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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 192 THE IMPACT OF ICT ON SMES - A MOTOR FOR FUTURE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN HARD-PRESSED TIMESAfrica’s economies are often dominated by Government and large corporations but the real engine of economic growth may be small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs in the jargon. By adding technology to their operations (the ICT acronym) two economic “drivers” are brought together and sparks may fly. You may even get a significant productivity “jump”. Not all SMEs can achieve this but those that can should be a significant market for African computer hardware and software resellers. Russell Southwood makes comparisons between Africa and Jamaica where this effect is already beginning to be felt. Sometimes it;s useful to step back from the plentiful obstacles to business on the continent and see how it’s done elsewhere. Last October Balancing Act carried out a workshop for IICD in Jamaica to encourage SMEs and sole trader businesses to make use of ICT to help grow their business. It may seem a strange comparison as Jamaica has some distinct advantages: It’s close to USA. It has large tourism and entertainment industries for its size: there can be few who have not heard of Bob Marley. But it shares a number of disadvantages with African countries. There is a large incumbent telco (Cable and Wireless) that dominates international bandwidth pricing. Internet users are around in some numbers but outside the main towns connectivity is limited or non-existent. Computers and software are expensive. Sound familiar? Perhaps familiar enough to provide some pointers. The issue for Africa is how fast it can create jobs that will grow the overall level of wealth in the economy and attract hard currency to pay for expensive imports (like computers). Many African countries are still dominated by the large concession/franchise-style companies of colonial times. One company gets the right to import say a particular make of car. Provided that car is a popular global brand, this is a licence to print money, usually only available to the few. Sadly, larger scale opportunities of this kind offer more opportunities offer more potential for corruption to some of Africa’s less scrupulous political elite. There has to be a mindshift in Government and the private sector to encourage innovative, energetic and competitive SMEs. African governments need to think carefully about what the global competitive advantage of their country is: for example, selling the same coffee as everyone else will not be a recipe for survival in competitive international markets. So Government and the larger private sector need to not only encourage the growth of SMEs (through outsourcing contracts) but insist that they raise their level of management expertise through implementing ICT systems. Not all SMEs will benefit from having ICT as part of their operations. Africa is full of “me-to” companies that fight over small markets, all roughly offering the same thing. So SMEs that will make the productivity jump will need to be able to say “yes” to one or more of the following: * Be doing or be capable of doing international business: You don’t need to be offering e-transactions. A simple web site can connect a company with international markets. Yes, there are all the attendant obstacles of how you market and deal with international business but that makes it difficult, not impossible to achieve. Tourism is ripe to take advantage of this channel to its hard-currency markets. Some SMEs in Africa have made these steps but there are still many more who might follow. * Going from high to low entry-cost: For some businesses, the capital cost of setting up has traditionally been high. For example, the cost of designing media using ICT has tumbled in the last ten years. With new software and hardware, prices have been tumbling in many professional areas. What was once the USD10,000 accounts package is now the USD200 small-user accounts package. There’s been a blurring between professional uses and an am/pro area has grown up: digital filming and recording provide good examples. Electronic media is cheaper to deliver than print media (if there’s a critical mass of computers). All these things mean that what were once high-cost, high-risk industries are now much easier places to survive in if you’re an early adopter of ICT. * Competitive advantage: It’s a business truism that you must have some kind of competitive advantage. But Africa is full of companies whose competitive offer is all too often marked by low quality and low service. ICT offers a number of different ways of building relationships with customers. On service alone, there are endless opportunities for differentiation from the many mediocre operators. * Distinctiveness: In a world dominated by the same global brands, there is inevitably a thirst among consumers wherever they are for something different. At a micro level, there are a range of South African companies and designers who have shown it is possible to produce goods that people in the developed world will buy. For example, there is an Ethiopian company selling high-quality leather goods from that country. Many African countries have rich textile colours and designs. Where is the company or trader offering a catalogue of them on the web. * Have access to finance: The average SME, however well it’s doing, will probably need access to finance to make this transition. Although secondhand PCs can now be bought for as little as USD200-300 each, this still represents a significant investment for many businesses. Business finance of this scale remains frustratingly hard to obtain. The lack of a “repayment culture” still represents a significant obstacle. But as the Jamaican examples below show, there are ways of creating these opportunities whilst keeping a necessary level of security on the loans. Countries like Ghana and Kenya are more advanced than say many of the smaller Francophone countries. Agencies like EMPRETEC can offer financing and advice. Although it’s obvious to most of the readers of News Update, it’s worth repeating where the business gains might come from. There are two ways in which ICT can provide productivity “jumps” for SMEs: - Within any SME computers and communications technology can make the same group of people capable of doing more work and doing it better than was previously possible. Whether this is controlling cash flow (and chasing those who owe you money) or staying on top of inventory, technology provides better ways of keeping up. And this includes anyone from the small shop-keeper to the 30 person service and supply company. The Jamaican builder who could supply electronic versions of drawing and could complete electronic templates for quotes was both faster than his competitors and offered the customer more. - Looking outwards any company can improve the way it gets orders and offer better ways to its customers of interacting with the company. For all the massive obstacles that stand between an SME in Africa and a market in a developed country, business can be got provided the company has something of quality to offer and delivers it reliably. The Jamaican cake-maker was surprised at a request to fly over to Cyprus and create a wedding cake. Bit was a logical consequence of her having kept in e-mail contact with her customers and had an international web presence. Two slightly more detailed examples from Jamaica have a direct relevance for African SMEs: * JoJo’s Fashions is a dress-making business run by Maxine Mitchell: “I resisted introducing new technology until my 8 year old told me that IT had passed me by.” She used to be able to cut 6 dresses a day. Now she can cut dozens and produce them to a higher quality: “I now have a computerised machine to do the embroidery.” With wordprocessing, she can amend a past quotation fax it to a potential buyer: “With a laptop and a mobile, the business continues, wherever I am.” It has allowed her to expand her horizons: “I used to supply a small market in Jamaica, now I’m able to supply a much larger market across the Caribbean. I’m currently looking at building a website and offering a catalogue clothes. Whenever I travel on business, customers ask me ‘are you on the web’? They want to be able to look up your contact details and browse a range of information about your company and its products.” Her biggest mistake in implementing ICT systems?: “Knowing the point where you can’t do everything yourself.” * Starfish Oils makes Jamaica-inspired candles and aromatherapy products company run by Kynan Cooke. He started getting ICT implemented in his company by putting his accounts, documents and filing on to a computer. This was followed by getting online. Soon he was in specialist chat rooms comparing notes about getting cheaper and better wicks for the candles: “You can ask a lot of questions without anyone saying ‘what are you asking that for, dummy?’”. ICT was the answer to the growth the company quicly began to experience:” It’s hard to manage 100 people but it’s relatively easy to manage 20 people with a computer network. “Stock-taking in each of the three shops now takes one hour rather than 6-7 people spending four hours on it: “If we wanted to open four more stores, we’d have the capacity to handle it.” His biggest mistake? “Trying to do too much too fast. I said to myself I’m going to spend real money and get the most expensive accountancy system. I needed 10 people to operate it and it cost USD10-30,000 a year to run it. It was too big for what we needed. I was advised against it but I over-computerised. But let’s not be afraid of mistakes. That’s how we learn.” On the finance side, the Jamaican companies providing finance insisted that their clients got used to the idea of saving. So when the moment came to borrow to finance a computer purchase or some other ICT item, they were accustomed to putting aside a monthly sum rather than taking it out of the business. In addition, they accepted items of household furniture as collateral like beds and wardrobes. So how do these arguments play out in reality in Africa? There is precious little detailed evidence but two surveys give some sense of what might be happening. According to a World Wide Worx survey of SMEs in South Africa (one of the largest of its kind) investment in information technology is having a major impact on the competitiveness of small and medium businesses. 5742 companies were interviewed on their investment in ICT, impact of this investment, factors influencing purchases, and their use of financial and business services. Among the key findings of the survey was that SMEs are spending a higher proportion of their turnover on ICT each year. In 2001, 47% of SMEs spent more than 1% of turnover on IT, in 2002 48%, and in 2003 49% expect to spend more than 1% of their turnover on IT. “This bears out the prevailing sentiment that SMEs represent a growth market for the IT sector even as large corporations are cutting back,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx and principal researcher on the project. The core of the research project, measuring the impact of IT on the competitiveness of SMEs, examined four key components of competitiveness, namely: - Cost reduction, which is in turn a measure of organisational efficiency and financial controls; The survey examined these four areas both in terms of perceived impact of past investment, and expected impact of future investment in IT. The overall findings were that SMEs were relatively neutral on the impact of past investment, but exceptionally positive on the expected impact of future investment. It is significant that negative sentiment is low for both past and future investment. For example, while 59% of respondents are positive and 33% neutral on the impact of past investment on cost reduction, 69% are positive and 25% neutral on the impact of future investment. The number of negative respondents falls from 8% for impact of past investment to 6% for impact of future investment. These findings are generally similar to the findings for the other measures of competitiveness, except for the impact of IT on turnover, where a greater proportion of respondents are negative and neutral on the impact of both past and future investment. This reflects a realistic appreciation that IT cannot generate sales, although it can make a big difference to the impact of those sales on the bottom line. It also represents a challenge to the IT industry to improve its offerings to SMEs with regard to sales tools such as sales force automation. Last week a survey was published on companies’ take-up of ICT in Morocco. The agri-business sector had the highest take-up but only 24% of companies had implemented ICT systems (see last issue) followed by 19% in industrial metallurgy. Neither of these sectors are the home of plentiful SMEs and this gives some idea of the long road the continent still has to travel. Both South Africa and Morocco might be said to represent those running at the front of the race. So where’s your country and your company? A major plank of the NEPAD programme is putting a million computers (probably mostly refurbished) into schools. This is a wholly worthy initiative and ought to be implemented as quickly as possible. But imagine the impact of a similar scheme for SMEs in a single country or across the continent. A strong and vibrant African SME sector that uses ICT will add yet another pressure on African governments to raise their global game.
CELTEL RAISES USD62 MILLION WAR CHEST TO TACKLE MTN, VODACOMCellular network operator MSI has raised another $62m in equity funding to help expand its African networks and continue to do battle with SA’s own cellular operators, MTN and Vodacom. The company has networks in 12 African countries, including Uganda, where it is a rival to MTN and in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo where it competes with Vodacom. It also operates a network in Zambia, but a potential clash with Vodacom there was averted when Vodacom chose not to activate a licence it had won, citing regulatory uncertainties (see story below). MSI announced last week that it had changed its name to Celtel International, the name it has always used as its brand name in the various countries. That decision was made after consumer research across Africa to assess which brand its customers most identified with. With 2,5-million customers, Celtel’s operations are easily dwarfed by Vodacom’s 9.6-million subscribers and MTN’s 7.9-million. But it is full of fighting talk, and last had a fund-raising campaign early last year, when it clawed in 117m and announced plans to intensify its battle against MTN and Vodacom. Yesterday its CEO Marten Pieters said the latest funding would help it grow organically and through acquisition to become the most successful pan-African telecommunications company an ambition shared by MTN and Vodacom. Celtel’s latest effort to raise more cash saw it win support from three major contributors: Capital International contributed USD38m as the lead investor; FMO, the Netherlands Development Finance Company, put in USD15m; and Blakeney Management invested USD9m. Celtel International has set aside USD50 million for the expansion of its network in Zambia, write4s Timothy Kasolo, News Update’s Zambian correspondent. Celtel Zambia Managing Director David Venn said this week that his company will improve the lives of the Zambians particularly the subscribers by offering them with effective technology. Venn was speaking at his company’s re-launch of its brand name and change of logo respectively. He explained that Celtel had invested more that US USD36 million to build the network and its in the process to double number of cell cites which will result in the wider coverage in Zambia. Venn observed that the re-launch represents the next stage by Celtel towards the development of Pan African Telecommunications Company. One of the shareholders in Celtel is the Commonwealth Development Corporation Capital Partners (CDCCP) with over US $ 1.5 billion investment (SOURCE: Business Day and our correspondent) KENYA’S CCK ONLY QUALIFIES BELL WESTERN AS FIXED LINE REGIONAL OPERATORThe Government will not register any other regional telecommunications firm to compete with Telkom in fixed lines business after only one applicant qualified. Bell Western received the licence to operate as a regional telecommunications operator in the expansive but under-served North- Eastern Province after paying a Sh39.9 million fee yesterday. Communications Commission of Kenya director-general Sammy Kirui said two other firms that had qualified to do business in other regions – Telair Communications and Sasitel – were now disqualified after failing to meet the August deadline to pay the licence fee. “This affair has dragged on for too long. We have put a stop to it after the other two potential operators failed to meet the conditions. We will now concentrate on the search for a second national operator to compete with Telkom,” he said. The three firms were supposed to pay the fee immediately and roll out within six months. But the ambitious plan, meant to improve telecommunications in rural Kenya, got muddled up in lengthy negotiations as the successful applicants expressed doubts over the profitability of the business. Besides, they did not seem to have the required funds, with some asking to be allowed to pay the fee by instalment. The result is that the regional operator issue became a stop-go affair with no clear end in sight until the Government moved in. Sasitel, formerly Safitel, had been licensed to operate in the North Rift and Eastern Province for a fee of Sh684 million, while Telair was to pay Sh2.135 billion to get the green light to compete with Telkom in the provision of land lines in Coast, Central, South Rift, Nyanza and Western. With the awarding of the licence, Bell Western, which is to operate as Warsan, will be expected to lay its network to meet the communication commission’s performance targets, which require it to have rolled out 20,939 lines in five years.The other targets include two payphones per sub location and 636 within three years. (SOURCE: Daily Nation) SA’S TELKOM ORDERED TO DISCLOSE DETAILS OF CUSTOMER CONTRACTSRival Orion Cellular claims Telkom crammed its contracts with preferential prices to lure away loyal customers The Competition Tribunal has ordered Telkom to disclose the contents of two of its confidential customer contracts in a case that sees the parastatal accused of anticompetitive pricing. But Telkom has stalled the proceedings by lodging an appeal against the ruling. The tribunal ruled that rival service provider Orion Cellular must be allowed to inspect the contracts Telkom drew up with Standard Bank and Edgars to persuade them to stop using Orion’s least-cost routing service. The service enables corporate customers to slash their phone bills by diverting calls off Telkom’s lines and onto the cellular networks instead. (SOURCE: Business Day) COTE D’IVOIRE: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS DISCUSSES UP-COMING LIBERALISATION IN BRIEFMobile messaging solutions provider, Clickatell has been invited to host a workshop at the largest GSM event in the world, the 3GSM World Congress (being held in Cannes from 23 to 25 February 2004).The workshop will be presented by Clickatell’s team of messaging experts, including one of the founding members of Clickatell, Pieter de Villiers, SMS futurist Gary Cousins and consultant Forrest Holleman. 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TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Safaricom last week unveiled a multi million network management centre as part of its expansion and improvement strategy for 2004. The new facility uses the latest technology to detect disruptions in network services, including SMS and call termination failures. Valued at over Sh205 million and located within the firm’s headquarters in Nairobi, the centre is expected to further improve the mobile phone provider’s network service quality and efficiency.Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Safaricom chief executive officer Michael Joseph described the new centre as the heart of the firm’s operations. - Celtel Uganda has launched a special New Year’s package, including free Celtel-to-Celtel calls between 9:00pm and 8:00am, until February 29. However this only applies to those who join the network between January 15 and January 31. In addition, the firm has also reduced the price for the simpack from sh12,000 to sh7,000.
BAGLE WORM INFECTS SA HOME USERS, SMEs BUT INFECTION RATE LOWERThe new Bagle worm appears to have spread in South Africa last week affecting mostly small businesses and home users. ITWeb readers reported multiple infections in small offices, home PCs and at least one academic institution yesterday. However, the infection rate is still far lower in Souyth Africa than it is overseas. The worm arrives in an e-mail from random senders and carries the subject line “Hi” and the signature “Test, yep”. The name of the attachment is also varied.IT administrators describe the worm as “clever” in that it pretends to be a “techie” test e-mail and often comes from an address the user knows, fooling them into running the attachment. The worm is capable of harvesting millions of e-mail addresses and turning infected PCs into “spam machines”. It has spread throughout Europe and Asia, reaching the US and SA on Monday and Tuesday last week. “When the worm is started, it connects to a list of predefined Web servers and tries to access a PHP file with certain parameters,” says Ryan Price, CEO of Y3K. “One of the parameters is the TCP port where the backdoor is listening, which suggests that this functionality is used to collect the addresses of infected computers. “Each infected machine goes through the list of 35 servers (this might take a while if there are timeouts). Then it sleeps for 10 minutes and restarts. “We’ve been parsing the httpd access-logs we got from one of the affected Web sites. So far there have been 5.2 million hits to the Web site, which is just one of the 35 Web sites which are attacked simultaneously. According to their traffic, most of the machines that connected to them were in Canada - around 12 200 with an estimated 793 065 hits. In the US, we saw 9992 machines, estimated at 590 590 hits, and SA was way down the list, with 135, so far estimated at 8775 hits.” NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TIGHTENS THE LEGISLATIVE NET ON 419ersThe Nigerian Federal Government on Wednesday last week tightened the net on 419ers as it approved sterner measures in a new bill seeking to amend the existing act on the offence. At its weekly meeting in Abuja presided over by Vice- President Atiku Abubakar, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the bill seeking an amendment to the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 1995 to accommodate electronic telecommunications offences. The bill, which is to be sent to the National Assembly for passage, would compel all Internet service providers (ISPs) and Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) operators to register with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for proper monitoring and supervision. Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo told State House Correspondents after the meeting that varying prison terms with options of fine awaited all errant cyber cafe and GSM operators and users in the country.Apart from registration, Adebayo disclosed that each ISP and GSM operator would maintain a register of all fixed line customers which shall be made available for inspection by any authorised officer of the commission. Besides service providers and GSM operators, customers and subscribers, who falsified or declined to give full identities, including addresses, to the providers would be liable to, at least, one year imprisonment or a fine of N100,000. Similarly, service providers and GSM operators, who failed to comply with the provision demanding the particulars of the subscribers would also be liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 and forfeiture of the equipment or facility used in providing the service. The bill, the minister said, also stipulates five-year-imprison-ment without an option of fine for any provider of wire or electronic communication service, who failed to register or co-operate with EFCC with returns on the use of his facilities and that “in the case of a continuing offence, to a fine of N50,000 for each day the offence persists.” (SOURCE: Odili.net) IN BRIEF- GS Telecom, one of the largest privately owned suppliers of wireless and satellite systems in Africa, says that it is putting a host of applications, including high speed data, Internet connectivity and VoIP within the reach of businesses across the continent, via two-way satellite connectivity. GS Telecom has selected a cost-effective solution from Kingston inmedia, the UK-based satellite connectivity specialist, to enable its new VSAT service, ‘AfricaConnect’.
NIGERIA’S NIPOST TO COMPUTERISE POST OFFICESThe Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) has concluded plans to computerise major post offices across the country, the organisation’s public relations manager, Hussaina Charity Ato announced last week. Speaking with newsmen last week on the occasion of the Pan African postal union, Ato said through the computerisation, the post offices would be able to render such services as cash transfer, payment of pensions to retirees residing in rural areas and e-mail service. She said in continuation of management efforts to improve on the general condition of post offices throughout the federation, contracts would be awarded for the rehabilitation of major post offices including general post offices. According to her, plans have also been concluded to commission some post offices which were completed last year including those in Bida, the PB2B post office in Oko, special design post office in Maiduguri, the Suleja post office and Keana sub-post office in Nassarawa State. On delivery of quality service, the spokesman said adequate security measures put in place by NIPOST had ensured that mail pilfering had been reduced to the barest minimum, even as plans have been concluded to equip the post offices with modern postal tools like stamp cancelling machines and date stamps to improve mail delivery in the New Year. In addition, she said the fleet of mail delivery vans will be increased through the purchase of motorcycles and the refurbishment of motor vehicles to reinforce the operation of the national mail delivery route network. She said NIPOST had recorded over 80 per cent success in 72 hour delivery of inter-state letters from Imo State to Sokoto or Zamfara State and letters from Borno State to Cross River or Rivers State. Other successes by NIPOST include about 90% breakthrough in 48 hour delivery of intra-State letters, 95 per cent success in 24 hour delivery of intra-city letters and about 90 per cent success in the security of mail handled by NIPOST. (SOURCE: Daily Trust) DIGITAL PLANET, DISCOVERY CUT ICT COSTS FOR VITALITY MEMBERSSouth African online ICT business, Digital Planet, has announced its partnership with Discovery Vitality, which aims to provide over one million Vitality members with access to ICT products at discounted prices. Vitality members can now buy hardware and software products through the Discovery Web site (www.discoveryworld.co.za) and call centre, and, depending on their Vitality status, ranging from blue to gold, they qualify for discounts of from twenty to thirty-five percent off retail prices. The ICT product range includes: HP notebooks, desktops printers, digital cameras and consumables, Microsoft retail products such as games and Encarta, productivity tools (Office and Visio) and hardware, including wireless, keyboards and mouses, as well as McAfee anti-virus software. Digital Planet acts as the fulfilment partner, and is responsible for the online buying process, from the time a Vitality member orders the product, to the time that it is successfully delivered. Says Mark Levy, director at Digital Planet: “The partnership with Discovery Vitality opens a new and exciting chapter in the life of Digital Planet. With products from HP, Microsoft and MacAfee at unprecedented prices, and an increase in consumer confidence in online buying, we expect this partnership to flourish. We also believe that this is going to have a huge impact on the local ICT market giving more people access to ICT products than ever before.” Barry Sundelson, head of Vitality, says, “Our new partnership with Digital Planet ensures that we provide our members with even more exciting incentives to participate in the Vitality HealthStyle programme and follow a healthy lifestyle. (SOURCE: ICT World) IN BRIEF- The National Universities Commission (NUC) has commenced the process of fine-tuning the Nigerian Universities Management Information System (NUMIS) to provide reliable, comprehensive and up-to-date data on university education in the country. The project initiated about 10 years ago could not be sustained “owing to budgetary and other constraints”, according to NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Peter Okebukola. the new-look NUMIS was expected to provide information on statistics on university education aggregated at the department, faculty, institution, and national levels, student academic records and transcripts, staff records, funding profiles of universities, academic programme status, and physical development pattern. http://odili.net/news/source/2004/jan/20/313.html - Oracle Corporation will start its East African Technology roadshow in Nairobi on Monday 26 January. The roadshow will then move on to Kampala (27 January) and Dar-Es-Salaam (28 January). The Serena Hotel will be the venue, and the event will be hosted with Oracle partners Simba Technologies Ltd, Software Technology Ltd and Copy Cat Ltd. - For a limited period, Sun Microsystems SA is giving businesses an opportunity to upgrade to its most recent hardware at reduced cost by offering a trade-in of up to 15% on selected previous generation Sun servers. In addition to trade-in offers, the company is also offering reductions on the purchase price of new servers, including the Sun Fire V440 four-way machine. The Cool Offers promotion is valid until 31 March 2004. For more information, please visit www.sun.com/rsa/cool
ALTECH, ECONET WIRELESS FORM USD140 MILLION JOINT VENTURETelecommunications, multi-media and information technology group company Altech and the Econet Wireless Group, an international company with global telecommunications interests in Africa, the United Kingdom and the Asia Pacific region, are to join forces to establish a new South African-based telecommunications company initially valued at approximately one billion rand (US$140 million). The companies announced the venture, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, on Wednesday last week. The newly formed 50-50 joint venture between Altech and TSMI, (TSMI being the international investment company of the Masiyiwa family and the founders of the operations comprising the Econet Wireless Group), will ultimately take ownership and jointly control all current Econet Group assets, including operations in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The new company, (Newco), will have a Board chaired by Altech and a management team led by Econet Wireless, together with Altech. Altech CEO Craig Venter said the Econet group had been identified as a compatible partner about two years ago and that he was delighted that agreement had finally been reached in a deal which would thrust the Altech group into being a true global player. “I have stated in the past that in order for Altech to continue to grow significantly, it would have to globalise,” said Venter. “This venture is a perfect fit within our TMT and globalisation strategy as Econet is an ideal entry point for Altech into mobile network operations with its base of high- growth operations in Africa, and several exciting initiatives in other parts of the globe.” Venter said Altech’s marketing and systems expertise, developed within Autopage and the group’s other subsidiaries, would be of direct benefit to Econet, together with Altech’s support, financial and administrative structures. He said that the transaction would create significant opportunities and synergies for Altech and its various subsidiaries, including in the supply of products and solutions to the various operations comprising Econet. Venter said that while the venture would significantly elevate Altech on the value chain, it would also strategically position the group away from the supply of equipment towards the development of solutions and services, thereby protecting and increasing margins. “It also extends Altech’s exposure within the mobile telecommunications industry,” he said. Econet Wireless Group CEO Strive Masiyiwa said the venture would pave the way for the group’s further expansion into the lucrative African market and internationally. “The investment by Altech will strengthen Econet’s capital base and will enable us to develop existing operations and to raise our shareholdings in certain existing operations to a controlling stake,” he said. Masiyiwa said the venture also positioned the Group well to attract additional funding for future expansion at a time when there had been a dramatic turnaround in the global telecom sector. “In partnership with Altech we will have the means to match our determination to be a long-term influential player in the African, indeed global, cellular market.” Both Altech and the Econet Wireless Group have agreed that Econet will continue to assess various opportunities in Africa and elsewhere. Additional funding for these opportunities, plus for Econet to enhance its ownership position in certain of its network operations, will be on a basis to be negotiated between Altech and TSMI. Masiyiwa confirmed that initially Newco would not include the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Econet Wireless Holdings or its subsidiaries and international interests. “Those interests will be incorporated into the joint venture company when political, regulatory and economic conditions permit. This includes the ability to repatriate funds.” Masiyiwa also confirmed that the joint venture did not affect the structure of Econet Wireless Limited which currently holds five percent interest in Econet Wireless Nigeria. Subject to conditions, Altech will subscribe for shares in Newco representing 50% of the entire issued share capital of Newco, for a cash consideration of US$70 million. TSMI will subscribe for the balance of the issued share capital of Newco, with the consideration being settled by the injection of selected assets of Econet, valued at US$70 million. The assets affected by the transaction include Mascom Wireless Botswana, a mobile network operator in which Econet currently owns 20% and is negotiating for additional shares. Mascom was launched in March 1998 and has grown its subscriber base to approximately 310,000. Its market share is approximately 70 percent. Also affected is Econet Wireless Kenya, in which Econet has an agreed option of 51%, will be the third GSM mobile network operator in Kenya. Econet is in the process of finalising the terms and conditions of its operating licence with the regulator, and its shareholding structure with its operating partners, before commencing the installation of the network. Also affected by the deal are Mountain Kingdom Communications (MKC), Lesotho, in which Econet holds 21% of the issued share capital. MKC owns 70% of Lesotho Telecom, a joint venture with the Lesotho government. Lesotho Telecom owns and operates the national fixed line network, transmission infrastructure and international gateway as well as the second GSM operator of Lesotho. Econet Wireless Limited (EWL) holds five percent of the share capital of Econet Wireless Nigeria. EWL and Econet Nigeria reached agreement of the subscription of additional shares in Econet Nigeria for US$150 million, to increase EWL’s shareholding to 33%. The implementation of this concluded agreement was interrupted when a third party network operator made an alternative investment proposal to Econet Nigeria. This matter is now the subject of an international arbitration process, the outcome of which is expected soon. Econet Nigeria was launched in August 2001 and currently has more than 900 000 subscribers, approximately 30 percent of the mobile market in that country. Econet Wireless New Zealand, a joint venture between Econet and a Pan-Maori investment syndicate, the Hautaki Trust, have acquired the rights to the second GSM spectrum licence, inclusive of rights to provide 3G services, in New Zealand. Econet holds 65% of the issued share capital in Econet New Zealand and has identified that market as having high growth potential. Econet Wireless International is wholly owned within Econet and employs the technical and management resources for the network operations of Econet. The company employs over one hundred professional staff in the various disciplines required to design, construct, market and manage mobile telecommunication networks. Econet Satellite Services is wholly owned within Econet and is based in the United Kingdom where its main earth station and United Kingdom/European network links are located. Its satellite footprint covers Africa and Europe and is used as an international telecommunications gateway between these continents. Econet Satellite, through a majority stake in a newly established subsidiary, also operates prepaid telecommunication services from the United Kingdom and Europe into Africa. In wrapping up the benefits of the venture for Altech, Venter said the deal would re-position Altech as a listed entity and further allow the group to become “master of its destiny” by becoming even less dependent on overseas principals while increasing development of its own proprietary technologies. At the same time it significantly enhances Altech’s Black empowerment initiatives. “Also, after the disposal by Altech of Alcatel Altech Telecoms, the telecommunications leg of our TMT portfolio was weakened. This venture rebalances that structure,” said Venter. “Finally, the venture is a roadmap for further growth for Altech for the future and will allow the group, through EWG, to cherry-pick lucrative markets normally not that attractive to larger operators.” (SOURCE: I-Net Bridge) ECONET DECLARES ONLY SECOND DIVIDEND IN FIVE YEARSEconet Wireless Holdings Ltd (Econet) this week broke its own tradition of not rewarding shareholders by declaring its second dividend in five years in the interim period to December 31 2003. The dividend of $7,30 per share came as a relief to shareholders who were now getting accustomed to the directors’ excuses of trying to “conserve cash”. The company also marked its welcome diversion from the norm with a solid set of results that were well ahead of market expectations.According to company financial director Tracy Mpofu the results were largely buoyed by the recent tariff hike that saw Econet increasing its charges by more than 1 500% in a space of a month. The first tariff of 1 000% was effected in December while the 500% was introduced only a few weeks ago. Contract services contributed 29% of revenue while the prepaid service added 71%.”The results were pushed mainly by the tariff review that we got in December. There was also increased usage which helped us,” said Mpofu at an analysts’ briefing on Monday. The company announced a 10% rise in the number of subscribers to 153, 167, up from 139,795 during the period under review. The numbers were further strengthened by the timely incorporation of Mascom Wireless (Botswana) into the company’s books for the period under analysis. Econet revealed that it now wholly-owns Franchise Development and Management (Pvt) Ltd after acquiring a further 40% in the phone shop company. The telecoms company marginally increased its stake in Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), a leading provider of point of sale devices in Zimbabwe. Concerning the stagnant subscriber base, Econet Wireless International group chief executive officer Strive Masiyiwa, speaking through a video conferencing facility from South Africa, said the company was more concerned about the network quality. “We will be embarking on a major network expansion programme. Until we are confident of the network we will not be taking more subscribers,” said Masiyiwa. He said there would be a shift in the high-yielding business which, he said, was harvesting more than 200-minute airtime per user. Prepaid business harvests about 164 minutes per user. The company is also focusing on the phone shop business. On the Interconnect side Masiyiwa told analysts that a major agreement is set to be signed among the three cellular operators soon. “We are working on the important issue of interconnection and plans are at an advanced stage to introduce an industrial interconnection rate,” he said. Turning to the results, the company recorded a 760% jump in turnover to $61,9 billion, up from $7,2 billion achieved during the same period last year. (SOURCE: Financial Gazette) ALTECH, ECONET TAKE AIM AT BIG GUNSAltech and cellular network operator Econet Wireless have confirmed the creation of a joint telecoms venture, valued at R1bn, which is destined to bring Altech into direct competition with MTN and Vodacom. Altech will put $70m into the new company, and Econet will contribute its operations in various countries, including Nigeria, Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya and a licence it holds in New Zealand. Econet CEO Strive Masiyiwa will first use the cash to increase Econet’s stake in those various networks, before tackling opportunities in other countries in partnership with Altech. But the marriage has baffled some analysts. “Most people are rather perplexed,” said one. “I don’t think Econet is a company of substance. Its operation in Botswana is tiny, its new operation in Kenya will be nothing without a massive amount of money, and New Zealand is still a pipe dream,” he said. “This also means Altech is getting involved in networking, where it hasn’t any experience, and going up against MTN and Vodacom with 10 years of experience.” In Nigeria, Econet holds 5% of a cellular network, and is battling to raise its stake and prevent Vodacom from buying the majority interest. Altech CEO Craig Venter said buying into Econet was still well worth doing even if Masiyiwa lost out to Vodacom in Nigeria, although that was potentially the most lucrative of Econet’s activities. Another concern is that the Competition Tribunal will soon rule on whether to allow Altech’s proposed R559m acquisition of the smartcard company, NamITech. MTN and Vodacom are two of NamITech’s biggest customers. So if Altech acquires NamITech and enters the cellular network market with Econet, it will be a direct rival to two major customers. Venter acknowledged the Econet deal would initially dilute Altech’s earnings, since Econet’s attributable earnings hit just $4,3m for financial 2003, and it continually needs extra cash to support its operations. But Venter argued that once Altech had helped Econet make the up-front investments needed to build a network, the profit to be reaped as a cellular operator would be substantial. Venter also insisted that Altech as a whole would benefit, as its various divisions would be able to sell their technologies and services to Econet in several countries. Venter has long been itching to spend Altech’s cash pile of R1,4bn, and had cited its telecommunications division as a key growth point. If the NamITech acquisition is also approved, the two moves will soak up about R1bn and leave working capital of about R400m. Econet’s lack of capital means that it holds only a minority in each network that it runs. “We have two simple strategies going forward,” said Masiyiwa. “We want to establish control of our existing operations to have a minimum of 51% in all those operations. Then we will continue to develop new opportunities.” Venter agreed there were plenty of opportunities to be addressed together, and not only in Africa. IN BRIEF- Net1 Applied Technology Holdings’ (Aplitec’s) delisting from the JSE is still on the cards, but it may not happen next month as originally planned. The group had planned to delist on 17 February, but this depended on when it would receive all the approvals needed with regard to its buyout by Newshelf713.However, the group has informed shareholders that it now expects the outstanding regulatory and other suspensive conditions to be fulfilled during March or April.
READERS RESPONSESISSUE 191: STALLMAN HITS OUT AT OPEN SOURCE ADVOCATES AT CAPE CONFERENCE While I think that your newsletter Balancing Act is a wonderful source of news on what’s going on in Africa, I think I must at this time take strong issue with your recent publication. The IDLELO conference featured Richard Stallman as a keynote speaker. He was only one of many people who presented papers or participated in the conference. Though RMS is arguably the most famous person who presented at the conference, his contribution was largely in the spirit of what is already well known; the material he presented is applicable worldwide and has no special significance for Africa. Much more important to the future development of Africa’s IT sector were the proceedings of FOSSFA, The Free and Open Source Foundation For Africa. I am well aware that you are on the FOSSFA mailing list and have had access to our documents, debates and proceedings, however you seem to be ignoring FOSSFA, especially at the critical stages now, where formative activities require the participation and attention of as many people in the African IT sector as possible. However, you have thoroughly ignored FOSSFA and focused instead on the reaction to the position of Richard Stallman. While people may not agree with Richard Stallman, it is well known and well documented that Richard has a very principled stand and very high standards for freedom which he refuses to compromise on. To rehash the old debates and to aid in the attack on Stallman is a type of journalism that I would term ‘playing to the gallery’ where one carries what is popular, regardless of its merits or lack thereof. Leave him alone, he is playing an important but unpopular role that I do not envy. Most of us do not yet realize that he is right on a lot of issues and he does not yet realize that he is not right on all the issues. The simple truth is that he was quoted out of context, and that his presentations were extremely well received, for most people, the first time that they truly understood not only the free software movement, but also the open source movement as well. Lastly, I would like to mention that some of the other less well known speakers such as myself, focused much more on the matter of ‘Africanizing’ the free software movement. The assumptions and cultures inherent in the free and open source movements, as is, do not always apply to Africa and even when they do, they often do not apply in the manner expected by those who live and work abroad. I think that in this matter, you have strayed from the fine balancing act that you are usually engaged in and ask you to redress the issue and give FOSSFA as well as Africans the necessary exposure that they need and that you provide as part of the Fourth Estate. IDLELO was not about Stallman, IDLELO was not about Europe or the attitudes, preconceptions, misunderstandings and biases of Europeans et al. IDLELO was about the technology directions of Africa, IDLELO was above all about African technologists and activists. Balancing Act should be ashamed of completely ignoring the constituency that it purports to represent and cover and instead focusing on aspects that, apart from being unimportant to the majority of African technologists, have nothing whatsoever to do with Africa. Your publication is a microcosm of the African problem. Europeans et al. visit, talk and think about African problems while ignoring the Africans who are working on solutions, nay, who are probably the solution. They are often left to wither on the wine, ignored and discounted while the problems continue - perpetually perpetuated. I hope that you will cease to be a part of the problem and become part of the solution instead. In the meantime, FOSSFA will continue in its efforts to find solutions. Guido Sohne
I assume the criticism you level at Balancing Act’s News Updeate is equally directed at myself given that the piece in Balancing Act you refer to was originally written by myself. see: http://www.tectonic.co.za/default.php?action=view&id=257 Of course I also wrote a few other pieces on the conference as well so I hope I am partially forgiven. ;-) Having said that I must say I wrote this perspective on (one of) the Stallman addresses because I felt this is an important issue. It important for African Hackers to be wary of the largely commercially-driven use of the term open source and how in many ways it is threatening to corrupt the free software movement. Not everyone agrees but it is worth reporting. Richard Stallman writes: The open source movement presents itself as a technology option, and that is precisely where I disagree with it. I have never been a supporter of “open source”, but its supporters have often led others to think I am. I am an activist in the free software movement. Free software is not a technology option, nor a religion; it is a political movement for freedom for computer users. Specifically, we demand the freedom to run, study, change, and redistribute the software that we use. We have labored for years to achieve this freedom, and we will continue for as long as necessary. We teach other computer users to value freedom so that they will help us defend it. In my talk I presented and advocated the philosophy of the free software movement. I mentioned “open source” only briefly, to explain how it is different. The supporters of open source have a right to their views, and a right to advocate their views, but they should not try to claim my support. They often do so simply by attaching the label “open source” to me or my work and not mentioning that I disagree with them. I have not seen the article that people are discussing, but the discussion leads me to worry that it may have fallen into that confusion. I went to Idlelo so that attendees would hear the philosophy of the free software movement, and understand the fundamental difference between the two movements. Please help us inform the public that the free software movement still exists. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html for more explanation of the difference between the two movements.
Issue 191: The curse of the African e-mail classes In response to your article on unsolicited mail, we have been using Pegasus Mail for many years, and it has several advantages over Microsoft Outlook, namely it does not execute any attachments, or download lazy-html unless you specifically request it. Our address books are never opened by incoming viruses and cannot be used to propogate junk out to all our contacts. With Pegasus Mail version 4, one can also use basic spam detection to blacklist incoming messages containing the endless variety of medications and other things being hurled at your inbox on a daily basis. Another thing: we use Norton Antivirus, and always keep our virus definitions updated. George de Greef
Correction:
CAREERJUNCTION.CO.ZA REPORTS RECORD MONTH OF NEW YEAR JOB SEEKERSSA online recruitment Web site, CareerJunction.co.za, has announced a good start to 2004, breaking all previous records in terms of users online and new vacancies being submitted. In the first two weeks of 2004, CareerJunction experienced levels of use of over 2 000 concurrent users at times, according to the company. By January 15th, the company says it had already received 1 617 805 page impressions, with Monday, 12th January recording 209 341 page impression alone. CareerJunction says it has consistently been reporting more than 3m page impressions per month for the last year, with a record 3 806 939 in October of last year. “In terms of recruitment activity, this year is no different to previous years. As employees head back for work after a long and relaxing holiday break they are realising their dissatisfaction with their current positions, and that they need to get ahead of the pack if they want make a move in their careers,” says CareerJunction MD, Kris Jarzebowski. “The migration to online job hunting in this country is following a global trend. According to Borrell Associates, - a US based executive-level research and consulting firm - US newspapers’ share of recruitment advertising dropped from $9,1bn of the $19,5bn market in 2000 to $5,5bn last year. Borrell attributes the decline to the growth of online recruitment options and services, noting that employment advertising online totalled $3,1bn in 2003,” adds Jarzebowski. With more and more people gaining access to the Internet, online job hunting activity will inevitably increase even further throughout the year, the company adds. (SOURCE: ICT World) E-LEARNING GROUP NETS A PARTNER IN ZAMBIAInteractive University, the Edinburgh e-learning company spun out of Heriot-Watt, has entered the African market after signing its first local partnering agreement in the region. The deal with the Zambian Institute for Capacity Building - known as Zicab - will result in the marketing, recruitment and distribution of Scottish courses throughout Zambia, focusing initially on Heriot- Watt’s management programme and Stirling University’s management MBA. Zicab is a privately-managed education and development agency that trains large numbers of people in both the public and private sectors of the Zambian economy. http://business.scotsman.com/technology.cfm?id=72012004 IN BRIEF- The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union web-site (www.sadtu.org.za) has been nominated as a finalist for Labour Start’s Site of the Year 2003. It is the third time that it has been nominated as one of the few entrants from democratic trades unions from the SOUTH. It is the official web portal of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, an affiliate of COSATU. Its president Willy Madisha, is also the president of COSATU. - Nigeria’s Bayelsa State government launched its website last weekend www.bayelsagov.com, at the weekend. - UNESCO has published a study of freedom of information laws that examines best practices in 10 countries. Written by ARTICLE 19 Law Programme Director Toby Mendel, “Freedom on Information: A Comparative Legal Survey” analyses laws in Bulgaria, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.The study that is available at http://www.article19.org/docimages/1707.pdf examines international standards and trends, and outlines nine principles governing effective freedom-of-information laws. Advertisment: Sky 2 Net LTD providing A-Z solution for Internet & VOIP via satellite (C-Band) that covers all Africa and Asia. The solutions including end-to-end Equipment of V-sat, wireless, VOIP, Bandwidth Management and Anti-Spam (outgoing). Sky 2 Net provide Internet and International call termination and generation for prepaid cards and regular operators. - Web Site: www.sky2net.net - E-Mail: wilan@sky2net.net - Tel: +972-54-233261
E-BILLING ADOPTION ON THE RISEE-billing is a technology that is catching on fast in this country. Instead of sending and receiving bills by post, which is time-consuming, inconvenient and expensive, more companies and individuals are electing to go the electronic route. E-billing is becoming popular because it is quick, up-to-date and accurate, and offers users powerful analytical tools Says Doug Mattheus, marketing director of independent cellular service provider, Nashua Mobile: “We are seeing rapid adoption of e-billing among our clients. We have more than 15 000 registered users covering close to 82 000 accounts. And the number is growing.” Nashua Mobile and many of its clients have been using e-billing for more than a year. “E-billing is particularly compelling for larger organisations, because the alternative, paper-billing systems, is an administrative nightmare,” says Mattheus. Mattheus says there are powerful management features built in to e-billing systems. “These can be customised to suit the needs of individuals or organisations. For example, authorised people at a firm can go online and get an instant snapshot of cellphone usage and related billing information. They can quickly determine who is making calls, how often and to whom. And they can carefully monitor costs,” he says. Suretha Stroh, personal assistant to the MD of Hytec, says e-billing is a huge time-saver for the company. “It is a quick and effective way to keep tabs on and administer costs, and it links all 15 of our branches.” Peter Walsh, director of Mobile Outsourced Solutions, says the company has been using e-billing for more than a year, and it works well. “If you want to carefully manage expenditure on calls, this is the way to go. If you want to understand spending patterns, it is a lot quicker than picking up the phone you just go to the Web site. It is cost-effective, convenient and you do not have to store bulky paper bills.” Says Mattheus: “Users of our e-billing system are able to help themselves to other services. For instance, they can activate international roaming online or request other services. “Online billing is all about convenience, ease of use and cost savings. It is little wonder that we are seeing more customers go this route,” says Mattheus. (SOURCE: ICT World)
PEOPLE* Tunisian Minister of Technology, Communications and Transport Sadok Rabeh the Norwegian Foreign Minister Olav Kjoerven met to discuss the next WSIS Summit in November 2005. Both sides pledged to work for a Summit that would reduce the digital divide but no mention was made publicly of how the Summit might be financed. Details are awaited with interest. * Zamtel’s managing director Douglas Mutesha has been shot and wounded by six bandits who got away with his official Toyota Land-Cruiser VX in Ndola. The six men armed with AK 47 assault rifles attacked Mr Mutesha soon after he drove into his residence in Northrise around 21:00 hours on Tuesday. The incident occurred within the yard on his arrival from Lusaka where he had travelled on official duty. He was shot in the right buttock. * On the move: Martin Brasg has left New Skies and has gone to work for IP Direct...
EVENTSQKON VSAT ENGINEERING TRAINING COURSES QKON is running VSAT Field Engineering Training Courses covering: ! Site Survey “ Test Equipment Available on order. USD550 p/ p 29 & 30 January 2004 Lagos, Nigeria. For more info please contact: training@qkon.Com AFRICA SOURCE AFRICAN FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS MEETING MARCH 15TH - 19TH, 2004 NAMIBIA This practical workshop will, for the first time, bring together Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) developers from across Africa. During the five day event, participants and facilitators will share technical skills and experiences, discuss key challenges in realizing F/OSS projects, and develop concrete strategies for strengthening the nascent community of F/OSS technologists working in African contexts. The Africa Source workshop will connect African software developers with the goal of building the F/OSS developer community in Africa. The Agenda The Africa Source workshop will be composed of a mixture of structured discussions and hands-on work. Participants and facilitators will share skills and experiences, discuss techniques applicable in each phase of F/OSS project life cycles, and break down specific development challenges. Whether the issue at hand is collaboration models or documentation methods, localization practices or project distribution, the emphasis will be on practical and intense knowledge exchange. The agenda will cover issues such as; * Wireless networking and alternative access methods Confirmed meeting participants include experts with a wide range of knowledge in key areas, including DIY (do-it-yourself) wireless networking, customized linux distributions, hardware assembly and repair, large-scale web development, and multi-media web casting. Who Should Come? Software developers already engaged in F/OSS projects in Africa and/or software development projects for non-profits. How to apply Visit http://www.tacticaltech.org for more information and to fill out an application form or send an email to africasource@tacticaltech.org Deadline for applications is February 6th 2004. Please apply quickly as space and subsidies for attendance at this event is limited. This event is organized by the Tactical Technology Collective, the AllAfrica Foundation, and SchoolNet Namibia, in cooperation with the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA). It is supported by the Open Society Initiative Southern Africa, the Open Society Institute - Budapest and the government of Namibia. Contact: marek@tacticaltech.org
JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES- A Nigerian company is looking for a Switch Engineer to maintain Operation and Maintenance activities for the network. For details contact: Phyllis Molokwu 234-18049791 or e-mail her on: onyeomam@starcomms.com - Cape Town IT recruitment company DataFin has launched a bursary programme aimed at jump-starting the careers of financially disadvantaged individuals and encouraging young people to enter the IT industry. Key selection criteria are academic potential and determination. Applicants should have matric exemption, be interested in the IT field, and be available to study in the Cape Town city centre. Stanley Mining Services Tanzania is looking for an IT Systems Engineer. Contact Frank Habicht by e-mail on: frankh@layne.co.tz - FOSSFA is the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa. More information on fossfa can be found at www.fossfa.org FOSSREC is looking for Volunteer Open Source Instructors with experience in teaching Linux Fundamentals, System and Network Administration, Linux System & Network Security, Web Technology, Linux Device Driver Development. Contact Gideon Hayford Chania on gideon@ghana.net
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