Issue no 672 13th September 2013
Top Story
Angels over Johannesburg – South Africa hosts the first Pan-African event to introduce ICT entrepreneurs to angel investors
Until recently there were so many gaps in the ICT entrepreneurship ecosystem that new start-ups did not have much of a fighting chance of success. However, even with the recent improvements there has still been an “equity gap” for newer start-ups. The creation of the Angel Africa network and its Angel Fair event next week may change things. Russell Southwood talks to co-founder and long-time ICT activist Eric Osiakwan.The ideas for the Angel Network and Angel Fair came out of an informal lunch at the Global Forum on Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship where Andile Ngcaba (Convergence Partners) and entrepreneur Eric…
Telecoms
African Union Calls For Cuts in Mobile Roaming Rates
The African Union has criticized the high cost of mobile roaming between African countries.The African Union Commission's ICT Policy Officer, Auguste Yankey said that the high costs were affecting economic…
Telecoms
Nigeria’s Main One gets US grant to extend fibre from Lagos to Port Harcourt
Nigeria is looking to continue its mobile and telecommunications infrastructure development. The country’s undersea cable operator Main One has announced it has won a grant from the United States Trade…
Telecoms
Libya to Offer Third GSM License in Three to Six Months
Libya will offer a third mobile phone license within three to six months, the country’s communications and information technology minister said.The government wants to decrease its hold on the telecommunications…
Telecoms
Nokia deal could help Microsoft curb Google threat in Africa
After its deal with Microsoft, the future of Nokia's non-Windows Phone devices has been called into question. But such devices could play a key role for Microsoft in targeting Africa,…
Telecoms
Southern African Governments Accelerate Mobile Access to an Extra 300 Million People
The Governments of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have agreed a set of common priorities to accelerate the roll out of mobile broadband in the region, with the…
Telecoms
South Africa: Blue Label Telecoms - Court to mull $528m Telkom claim
Blue Label Telecoms and Telkom are headed to court to resolve a $528 million (R5.3 trillion) claim the latter firm has brought against the former. Blue Label confirmed yesterday that…
Telecoms
PCCW Global and Tata Communications bring Voice over IPX and HD voice to mobile operators worldwide
PCCW Global, an operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, and Tata Communications, a leading provider of A New World of Communications, have signed an agreement to…
Internet
Chad in search of partners to develop fiber optic network
For a number of years, the Chadian government has been carrying out a vast program to develop the African country's fiber optic network and reduce the big technological gap with…
Internet
Africa: Liquid Connects Zimbabwe to WACS cable
Liquid Telecom recently announced that it has completed the country's first direct fibre connection to the West African Cable System.Liquid has connected Zimbabwe to the high-capacity WACS, the submarine telecommunications…
Internet
Internet In Brief
- XON has been awarded the tender to supply and implement Juniper Networks and other equipment for IP routing, out of band equipment, traffic flow analysis software and ancillary equipment…
Computing
Flexenclosure receives order from Vodacom in Mozambique for new primary data centre to support network expansion
Flexenclosure, a specialist developer of intelligent power management systems and pre-fabricated data centres for the ICT industry, has received a multi-million dollar order from Vodacom Mozambique for its modular and…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms Rates, Offers and Coverage
- Nigeria's MTN has entered a partnership with a retail online store, Jumia to offer free mobile internet access for each new customer.- South Africa ISP Web Africa has started…
Money Transfer
SatADSL unveils satellite services for cash machine networks
Belgium-based satellite service provider SatADSL has presented new services to support the deployment of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) networks in East Africa at the AITEC Mobile Money Conference in Nairobi.…
Money Transfer
MTN Cameroon launches university fees payment
MTN Cameroon has launched a new service for students to pay their university registration and tuition fees over MTN Mobile Money.The Mobile Money service makes it possible for students to…
Money Transfer
Tanzania: Bank M Migrates to the Cloud
BANK M has become the first bank in the country to fully migrate to the cloud after adapting the Google Apps, a cloud-based productivity suite which allows one to connect…
Money Transfer
Ingenico, Tagattitude partner on mobile money in Africa
Ingenico, a worldwide provider of payment products, announced a strategic partnership with Tagattitude, a mobile money software vendor, to deliver mobile money products in Africa. This partnership is designed to…
Money Transfer
Ethiopia: Polaris to Install Core Banking System in Ethiopia
Polaris Financial Technology Limited, an Indian financial solutions provider, is set to complete installing a $3.4 million Centralized, Online, Real-time, Electronic (CORE) banking solution at the National Bank of Ethiopia…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Vodafone Mulls $6 Billion Spoiler Bid for Maroc Telecom
Flush with expectant cash from the sale of its Verizon stake, Vodafone is reportedly mulling a spoiler bid to buy a majority stake in Maroc Telecom, which is currently up…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria’s Globacom sets its sights on Comium takeover
Nigerian integrated telecoms firm Globacom has set its sights on struggling Ivorian cellco Comium Cote d’Ivoire, Agence Ecofin reports, quoting a source close to the company’s owner, Dr Michael Adenuga.…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Maroc Telecom stake sale to be completed in two months
UAE Etisalat's planned deal to buy a majority stake in Maroc Telecom will be finalized in 1-2 months, Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs told reporters on Wednesday.France's Vivendi SA in…
Digital Content
Facebook knocks Mxit from its perch
Until now the largest social network in South Africa, Mxit, which claims to have 7,4m active monthly users, has been knocked from the top spot by Facebook, with an estimated…
Digital Content
South African research body launches wildfire info app
South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Meraka Institute has launched a mobile application to predict, detect and monitor wild fires across Southern Africa, ITWeb reported. The Advanced…
Digital Content
Why digital publishers are targeting Africa
The quick adoption of mobile technology in Africa has not only realised new opportunities in telecommunication but in how content is delivered.In particular, book publishing in Africa is an expensive…
Digital Content
Firefox launches Xhosa browser
Firefox has launched a Xhosa version of its browser for South Africans, adopting translation services from global language service provider (LSP) Rubric.iFirefox will cater for South Africa’s Xhosa population of…
Digital Content
Africa changes its tune to genuine digital downloads
For years, pirate distributors at the Alabo international market in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, dominated the music distribution business. These fraudsters had the means to cheaply reproduce music. More importantly,…
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Events
The Social Media Week Lagos Team is excited to announce that our official schedule is now LIVE and registration is open! At present we have 84 events scheduled and will…
