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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday.
NEXT ISSUE: 25 MAY:
ISSUE NO 158 AFRICAN INTERNET FRAUD BEYOND 419s - ORGANISED SCAMMERS OPERATING FROM CYBERCAFES419 e-mail scams are only the tip of the iceberg. Africa’s cyber-cafes are being used by organised criminal gangs to carry out credit card fraud. It’s hard to estimate the value of these fraudulent purchases but wherever we go, we hear reports of it. The evidence in this issue comes from one country - Ghana - where as one café operator told us it is "pervasive". Russell Southwood looks at what the perpetrators are doing and how the mail order operations are being stung. Cybercafe operator Mark Davies of BusyInternet could not remember the first time he became aware of the credit card scammers operating from his premises. But he remembers all too well the trickle of irate e-mails and phone calls from e-commerce sites, law enforcement officials in the United States and security consultants working for credit card companies and store sites that has been a persistent problem almost from the day of opening. Most of them thought that he was simply a company and therefore the fraud was being carried out by his company. Two FBI officers visited at one point and could soon see that the cybercafe was simply being used as a platform for fraud. As Davies tells it:"You can track an order to an IP address so it comes back to me personally. I’ve had 20-30 people who’ve detected fraudulent claims. They think we’re an office rather than a public centre with an average of 1200 people a day coming through. It’s almost impossible to identify who’s perpetrating the fraud other than by observation. Even then there’s no clear proof in a legal sense." Mavis Quarcoo of wwwplus has had the same problem:"We found one staff member ordering things and we sacked the gentleman. Our bandwidth provider asked us to monitor the situation. I’m not happy with all of our clientele. There’s a lot of Nigerians spending lots of time - whole days - online. How are they financing such heavy use?" The scam is simply the old stolen credit cards routine with a new cyber twist. The scammers buy or steal credit card numbers and verification numbers. With wages so low in Africa, there are plenty of opportunities for the scammers to bribe supermarket cashiers or hotel employees. It is rumoured but unproven that the scammers can even purchase lists of stolen credit card numbers. Having got the information, they go online and place orders: most transactions will not complete but some do. They work in partnership with people in the USA where they ask for the goods (inevitably high-value) to be delivered. Given the current downturn in the developed world, companies are often very grateful to fulfil what seem like large, genuine orders: at one point an entire container shipment of CDs arrived several months ago. These are not isolated individual frauds. Cybercafe operator Mavis Quarcoo of wwwplus described how she’s watched a particular group of individuals go from her café to BusyInternet across the road and then on to a third café. As one person leaves, another person arrives to take over the time on the pre-paid card. At BusyInternet several of the individuals use the VIP booth. So what can be done about it? All the law enforcement officers and security consultants from North America and Europe want to see the local police tackle the problem but Mark Davies knows that this will almost certainly be ineffective in the current circumstances:"It’s difficult for the local police to get their heads around the problem. They’re not used to dealing with fraud of this kind." "We’ve tried to discourage particular individuals verbally. We go up to them and say ‘we know what you’re doing and we know it’s illegal’. We also put up notices saying it’s illegal and discourage them from talking to staff. There’s often a crowd of them and the can be rather intimidating both to us and to the customers. We tried blocking all https traffic and that didn’t work because it blocked Yahoo mail. So we then put in various exceptions". The difficulty of putting in place a strategy to prevent fraud has resulted in a tetchy and sometimes threatening correspondence between BusyInternet and Yahoo’s security representative:"Well, a month has passed since our last email. 3 other ISPs serving Ghana did the right thing and blocked store.yahoo.com Since then, our fraud orders from Ghana dropped to virtually nothing. None have come from those ISPs. But we are still getting fraud orders from (IP address number) and had 2 this weekend". "As mentioned, we would take any and all action against your networks, that will begin shortly unless you either agree to not allow access to store.yahoo.com or some other plan that would accomplish the same result in an immediate timeframe. We’ve been in contact with you for months, we’re not waiting any longer. If we don’t hear by the end of the week we’ll begin the process". Busy Internet’s reponse was decisive:"I’m going to block all traffic from here to store.yahoo.com. You should see no further traffic from our IPs. By year end we will have in place an ‘authentication system’ where users present their IDs, credit cards etc. and we verify them, then allow their account for e-commerce. Till then, I agree, sadly, blocking is the only answer. We can’t supervise all 1,000 plus folks in our center each day. Please let me know if you receive any other orders at all, and I’ll ask you to block from your end. But our firewall should do this for now". According to the Yahoo security consultant:" The point is, 99.999% of purchases from Ghana are fraud. At least 99% of Yahoo stores don’t ship internationally anyway. Our fraud orders are up literally about 1000 percent over last year, almost all from Ghana. The cost to us in time and effort has reached the breaking point. We will consider every option available to us to reduce or end this problem with Ghana". The end result is that an extremely small number (I mean EXTREMELY small) number of legitimate users would be impacted in a very limited way, only for Yahoo stores". The problem even affects e-commerce sites run from within Africa. One reports a steady flow of requests for orders with strange sounding or unlikely names:"We then write back saying we have to verify the name and address on their credit card. If the person’s not genuine we never hear from the again at this point". As the site owner told us: "We’ve had 200 orders since we started and about 20% of these have been people sending orders without a credit card number. In other words, trying it on. Sometimes there’s very obvious: they say things like ‘leave it at the counter of the shop next door.’" "We had two fraudulent credit orders, both when we were with World Pay. Of course, the money’s refunded but you have to pay a charge back fee. World Pay offers no level of security protection against this type of fraud. We have a relatively low rate of fraud because we go to a lot of trouble to ask our clients questions: genuine ones don’t mind but the fraudsters are put off They are reluctant to communicate because they are scared of being arrested." Cyber-fraud of this kind makes it much harder for Africa to become involved in world trade and in particular e-commerce. It’s no good protesting that that all Africans (or for that matter all Nigerians) are not fraudsters: even if everybody knows that, the damage to Africa’s reputation is already done. Companies like Yahoo don’t have patience or the money to find out who is and is not a fraudster. It’s far easier to just stop taking orders from Africa. The steady stream of 419 scam e-mails is almost like a viral marketing campaign in North America and Europe to associate fraud with Africa. Some countries - South Africa in particular - have already set up cyber-crime units that are tackling some part of the problem. A while back Sierre Leone arrested some of the perpetrators. The closure of an illegal web pharmacy in South Africa highlighted in Web News below shows what can be done. Every African country that has any serious desire to trade electronically needs to put in place a unit of this kind or have officers who have expertise in this field. The e-commerce mountain is already perilously steep for African companies to climb without adding fraud of this kind as a further disincentive. If you have experienced fraud of this kind, please send details in confidence to: info@balancingact-africa.com We’re interested in cyber credit card frauds and fake web sites but please, not 419 scams.
PENTASCOPE SETS NITEL TURNOVER TARGET OF N128BILLIONNitel’s Dutch management contractors Pentascope International have unveiled an ambitious business plan for 2003-2005, setting a turnover target of N128 billion in 2005. The figure represents a leap from the estimated N54 billion in 2002. Media reports indicate that the company anticipates growth in operating profits from expected improvement in its share of the Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) market with the introduction of one million lines and 600,000 new fixed lines. Meanwhile, at the formal handover of NITEL to Pentascope International in Abuja last week, the companys new Chief Executive Rein Zwdsman, promised to improve the quality of the existing NITEL network and change the internal and external process of transactions in the firm from a slow bureaucratic system to a quick commercial and business oriented company. (source: Vanguard) ANGOLA: NEW FIXED LINE OPERATOR LOWERS PRICESNew fixed line operator Mundo Startel (licensed in December 2002 by the National Institute of Telecommunications) has set its tariffs low and introducing several new innovations designed to grow the telecoms market. The company’s Director Nazaré Francisco (who is also one of its shareholders) said the company will install new equipment in Luanda by July and then roll-out to Cabinda, Huambo, Benguela, Kwanza Sul, Malanje, Cunene and Lundas North and South. By October it hopes to be able to offer more or less national coverage. The pricing for its service is strategic and it is, according to Francisco,"aimed at reaching all Angolans. In principle we think that Luanda can be expanded by 10-30,000 lines". Although it is targeting the whole population it also has in sights large companies, government institutions and banks. Asked about the potential of the sector, Francisco said:"It’s practically virgin territory. It has great potential as there is practically no telecoms infrastructure". (source: Ebonet) TELKOM KENYA AND KENCELL IN PRICE WAR OVER INTERCONNECT RATESHundreds of millions shillings are at stake in an explosive price war between Telkom Kenya and mobile telephone operator KenCell over interconnection rates. The dispute is before a tribunal appointed by the government to arbitrate. The hearings resumed last Thursday before the tribunal, which sits at the Transcom House offices of the Kenya Communications Secretariat, Nairobi. How the issue is resolved will have major implications on the financial viability of Telkom Kenya. It has now emerged that as a result of a poorly negotiated interconnect agreement in October 2001, Telkom Kenya has, in the last two years, had to collect money from its customers and pay mobile operators a massive Sh7.6 billion. The pressure on the state-owned firm’s cashflow has been enormous. Telkom has also argued that it was not able to cover its costs from the inter-connect rates with KenCell. Under the Kenya Communications Act, operators are obliged to carry all traffic originated on the telecommunications system, irrespective of its origin. Thus, KenCell and Safaricom are obliged to carry traffic emanating from each other and from Telkom Kenya, respectively. But due to the tussle between KenCell and and Telkom, major distortions have occurred in the pricing of telephone services. This is because Safaricom ­ by far the market leader in terms of subscriber base ­ last year signed an interconnect agreement with Telkom that has now been in operation for months. The background to the present conflict was the very first agreement which Telkom signed with the two mobile operators. When KenCell made its debut, it adopted the interconnection agreement it found in place between Telkom and Safaricom. Problems started when the agreement expired in August, last year, and after Safaricom agreed to negotiate the 2001 rates downwards. >From the prevailing price of Sh23.40 per minute, Safaricom agreed to come down to Sh19.20. What this means is that out of the Sh27 per minute which KenCell charges Telkom for terminating calls, Telkom only retains a mere Sh3.80. KenCell stuck to a price of Sh21.37 per minute. The dispute was then taken for adjudication by market regulator Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), which ruled in favour of KenCell. The parties consequently went before the tribunal. With the matter dragging on for months, Telkom has ended up with two separate interconnect tariffs with the two mobile service providers. On paper, the difference of Sh2 would appear to be minor. But calculated in minutes, one is talking of hundreds of millions of shillings. (Source: The Nation) IN BRIEF- According to local reports, Econet Wireless Nigeria is to invest US$75m in a national microwave transmission backbone. - Celtel Uganda is spending US$1.5 million on a new advertising campaign, in an effort to win over new customers. - Madagascar has plans to install 600 telecentres within four years, according to Mamiharilala Rasolojaona, the head of Telma. 20 will be set up this year with a range of donors including UNDP. He also announced the third stage of Tour Zital, a "technology zone" aimed at its larger customers, which offers video-conferencing. - SchlumbergerSema, the IT business segment of oilfield and information service company Schlumberger, has completed a major new implementation of its BSCS 7.0 customer care and billing solution, for Tunisian telecom operator Tunisiana. SchlumbergerSema was able to complete the two million dollar project in less than two months. - The Kenyan Government plans to increase the number of fixed telephone lines countrywide by a million. The minister for Transport and Communication, John Michuki, said last week. The rural areas would be given priority because of high demand. - MTN Nigeria Communication Limited, announced last week that it has signed an interconnect agreement with the second national operator and fourth GSM operator, Globacom.
NIGERIA’S MTS SIGNS N3BN INTERNET CONTRACTNigeria’s largest internet network may be underway with the signing in Lagos, of a N3billion contract between MTS First Wireless and Balom Communications Limited for the deployment of a new internet network. The project would, on completion, allow for the delivery of multiservice across the country from a single platform by a fixed wireless network operator. It is expected to open fresh window of opportunities for banks and other information-sensitive organisations to link their branch network through voice and data services. (source: Media in Nigeria) DJIBOUTI: TADJOURAH AND DIKHIL GET CONNECTEDDjib-Télécom has connected two colleges in the interior of the country in Tadjourah and Dikhil. Speaking at the opening of the Tadjourah facility, the Police Chief of the Republic Mr Abdourazak praised the company’s efforts to widen internet access in the country. He encouraged Tadjouriens to get to know the internet and not be left on the margins of these major technological changes. Djib-Télécom has offered an initial eight month free subscription to the internet. Méga Bureautique has supplied a computer and printer that can be used by the College’s students. The latter were amazed by the new facility whiuch will allow all-day surfing but asked that the computers be integrated into the curricula of the College. (source: Djibouti’s The Nation) IP PLANET LAUNCHES VipSAT SERVICE ON C-BAND/VSATIP Planet Network Ltd., one of the leading providers of IP backbone connectivity solutions to PTTs, Telcos, ISPs and other enterprises in Africa and the Middle East, announced last week VipSAT - its new C-Band, VSAT/Hub-based Internet backbone connectivity services to Cyber-Cafes, Voice-over-IP providers, corporate and government customers in Africa. VipSAT includes a range of services that can match the usage profile of a diverse group of customer segments and applications. Uplink services range from 32Kbps to 384Kbps on both a dedicated and shared basis. Downlink services can grow up to 2Mbps and more. VipSAT can fit organizations that require Internet browsing, Voice-over-IP, data and IP-based VPN services, either for their own use or for their commercial customers. Services will be available across the entire African continent, from North to South Africa and from Madagascar to Senegal, commencing July 2003. This new VSAT service complements IP Planet’s IP MultiConnect services of high-capacity Internet backbone connectivity, offered to the African market for the last 4 years. IP Planet is Africa’s leading provider of Internet backbone connectivity services via satellite, with PTT, Telco, ISP and Cellular customers in more than 20 countries. VipSAT will use IP Planet’s 24/7 NOC services, Tier-1 IP providers in the USA and extensive reseller support network in Africa. "Based on our long experience with Internet connectivity to Africa, we have tailored a set of services with unique characteristics: C-Band technology, small antenna size, competitive remote-terminal pricing and African-wide coverage. We believe these quality products cannot be matched by existing providers in Africa today", said Yossi Barkan, VP of Sales of IP Planet. "We are very proud to introduce a new set of services to customers that have not been able to use IP Planet’s Internet services before. We believe that these new customer segments will be able to enjoy the same quality service we were able to deliver to larger providers in Africa during the last 4 years, and grow with us to become more successful", said Erez Gissin, CEO of IP Planet. DIDATA INTRODUCES HIGHER BANDWIDTH OFFERINGS IN RESPONSE TO DEMANDWith the continued growth in Internet and data traffic, and the broader adoption of bandwidth-intensive services, users are demanding greater and more cost effective bandwidth with a broader selection of offerings from their service providers. DiData is offering Metro Ethernet as its solution for these and other challenges faced by service providers. Independent researchers, the IDC predicts that the number of Metro Ethernet subscribers worldwide will grow from 1.3 million in 2002 to approximately 18.7 million in 2006. Metro Ethernet bridges the "last mile" of connectivity between the carrier network and the end-user. It provides a high-speed final link, which is as easy to access as connecting to a LAN. Dimension Data is addressing the need to operate and maximise Metro Ethernet technology with its end-to-end solution for MetroE. Dimension Data’s Mahmud Noormohamed, Global CEO of the company’s SPS division, explains:"Metro Ethernet, in addition to solving numerous connectivity challenges, presents multiple, distinct opportunities for service providers to identify new services to offer within the broadband space. This facilitates the businessman’s need to make money and save money in today’s highly competitive marketplace". "Dimension Data is the first true end-to-end supplier of Metro Ethernet technology. Our out-of-the box solution spans the 3 building blocks critical to any services provider’s business, namely Infrastructure Technology, Operations Management and Enhanced Applications". The solution positions service providers to offer a range of advanced IP Services such as multi-megabyte data access, IP VPN, IP Voice, Disaster/Backup & Recovery and Video on Demand Services. This allows service providers to increase the breadth of services and bundles offered, thereby increasing revenue-per-customer and differentiation from competitors. In delivering its MetroE solution, Dimension Data has leveraged its infrastructure technology experience, backed by Cisco Gold Partner status and extensive knowledge of the service provider space. Noormohamed says this can equip service providers for revenue generation in just 90 days from project start. STANDARD BANK WANTS TO LEAD THE WAY WITH INTERNET BANKINGStandard Chartered Bank of Botswana is moving into internet banking. This is a new concept to Botswana and some banks will only give it it to corporate customers. It is defined as a remote bank access media for clients, enabling them to retrieve account reports and transaction on-line. The system can be accessed from any computer with Internet access. Head of Legal and Compliance, Corporate Affairs for Standard Chartered Bank, Trevor Mwamba says the bank has offered Internet Banking product called On-Line Reporting since 2001. The product has been restructured and re-branded and is now called WebBank. "The introduction of this followed a research that was made and in a realisation of a need for the product. The market needed a product that could enable remote access for monitoring. Despite that, there is already another electronic banking system, eBanking, already in-place". eBanking is software based and can only be accessed from computers already installed with it. Mwamba says Internet banking is viable in Botswana:"Our immediate trading partners, South Africa, have had the product for sometime, hence companies with head offices there expect an equivalent service here. Banks in RSA also offers the product to individual clients, hence imposing some expectations from our clients for the same." He says WebBank is offered to corporate clients only and is therefore used for business purposes. "Some of our clients have made inquiries on when the system will be availed to individuals. A vast portion of the consumer banking market is not ready for this change because they do not feel safe about security on the product. "They don’t feel the transfers are real and the information they receive would actually be correct." Mwamba outlines some of the advantages of Internet banking as affording clients the ability to monitor their accounts and move funds from one account to the other. "The system covers trade transactions like application of letters of credit and telegraphic transfers. All this can be done remotely from anywhere in the world as long as there is access to the Internet." Concerning security, Mwamba explains that Internet banking uses a security feature called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which provides data encryption, server authentication and ensures message integrity. "The disadvantages aren’t many. It’s dependent on the efficiency of the Internet service provider and the kind of computer one uses," he says. (source: Memegi.com) IN BRIEF- With 317,000 telephone banking customers and 13,000 cellphone banking customers, Absa says it is leading the race for customers in South Africa’s e-space. - Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has received applications from four firms seeking to provide public data network, Internet service, bandwidth/leased circuit and local loop network. CCK Director-general, Sammy Kirui, said in the Kenya Gazette of May 9, 2003 that Azicon Engineering Ltd has applied for a licence to provide public data network. He said Digital River Ltd applied for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence while Sita seeks a licence to provide bandwidth/leased circuit. He said Comlogic Networks Ltd has applied for a licence to provide local loop network. The applications were made pursuant to provisions of the Kenya Communications Act, 1998. - The Uganda Internet Exchange Point [UIXP] is now live. Currently, Africa Online and Afsat are switching traffic.
KENYA’S PRIVATE SECTOR SETS UP NEW ICT BODY TO INFLUENCE POLICYThe new government in Kenya has been challenging the private sector to organize itself to speak with one unified voice as it engages with government in the formulation and implementation of policies. The private sector has reacted positively, establishing the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, an all-inclusive body that brings together all sectors ­ including ICT. This sector is represented in the Alliance by the Private Sector ICT Board. The board has been in existence for three years now. It started life as one of the board committees of the Nairobi Stock Exchange, which was keen to come up with ways of stimulating the economy. Indeed it was then called the High Tech and Growth committee. The Stock Exchange initiative was carried out in cooperation with the Kenya Private Sector Foundation, a cross-sectoral body that is part of the newly-formed overall Alliance. A few months ago, the ICT and other Stock Exchange boards were transferred to the Foundation, which itself had set up similar structures in other sectors, also hitherto not formally organized. Since inception, the board has provided private sector input to the Annual Budget, to the three-year national strategic plan (the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, or PRSP) and to the seven-year National Development Plan, or NDP. Members of the board sit on the Government’s ICT Sector Working Group of PRSP and the ICT Plan Working Group of the NDP. They are also on the National Task Force for e-Commerce, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The board’s main challenge has been to put ICT on the national agenda at the senior-most levels in government. It has worked to show: - how ICT can act as a key enabler to Kenya’s competitiveness and growth - how ICT can improve efficiency and service delivery in government - what needs to be done to build ICT human capacity - how infrastructure must be improved - what policies and legislation need to be put in place. The ICT board enjoys representation from all the associations in the sector including: TESPOK: Telecommunication Service Providers of Kenya (ISPs); TKAD: Telecommunication Dealers Association of Kenya; KENIC: Kenya Network Information Centre (Administer country code Top Level Domains and work to reduce the digital divide); CSK: Computer Society of Kenya; ITSA: IT Standards Association; ISACA(Kenya): Information Systems Audit and Control Association; KIS: Kenya Information Society (promote ICTs and development) and COA: Cybercafe Owners Association. In addition, a number of individuals, some from the ICT sector and others from user environments, have been co-opted onto the board. As well as handling issues of general interest and concern, the board is now operating through a number of recently established sub-committees. These are as follows: - Economic impact of ICT; input to Annual Budget; and financing of ICT industry - Digital Divide … Education (with representation from the Kenya Private Sector Foundation’s Education Board) - Standards and curriculum - Multinationals These committees are reaching out to local and international research and academic institutions, to make coordinated and hence more effective use of existing research as well as to commission new private sector driven research. To find out more about the board’s activities, or to offer any inputs, contact the chairman, Mike Eldon on meldon@symphony.co.ke He and his board are keen to know how such boards have operated in other countries, and to exchange experiences with them. INTRINSIC INSTALLS MAJOR DATABASE APP IN LARGEST COAL TERMINALA seven-fold increase in performance, massive scalability and expertly-managed business processes are just some of the benefits claimed by Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) since it cut across to HP systems powered by the Intel Itanium 2 architecture last month. The project was initiated by Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the largest single coal terminal in the world, late last year. It was coordinated and executed by pan-African systems integrator, Intrinsic Technology. Initial plans were drawn up around upgrading the IT systems that controlled and managed RBCT’s business - a process which covers the 3000 rail wagons that deliver coal each day, the 66 million tons of coal handled each year and the 500-plus employees that oversee it all. "Our core operations are controlled by two primary servers and our users access the systems resident on these machines," explains Dave Green, the business leader at RBCT. "One runs an Oracle database to provide data for the manufacturing execution and management information systems. The other ‘control’ server runs operational and process software. The two machines are interconnected and manage almost every activity at our plant." The upgrade saw the existing database servers replaced with systems powered by the Itanium 2 processor. The latest version of the Oracle 9i, database release 2, was also installed on these machines. Given the mission-critical nature of the systems it was also necessary to implement a high availability strategy. As a result the server set up is duplicated, explains C. J. van Rensburg, the Oracle DBA of database specialist Rextin - one of the implementation partners - adding that plans for further redundancy are in the pipeline. "RBCT currently has one database server and one control server that are live - these run the plant. In the event of something failing on one of these machines, we have an exact replica of both servers ready to go at a moment’s notice," he says. From a business benefit standpoint RBCT has seen the average response time of the Oracle database improve by more than 700% - that is, the Itanium 2 system executes queries on the Oracle database seven times faster than on the previous machine. The system allows for easy expansion to cater for the growth that RBCT is planning this year. It also provides a platform for technological growth, given that upgrading to the next iteration of the Itanium processor, codenamed Madison, is a simple case of swapping out processors. Madison is slated to be available in July this year. "The project is not only significant because of its positive impact on RBCT’s business though," says Marc Dijkstra, the Unix expert from Intrinsic who also worked on the project. "It’s also the first time that the latest release of Oracle 9i has been rolled out on the Itanium 2 architecture anywhere in Africa." This in itself is an important fact for HP, Intel and software companies like Oracle. "Itanium has always been positioned as the future of 64-bit business and technical computing. However, the first iteration of the processor was not widely adopted by the industry, fueling speculation that it wasn’t a mature enough technology," says Kevin Barnard, the Unix and Itanium product manager at HP South Africa. IN BRIEF- Cash-flush Altech has finally dipped into its R1bn treasure to pay R559m for Namitech, a smart card and secure technologies company in the Nampak stable. - Study papers presented at a workshop this week show that
Ethiopia stands lowest among developing countries in the use of
information and communication technology (ICT). The country’s
information systems are not organised and information infrastructure
meant to support development activities is very weak, the papers
state. - Ethiopia’s ICT Focus magazine received the first-ever AISI Media Award, for its outstanding work in print media to promote the Information Society. - At the first in a series of country­wide events, Microsoft and it’s local launch partners announced the South African launch of Windows Server 2003, an integrated server. The new server platform allows customers to power .NET-connected applications, networks and Web services from the workgroup to the datacenter. Microsoft says this will result in customers deriving more value from existing IT investments and lowering overall computing costs. - Leaders from Africa’s technology corporations, academia,
government and non-profit organisations will come together at
the Digital Bridge Africa Conference to devise a strategy and
implementation plan to enhance technology innovation in and for
Africa.
EGYPT’S ORASCOM TELECOM FINALISES SALE OF SUB-SAHARAN COMPANIESEgypt’s Orascom Telecom has finalised the sale of seven sub-Saharan GSM companies in its Telecel International Limited (TIL) unit as part of its ongoing restructuring and focus on core assets. In a first transaction, regional cellular operator OT said it sold the Telecel operations in Gabon, Benin, Togo, Niger and Burkina Faso to Atlantique Telecom for US$23.1 million in cash and a debt reduction in TIL and consequently OT of about US$81 million. Atlantique Telecom is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banque Atlantique of the Ivory Coast. An OT statement said the transfer of shares in the Gabon, Benin and Niger units had already taken place, while the transfer of the other two firms shares was still subject to final third party consent. Only some of the transfers will be reflected in TIL’s end-year results, while the remainder will be seen in second quarter 2003 figures. In a second transaction, OT sold Telecel Zambia, U-Com in Uganda, Telecel Burundi, Telecel Central African Republic and Telecel PTY—a management company based in South Africa—to the Gloria Trust, the previous minority shareholder in TIL. In payment, the Trust "transferred its 26.5 percent ownership in TIL as well as US$27 million in loan forgiveness and 7.5 million (Orascom Telecom) GDRs", OT said in a statement. It said the deal reduced TIL’s net debt by US$47 million and would be reflected in OT’s 2002 accounts. OT said this transaction also gave (OT) 100 percent ownership over TIL whose assets include 52.5 percent of Loteny Telecom in Ivory Coast, 100 percent of X-COM in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 60 percent of Telecel Zimbabwe and 100 percent of M-Link, an international carrier based in Belgium. (source: Reuters via Liquid Africa) 2002 RESULTS FOR MAROC TELECOM ENCOURAGING VIVENDI TO BUY CONTROLAccording to Liquid Africa, Maroc Telecom has posted bullish results for 2002. Its sales were DH14,751bn, up 9% on the previous year and its net results were DH3.7bn, up 405% on the previous year. Dividends paid out were DH2.5bn up 240% on last year. The operator is paying off its debt and posted a DH7bn cash flow result. Its major shareholder, Vivendi (35%) probably played an important role by putting in its know-how in the industry. The French holding company is now considering raising its stake to a controlling 51% after it pulls out of the entertainment business in the US. Maroc Telecom’s domestic market is expanding: MT holds a 70% market share in the GSM market (4.6M subscribers, 70% of which are pre-paid customers). MT’s GSM capacity is 8M lines. Fixed lines were partly cannibalized by mobile subscriptions as 500,000 users "converted" to GSM, stabilized at 1.1M customers, thanks to a creative marketing campaign and the launch of new packages. Maroc Telecom is also pioneering the Internet business in Morocco (34,000 subscribers so far), and plans on developing it tremendously in the near future. IN BRIEF- South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has agreed to provide a loan facility of R300m to Cell C, the third cellular operator in SA, to finance capital expenditure, Business Day - Orascom Telecom released FY02 results ending December, in which net income skyrocketed to record LE1,047 million compared to a net loss of LE435.3 million in FY01. - SA’S Bytes Technology Group (BTG) has reported excellent results for the year ended 28 February 2003 despite the continued slack in demand for IT products and services. BTG managed to effectively mitigate these factors through market share gains, greater efficiencies and cost reductions, reporting revenue growth of 29% and increase in operating margin to 5.5% of sales. - MSI Cellular has made a bid for a 60 per cent stake in Kenyan mobile phone services firm KenCell Communications, an official has revealed. The stake is being sold off by France’s debt-laden Vivendi Universal. The remaining 40 per cent share of KenCell is owned by the Kenya’s Sameer Group.
CORRECTION: GATEWAY AND THE SONATEL CONTRACTThe headline of the story in issue 157 should have read "Gateway signs interconnect agreement with Sonatel".
ILLEGAL INTERNET PHARMACY RAIDED IN SOUTH AFRICAThe Department of Health has confirmed that a criminal investigation is under way against a Tableview man who allegedly sold drugs for two or three times their SA value on six Internet sites, still functioning today, to overseas customers with an Internet "prescription", writes Carel Alberts of ITWeb. Police and health inspectors raided an office in Tableview on Monday last week, reportedly seizing assorted pharmaceuticals, including schedule five drugs, and receipts reflecting millions of rands in transactions. Department spokesman Russel Coote says the group of pharmaceutical sites under investigation, understood to be www.pharma-drug.com, is registered to a Tableview, Cape Town man. ITWeb was unable to contact the investigating officer in question. The site requires users to log in and fill in a questionnaire to request prescription drugs. Once the request is posted, it comes back with an online "prescription" with a scanned signature, and on the strength of this, the drugs are dispensed, says Coote. "Possibly the doctor and the pharmacist are working together." The drugs on sale are all highly controlled, either psychoactive drugs or painkillers, sold for two or three times their SA street value, Coote continues. "We got numerous complaints and have been processing these. In addition, we’re also working with US customs officials to quell this." Willie Kriel of the voluntary Pharmaceutical Society classifies this phenomenon as a "huge problem, both internationally and locally", but also as a complicated issue, dependent for resolution on regional drug control measures. "In SA we have far stricter legislation after 2 May this year. It has been legislated that all drugs received and dispensed must be recorded in a register by persons receiving and dispensing in a quarterly balance. Details of the drug, the recipient and the recipient’s address must be recorded. If one is discovered to be in possession of a scheduled substance, you must be able to prove a prescription and where it was obtained." IN BRIEF- Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Union of Africans and Senegalese Overseas (MAEUASE):http://www.diplomatie.sn/ Plenty of pictures of politicians but nothing so useful as a navigation bar. - iNETWORK Uganda is a quarterly newsletter of I-Network Uganda. To obtain a copy of the newsletter in .pdf format, send a request to info@wougnet.org For information about I-Network, contact Hon. Dr. Nkuuhe at jnkuuhe@parliament.go.ug - WOUGNET website has been selected as winner of the AISI Media Award in the IICD - Local Content category. - An upcoming webcast titled "African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) & Ethiopia: current issues and awareness" is to be held this Sunday in New York. The webcast will be transmitted live at http://www.ethipindex.com. - Voice of Nigeria (VON) launched its website last week: www.voiceofnigeria.org
TISCALI’S NATALIE THAYER ON GROWING INTO A COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESSNathalie Thayer, General Manager:Portal talks to News Update Tiscali’s position in the South African market and how it is now expanding beyond its internet origins. How did the company start? It was set up as Yebonet in 1997/8. It was a Vodacom initiative and was a division in their group. Nina Brink of World Online came to South Africa and said she’d like to buy it. It then became Vodacom World Online. It then became a listed JSE company and there was a scandal because Nina Brink sold her shares before the listing. Tiscali bought it in 2000. It’s a Sardinan-based, pan European company that operates in 14 European countries and South Africa. We’re looking to change the brand of the company. Thus far it’s been co-branded as Tiscali World Online but it’s now officially Tiscali. How many subscribers are there in the market and what’s your share? There’s about 2-2.5 million subscribers in South Africa, of which 6-700,000 are dial-up. We have 130,000 subscribers and were predominantly dial-up until we acquired NetActive which gave us 3000 corporate accounts. We now have 5,000 corporate accounts. But you’re not just an internet company any more... No. We’re a Vodacom cellular service provider, selling airtime. We’re moving towards being a communications company, not just an internet one. We’re a wireless data service provider offering 0800 numbers on a revenue-share basis for WAP and SMS data. We’re also involved in the SMS business. Who are the main players in the South African market and what are they charging? All the prices are very similar. MWeb has 230,000 subscribers and charges R140 a month. We’ve got 130,000 subscribers and charge R140 per month. Intekom has somewhere between 60-70,000 subscribers and charges R100 a month. The other ISPs are all little ones, second and third tier ISPs. iAfrica is talking about coming back into the market again. Apparently they regret selling their ISP business. There’s a rumour that MSN will become an ISP and that AOL are looking to come into the market. Why are you able to charge more than most of the main players? It’s in the value-adds: 24 hour customer service, technical support, virus checking and spam filtering. What’s the quality of connectivity in South Africa like? Most people’s connectivity comes through SAIX (Telkom), UUNet or IS. For dial-up we use SAIX and IS. There arte big problems with Telkom in terms of cost and speed and there’s also no revenue share. Are you hoping things will change with the SNO? It probably will for the corporate business. How big is the airtime/cellular business? It’s been going for a year and is predominantly based on corporate business. These are high-end contracts with high usage. We’re able to cross-sell to our 5000 corporate accounts. We were a late entrant into the business. Why get into these other business areas? We’ve had a shift in business strategy. The internet is a tough business and the margins are small. Cellular has nice margins and the demand exceeds supply. What’s the wireless data business? It’s a very new business selling MMS applications. For example we sell competitions to ad agencies with a revenue share between us. Things like Big Brother, sporting events and so on. A lot of companies want to use SMS to communicate with their account holders and there’s also SMS marketing. Your MD Graeme Victor resigned recently to "pursue personal interests". What’s the story there? He took the company from a loss-making situation to a profit in three years. We’re now the most profitable company in the Tiscali Group. He wants to launch and run his own company. We’re probably the only ISP making profits locally. Mweb is reporting large losses and spending a lot of money on TV advertising. What’s the logic of a pan-European company having a single business in Africa? We were almost bought by Nina Brink on a whim. But because we’re profitable they retain us. Tiscali is looking at other African countries, particularly one in North Africa. How are cyber-cafes doing in South Africa? There’s virtually no cyber-cafes. They’ve simply not taken off. They don’t make enough money. We have one retail shop and that’s a cyber-café.
PEOPLE* Fintech Group out-going chief executive, Tony Githuku, said the industry needs incentive schemes for software export, such as export compensation and tougher legislation on protection. "Though the industry can be turned into an economic engine, currently the country has less than 10 organisations actively engaged in software development. These numbers can improve dramatically if the right incentives are put in place," he said. Githuku said the Kenyan firm was sure of the industry’s potential to the economy given experience from its software development division. It forms the backbone of its solution base and has an edge in the provision of core business solutions.Githuku who is moving over to Kenya Commercial Bank as the director of Information Technology (IT) was speaking during a ceremony to mark the group’s 10th anniversary at a Nairobi hotel. * Santie Botha, an Absa executive director, has resigned from the group andwill leave Absa at the end of June 2003. She will be joining MTN. Nallie Bosman, Absa Group Chief Executive, said that the responsibility for the areas reporting to Santie Botha will be assigned to other executive directors. * Peter Ballantyne is leaving IICD to go and work for INASP.
JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES- A Forum of African Local Authorities on the Information Society will be held in Nouakchott, Mauritania from 8 to 10July 2003. In order to showcase the most relevant and valuable experiences on the African continent, the Forum organizers are launching a Call for Projects on the above topics. The projects to be presented in the Nouakchott Forum should necessarily be territorial initiatives. Such projects should involve local actors and demonstrate the gains achieved through the use of NICTs for community development. The Forum organizers seek your help to identify 50 projects from all over Africa, that could be presented in the Nouakchott Forum.. If you know of such projects, or work yourself on initiatives that answer the above requirements, please send a brief outline Guidelines for presentations are being attached (including the list of partners involved in the implementation) to: Mauritanian Gov: Housseynou Hamady BA bah@mauritania.mr (Nouakchott, Mauritania) - Call for Papers for ACT 2003, Abuja, Nigeria, 26-29 August 2003. Individuals and organisations are invited to submit proposals for Conference and Workshop Presentations at ACT 2003. The theme for ACT 2003 is Mobilising ICT Applications and Projects for Effective Corporate, National and Regional Development. Proposals should include the title of the presentation, a brief outline and a brief biographical note on the presenter (which will be used in the conference brochure). Deadline: 30 June 2003. Send Proposals to: Sean Moroney (sean@aitecafrica.com)
EVENTSA UNIVERSAL MODEL FOR THE FIRST MILE NETWORK ACCESS IN RURAL AREAS? (5-6 JUNE 2003) The UN ICT Task Force and Sida are arranging a workshop on this theme. The host is the IT-University, Kista, Stockholm and the location is: Sandhamn, Utö or Kista, Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose is to identify successful technical solutions and standards for access networks (First Mile), as well as sustainable business models for operation and maintenance of such networks which could be disseminated as best practices. The workshop will present and discuss successful examples of communication applications in developing countries and rural areas with an emphasis on schools and small businesses and their role as primary adopters in communities. Speakers will include Americo Muchanga and a presentation on Wino Email over HF Radio from Tanzania. For more information, see http://www.wideopenaccess.net/
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