Weekly News Roundup - Africa April 28, 2008

Location: Kampala, Uganda
Created By: Esther on 28-Apr-2008 5:44 AM

Towards an Enabling Environment for Local Content
This paper seeks to clarify what government can and should do to support and encourage investors to pursue actions related to the achievement of self sufficiency in the manufacture of ICT tools. It does not pretend to offer a comprehensive overview of all that is needed to achieve the set goals. In keeping with the theme of the conference, the main focus is on the role of government and other related sectors of the economy in providing an enabling environment for improved content development by investors in the ICT industry.

East Africa: Submarine Network to Lower Internet Costs
THE cost of using internet at home, cafes and offices is set to significantly drop with the construction of a new submarine cable network on the East African coastline.
The submarine cables enable cheap, faster transfer of big amounts of voice and data communication across the globe. Seacom, a Mauritius-based company, is constructing the submarine cable network that will link East Africa, South Africa, Europe and Asia.


Kenyan Government Plans ICT Bills to Boost Growth
The Government intends to roll out services to rural areas and create more jobs for youths through Digital Villages.
Opening a three-day ICT Development Expo on Wednesday in Nairobi, Trade minister, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, said unemployment and negative ethnicity monsters are still hurting the economy.
Uhuru called on stakeholders to embrace ICTs to open up opportunities in rural areas and provide linkages across the country.

250 million Europeans regularly use Internet
More than half of Europeans are now regular Internet users, 80% of them have broadband connections and 60% of public services in the EU are fully available online. Two thirds of schools and half of doctors make use of fast Internet connections, thanks to strong broadband growth in Europe.
These are the findings of a Commission report on the results achieved so far with i2010, the EU's digital-led strategy for growth and jobs. The strategy, agreed in 2005, has led to a firm commitment to promoting ICT at EU and national levels.
The report shows, Europe's ICT policy strategy "i2010 – a European Information Society for Growth and Jobs" which has triggered new EU initiatives on regulation, research and public-private partnerships, is starting to deliver. The EU has the world's largest developed consumer market and 100 million broadband internet connections and is thus well placed to reap the economic benefits of ICT.

ITU Telecom Africa 2008 Begins May 12
African telecoms ministers , regulators, top government officials, CEOs oftelecoms companies, equipment manufacturers and vendors, financing institutions, and participants from all parts of the world are billed to gather at the International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Cairo, Egypt, when the International Telecommunications Union, ITU-organized Telecom Africa Exhibitions and Forum 2008 kicks off on May 12, 2008.
It is the biggest ICT expo in Africa, encompassing exhibition and forum, and will provide a major networking platform for Africa's top ICT personalities and institutions to focus on the core issues relating to ICT expansion across the region.

Uganda: ICT Ministry Fails to Utilise Sh5b
THE information and technology ministry (ICT) used only 19.4% of the money allocated to it during the 2007/08 financial year.
The MPs on the ICT committee yesterday expressed surprise on learning that out of sh6.5b allocated to the ministry, only sh1.5b was spent. The finance ministry rated this performance as "below expectation".
"The ministry has generally under-performed. It raises question on underutilisation of resources and understaffing in the sector," said committee chairman Edward Baliddawa.
The MPs also demanded to know why the ministry had not recruited workers given that the Cabinet had approved the staffing structure in 2007.

Zimbabwe's Mobile Tariffs Go Up
THE country's largest mobile service providers Econet Wireless and NetOne have hiked tariffs by 1 236 percent and 1 333 percent with effect from yesterday and today respectively.
The increases, which are meant to cushion the cellular service providers against rising operational costs, come hardly two months after the last review.
In the latest round of increases, Econet's Buddie customers will now have to fork out $4 091 722 per minute when calling fellow Econet Wireless subscribers.
Calls by Buddie subscribers to other networks, namely NetOne, Telecel and TelOne, will be pegged at $4 199 804, $4 127 978 and $3 818 220 respectively.
 

Publications: 50 Years of Technology Transfer - the Journey So Far
IT is not often that we encounter a Technology-focused literary work in this part of the world. Indeed, as a nation, our science and technology knowledge contribution to the global body of knowledge in this regard is very low, compared to what other countries of similar stature are doing.
It therefore calls for special attention, recognition and celebration that a book on comprehensive analysis of Fifty Years of Technology Transfer in Nigeria has been written by Dr. David. Akosa Okongwu.

New Software to Manage School Data
The creation of local software to manage jobs in Uganda is now thriving. In March this year, The New Vision reported of a 'Bill Gates' who had rolled out one of these products - the Schools Management Information System (SMIS) written in visual basic programming language.
Recently, Ronald Egesa, who runs Magezi Solutions, said he has rolled out a multi-function general school management system. It is called the Magezi Harvest, locally developed from Egesa's small computer laboratory based in Kansanga, a suburb of Kampala.
His system is superior because it has an embedded system that can store data that can be retrieved for up to 20 years.

Contact Name: Esther Nasikye

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