Issue no 650 12th April 2013
Top Story
Mali: TSF reconnected Timbuktu’s population with the rest of the world.
Emergency aid usually seems focused on either food or medical help. France’s Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) chose to focus on the important issue of creating communications for both NGOs and the general population during emergencies. Balancing Act’s Sylvain Beletre spoke to TSF’s Clément Bruguera, responsible for emergencies at TSF on his return from his mission in Mali.On April 2012 and just after Gao’s capture Timbuktu was taken over from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine.At the end of January 2013, Malian and French army troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels.Three days…
Telecoms
South Africa’s MTN could soon be operating in Myanmar
The Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar (also known as Burma) might soon be benefitting from the largest mobile services operators in Africa – MTN. It has been revealed that MTN…
Telecoms
Zain Awards Interconnect Management Contract to Basset
Zain has awarded a contract to Basset, for the supply of a full Interconnect solution, covering interconnect billing, routing optimization and trading for the wholesale market. Basset has previously worked…
Telecoms
Nigeria: Again, NCC Fixes New Date For Mobile Number Portability Launch
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has again fixed another date for the launch of Mobile Number Portability (MNP). This time, the commission chose April 22 as the new launch date…
Telecoms
Telecoms – In Brief
- Algeria's ATM Mobilis has awarded an antenna supply contract to Huawei for its 3G network in the cities of Oran, Skikda and Ouargla.
Internet
Liquid Telecom Speeds up East African Internet
Liquid Telecom has announced significant improvements to its fibre network along the East African coast which have already reduced congestion, improved connectivity and resulted in the lowest latency rates on…
Internet
Nigeria: Internet Access to Hit 41.62 Percent in 2015, Says Federal Government
Nigerians with access to the internet, currently put at about 32.40 per cent, is expected to hit 41.62 per cent by 2015 the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson…
Internet
Internet – In Brief
- Business Sweden, Ericsson and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs have announced a strategic partnership for a two-year ICT venture in Sub-Saharan Africa. The announcement was made at the…
Computing
Gemalto selected to implement a complete visa and border management system in Ghana
Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, has been appointed as prime contractor and turnkey supplier to provide Ghana Immigration Services (GIS) with a highly secure electronic visa and border…
Computing
East Africa: Seacom Makes a Move Into Cloud Computing
Seacom known for its undersea optical fiber cables is expected to make their first move into offering cloud services tomorrow (Thursday 11th April 2013) with the launch of their Pamoja…
Computing
Tanzania: ICT Innovation Awardees Tout for Better Training
Better structured training on Information Communication Technology (ICT) would lead to more skilled ICT manpower in the country, the just awarded ICT innovators have said.The Commission for Science and Technology…
Computing
Breaking down the academic paywalls, in Africa too
While participating in the 2011 campaign to pass Kenya’s Cancer Bill, Daniel Munyambu Mutonga, a medical student at the University of Nairobi, hit a wall – a paywall. To convince…
Computing
Computing - In Brief
- Egypt unveiled on Thursday its first locally produced smart tablet, under the trademark 'Einar.' The state-owned electronics firm Katron, which will produce the Egyptian tablet, plans to manufacture 20…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
MTN Nigeria Commits to Network Upgrades
MTN's Nigerian subsidiary has restated that it is working to improve the quality of its network performance following repeated complaints from customers.All the major mobile networks are under pressure to…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telkom SA launches unlimited on-net calling
In South Africa, Telkom Business has launched the latest in a range of new mobile plans that aim to help businesses of all sizes improve productivity and reduce communication costs.A…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria: Paga’s transactions hit N18bn with 0.5 m users
Mobile payments service provider in Nigeria, Pagatech, recorded a transaction value of N18bn from over 1.6 million transactions at the end of March this year.The firm, which now has over…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
GTB Unveils Facebook Banking Platform
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) Wednesday launched a social banking platform, which allows customers to meet their banking needs on Facebook.The new offering which is the first of its kind…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Uganda:Telecom accused of frustrating competition
MTN Uganda has been accused of frustrating competition by allegedly denying EzeeMoney, a subsidiary of Mobile Money International, a platform to provide mobile money services in Uganda.In a letter dated…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
MoneyGram Launches Mobile Money Transfer Service in South Africa
MoneyGram and South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) have launched their first mobile money transfer service in Africa, giving FNB account holders throughout South Africa provinces an option for sending…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Money News – In Brief
- Abu Dhabi state-owned telecoms company Etisalat has secured a USD8 billion dual-tranche loan facility to finance its bid for the acquisition of Vivendi’s Maroc Telecom.
Digital Content
Kenya: Google Maps Navigation (beta) in Kenya
Google has introduced Google Maps Navigation (Beta) in Kenya as a new feature on Google maps for phones running Android 2.2 and iOS 5.1 technologies.Google Maps Navigation (Beta) is an…
Digital Content
Mali becomes first African country to give away domain for free
Its domain currently ranks 177th in the world, less than half of the country has mobile phone coverage, and only 4% of the population are online. But Mali could be…
Digital Content
New online tool connects entrepreneurs in Africa with business experts from across the world
As of this week, entrepreneurs looking for advice to grow their business in Africa get direct access to a pool of dedicated mentors, while Africans living in the diaspora and…
Digital Content
Promustard Solutions launches software to address clients complaints
Promustard Solutions Ghana, an Enterprise Software Solutions provider, has launched a new software platform that gives businesses, NGOs, government and research organizations the opportunity to conduct market surveys by using…
Digital Content
Hackers in Arab Cities: Fab Lab and Tech in Egypt
Sabine is a journalist, Ophelia is a photographer and a videomaker: both are former contributors to OWNI (a Global Voices media partner in France) and are currently shooting a web-documentary…
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Events
2nd Annual Cloud World Forum Africa23rd-24th April 2013Sandton Sun Hotel, Johannesburg, South AfricaCombining the Cloud Computing World Forum Africa and Cloud Africa, this two day conference and exhibition covers every…
