical delivery- whether Telenor can help in delivering better connectivity and QOS. I think Ghana Telecom’s issues cannot be contained in merely technical delivery alone. In fact, the root of the problem and indeed the greatest challenge facing GT is that of inadequate leadership, lack of vision, little appreciation of the business of modern communication and a complete paradigm shift of the people that serve in the organization. These are deep rooted issues cutting across the spectrum of Ghana Telecommunication’s organizational structure. The biggest task for Telenor will be the challenge of changing "set in stone" values and organisational culture accross board. I think Telenor would have to do some quality process management in order to genuinely move GT forward. What single thing would help expand the internet market in Ghana? We are looking for a genuine partnership with the regulating bodies that will assist the private sector to thrive based on competition. How will the internet start becoming available in rural areas and what will it be used for? Satellite in combination with broadband wireless is one of the logical ways to address the rural internet penetration. Applications will begin with VOIP and gradually include Government to community transactions. What expansion plans have you got? Ihave a regional vision. The dynamics of the market are similar in terms of capital expenditure (in most African countries) except South Africa, Egypt and perhaps Nigeria. But certainly, I think we are in the position to move a step level- which is a repeat in the sub-region.
PEOPLE* A change of guard has been announced at the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL). Following the voluntary retirement of Adegbuji from the services of the company as managing director/chief executive with effect from January 31, the Nigerian government has approved the appointment of Emmanuel Chukwuma Omeata as the company’s new acting managing director/ chief executive. His appointment will be reviewed when the new management contractors take over. * Tanzanian Rama Mwikalo has registered a US patent for a router-based domain name system proxy agent using address translation. US Patent No. 6,480,508 (Mwikalo , et al. November 12, 2002) was issued to his development team at Westell Technologies in Chicago (as of Nov 12, 2002). May this be the first of many for Africa. * Zambian ICT pioneer Regina Cammy Shakakata died at her farm from complications associated with high blood pressure. Regina was an active founding member of the Zambia Association for Research Development (ZARD). She was part of the 1985 ZARD delegation to the 3rd World Conference on Women held in Nairobi, Kenya, where she actively promoted the appropriate use of technology for women’s development. * David Shapshak, technology editor of the Mail & Guardian and contributing editor of GQ magazine , has been nominated the overall winner of the third annual Telkom Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Journalist of the Year Awards. * On the move: Paul Dinsmore has been appointed CEO of WebTec, South African subscription-based software services company...Isaiah Okoth, Managing Director of AfriSpace Kenya (WorldSpace Eastern Africa) is leaving after five years. According to Okoth this "has resulted from significant differences in the management between myself and the current senior management of WorldSpace Corporation". He’s now looking for pastures new. Senegal’s Mouhamed Tidiane Seck of the Ecole Superieure Polytechnique has been made head of the Government’s Informatique Department replacing Momar Aly Ndiaye. * Botswana’s Finance Minister Baledzi Gaolathe has announced some rescue measures for Botswana Telecommunications Corporation. These include the replacement of outstanding public debt service fund (PDSF) loans with equity and the injection of fresh cash into the corporation to rehabilitate its ageing network to ensure improved service delivery. It is expected that the measures will steer the corporation to profitabilty before its planned privatisation three years from now.
EVENTSAFNOG MEETING TO BE HELD IN KAMPALA (JUNE 2003) In conjunction with the fourth meeting of African Network Operators Group (AfNOG) in June 2003, AfNOG is holding a Network Technology Workshop prior to the meeting. The workshop will be held in facilities of the Hotel Africana, Kampala, Uganda, during June 08 - June 13, 2003. (see http://hotelafricana.com ). The workshop will offer advanced training to operators of existing African Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who are participants in the process of developing and enhancing a national Internet with regional and international connectivity. To get an an electronic application form, send an e-mail request to: application@afnog.org NETWORKING AFRICA’S FUTURE: LESSONS OF EMPOWERMENT FROM COMMUNITIES 13-16 APRIL KWA MARITANE, SOUTH AFRICA The conference promises to close the loop between research and practice, revealing what has actually been achieved in Africa using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development. It will focus on key emerging themes such as alleviating poverty through ICTs, schoolnets, telecentres, policy issues and innovation. Entitled "Networking Africa’s Future", the event will be held in rural South Africa at the Kwa Maritane game lodge, and will feature a state-of-the-art Internet satellite system as the platform for a website covering the discussions. For further information, e-mail conference co-ordinator, Julie Atkinson at info@acacia.org.za IN BRIEF The Virtual Conference on Copyright and the Web hosted by the Commonwealth of Learning begins Monday February and ends Friday 20 February 2003. Details and background are available at: www.col.org/copyright
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