Balancing Act News Update - African internet developments


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The countries below contain a historic archive of information on the state of the internet that is now three years old. For some countries, the information has remained largely the same whereas for others considerable change has occurred. However it can still be used to identify organisations involved in developing the internet and to understand the historic development of the Internet in Africa. For up-to-date (but "pay-for") information click here: There are special rates for students and universities.

DOWNLOADS ZONE
This is an area where you can download longer articles and reports of interest. These will be updated as new material becomes available.

Download 1
(Word format, 875kb)
This IDRC-supported research study looks at how complaints by African consumers in the telecoms and Internet sectors are dealt with and what input consumer organisations are able to make into policy for these sectors. It is based on a survey of 30 African countries and includes detailed case studies of Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.

Download 2 Word document
(255kb)
This chapter from the ITU's Global Trends in Telecommunications Reform 2005 examines the market and regulatory implications of the shift to IP networks and outlines the different types of responses regulators are making to VoIP calling.

Download 3
(pdf format, 310kb)
Leslie Chan, Barbara Kirsop, Subbiah Arunachalam look at the use of Open Access archiving as a way of improving scientific capacity building.

If you have updates or interesting material to add, please send it to info@balancingact-africa.com

ALGERIA ANGOLA BENIN BOTSWANA BURKINA FASO BURUNDI CAMEROON CAPE VERDE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CHAD COMOROS CONGO COTE D'IVOIRE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO DJIBOUTI EGYPT EQUATORIAL GUINEA ERITREA ETHIOPIA GABON GAMBIA GHANA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU KENYA LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALI MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NIGER NIGERIA REUNION RWANDA SAO TOME & PRINCIPE SENEGAL SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SUDAN SWAZILAND TOGO TUNISIA UGANDA UNITED REP OF TANZANIA ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

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On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

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COMING SOON: THE INTERNET IN THE CONGO AND E-FINANCE IN GHANA

WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE ART OF MAKING THINGS HAPPEN

Balancing Act will be running one day workshops in Botswana, Ghana and Kenya aimed at existing and potential entrepreneurs in the internet, telecoms and computing areas. The workshops will be addressed by those involved in investing in new companies and existing entrepreneurs and will have active sessions where participants work up business ideas. The workshops are open to participants from neighbouring countries but there is only a small budget from which to make contributions to travel expenses.

The first workshop will be held in Accra on Tuesday 22 January 2002 at BusyInternet, Ring Road, Accra. An outline programme for this workshop will be published in the next issue of News Update.

If you would like to attend one of these workshops, send your name, address and e-mail contact details to info@balancingact-africa.com .


ISSUE NO 88

KENYA SPECIAL: ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

Kenya’s government has shambled its way through privatising its key asset Telkom and has recently called a halt to the process. "Wait until after the elections," local cynics respond. Despite widespread government corruption, a severe economic downturn, high crime in "Nairobbery" and the lack of a clearly articulated ICT policy, Kenya has already become one of Africa’s larger middle league players in connectivity terms. But will things change and let real growth occur?, asks Russell Southwood after a recent visit.

Kenya has about 90 licensed ISPs but there are only around 20 that are actually operating. Most agree that there are between 20-30,000 dial-up subscribers, although getting accurate figures for individual ISPs proved much more difficult than elsewhere. There’s a lot of "churn" in subscriptions, especially around the time school fees have to be paid.

There is currently a "cap" on market growth because Telkom’s copper infrastructure is "exhausted" as one local ISP put it and consumers often find it difficult to get a phone line. In order to "prioritise" your order on an exchange at full capacity, you can pay US$100 to get the next phone line disconnected.

Put another way, there are customers willing and able to pay but Telkom can’t deliver them a service. Telkom controls all access to international connectivity through its subsidiary Jambonet. Without these limitations, many believe that the dial-up market has the potential to be as large as 60,000-100,000.

Monthly prices vary from KS850 to KS8000, with an average price of KS3000. Most people believe that the cheaper end of the market is simply unsustainable based on current connectivity charges. The market is currently segmenting and as one local ISP owner puts its:" There’s simply too many players. They’ll be blood on the floor by next year." The main players are: Africa Online, ISPKenya (2500), Wananchi, NairobiNet (e1000), Swift Global (2-3000) and Kenya Web: together these account for about 60% of the market. 90% of all dial-up subscribers are in Nairobi and in nearly all rural areas you have to dial long distance to get a connection.

NairobiNet has recently opened a POP in Kisi where it is seeking to replicate its current business: a mixture of dial-up, corporate connection and a cyber-cafe business. It currently has 15 dial-up subscribers and a regular customer base of between 100-200 people at its cybercafe there. It is also pioneering an e-learning package that helps explain how to use the computer and the internet to new users.

Corruption seems to run through any government business and the internet market is no exception. For example, a well-known and widely respected ISP has an interesting scam going in one Kenyan town. Its rivals sign up a customer and before they know it this ISP is round calling on that customer trying to sell them an alternative. If the customer persists, the supplier of the line Telkom, is more than usually tardy in supplying it and it is subsequently not very reliable. In due course the customer switches to the more assured service offered by the company that has made "an arrangement" with what must be a local Telkom manager.

Kenya has a Nationwide Taskforce on eCommerce that was launched in May 1999 but as yet there is little operating e-commerce at a local level. The banks have not proved very willing to open up their credit verification databases to those wanting to enter the market. Some of the supermarkets have SAP systems and African Lakes Technologies has sold systems to a couple of the local banks.

On the content front, Africa Online is planning to team up with the regional youth magazine PHAT with them offering youth-oriented, entertainment pages. There are two swahili language portals.

Nairobi has seen an explosion of cybercafes and as in places like Accra supply is outstripping demand (more on this in a later issue) . Many have been set up by redundant civil servants who are using their "golden handshakes" to open them and have found themselves on a steep learning curve. At the more professional end, the local supermarket chain Nakumatt has opened a cybercafe that combines a bookshop with computer access and has plans to roll this out more widely. Africa Online is piloting phase 2 of its eTouch product as a franchise and there are 8 pilot centres in Nairobi. Users tend to be young and well-educated.

Rates vary between 2-3 Kshillings an hour to as low as 25/50 cents an hour. Those offering the lower prices are generally doing it to attract business into a cafe, restaurant or some other form of retail outlet: in other words it is a "loss leader" of sorts. The market impact has been such that cybercafe owners are talking of forming a professional association and seeking to regulate the market. This seems a forlorn hope (as the matatuts have shown regulation in Kenya is not a very successful activity) but a more interesting approach was discussed after the recent Kenya Information Society meeting. Why not band together as a co-operative to get cheaper bandwidth?

Some cybercafes (at least six by one estimate) offer VOIP calls and Jambonet has closed off access to popular sites that offer this service:"The regulations are simply disregarded because there is a demand from the public." But much as cybercafe operators will find it difficult to hold up prices in an over-supplied market, Jambonet (and Telkom) are already seeing an emerging "grey market" in connectivity. One person claimed that there were at least five unlicensed VSAT operations.

TESPOK, the association of local operators, has played a "long game" and has at last been able to open a local internet exchange that will allow traffic within Kenyan to be routed directly to another ISP without needing to leave the country.

Kenya’s is already developing a role as a potential hub because of its financial sector. One of the banks is already running its regional operations from a single centre in Nairobi. The longer-term potential of regional exchange points offer a further area for growth.

Many feel that Kenya’s regulator will slowly begin to create new areas of competition in the data field. However thus far it has tended to act to protect Telkom: it turned down a proposal by Kenya Power Corporation to build and lease an alternative fibre network.

So what will happen to Telkom? No-one really knows but the Govenment is talking about finding someone to manage it and perhaps selling off those parts which have a sale value (its share in Safaricom). But it is hard to imagine who would want to take on the management of a company whose owner (the government) cannot afford to invest in its network.

So how will things change? One person we spoke to talked about "the state withering away but not quite as Marx envisaged it." What he meant was that a cash-strapped government has simply withdrawn from what many might conceive of as its responsibilities (eg a reliable power supply) and that the vacuum might be filled by others. The private sector - particularly the ICT sector - has maybe more power to change things than might seem possible at first sight. It has the capacity to keep investing where Government does not and therefore may have some leverage in the policy process. The commercial good sense underlying the local internet exchange proposal has not been the only reason for its success. It has helped to mobilise a united voice for change.

The other as yet untested force for change is consumer pressure. Kenyans read with avid interest The Watchman’s Cutting Edge column in The Nation that highlights consumer injustices. There was some discussion at the Kenya Information Society meeting about the need for an internet consumer group who can put pressure on Telkom to address its many failings.

Until there is some real change, Kenya remains a classic African story: great potential waiting to be realised.

My thanks to Gabriel Kago and Dan Deya of the Kenya Information Society, Ben Parker of African Online and many others.

(100 Kshillings = £1 sterling)


CORRECTIONS

SOMALIA: A bad attack of the gremlins on the Somali story in issue 87: Of course, the cutting off of Somali Internet did not cut the country off from the world. There are two other cities in Somalia that have public internet access that are still operational, one POP is based in Boosaaso (Bender Qaasim). Thanks to Steve Huter for that. And as Brian Longwe of ISPKenya pointed out on the Africadaily list:"...the US cannot truly "shut down" a country’s/or company’s internet access - if the backbone links run to the US, then those links can be severed, but there’s nothing to stop the company from buying access from a non-US provider, in Europe, Asia or Middle East..." Finally Abdi Mohammud works for Somali Telecom, not Somalia Internet as stated.

BOTSWANA: UUNet would like to make clear that whilst as stated in the Botswana Special in issue 87 it would like to offer VOIP between corporate offices that "UUNET under no circumstances knowingly provides any services not licensed to and as voice is excluded from its license we will not. UUNET is very firm about operating within the regulatory framework of the country it is in".

INDEX


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If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.

News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

News round-up & Snippets

On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

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Jobs, people, events...
 

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ISSUE NO 88 NEWS ROUND-UP & SNIPPETS

GOLDSTUCK SURVEY IDENTIFIES INTERNET NOMADS AS FREE MAIL USERS

The nomadic nature of many South African Internet users has sparked a boom in the use of free web-based e-mail services, a new research study reveals.

According to "The Goldstuck Report: Web Free-Mail in South Africa", more than half a million free web-based e-mail accounts are in active use in this country.

The best-known international services in this arena, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, compete actively in the South African market with Webmail and Ananzi Mail, as well as with lesser-known services like Myiafrica.com.

The study found that well over 800,000 accounts have been opened on these services by South Africans, and at least 515,000 of these accounts - most representing separate users - have been accessed or used in the three-month period covered by the survey, August to October 2001. With two of the services not divulging figures, the total could be substantially higher.

"There are two great idiosyncrasies of South African Internet users: their nomadic nature in the academic and job environment among younger users, and the propensity for international business travel among a large proportion of older users," says Arthur Goldstuck, industry analyst and editor of The Big Change, who conducted the research on behalf of World Wide Worx.

"While web-based mail services can be of benefit to almost any user, it is especially attractive to the Internet nomad - a new kind of user we are breeding in South Africa."

The increasing tendency of companies to monitor personal e-mail has also boosted the popularity of the services, says Goldstuck. At the same time, he notes, the ability to maintain a private e-mail account on the web enhances the ability to job-hop, thus feeding the lifestyle of the Internet nomad.

Key findings of "The Goldstuck Report: Web Free-Mail in South Africa" included the conclusion that the most effective of the international services was Hotmail, which also had the largest numbers of users, both internationally and within South Africa. However, South African services had several advantages over their international counterparts:

- they enjoyed a significant speed advantage, underlining the benefits in usability that result from local hosting; - they also provided users with far greater capacity for storing e-mail than did any of the international services - with Ananzi, Myiafrica and Webmail all offering more than double the storage space of the international leaders in this area.

Among homegrown South African services, Webmail had the largest number of users, both as a result of its longer history and its strong branding, while Ananzi Mail emerged from the survey as the most effective service, due to its high ratings on functionality and speed.

Goldstuck warned that the popularity of free Web-based e-mail services represented a churn threat to existing Internet Service Providers, who have not fully persuaded South Africans of the value of their offerings relative to the cost of their services. By maintaining web-based mail accounts, users are able to hop from one access service to another without concern about contacts keeping track of their addresses.

"With more than half-a-million web-based mail accounts active during any given month, it is a service arena that cannot be ignored by the dial-up Internet operators or potential online advertisers," he says. (source:The Big Change)

MALAWI USES FINGERPRINT ID FOR NEW NATIONAL CARD

Aplitec has launched its switching and smart card payment system in Malawi, which according to the company makes the nation the first to use the biometric fingerprint methodology as means of identification.

(source: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2001/0111221029.asp )

ZIM’S ECONET REFUSES TO GIVE UP MDC PHONE RECORDS

Lawyers for a local independent cellular telephone company were preparing to fight a bid by security police to seize details of the accounts of senior opposition officials who are subscribers to its network, company officials said on Sunday. They also said a junior company official of Econet Wireless who was arrested on Friday for refusing to hand over the itemised bills of 12 officials of the Movement for Democratic Change, was released on Saturday. "We are bound by law to keep the details of our customers confidential," said Econet chairman Norman Nyazema. "It’s also a violation of constitutional guarantees to freedom of information. He was arrested for refusing to break the law."

The accounts of the party officials would have provided police with details of whom they had been telephoning. Communications experts say that Econet’s system, unlike the two other government-linked cellular telephone companies, was difficult for the state secret police to penetrate with wiretaps. Customer relations manager Jimmy Shindi was dragged from the company’s headquarters and spent the night in a suburban police station on allegations of "obstruction of police investigations," said Nyazema. He was released as lawyers were seeking a court order for his release. Police then told Nyazema that they would obtain a court order to force Econet to surrender the accounts. "We will challenge any application they make," Nyazema said. "We always cooperate in police investigations, into things like hijackings, but this whole thing is political."

(source: South Africa’s Star via ZW News)

MOZAMBIQUE TO ISSUE A NEW CELLULAR LICENCE

The BMI-T Mozambique Telecommunications Forecast, November 2001 states that the Mozambican government has announced that it plans to issue two additional cellular licences in early 2002.

(source: http://www.mediatoolbox.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=2825&p=39 )

DIGITIAL VILLAGE IN KUMASI SEEKS TO GHANA’S BOOST ECONOMIC GROWTH

This new project is being spearheaded by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Knust) in the west African country; the institution’s US-based Alumni Association; the Community Services Foundation (CSF) - a non-profit organisation; and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (UPenn).

The initiative centres around building a comprehensive IT infrastructure for Knust - Ghana’s principal science and technology academic institution, based in the Ashanti region’s capital of Kumasi. This will enable Knust to increase the general levels of IT education in the country.

The ICT infrastructure - comprising technology solutions and services from HP and its Ghanaian reseller, CIS, as well as high speed DSL (digital subscriber line) communication links from Ghana Telecom - will be deployed at Knust this month.

According to Thierry Boulanger, the regional sales manager for English-speaking African countries at HP: "This should help the country attract greater international investment, create sustainable vocational opportunities and bolster educational, agricultural, medical and economic development across Ghana."

A series of computer resource centres will be established and linked to the infrastructure over the next two years; more than 50 centres should eventually exist nationwide. These centres will provide cost-effective access to the Internet and equip Ghanaian students and people with higher levels of IT education and skills.

One centre will be housed at the main Knust library, one on the outskirts of the campus and one in the heart of Kumasi city; they will all be linked to the ICT backbone and will be used to facilitate train-the-trainer programmes that educate IT specialists who teach at primary and secondary schools in Kumasi.

"The training will include Web-based and online course generation, as well as the preparation and delivery of lectures, seminars and continuous education programmes via video- and tele-conferencing," says E. Kwame Obeng, the US-based Knust alumnus responsible for facilitating the project. For more information go to www.hp.com/country/aa/eng/welcome.htm

ItrainONLINE LAUNCHED AS TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE CENTRE

Six international organizations have joined forces to create ItrainOnline <www.itrainonline.org>, a technology resource centre for people who want to learn how to use the Internet effectively for social justice and sustainable development. The World Wide Web offers many Internet-related training materials. However, it is often difficult to find relevant, high-quality resources developed by and for NGOs, development organizations, and other civil society groups.

INDEX


If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.

News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

News round-up & Snippets

On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

African web news and useful sites

Jobs, people, events...
 

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ISSUE NO 88 ON THE MONEY

THE BAD NEWS: TOUGH TIMES AHEAD FOR AFRICAN COUNTRIES, WARNS ITU

African countries preparing to sell telecommunication licences could struggle to find anyone interested in the opportunity, the International Telecommunication Union has warned. The chance of attracting investors for more cellular networks is bleak, given the global recession in the telecoms industry.

(source: http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,978101-
6129-0,00.html
via The Big Change)

THE GOOD NEWS: 98 MILLION MOBILE USERS, PREDICTS ITU

The International Telecommunications Union anticipates 98 million mobile users in Africa and only a small increase in messaging behaviour of subscribers could lead to an explosion in SMS traffic volumes.

(source: http://www.mobilecommerceworld.com/Tmpl/article.asp?
CID=1&AID=10271&TCode=NW
via The Big Change)

NEW CASH CARDS LAUNCHED IN GHANA

In an attempt to help the growth and development of e-Commerce in Ghana, an online payment system called Cash Cards has been launched recently. It claims to be a borderless, worldwide multi-currency debit card with stored valve which can used in most ATMs or Merchants across the globe The card also comes with a complete management system which helps holders to stay in control of all transactions. To reduce the risk of fraud, chargebacks and defaults associated with card usage, Cash Cards say they are insured with FDIC/LLOYDS of London

(source: http://www.cashcards.net/rep/28962 )

eONE BUYS BROKAT MOBILE UNIT

eOne Global has completed its acquisition of the assets that comprised the M-Business division of Brokat Technologies.

(source: http://www.mediatoolbox.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=2830&p=39 )

UNCERTAIN TIMES FOR MTN WITH NIGERIA "MAKE OR BREAK"

M-Cell says its operations further north are doing better than expected, but it is still running into regulatory troubles in Cameroon and Nigeria. With R3 billion invested in Nigeria, MTN International is make or break for the company.

(source: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2001/0111221237.asp )

INDEX


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INDEX


If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.

News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

News round-up & Snippets

On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

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Jobs, people, events...
 

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ISSUE NO 87 AFRICA'S DIGERATI

METROCOMIA’S CHARLES MUTINDA

Metrocomia’s Charles Mutinda was one of Kenya’s internet design pioneers. The current company came together through a merger of two local companies 4bil.net (in which he was involved) and EDK and the investment of management expertise from Metrocomia. It has recently been named Web Designer of the Year 2001 by the Computer Society of Kenya.

How big is Metrocomia?

We now have 17 staff and have increased by a third since we started.

What’s your customer base?

Well we have three key products: web site design and internet applications, workflow solutions and education services like seminars and symposia. We’ve done work for five quoted companies and for a number of NGOs.

What do you mean by education services?

Well this week we held a seminar for the advertising industry. We want to help create an educated set of decision-makers. At present the web site for a brand tends not to be very central to an ad campaign so we’re trying to create an awareness of the market for it and of the internet as a marketing medium.

How big do you think the internet user market really is?

It’s hard to tell but it could be as high as 200,000. The service provided by Kenya Telkom means that many potential customers simply don’t have a phone line. The level of mobile usage gives some idea of the potential scale of what might be possible.

What about e-commerce?

Barclays has now got a VSAT connection so it might start to happen. There are around 40,000 credit card holders. But until recently there was no credit reference bureau.

Who are your competitors?

There are two other larger companies: 3Mice (associated with Africa Online) and Sawasawa. Beyond that there are lots of individuals, some of whom work from home.

Tell me about an interesting application amongst the work you’ve done.

We have put together a workflow solution for Nairobi Airport Services who provide contract services like catering for airlines using the airport. It’s a customer workflow system that enters requests and provides reminders. We’re now developing document sharing across the different companies in the group that owns NAS.

In another field completely, we’re building a site for the British High Commission that will enable NGOs and civil society organisations to build a web site and have a presence on the web. We hope to launch this in late February or early March next year.

What’s next?

Metrocomia would like the opportunity to show what it can do for international clients. If you’d like to know about what we can do, get in touch with me on cm@metrocomia.co.ke

INDEX


If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.


News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

News round-up & Snippets

On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

African web news and useful sites

Jobs, people, events...
 

Classified advertisements
ISSUE NO 88 AFRICAN WEB NEWS AND USEFUL SITES

IATA PARTNERS WITH GLOTEC FOR AFRICAN E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has partnered with Global Technology (Glotec) to roll-out e-commerce solutions to its African and Middle East members via the Fin-X Online portal.

(source: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2001/0111230803.asp )

RADIO ON - AFRICAN STREAMED RADIO LISTING

http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,7,43462.jsp

This web page lists many African radio stations which broadcast live over the Web and provides an invaluable source page.
(source: Kabissa)

AIDA PROVIDES PROJECTS DATABASE

AIDA (Accessible Information on Development Activities) is a project database that contains descriptive information on over 300,000 planned, current and completed projects and programs of over 200 development agencies. AIDA facilitates access to information already available on the web sites of development organizations about activities that they fund, execute or implement. Information from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is now available.To use AIDA, visit http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/100647/

(source: Development Gateway Newsletter via TAD Newsletter)

ONE WORLD LAUNCHES HIV/AIDS CHANNEL

OneWorld has launched a new multimedia web portal on HIV/AIDS. AIDSchannel.org, <www.aidschannel.org>to coincide with World AIDS Day (1 December 2001).AIDSchannel.org launches with a partnership of over 100 leading aid agencies, human rights and campaign groups worldwide. The site aims to promote understanding, knowledge sharing and action on AIDS as a development, social, economic and human rights issue.

INDEX


If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.

News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

News round-up & Snippets

On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

African web news and useful sites

Jobs, people, events...
 

Classified advertisements
ISSUE NO 88 DIGITAL TOOLBOX

INTERVATE DEVELOPS NEXT GENERATION OF INTRACS

Development of the next version of Intervate’s intranet solution IntraCS is progressing well and according to the company’s MD, Migal van As. "The key objectives are to unify and extend IntraCS’s existing core framework services and further enhance scalability to provide serviceability to tens of thousands of users," says van As." End users can expect an improved and more flexible user interface, with the most notable change being the responsive XML-based client."

According to van As, this architecture allows IntraCS web pages to be updated on the fly with only changed information rather than complete page refreshes, resulting in dramatically reduced processing loads on the server as well as an anticipated 90% reductions in bandwidth requirements. The XML delivery architecture also lays the foundation for providing an interface into handheld and mobile devices. Client and server side caching, a global taxonomy, as well as web discussions, subscriptions and priority-based notifications have also been included as core framework components of the new product.

Another unique feature of the BoXster architecture is that it now allows for distributed IntraCS installations to operate independently and share selected, or all, content via replication among all installations.

MICROSOFT UNVEILS PACKAGE FOR CORPORATE INTRANETS

Looking to offer customers a short cut to ROI for portal deployments, Microsoft on Tuesday rolled out its Microsoft Solution for Intranets, which ties together existing portal, collaboration, and streaming media technologies into an integrated offering for departmental workspaces.

(source: http://click.idg.email-publisher.com/maaaezMaaQGsja9n2s7b/ )

AMORPHOUS BUILDS CONTENT TOOLS

myWorkSmart is a new set of content management tools developed by Amorphous New Media and packaged as a complete application service provider (ASP) solution that provide web sites with the ability to publish content on multiple channels such as the web and wireless devices.

(source: http://www.mediatoolbox.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=2831&p=39 )

INDEX


If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
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News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com


KENYA SPECIAL - ON THE MAP AS MIDDLE LEAGUE PLAYER DESPITE EVERYTHING

News round-up & Snippets

On the money

Digital toolbox/In search of the business model

Africa's digerati

African web news and useful sites

Jobs, people, events...
 

Classified advertisements
ISSUE NO 88 JOBS, PEOPLE, EVENTS...

* CMGI chairman David Wetherell has agreed to cut his pay to US$1 as his company cuts costs to preserve the remnants of an internet empire that once made him a paper billionaire.

* Financial Mail assistant editor, Marina Bidoli emerged as overall winner of the second annual Telkom Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Journalist of the Year Awards, winning a cash prize of R25,000 and an all-inclusive trip to Telkom’s strategic equity partners in Malaysia and the USA.

* NamITech, the end-to end secure technology solutions provider in the JSE Securities Exchange listed Nampak group, is eyeing Africa as a growing market for its wireless-based e-business solutions following the launch of its locally developed UNIT-e Platform, a wireless software solution that acts as a hub for secure communications between the GSM, the electronic and the Internet environments. Nikkie Kettles, managing director of NamITech Telecommunications, the business unit responsible for the development and deployment of UNIT-e, said "Africa is warming to technologies such as GSM - and to solutions such as our UNIT-e platform - which is inexorably opening up a whole new market for e-business solutions on the continent. There are already, for instance, about 15 million cellular subscribers in Africa and this is expected to grow to more than 100 million by 2005. Nigeria is currently embracing the cellular revolution and, with a population of more than 100 million, we are looking at a collosal market - albeit off a low base. The ability to embrace wireless communications," she said, "is going to open up a host of e-business opportunities on the continent."


EVENTS

AITEC UGANDA CONFERENCE 2001: MOBILIZING ICT’S FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (6/7 DECEMBER 2001)

Co-presented with the Uganda Computer Society, this conference presents two days of ICT strategic briefings:

Day One 6 December 2001

08:00am Delegate Registration

09:00am An ICT policy framework for Uganda

Professor Paul Mugambi, Department of Mathematics, MUK

10:00am Official Opening

Hon. Basoga Nsadhu, Minister of State for Information

10:30am Tea Break

11:00am e-Governance and ethical issues in ICTs

Samwiri Katunguka.

11:45am Database planning, design and administration

Dr Baryamureeba Venatius, Director; Institute of Computer Science

12:30pm NIIT’s role in the development of ICTs in Uganda

Rajeev Agarwal, Centre Head, Techno Brain.

01:15pm Lunch

02:15pm What every professional should know about IT products, services and solutions - A case study on international business solutions Savio Martins, Managing Director, IBSL

03:00pm ICT as a tool for Development

Siragi Ngobi IT Administrator, Uganda Communications Commission.

03:45pm Using Internet to build brand loyalty

Dan Musiitwa, Managing Editor, EnterUganda.com

04:30pm Tea Break

05:00pm Rogers Baguma, CEO Infotech Systems

05:30pm Delegates Visit Sponsors Exhibition

Day Two 7 December 2001

Sector Presentations

08:00am Delegate Registration

09:00am: ICT in the overall development framework

Ismail Barugahara, UNCST

10:30am: Tea Break

11:00am Internet technologies in information & communication management operations of Agricultural Research Systems

Jacqueline Nyagahima, Programme Assistant, AfricaLink Project, ASARECA

11:45am ICTs in the health sector: Provisions and a way forward

Dr Catherine Omaswa, Chairperson National Tele-Medicine Committee

12:30pm The role of ICTs in the Development Process; A case study of socio-economic empowerment of women

Goretti Zavuga, ICT Manager, CEEWA

01:15pm Lunch

02:15pm ICTs in the public sector: Challenges for economic growth

Robert Muwanga, Minister of Finance

02:45pm ICT initiatives in Education

Daniel Kakinda

03:30pm A socio-political perspective

Hon Dr. Johnson Nkuuhe, Member of Parliament

04:15pm Tea Break

05:00pm Sponsors/ Exhibitors Demonstrations to the delegates

07:00pm Delegates & Sponsors Cocktail

TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE, CONTACT AITEC UGANDA:

e-mail: Vincent@aitecafrica.com

INDEX


If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.

News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com

ipods


This page last updated on January 28 2004.

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