| ||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 367 The Nigerians are coming – investing in Benin and GhanaAlthough sometimes chaotic, the Nigerian market has always seemed big enough to keep its local entrepreneurs occupied. However over the last twelve months, there have been significant moves by Nigerian companies looking to carve themselves a presence in other West African countries. With the announcement of two Nigerian investments this week in Benin and Ghana – one large and one small – Russell Southwood looks at how and why things are changing. South Africa is both an economic engine for the southern Africa sub-region and a platform for those wanting to do business across the continent. Although there are no exact figures, probably about 30% of its ICT companies have some involvement in selling their services across Africa and many multinationals make South Africa their regional headquarters for Sub-Saharan operations. In connectivity terms, despite the high monopoly prices of SAT3, the size of the South African economy and its connections with its sub-region means that it has become the sub-regional hub for countries like Namibia and Mozambique. Although South African ICT companies often look longingly towards becoming global operations (by buying companies in developed markets), their strength probably still lies in the scale of their domestic market and their uneasy links with the rest of the continent. Uneasy? There are not many Africans who will tell you that they have met modest, quiet South Africans in the course of doing business. They probably exist but they just haven’t met them yet. The Nigerian economy may be only a third of the size of South Africa’s but its mobile market will soon be bigger than South Africa’s. However, as a country it lacks proper power and transport infrastructure and along with its sheer size and scale of population, these have seemed to keep Nigerian ICT entrepreneurs eyes focused on their own country. Despite having a SAT3 landing station, Nigeria is not yet connected to any of its neighbours, although there have been long-standing plans to connect to Benin. Lagos airport is not a hub for regional flights in the way Johannesburg is and there is no airline of international standing providing regional flights. A couple of announcements this week signal that this may all be beginning to change and there is much more that is going on below the radar. Nigerian entrepreneur Mike Adenuga has been reported as being unable to return to Nigeria as a result of a run-in between the former President and Vice-President. But this has enabled him to play a more active role looking for business elsewhere in the region. Globacom’s ambitions in the region were signalled in announcement 12 months ago. Its investment in the Glo 1 international fibre cable (connecting many countries in West Africa) gives it an ideal future springboard for further involvement in the sub-region. Cheaper international connectivity will give it an interesting competitive advantage. But Globacom and the Beninois Government surprised everyone last week by announcing that a licence had been awarded to the company and it would be rolling out services in 60 days. According to Globacom’s Chief Operating Officer, Mohammed Jameel it was preferred ahead of the other bidders because of its technical superiority and ability to deliver. According to the minutes of the Benin Government’s Council of Ministers (10 August) the bidding for new licences was launched (rather quietly) on 3 August and the decision was taken on at the Council of Ministers of 10 August to grant the licence to Globacom. This makes some of a nonsense of the Benin Government’s claims that it wants to run the telecoms sector in a different way to its predecessor. The Minutes of the Council meetings on 2 and 3 August make no mention of the tender and deciding a tender of this kind in seven days seems incredibly fast. Of course, the intention may simply be to displace MTN who are in dispute with the Government over licence fees (see issue 363) and has had its network switched off. Globacom paid FCFA33 billion for the licence to be paid in four tranches, the first tranche of which, FCFA15 billion, has to be paid by 19 August. Its taxes in the Cahier de Charges have been lowered from 6% to 4%, it has no import duties for three years and is exempt from co-location costs with Benin Telecom for one year. No sooner had news of this announcement been absorbed than the company announced with its usual 100% self-confidence that it would be granted a licence in Ghana. Globacom has been involved in sponsorship already in the country so it fell to the Manager in charge of Events and Sponsorship at GLOBACOM, Olayinka Atande to tell the press that: ‘Any thriving company which does not see the essence in establishing in Ghana is not serious.” The regulator NCA confirmed that it was studying an application from Globacom. Its name did not feature in the Westel acquisition (which may go to Celtel) but it could bid for incumbent Ghana Telecom that comes with a mobile subsidiary, One Touch. Meanwhile on a more modest but nonetheless interesting note, one of Nigeria’s key ISP players Linkserve has also set up shop in Accra. It is selling a satellite broadband Internet solution that promises download and upload speeds of 3 mbps, which even if you discount for operational speed, is a fast service. Obviously it requires VSAT equipment to implement. It is targeting internet users, corporate businesses, NGOs, embassies, mining industries and government institutions especially in the rural underserved areas. Linkserve promises that it has plans to roll out other products using SAT3 and wireless broadband technology before the end of 2007. Besides the two companies above, there are other companies like PC assembler Omatek that have opened up an office in Ghana. And the traffic is not all one way as Ghana’s Soft Tribe have repaid the compliment and opened up offices in Nigeria. There are few multinationals with regional offices in Lagos but GS telecom runs a successful pan-continental business from the city. If it is hard to meet a quiet, modest South African in business, then it is doubly hard to meet a Nigerian who has these qualities. But it is the entrepreneurial energy of people in the ICT sector from both these countries who are driving forward the emergence of a common market in Africa.
Bureaucracy Threatens US$400m National Rural Telephony Project in NigeriaAfter the Commissioning of the US$300 million phase 1 of the National Rural Telephony Project, (NRPT) last May by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, whose construction began in 2002 with about 218 Local Government Areas (LGAs) coverage spanning a total of 150,226 lines, the prospect for the schedule completion of the remaining 338 LGA with total numbers of 487,774 lines in the phases II and III may not be realised again following what the contractors called government's lack of commitment. President of Huawei Technologies in Nigeria James Lee who is handling the US$100 million Phase II project while on a working visits to the Minister of Information and Communication, John Odey in his office in Abuja said that the Federal government has been able to pay only part of 15 per cent of its counterpart funding. Another hiccup to the project, Lee told the minister, was difficulty encountered in getting site allocation in most of the local government headquarters, meaning the company cannot survey the sites and write the Bill of Quanta. After listening to Lee, appeal for his urgent intervention to save the project from turning into a white elephant, the Minister said the government would not allow the project become moribund as it was critical to the development of Nigeria's rural areas. He said that government is serious about the project and would ensure it plays its part. He assured his audience that the project will be completed in spite of the delay and its management handed over to local operators. "It is not going to be operated by government. “It will be run by local operators at the rural level. We are also working out an arrangement to have a safe business environment in view of the rapid expansion of the major operators. So that at least they would be able to now have a catchments area within the rural communities," Odey said. (Source: Vanguard) Government Cancels Telecel Licence in Zimbabwe over shareholding disputeThe state run Herald newspaper reported that the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) had cancelled Telecel Zimbabwe's license over a shareholding dispute. A statement issued by the Authority said the owners of the company had failed to "regularise the company's shareholding structure, which was heavily skewed in favour of foreigners." Under the conditions of the licence, the foreign ownership of the company was limited to not more than 49% as required by the Communications Act. Telecel International held 60% of the shares, and this left 11% disputed shares that Telecel was required to restructure. According to The Herald, Potraz had given Telecel Zimbabwe a deadline of June 30 this year to change the shareholding structure or risk losing its licence. Businessman James Makamba and Jane Mutasa reportedly gained control of the company after paying US$3,5 million to Telecel International for the disputed 11% shares. Makamba is reported to have said he notified Potraz of this development, but the license was cancelled regardless. St Marys MP Job Sikhala, who is on the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communication, said Leo Mugabe could be trying to take over Telecel using his political connections to his uncle Robert Mugabe. Leo Mugabe also sits on the Communications Portfolio Committee. Sikhala said he has no doubt that Leo flexed his political muscle to influence the decision by Potraz. He explained that Leo once tried to buy shares in Telecel but his cheque bounced. Sikhala said Leo Mugabe is always using his political clout to muscle his way into whatever he wants. And when he gets it, he always destroys it. Giving another example, Sikhala recalled a by-election that was held in Makonde after the death of Swithun Mombeshora. He said Leo Mugabe contested and was defeated by Kindness Paradza. "Because Robert Mugabe has a unique interest in him," said Sikhala, "Leo was somehow imposed in Makonde." But Sikhala also said the government may simply want the company, the way they took over Mutumwa Mawere's mining empire. (Source: SW Radio Africa) Sudan’s international telecoms players could get caught up in Darfur embargoBright yellow banners sprang up overnight along the banks of the Nile then spread along the ten-lane highways and crowded market streets of Sudan’s traffic-clogged capital, Khartoum. They were the first steps in a campaign by South Africa’s MTN to stake a claim in one of Africa’s last big undeveloped mobile phone markets. Foreign investors have steered clear of Sudan in recent years, following the international uproar over the crisis in Darfur and subsequent strengthening of U.S. sanctions against Khartoum. Britain’s Rolls Royce announced plans to pull out in April, joining Germany’s Siemens , Switzerland’s ABB and Canada’s CHC Helicopter in the queue to exit. But the newly booming telecoms market in the oil-rich east African country has proved too tempting for mobile phone companies to resist. For them, the vast expanses of Sudan’s western Darfur region are not so much a disaster zone as one more unexploited mobile phone market waiting to be tapped. Sudan’s biggest mobile name is Kuwait’s MTC , which bought the Mobitel brand last year. "We expect aggressive growth in the next three to five years," Mobitel’s chief executive Khaled Muhtadi told Reuters. "There is pent-up demand throughout the country. "Twenty five per cent of the population just got their first mobile signal this year. Whenever you introduce the network to new areas, we experience congestion immediately. There is huge demand for the service." South Africa’s MTN is the latest big arrival. It bought the parent company of Sudan mobile operator Areeba in July last year. Late last month it re-branded Areeba as MTN-Sudan and since then it has been busy putting up its posters and stamping its name on the market. The outsiders also compete with Sudani, the mobile subsidiary of the former state telecoms monopoly Sudatel. Analysts and entrepreneurs believe there may be more new names appearing on new advertising hoardings in the months and years to come. "Since the arrival of MTC and Areeba, the market has become very competitive," said Andrawes Snobar, Senior Research Analyst of the Jordan-based Arab Advisors Group. "It is becoming very tempting for regional and global investors." Three out of Africa’s six biggest countries by population — Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa — already have competitive and relatively mature mobile markets. Ethiopia’s huge and unexploited telecoms market is barred to all outside operators by a state monopoly. That only leaves the Democratic Republic of the Congo to rival Sudan’s potential. The calculations are straightforward. Sudan is the largest country in Africa by geographic area, and the sixth largest by population, with around 40 million inhabitants. But the proportion of the population with a mobile phone is still remarkably low — just 11.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2007, according to figures from British-based analysts Informa Telecoms & Media. "Africa was late. Now it is catching up with the rest of the world. Telecoms has become very cheap. It has become accessible for people with very little income," said Ali Hamad Bin Jarash Al Ghufli, chief executive officer of Canar Telecom, a consortium led by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates that is currently negotiating for a Sudanese mobile license. Information and Telecommunications Minister Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said Sudan is in talks with Canar but had not agreed on a price. Another largely untapped opportunity lies in South Sudan with two of its own tiny mobile operators Gemtel and NOW. Both could become acquisition targets. But along with the huge opportunities come huge risks, among them getting caught up in the international outrage at the Darfur crisis in Sudan’s remote west. Sudatel was one of 31 Sudanese companies blacklisted by Washington in May for allegedly "contributing to the conflict in the Darfur region." Other potential complications for foreign investors are illustrated by Paris-based telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent which has contracts with Sudatel. In January this year, Alcatel sent a memo to U.S. nationals on its own staff warning them that they could be personally liable for any business they did with Sudan and other blacklisted countries through the company. Alcatel has also been targeted by Darfur-focused campaigners like the Sudan Divestment Taskforce — a pressure group THAT targets large organisations to drop investments in companies it sees as supporting Sudan’s government. On top of the political problems, there are the security risks to telecoms staff in the field. None of that, however, has stopped the roll out of Sudan’s current mobile players into Darfur — a region with almost no mobile coverage outside the main cities and with an estimated population of up six million potential customers. Mobitel, for one, recently stepped up its expansion there after getting security clearance to enter 13 previously closed off areas. "It is a risky situation - that’s why we have to be particularly careful when we are rolling out our network through troubled areas," said CEO Khaled Muhtadi. "But people need telecoms wherever they are." (Source: Reuters) AccessKenya about to strike ground-breaking interconnect deal with SafaricomAccessKenya is on the brink of signing a ground-breaking interconnect agreement with mobile operator Safaricom. However, Celtel continues to drag its heels over connecting to the VoIP service provider. Ms Wanja Chege Michuki, AccessKenya group business development and regulatory affairs manager, told Business Daily that the testing for the interconnectivity is almost through. The agreement is expected to be signed once the connectivity price is agreed on and technical quality tested. However, Internet service providers ( ISPs) said they are having problems linking up with mobile phone providers. "We have already written to Communications Commission of Kenya about the issue. And we understand that CCK has also written to Celtel on the same interconnection matter," said Ms Michuki. Celtel holds that ISPs should tackle two major issues: quality and origin of traffic, before they can interconnect with them. Ms Clare Ruto, Celtel corporate and regulatory affairs director, said it was important to ensure that the ISPs quality was exactly what they wanted before they could move to interconnect. "Celtel would not want to have situation where traffic perceived by clients as originating from mobile phone network was distorted. It would impact on the image of our company," said Ms Ruto. She explained that Celtel would not want to let ISPs use its network to terminate its international VoIP traffic but they needed to show evidence that they had significant similar local traffic. This is just foot-dragging by a new incumbent, trying to avoid the consequences of a newly liberalised market.
IN BRIEF:- Following the loss of its appeal at the administrative court (Conseil d’Etat) Sonatel, the national incumbent in Senegal will have to pay a fine of 3.2 billion CFA francs (US$6.4 million). L’Agence nationale de régulation des télécommunications et des postes, the regulator, fined the operator in July following repeated disruptions across its telecommunication network. - Uncertainty hangs over the impending layoff of 4,000 employees at Telkom Kenya with the management and external human resources consultants reading from different scripts. PriceWaterhouseCoopers who had been engaged to advise on the firm's third lap of retrenchment maintains that the lay offs have to be staggered over a period of between nine and 12 months. Telkom's target of having 3,100 workers on its November payroll is not practical unless the firm turns to complete automation of its systems as well as go big into outsourcing - Uganda’s Government plans to ban individuals from exporting copper following massive theft of copper wires belonging to Uganda Telecom. - In another extraordinary meeting of the ministries of the Benin Republic dated of July 16th it has been announced that the restructuring and privatisation of Benin Telecom will go ahead and should be concluded by June 30th 2008. Libercom, its mobile arm will also be put up for privatisation. - The Botswana Telecommunications Workers' Unions are divided over the retrenchment package that has been offered by the corporation. While the Botswana Telecommunications Union has rejected the offer, the National Amalgamated Local and Central Government and Parastatal Manual Workers' Union has already signed a retrenchment packages agreement with the corporation. - In Congo DRC, the National Days of the Telecommunications sector has taken a bad turn as the GSM operators decided to leave the conference following a statement by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications implying that their tax contribution was marginal. GSM operators confirmed that they contributed to 30% of the total tax income of Congo. They also complained that they were no proper consultation on the agenda of these National Days initiated by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. - The total mobile customer base in Kenya now stands at 10.3m, a gain of over 1m in the quarter, and 3.3m year-on-year. Penetration now stands at 28.9%, up from 20.2% in Q2 2006.Safaricom remains the dominant operator in this duopoly and it had its best quarter for over a year, recording almost 950k new connections in Q2 2007. Year on year, it has gained over 3m customers. Kencell is lagging well behind with only 277k new subscribers since Q2 2006, TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Celtel subscribers in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have a new service addition to their borderless voice service. With "One Office" they will soon enjoy access to unlimited high speed and convenient Internet. - Mobile operator MTN has started to introduce electronic loading of air time in Rwanda. It is the aim of the company to sell 50% of the airtime loaded electronically. Scratch plastic cards are being phased out as most of the air time cards for denominations that are lower than sh10,000. - Less than a month after its launch, Telkom Kenya's wireless service has attracted 150,000 subscribers and the company targets to have one million subscribers by the end of this year which is the maximum capacity the exchange is currently designed to handle.
Arusha Launches Own Local Internet Exchange Point in TanzaniaArusha has just become the first non-capital urban center in East and Central Africa to have its own Internet Exchange Point, a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to connect to each other and exchange local traffic between their networks by means of mutual peering agreements. With this new IXP, the local web surfers will be able to by-pass international and interconnect directly, via exchange other than through one or more third party traffic controllers, that are usually the networks based in the western countries. Rowberg added that, by connecting to each other directly locally, Arusha ISP will enjoy faster loading time, cheaper prices and of course better security for their customers. The Arusha Internet Exchange Point (AIXP) connects directly to its National counterpart, the Dar-es-salaam based Tanzania Internet Exchange Point (TIXP), which was the first local Internet Traffic center to be established in the country. Arusha thus becomes the second, but very soon similar Internet Points will be introduced in, Mwanza City, then Dodoma Municipality. The Arusha Internet Exchange Point, will now be a local platform connecting the Northern Zone's Internet Service Providers such as Benson Online (BOL), a subsidiary of Bensons informatics, Milan Cable TV and Internet Service, Cyber-net broadband, Nexus-Digital and Arusha Node Marie (Habari) which is powered by the local digital communications powerhouse, Afam-Limited (Source: Arusha Times) Property Transfer Services to Go Online in Ethiopia but some banks doubtfulThe Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia is to launch a web-based property transfer authentication service but at a recent meeting to announce its launch, local banks expressed scepticism that it would tackle the problems it was targeted to solve. The Website will feature a list of properties that are held as bank collateral, court orders and anyone who lends to the owner of the property, including the amount of money involved. The authentication and registration software currently is under installation and will begin rendering services in the coming two months. Ethiopia's commercial code states that, when an agreement to transfer, through gift, sale or mortgage of immovable properties like buildings is made, it has to be authenticated and registered either by the courts or any other body that is given the authority. However, a paper prepared and presented by Justice Menberetsehay Tadesse, vice president of the Supreme Court, two months ago revealed that the code has not been effectively implemented in the last 40 years due to the failure of courts and properly organised offices to carry out the authentication. Menbertsehay also claimed that court orders freezing immovable properties from third-party transfer based on any litigant's request, as well as banks' grabbing of property title deeds for loan collateral, prevented them from being sold or transferred to a third party and has thus driven many houses out of the market. "This has its own role to play in the shortage of houses that has been witnessed in the country," concludes the paper. Banks have no authority to take title deeds and this created problems for owners of the collateralised immovable properties from any kind of transfer or sale. They have the right only to have the property authenticated within the legal framework by the authorised body. "I wonder how many are going to have the ability to make use of this technology," requested Araya Gebreegziabher, acting president of Wegagen Bank SC. "This also has to be considered." Abie Sanu, president of the largest bank in country, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), who strongly argued with Menberetsehay when he presented his paper to judges and the business community at the Sheraton Addis, considered the move commendable. But he shares the concerns of Araya that most people will not be able to have access and know-how to use the services. However, the banks acknowledged that there were no well organised offices at the city municipality to enable the Courts to authenticate contractual agreements. "It was a legitimate fear," Menberetsehay told Fortune. "Though private banks have taken the initiative to order their legal departments to take seriously the law procedures when they prepared loan agreements, state-owned banks have yet to be seen implementing it." To deny banks room for excuses, the Supreme Court has decided to launch an online authentication service, Menberetsehay told Fortune. (Source: Addis Fortune) Mauritius to get Fibre-to-the-Home by 2008 in US$318 million investment planAccording to reports from the African Press Agency, from 2008 all Mauritian homes will be able to connect to the internet via a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network being proposed by United Communications Limited (UCL). The company has reportedly presented a US$318 million two-phase project, dubbed Mauritius FiberNet, to the country’s ICT minister, Etienne Sinatambou, which it claims will make Mauritius a ‘pioneer of such infrastructure among island states’. The rollout will require the deployment of some 2,200km of optical fibre and will provide internet access at speeds of up to 1Gbps, a UCL engineer said. The company is looking for financial support from the government, local banks and businesses to realise the project and is offering them an equity stake in the new venture by way of enticement. IN BRIEF:- A fibre-optic cable linking Ethiopia to Sudan has been officially launched. According to the Ethiopia Telecom Corporation (ETC), the Addis Abbaba-Metema link cost ETB118 million (USD13.2 million) and took about a year to complete. - In Zimbabwe, the ZANU PF has blacklisted 41 online publications, including websites for American-owned Cable News Network (CNN) and the United States Embassy in Harare, which it claims have launched a cyber war to promote a regime change agenda against President Robert Mugabe's government, the Zimbabwe Independent reported. - Worried by the increasing rate of hi-tech cyber crimes in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commenced registration of all cyber cafe operators in the country. - Namibia Online Marketing Services has announced the public launch of its website www.snip.com.na. The new webpage offers for anyone to present their products and services at a price on the Internet. At the moment some 500 products are published in 18 main categories with diverse sub-categories. More than 1 200 companies are listed in the category business contacts. Currently the website is receiving an average of 45 000 hits a month. - A new forum on Sciences and Technologies in Africa has been released few days ago. The link toward the forum is http://www.songi.org - Algeria’s cybercafes owners have expressed worries about the future of their business as they are witnessing less and less internet users despite affordable connection prices. This situation, affecting many cybercafés of the province of Algiers.
Mauritius goes down six places in global ICT rankingsAccording to a global report on ICT, Mauritius is ranked 51st in the use of ICT for its development. Operators point at the need to go faster in implementing the right strategies. With the ICT at school and training programmes, the government targets the public but what about e-government? Mauritius has lost six rankings. The country is losing ground in its degree of preparation to participate in and benefit from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) developments. This is at least the conclusion of the Global Information Technology Report published recently by the World Economic Forum (WEF). While Mauritius claims to be a cyber-island, how come it has gone down by six ranks in one year? Dev Kisoondoyal, head of the IT department of Teleforma and involved in the making of the first report of this type in 2001 as an expert for Mauritius, says there are factors that explain this fall. "There are numerous factors that explain the drop. First, six new countries were involved in the list so it may have disrupted the ranking." However, he is very critical about the fact that "Mauritius has not taken any further initiative as far as ICT is concerned for a whole year." This report is a benchmarking tool to determine national ICT strengths and weaknesses and evaluate progress. It also highlights the continuing importance of ICT application and development for economic growth. The Networked Readiness Index - used to assess the countries - is based on three main components: the environment for ICT offered by a country or a community, the readiness of the community's key stakeholders (individuals, business and governments) and the use of ICT among these stakeholders. E-government is among the initiatives that have stood still during the past year. "Denmark, which has reached the first place, has benefited a lot from e-leadership by government. It had a clear vision to use e-services to reach growth and has succeeded," stated Dave Kisoondoyal. "The Mauritian government also can do it. But it has to accelerate the use of ICT at all levels - individual, business and state." But ICT minister, Etienne Sinatambou, agrees that we should see beyond these statistics. "With globalisation, Mauritius must be more competitive to become a reference point.”. (Source: L'Express) Firm Launches New Low Cost Solar Computer in UgandaUK based IT firm, Inveneo Inc has launched a low cost solar/battery powered computer onto the Ugandan market. The computers at Ush1.6 million (US$941) a piece are mainly targeting the rural areas that have no or limited access to conventional electricity. With five hours of good sunlight a day, the computer will offer unlimited service to the user. According to Alintuma Nsambu, the Uganda state minister for ICT, the whole computer component will be tax-free; hence an affordable computer solution to the ordinary citizen. "We are hoping that the prices will go down as volumes go up," said Inveneo's chief executive officer, Mark Summer during the launch at the Uganda Management Institute (UMI) in Kampala. (Source: East African Business Week) South Africa’s Government Rejects Used UK ComputersA British charity that puts used computers into African schools slammed the South African Government for failing to support an initiative that would see all of South Africa’s 5 million secondary pupils getting access to computers for just R50 million (US$670,000). A British charity that recycles computers discarded by top UK companies says it could make SA's 5-million secondary school pupils computer literate for just R50m. Digital Links International opened a branch in Johannesburg this week to intensify its efforts to supply computers to SA's schools and colleges. Its short-term target is to reach at least 1-million pupils. SA was now a particular focus, said its chairman, Sir Paul Judge, who is a director of Standard Bank. Digital Links works in 22 African countries, and more than 25% of secondary school pupils in Kenya now use its computers. "Kenya is much poorer than SA and if Kenya can achieve that, we want to replicate that here. If we can get to a quarter of the secondary school kids in SA it would be wonderful," Judge said. He said the South African government had not lent its support because it viewed secondhand computers as inferior and felt Africa was being used as a dumping ground for obsolete technologies. That was not the case, he said. UK businesses bought such high-end computers that even when they were discarded they still had 95% of the functionality of the average new model. "You get a two- to three-year-old computer way beyond what is actually required to teach in a school," he said. "The national government is worried about taking secondhand computers, although the provincial governments and the schools themselves understand that they can buy 10 times as many computers from us as they can if they buy them new”. It costs R8000 to supply 20 computers and train the teachers, and since a typical school has 800 pupils, that equates to R10 a pupil. All SA's 5-million secondary school pupils could be given computer access for just R50m, said Judge. (Source: Business Day) IN BRIEF:- Microsoft has launched software piracy awareness campaign in Cameroon which has a 84% piracy rate, coming second in Africa just behind Zimbabwe according to the Business Software Alliance. Local IT companies which gathered at the meeting organised by Serge Patrick Ntamack, head of intellectual property at Microsoft raised their concerns regarding Microsoft’s agreement with the rights company “la Société civile des droits de la littérature et des arts dramatiques (Sociladra)” which collects copyrights royalties from local vendors of Microsoft software. - Four public universities in Uganda have received Euros 5.7m (about sh13.4b) for strengthening information and communication technology training and research. The Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education donated the money to Makerere, Kyambogo, Mbarara and Gulu universities. - The Central Statistical Office of Mauritius has reported that ICT imports have reached Rs 13,6 billion (US$456 million) in 2006 against Rs 3.4 billion (US$133 million) in 2002. On the other hand, ICT exports have reached Rs 11.4 billion (US$380 million) in 2006. On the overall the ICT sector has grown by 11.2% in 2006. - Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange (ASCE) has concluded arrangements to install e-trading software next month as part of moves to meet with world's globalisation. This would ensure smooth business activities, allow buyers and sellers gain access to the Exchange's trading system by keying in their membership codes, representative codes and passwords. - The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Wednesday asked all banks to link their ATMs and Point of Sale (POS) device to the National Switch, the E-ZWICH by March 31, 2008. The E-ZWICH, a brand name for the National Switch, under the new Universal Electronic Payments (UEPS) technology is to ensure that all commercial banks, rural banks and savings and loans institutions implemented a common payment platform and biometric Smartcard.
Treasury Opens Bids for Safaricom IPO in KenyaThe countdown to the Safaricom Initial Public Offer (IPO) began yesterday with the opening of the technical bids for consultancy services. The bids now go to the technical committee for evaluation. Speaking during the function held at the Treasury, Investment secretary Esther Koimett said that the evaluation would take seven days after which firms that meet the requirements will have their financial reports assessed. "The technical team will carefully go through the bids, to get the institutions that will offer the consultancies during the IPO" said Mrs Koimett. As a result, the ministry expects to sign contracts with the successful firms by mid-September, to advise and coordinate the planned share offer. A 14-day legal period will be given for unsuccessful firms to lodge appeals, if they feel unsatisfied with the process. Of the firms that had expressed interest, two, Ogilvy and Scanad PR withdrew, while two other firms were knocked out of the process for failing to meet the deadline. Mrs Koimett assured that the technical team would go ahead with their duty unless the Minister of finance advised them otherwise. "If we are told to stop, we will. But before we receive any information from the senior politician in the Ministry who is the minister, work will continue" noted Mrs Koimett. Langata MP Raila Odinga mounted a legal challenge (see Briefs in right-hand column) but is unlikely to be successful . Finance minister Amos Kimunya has said that the IPO will proceed. (Source: The Nation) Seacom hunts for investors in race to link EA to high speed InternetA South African company last week raised the stakes in the race to connect East Africa to the global network of high speed Internet with an aggressive drive to recruit local private investors for its South East Africa Communication project - Seacom. In coming to Nairobi in search of investors, Seacom literally brought the battle to the doorsteps of the Government that is fronting for the EastAfrican Marine System (TEAMS) and has been shopping for investors to buyinto the project. Seacom also runs parallel to the East African Submarine System (EASSy) -- a regional initiative to connect Eastern Africa to the global network ofhigh speed Internet via South Africa. Brian Herlihy, the Seacom boss, told investors that construction of the cable is set to begin in September with the completion date set for March 2009. This means that all the three initiatives have set a time line for the first quarter of 2009. A meeting organized by TEAMS financial arranger Standard Chartered Bank ended in disarray after the bank failed to answer most of the investors' questions. Top in the list of questions was the minimum equity a private or corporate company willing to invest in the project should contribute. For onward connectivity, Seacom is working with a number of telecommunications companies for special landing rights. The company said it was negotiating with Indian telecommunication group VSNL to link Eastern Africa with South East Asia and the Middle East. This means it will be able to interconnect with a large number of Europe's submarine and terrestrial cables. Herlihy said the company had signed an agreement with Neotel, South Africa's second national operator for landing rights. Other landing sites will be in Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, India and Italy with a possibility of hooking up with United Arab Emirates. On capacity, Seacom said it was planning much higher capacity compared to EASSy. While EASSy will initially be equipped with a capacity of 20Gbits per second and an ultimate capacity of 320 Gbits per second, Seacom will provide 1280 Gbits per second -- four times faster than EASSy. (Source: Business Daily) MTN to Buy UBA-Owned XS Broadband in N4 Billion Deal in NigeriaSouth African mobile operator, MTN Nigeria has agreed to acquire XS Broadband Limited (Formerly UBA Capital & Trust Ltd), a fixed wireless access licensee owned by UBA PLC in a transaction that may be closed at about N4 billion. Technology Times checks revealed that the mobile operator has agreed to the purchase of the company which has an FWA licence covering 24 states including the niche Lagos market. Coming after the US$65 million purchase of 100 per cent stake in VGC Communications Limited, it is yet another major acquisition by the Nigerian mobile market leader which accounted for 13,384,000 out of the 44,301,000 subscribers recorded across the African operations of the MTN Group as at March 31, this year. The buy also comes just as indications emerged today that three companies, MTN Nigeria, IPNX and Naija Wi-Fi Consortium have been selected for the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) promoted by NCC. Under the SABI project, financial and other incentives will be offered by the regulator to service providers to enable them roll out broadband services in selected cities in the country as part of a broad programme to spread a nationwide 'broadband blanket' over Nigeria. (Source: This Day) IN BRIEF:- In Ghana, Kofi Kludjeson who was involved in the theft of money from mobile operator Kasapa and disqualified from being a director of company for four years in 2005 has taken action against the company claiming he was misled about its ownership and that he should be able to resume his shareholding in the company. In making the disqualification order in 2005, the Judge involved described Kludjeson as being “very greedy and at worst fraudulent”. - The Kenya government has moved to amend a shareholding rule that has been blamed for the many failed attempts to bring new service providers into the telecoms market. Information and Communications minister, Mutahi Kagwe, has published a Gazette notice reducing the minimum shareholding that Kenyans must have in a consortium of bidders from 30 to 20 per cent. - Telecom Egypt has reported a 4% dip in first half profits as a result of a one-off charge to account for problems in Algeria. Profit of EGP998 million (USD177 million) fell well below forecasts. Chairman Akil Beshir told Reuters a major factor in the decline was that it deducted EGP258 million as a one-off provision in case it loses its investment in Algeria, Lacom, a fixed line network operator. Lacom has complained that it faces unfair competition from Algerie Telecom and that the regulatory authority has not been helpful. - The planned sale of stake in mobile phone service provider Safaricom faces a court hurdle over company's ownership. ODM said it will file a case in court to stop the anticipated Initial Public Offer, seeking to sell 25 per cent stake estimated at Sh34 billion to the public. Presidential hopeful Raila Odinga said the Government must first clear the air on the owners Mobitelea Ventures that owns five per cent stake in Safaricom. Odinga, who was accompanied by ODM secretary-general Anyang' Nyong'o and Kamukunji aspirant Tony Gachoka, said the Government was hurrying the privatisation process to raise money to fund its election campaigns.
IOL Launches Shopping Portal in South AfricaIndependent Online (IOL) recently launched a shopping portal enabling access to over 600 South African e-retail sites at the click of the mouse. Hosted and maintained by Jump Shopping, one of South Africa's biggest online shopping search engines, the portal enables instant comparisons between products and prices through its comparative search facility. Comments Albert Bredenhann, MD of Jump Shopping, "Enabling IOL Shopping [www.iolshopping.co.za] will increase the visibility for online merchants in South Africa, and this will have a direct effect on the annual e-commerce turnover here." According to IOL 's Giuseppe Clementi, as broadband operators continue their service roll out, South African online shoppers are increasing so fast that their annual spend in cyberspace has almost reached R1 billion. With a choice of around 700 online stores in this country, their e-sprees continue unabated, despite the tightening economy. (Source: Biz-Community) Phone Software to Save Users Who Lose Handsets in UgandaSimpleSoft, a local software solutions company has introduced an electronic service that enables mobile phone users to keep a copy of information stored in their phones on a remote server. Using a mobile phone's Data Synchronisation (DS) feature, a user can exchange information over the Internet between their mobile phones and SimpleSoft Servers. This way, users are able to back up vital information, such as phone contacts and calendar events, stored on their mobile phone handsets and other digital devices. The only requirement is that the phone be connected to the Internet - a service already being offered by mobile service providers like MTN, Celtel and UTL. To use the service, one must register an account with the SimpleSync website (http://sync.simplesoft.co.ug) which then enables them to add information to the SimpleSoft database. Any changes made to data on a handset or PDA will then be reflected in the database, and vice versa. The service costs Shs45,000 for six months. (Source: The Monitor)
PEOPLEThe Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has finally appointed a new CEO. Karabo Motlana which was head of regulatory affairs at Cell C will take up the job from September 3. Dr Jeff Ramsay has been appointed as the coordinator of the new unit called Botswana Government Communications and Information Systems (BGCIS), within the Office of the President. Bryan MacKenzie, Assistant Manager of RCP Data in the same country is leaving to “to take up an exciting new opportunity based in another country.” JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESICT training course in Comoros The Danish Management A/S (http://www.danishmanagement.dk/) for the RICTSP/COMESA (and for this specific assignment IOC) are presently looking for experts who have an interest in providing training on ICT to some pre-identified staff at the Ministry of Telecommunications in Comoros so that they can undertake the necessary policy/regulatory changes in the sector. The application deadline is at the latest 20th August 2007. For further information visit http://www.comesa.int/ict/ or send your application to ictjobs@danishmanagement.dk. EVENTSDeveloping & Implementing National ICT Policies in Africa 3 - 7 September 2007, Digital Bridge Institute, Abuja, Nigeria The workshop will offer a pragmatic approach to the evaluation and assessment of national ICT policy development and implementation in Africa. For more information about the above content or on how to participate, please contact Juliet Manuel at +44 870 7777 697 or at j.manuel@cto.int. CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?Telecom Egypt and Group 1 Software - Egypt Telecom Egypt has selected Group 1 Software, a Pitney Bowes Company, as its Customer Communications Management (CCM) solutions provider of choice to enhance the customer billing process. The company will be implementing a suite of CCM components to enable Telecom Egypt to deliver convergent billing (single bill for customers who use different services, replacing multiple bill production) and e-billing to the company’s extensive customer base. MTN and iO - Nigeria The mobile content firm, iO global says that it has signed a supplier contract with MTN Nigeria to supply its 15 million customer-base with access to premium mobile content services, focusing on international and local full-track music downloads from the major international record labels. iO global says that it already works closely with the four major international music labels.
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. |
|
     |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
This page last updated on August 30 2007.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
