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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 400 M- money services – The rise and rise of Africa’ s “killer-app” for 2008In the first four months of operation, from March to June 2007, M-Pesa, the mobile phone enabled payment system set up by Safaricom in Kenya, gained 150,000 customers. By December 2007, just before conflict erupted over the elections in December 2007, it had achieved 1 million customers who had made US$7 million in transactions. By January 2008, it had gained 1.6 million customers. This is the breakthrough moment for mobile-enabled cash transaction services, writes Russell Southwood. Strangely, the tragic circumstances of post-election violence in Kenya seemed to encourage the use of the service as ATMs ran out of cash and travelling across town to a bank became a riskier proposition. But as Kenya returns to normality, it will be the payments made in more normal times - things like wages to casual staff - that will begin to weigh in the balance. But Vodafone’s plans to roll-out M-Pesa in neighbouring Tanzania were pipped at the post this week by Zantel. Vodafone’s service is already also available in Afghanistan under the slightly amended name of M-Peisa. To be launched next week, Zantel’s money transfer service is to be called Z-Cash. Orascom’s Naguib Sawiris – never a man slow to spot an opportunity – this week announced that his company would offer Internet banking services to its 70 million customers: "It's not something that I'm starting from scratch. I have the subscribers. They were just doing e-mail, [text message] and voice. Now I'm going to tell them you can use this for banking." Perhaps less original and life-changing than M-Pesa but nevertheless a shift in how money transactions get done. This week sees the publication of “M-Money – Finances, Banking and Payments through Mobile Phones” , a 100+ page report which has some of the first detailed market research into the attitudes of potential African customers and how they handle both national and international remittances. The report includes: • Case studies of the pioneering services: The report provides full case studies of four fully operational M-money services: Globe Telecom’s G-Cash and Smart Communications’ Smart Money, both in the Philippines; Wizzit in South Africa; and M-Pesa in Kenya. In addition, there are many smaller mini-case studies of services that have been launched in Africa and elsewhere in the world. • User research findings: The report provides national sample surveys for three major markets – Ghana, Kenya and South Africa – which provide remarkably consistent findings in key areas. A key element of the research looks at how national and international remittances are made and how many people receive them. There is also additional research from a range of other African countries that help pin down the likely potential of M-money services. • User experience and customer business model interface: The report looks in detail at: how M-money services of different kinds can be delivered; different approaches to delivery (partners vs go-it-alone); different technologies that might underpin its development (for example, near field communications); and the business models and market segments. • How regulatory issues can be tackled: When banking meets the mobile world, two different sets of regulatory environments collide. The report provides a detailed section on how banking and financial requirements can be met and the implications for both the operator and consumer of these kinds of transactions. Balancing Act’s M-Money – Finances, Banking and Payments through Mobile Phones, is over 100 pages long and has 7 charts, 16 tables of statistical data, 2 graphic maps and 12 illustrations. If you’ve not worked out how to do M-Money services this year, you may be the one who’s missing out next year. For details, go to: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/publications.html For an extract that contains a detailed table of contents with a full list of the charts, tables and maps, send an e-mail to: editorial@balancingact-africa.com The report is priced as follows: Full price (Africa) – GBP290/US$580; Full price (Rest of the World) – GBP350/US$700; Reduced price for universities and NGOs – GBP250/US$500. Click below to order:
Two More GSM Operators to launch soon in Sierra LeoneThe Executive Secretary of the Sierra Leone regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), has confirmed that two new GSM operators will soon roll out services in Sierra Leone. Bashir M. Kamara told local paper Concord Times last week that the GSM operators have already gotten the necessary approval and are ready to commence operation soon. The two new operators are Israel-based Cellcom and Lybian backed LapGreen Networks. Kamara announced this while explaining his Commission's resolve to ensure that the country's telecom sector’s potential is maximized to the fullest to ensure affordable communication for the people. "We have less than a million phone users in the country out of a population of well over five million people. This shows that there is more potential for investment in the telecom sector by which many people could have access to phones," he said. The country currently has five mobile networks - but its penetration level languishes at just 20.5%. Figures from the Mobile World show that the country ended last year with just under 1.3 million subscribers. On issues that are likely to be of topmost priority for the newly-constituted Commission to be chaired by Architect Sieray A. Timbo, Kamara mentioned the high tariffs imposed by telecom operators on calls, especially those made from one network to another. He said tariff reduction has been an agenda for the old commissioners some of whom are still in the new commission. Though he mentioned the cost of energy supply as service providers' major constraint, he maintained that the new commission will ensure fairness for consumers as the energy problem in the country is being addressed. NATCOM is poised to ensure that before the end of 2008, all GSM operators in the country must have achieved at least 50-70% coverage. As a regulatory body which came into being in August 2006, the Commission will also concern itself with the quality of services offered by GSM operators as it has been receiving series of complaints about bad network quality, says Kamara. (Source: various including Concord Times) Ugandan Minister Knocks South Africa’s Telecoms Policy and high SAT3 pricesUganda's technology minister has chided SA's government for meddling too much in the telecommunications sector, saying a lighter touch would grow the industry, cut the cost of services and help local companies to flourish. A hands-off approach would avoid the bureaucratic delays and corruption that occured when governments got involved, said Alintuma Nsambu, Uganda's minister for information and communications technologies. "If you are going to make something successful, you have to keep governments away, because the moment you involve government you increase bureaucracy and there is often corruption." Nsambu was sharing a stage with SA's science and technology minister, Mosibudi Mangena, at the Satcom Africa conference in Johannesburg last week when he suggested that SA should rethink its telecoms regulations. Then he apologised for making his criticisms in public instead of discussing them in private. "I wish you had written to me privately," Mangena replied. Nsambu said governments should back off from playing an active role as the telecoms sector "must be run by highly skilled technicians, not by politicians". The government's role should be to support private companies by removing any bottlenecks, such as ensuring that officials did not need bribing to get things done or to allow equipment to clear customs. "Liberalising the telecoms sector means discouraging monopolies or duopolies," he said in a dig at South Africa, where Neotel was belatedly granted the sole licence that opened up competition to Telkom. Then he took another jab, saying the private sector should be left to build and operate undersea telecommunications cables. SA's government is already championing its involve-ment in at least two cable projects, and is jeopardising plans to increase Africa's bandwidth by insisting that private cables may land in SA only if they are majority African-owned. Nsambu attacked the high cost of internet access in SA, even though the country is not reliant on notoriously expensive satellite connections. "Ironically in SA the cost of internet usage isn't cheap," he said. Much of SA's international traffic is carried on the undersea Sat-3 cable, and Telkom has kept Sat-3 bandwidth prices artificially high. Full liberalisation of the telecoms sector was extremely important for any nation's economy, he said, as it provided consumers with lower prices, better customer service and faster internet access. Uganda had one of the most liberal telecoms policies in the world. Even first world countries could learn from it, Nsambu told the conference. In contrast, SA's policies were hindering the sector and the success of local operators. When MTN first bid to enter Uganda, his government had been suspicious of letting it operate there as it appeared to be struggling to win licences at home. A great deal of due diligence was carried out on MTN by the authorities, he said. "It took them a long time to convince us that in SA the regulations are that bad," Nsambu said. "Your government should provide such companies with a certificate to say the companies are good but they don't meet our requirements because we have our own regulations," he told Mangena. Mangena said the reproaches should be directed at SA's communications and trade and industry departments, not his science and technology department. "Nevertheless it's one government and if you have issues I'm quite prepared to pass them on to the relevant ministers." Mangena denied that progress in SA was shackled by the government's regulating undersea cables or by creating Infraco as a state-owned supplier of broadband infrastructure. Some areas could be liberalised further, but the regulatory environment laid the ground rules rather than inhibited progress, he said. Infraco was established because no other company could provide sufficient bandwidth fast enough to support the Southern African Large Telescope and to let SA bid to host the $1.5bn Square Kilometre Array radio telescope. "If there were private companies that came and said we can provide this bandwidth we wouldn't have Infraco," Mangena said. (Source: Business Day) ETC Expands Mobile Connection Capacity to 5.6 Million Lines in EthiopiaThe Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) is to increase the capacity for its mobile service to about 5.6 million lines. The second phase of an expansion project covers the demand on 22 highways and 766 towns including Addis in three months time. Each time it expands ETC experiences congestion and has to expand more. The Ethiopian Government has resisted all calls to liberalize the market despite the fact that a liberalized market would meet this user demand more quickly. Corporate Communications Manager Abdurahim Ahmed disclosed to The Daily Monitor that the interruption of mobile SIM Card distribution for the last few months was due to the congestion of network in the highways at major regional towns, including Addis Ababa including as a result of the optimization millennium mobile telephone project. The first phase of mobile network expansion which was completed in September 2007 increased the capacity of connection to 2.2 million where as the total current customers connected by both post and prepaid lines were 1.8 million which is only 400,000 less than the total capacity of the network. Abdurahim said the expansion created congestion in major towns due to which launching the second phase of expansion project was necessitated. "The second phase of the project raises the total network capacity to 5.6 million so that it will be possible to continue the distribution," he noted. Abdurahim said to him the highways those, which congested by mobile lines taken from Addis, will be given priority in this expansion project including the capital. However, most major cities and towns congested by mobiles distributed in Addis. "For instance, if you take one of the highways Awassa, the network capacity is 100,000 but currently it is full after only selling 45,000. Hence, the rest 55,000 lines are taken from Addis. That is why the corporation is forced to stop offering SIM card before expansion had been completed," he explained. The high ways which will get the mobile service within 2-3 months period including Addis Ababa are Awassa, Shashemene, Bahirdar, Mekele, Diredawa, Jijiga, Harar, Gonder Nekemt, Jimma, Dessie, Assela, Adama, Debermarkos, Bishoftu, Gambela, Assosa and Semra, according to the Communications Manager. The distribution will be carried out by the six private and one government companies which are called "Mega Dealers." Abdurahim refuted rumours that the corporation was to raise price on both SIM and talking He said that the corporation may make reductions "Instead the question has to be the reduction of price that the corporation may review," he said. The sales prepaid mobile SIM card that was earlier managed by the corporation is being outsourced to private companies and one-government enterprise. The current total connected subscribers of mobile telephone are 1.8 million and this excelled the fixed lines by 400,000. (Source: The Daily Monitor) Swedish start-up TerraNet claims peer-to-peer mobile will increase phone penetration in developing countriesSwedish start-up TerraNet has revealed further detail of its ‘peer-to-peer’ mobile phone technology that it claims could play a big role in increasing phone penetration in developing countries. According to TerraNet CEO and founder, Anders Carlius the company is working on what he calls ‘ad hoc’ networking Terranet’s peer-to-peer technology turns each handset into a switching node, passing on calls from other handsets within a 1 kilometre range. Each handset can simultaneously transit 7 calls and each call can make 7 hops before the switching delay starts to make conversation difficult. This peer-to-peer hopping communications has been done before in military applications, although expensively, and in the Tetra emergency communications system, but this is the first time anyone has tackled the mass market in this way. But isn’t the seven kilometre limit a real drawback? “It only seems so because we, us rich people in the west, are all used to zooming around the country or around the world. The other 4 billion don’t travel more than a few kilometres in a typical working day”. And most of the people they know spend all their time within the those few kilometers too.” Carlius is concerned to overcome the barrier to phone use from illiteracy. “I remember talking to a Pakistani telco who told me there was no way he could ever get beyond 40% penetration,” said Carlius. “‘Never? I asked.’ No,’ he said, ‘because 60% of our population is illiterate and innumerate and they therefore can’t use a phone.’ And he was right,” says Carlius. “If you think about it you can’t use a phone if you can’t read or manipulate numbers.” So Carlius’s next rethink was around the three button phone concept. An ad hoc networking phone might use people’s pictures instead of their names and numbers, he says. But perhaps the most important, and most re-thought, part of the model is Carlius’s ideas around distribution. Instead of a telecom network, TerraNet (or whoever had licensed the technology) would build a network of agents to push the phones, collect the monies and, most important, load up the appropriate photos for the illiterate customers. The technology still has to journey into final product. Journalists were shown a large circuit board working prototype but TerraNet says it has advance orders and expects to be manufacturing in bulk soonish. (Source: TelecomTV)
In brief:- The decision to suspend non-identified phone chips, to be implemented from May 1st, will concern more than five million subscribers, of all phone operators, Watanya Telecom Algerie (WTA) General Manager Joseph Jed announced in Algiers. Jed underlined that its mobile phone company, Nedjma, had not the required resources to satisfy its subscribers in this respect, as Nedjma's points of sale and distributors received about 10,000 subscribers, every day, seeking to regularise their situation - Orange Cameroun has launched its Livebox gateway for WiMAX internet access, reports Telecompaper. Monthly charges range from XAF35,000 to XAF100,000 (USD86 to USD245) for consumers, and XAF200,000 to XAF1.2 million for businesses, depending on the speed. Installation is free, though users will have to shell out XAF200,000 for a modem and a further XAF50,000 for the Livebox device. Download speeds of up to 512kbps are available. - ICT industry stakeholders have given the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) the green light to implement a unified technology neutral licensing framework as from 1 July 2008. The new licensing framework will allow the provision of multiple services under a single licence. - A one-year pilot skills programme in telecommunications, which was initiated in February 2007 by Neotel with the collaboration of the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA), has now culminated to a full-time training academy where 27 students will be studying towards a three-year advanced diploma in telecommunications. - The Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA) last week gave approval to more telecom operators, including Globacom, Multilinks and 21st Century Technology permission to commence cutting and digging of roads in Lagos for the purpose of laying fibre optic cables. Similarly, approval was also given for the cutting and digging of some locations in Lagos for the usage of telecom duct. - i2, a mobile phones and IT products provider based in the Middle East and Africa, has opened corporate regional headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. - According to online Ghanaian news portal myjoyonline.com, the National Communications Authority (NCA) is set to announce a sixth mobile phone operator as part of its policy of ‘assuring vibrant competition, accelerated attainment of universal access, market order and diversity of product as well as service offerings at competitive and affordable prices’. Eleven companies – Afritel Communications, Awesomedia, BenchMac PR & Business Consult, Express Mobile Communications, Faith Telecom, Global Trade Imex, Glo Mobile Ghana, TechnoEdge Ghana, Teylium Telecom International, TransAtlantic Industries and Warid Telecom International – have been shortlisted to participate in the beauty contest selection process. The NCA hopes to announce the winner by mid-June. - Algeria’s news agency APS reported that the Algerian government is now ready to launch a tender for 3G licences. Telecoms minister, Boudjema Haichour, said that the prime minister is expected to give his approval during next week's cabinet meeting Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- Cell One, Namibia’s second mobile operator has started offering mobile Internet. The service will be available country-wide and the service will be charged on the amounts of uploads and downloads, regardless of the length of time spent online. Customers can surf the Internet for as little as N$1 per megabyte," announced the company. The company also announced that they have reached an agreement with South African cellular service operator Vodacom, to partner data roaming for all Cell One clients. - Zimbabwe’s mobile operator, Econet Wireless, has introduced a prepayment system for its contract line subscribers effective April 1, to help it fight inflation. Subscribers will now be required to prepay a bill equivalent to the previous month's usage as prepayment for the following month. - As Safaricom’s IPO carries on in Kenya, it was revealed that the subscribers figures given by the mobile operator in its prospectus issued for the ongoing initial public offering includes inactive users. It suggests that the subscriber base gap between it and its only rival, Celtel, may be much smaller than recent estimates. - Eritrea’s mobile operator Eritel has announced the expansion of its network to the Southern Red Sea region, especially the town of Assab and its surrounding. 16 new towers along with the necessary communication equipments have been installed. - Liberian mobile operator Cellcom has completed the upgrade of its network to GPRS/EDGE to offer data services. The service will be free for one month until the end of the trial period. - The subsciber base of Etisalat, the UAE's leading telecommunication services provider, has reached 63 million, the company has announced. Company chairman Mohammad Hasan Omran also told Gulf News that Etisalat plans to compete for the fixed line licence in Egypt, and expand its operations in Tanzania to up to two million subscribers by the end of 2008, compared to the present 800,000 subscribers.
Uganda Extends Fibre Cable to Rwanda BorderUganda Telecom has started work on a fiber-optic link from the western town of Mbarara in Uganda to the Rwanda border-crossing point at Katuna - essentially giving a major boost to the long-awaited regional fibre project, RNA has learnt. When completed in November this year, a significant section of what has come to be known as the East African Backhaul System (EABS) will be in place, giving Uganda end-to-end fiber coverage, the telecommunications news outlet IDG News Service reported on Monday. "We have started implementing the Mbarara-Katuna link and we should be done by November," Mr. Donald Nyakairu - Uganda Telecom spokesman is quoted as saying. He is also the chairman of EABS. The EABS, a terrestrial cable link, is a joint venture among telecom operators from Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. MTN Rwanda has already laid fiber from the capital Kigali to Katuna, with a second phase to the Burundi border set to be built. The EABS' goal is to support an increase in traffic and new broadband services and connect the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to EASSY, bringing cheap access to millions people who would otherwise be left out. MTN Uganda, the other partner in the EABS project, has fiber from Kampala to Uganda's eastern town of Bugiri not far from Malaba, the crossing point into Kenya. Within Uganda, EABS will be hooked to a national fiber backbone, which the government is building with Chinese funding of up to US$110 million. MTN Uganda and Uganda Telecom are obliged by their licenses to lay fiber. Microwave technology for smaller backbone links into the more rural areas feeding off the main fiber optic routes will also be set up. The Libyan government international telecoms investment arm Lap Green Networks owns 69% of Uganda Telecom as well as 80% of Rwandatel - Rwandan state operator. (Source: Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information) Liberia’s International Bank Launches Internet BankingThe International Bank (IB) Liberia Limited has launched an Internet Banking service. It will allow customers to make financial transaction on a secure website. Features and services offered include viewing list of linked accounts, viewing account history of transactions, print statement and send message to customer service, receive message from customer service, change password, order check book, stop check payment and order statement of account. The IB Internet banking was launched recently at a local restaurant and entertainment spot in Monrovia. According to IB's General Manager, Patrick Anumei, the bank is committed to ensuring professional banking in the interest of the numerous customers. He said the internet banking would not only be satisfactory to corporate entities but also individuals who have account with the bank. He said through the Internet banking one can review their account, know their balances, request for check book and do other things that are relevant to the banking Industry. (Source: The Inquirer) Embryonic electronic commerce in Tunisia: 250 sites now offer e-transactionsElectronic commerce in North Africa in general remains an embryonic activity. Such is the case for Tunisia which has nearly 5,000 web sites but only 250 offer visitors the ability to purchase products and services online. The year 2006 ended with total Internet transactions of TND 14.2 million only or about $11 million. Although it is a seven-fold increase from 2005, the value of Internet transactions in Tunisia is insignificant. The bulk of the transactions generated in the Tunisian cyberspace essentially relates to the enrolment of nearly half million students who have selected online studying during the academic year of 2006/2007. The weak performance of electronic commerce in Tunisia can be attributed to several factors including a highly regulated environment in a sector that is closely monitored by the Tunisian government, and the limited disposable income among the younger generations who happened to be the most active spenders in mature economies. The banking sector in Tunisia has neglected to offer services such as payment instruments to potential young buyers. Most of the cards issued by banks to teenagers are cards used for withdrawal purposes and not for payment transactions. The number of cards that enable online payments both domestically and internationally is very limited, therefore limiting the growth of Internet sites that can offer to sell products and services. Even in the highly strategic travel industry, online activity is limited. Very few hotels have their own web sites capable of recording transactions as simple as reservations or information inquiry, let alone prepaying for a stay. According to official statistics, only 16% of reservations for Tunisian hotels made from Europe originate from the Internet. This figure shows how much more growth opportunity there is as the Internet develops in Tunisia. Yet there are tremendous opportunities for growth going forward. A good example of opportunities was the qualifying match between Tunisia and Morocco for World Cup 2006 when ticket sales over the Internet skyrocketed as a result of high demand. The industry meanwhile is looking for ways to establish new standards that will enable its members to benefit from Internet sales in the future. A new network called Tunicommerce is in the offing, with the goal of incorporating businesses into a single bar code system that would facilitate the supply chain that will power Internet commerce. The school of electronic commerce, the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce Electronique, is preparing to release a guide that will help businesses create their own electronic commerce infrastructure. The school will also propose changes in the regulation that would simplify commerce over the Internet in Tunisia. Some 40 companies are currently launching transaction sites that would enable their customers to purchase products or to simply apply for services. Such is the case of the transport agency ATTT (Agence Technique de Transport Terrestre), which has released a web portal that enables individuals to register for a driver’s license examination. (Source: The North Africa Journal) In brief:- South Africa’s SNO Neotel has secured access to the landing station for the SAT3/Safe submarine cable, enabling it to carry international voice and data traffic at competitive prices. Local landing rights to the fibre optic cable were held exclusively by Neotel competitor Telkom until the end of last year. This exclusivity restricted the ability of operators to cut international bandwidth prices. - Nigeria’s second national operator (SNO) Globacom lit the Enugu-Akwa leg of its national fibre-optic backbone, extending its reach into the south-eastern state of Enugu and completing a circuit with the states of Onitsha and Imo, which lie immediately south of Enugu. These two states were connected last month when stretches of the cable linking the cities of Awka, Onitsha and Owerri were lit. - In Mauritania, 400 bloggers met last week to set up an union which will promote freedom of speech and draft professional guidelines for bloggers around the country. - Representatives of Google and the UN refugee agency unveiled a powerful new online mapping programme that provides an up-close and multifaceted view of some of the world's major displacement crises and the humanitarian efforts aimed at helping the victims. www.unhcr.org/googleearth - Three years after the Mauritius Government launched its first online services, the National Computer Board reckons that a large part of the population remains reluctant to use the online application forms put in place by the administration. The organisation argues that this slow adoption is partly due to the fact that only 24% of the 350,0000 Mauritian household have computers. - In order to ensure transparency, the Independent Election Commission in Côte d’Ivoire has provided online access to all political parties to the country’s newly rebuilt poll list. - Newtec, a satellite and communications equipment provider, has announced that the SatElections project assistance initiated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Commission and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) will be using its satellite triple play system, Sat3Play. The SatElections pilot will be rolled out in the Democratic Republic of Congo in co-operation with the Independent Electoral Committee of the DRC. - Sky Vision announced that it has signed with Intelsat Ltd a multi-year, multi-transponder contract for capacity on the Intelsat 601 satellite. This contract will provide SkyVision the ability to offer ’end-to-end’ solutions, deploying standard and customized IP service platforms for its customers in Africa.
Programos Wins Local Content Award in NigeriaProgramos Software Limited, Nigerian developer of software products for financial institutions, capital market and stockbroking firms in Nigeria, has emerged the winner of the Best Software Company with Local Content at the prestigious Titans of Tech awards which held in Lagos last weekend. President and chief software architect, Programos Software, Amos Emmanuel at a grand reception at the City Mall in Lagos, received the award on behalf of the firm. Titans of Tech is an annual event organized by Technology Africa to celebrate titans, men, women, organisations and institutions that are the driving force of the tremendous wind of technological change that is blowing across the nation, Nigeria. Amos said that since 1997, when the firm started implementing IntegraPlus software to enables capital market managers to log into online services it has become the biggest force in trading in the market with over 100 stockbrokers using the applications. According to him, "It has simplified the entire processes of central security system and of course the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) saw and approved of it after confirming its efficiency and reliability to efficient, transparent and a robust stockbroking service delivery". He noted that Integral is secured and has made life very easy for the brokers, registrars, regulators and the investors all together. Integral means an integration of so many things, thus it is an expanding project that has a massive capabilities. What we have done in integral is to combine everything together in a ledger, so it has made easy business operations and it does not matter whatever business concept it is. The Accountant of each organisation simply needs on daily basis half transactions generated from various departments of the organisation, have them fully authorised and they will be in for accuracy and completion in the financial statement. Programos is also the developer of Webstone a leading electronic business (e-business) solution. (Source: This Day) Illegal Contract With Computer Company Suspended in MozambiqueThe Mozambican Labour Ministry has suspended an apparently illegal contract between the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and the company MOZ IT Ltd, which had been hired to computerize the INSS data. The case came to light last month when Labour Minister Helena Taipo visited the INSS central offices and found dozens of MOZ IT workers there without any legal contract. In all there were 150 MOZ IT workers involved in computerizing the INSS data. But such arrangements between state bodies and private companies need the approval of the Administrative Tribunal, and this had not been obtained. According to Paulo Mutombene, the National Director of Strategic Planning and Statistics in the Labour Ministry, cited in the Maputo daily "Noticias", a team of investigators sent to the INSS discovered that a contract had been signed in December 2007 - but some MOZ IT staff had been working at the INSS since August. On the day the contract was signed, the INSS transferred to the account of the MOZ IT representative, Rufino Licucu, the sum of 3.8 million meticais (about 157,000 US dollars). "It's not clear what this money was for", said Mutombene. Worse still, MOZ IT does not have a valid licence for the services it is providing. It has only a Class Nine licence - which is fine for companies that are selling furniture, and computer accessories. But it does not cover the digitalization services that MOZ IT apparently sold to the INSS. As a result of these irregularities, the Labour Ministry is recommending that the Administrative Tribunal should not validate any contract between the INSS and MOZ IT. The MOZ IT staff were receiving their wages from the INSS, even though they are not INSS employees. But the INSS has not paid them for the last two months - and so they went on strike on Wednesday. According to "Noticias", they staged a demonstration outside the INSS premises, and told reporters that Licuco had disappeared. Nonetheless "Noticias" managed to contact him - but he told the reporter not to investigate his company. "It's better not to stick your nose in this matter", he said before slamming the phone down. (Source: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique) South Africa’s IT services set to break USD 4bnThe local information technology (IT) services market is expected to exceed $4 billion (R31 billion) this year, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 11 percent, according to the latest report by research firm IDC. The growth is fuelled by economic expansion, the adoption of open-source software, government projects such as the e-government that is meant to provide technology access to rural areas, technology upgrade cycles, preparations for the 2010 soccer World Cup, deregulation, and growth in the small and medium business market. Many firms are outsourcing non-core operations such as IT to companies such as Business Connexion, GijimaAst and IBM to save money and focus on the core business. IT outsourcing constitutes more than one-third of the services market, the largest market share of all IT services categories. "Economic growth and national development projects are playing into the hands of IT services providers, in terms of hardware and software implementations, as well as custom development, outsourcing, and other services," said Pieter Kok, a senior research analyst at IDC South Africa. IDC predicts that the local IT market will grow at an average annual rate of 11.3 percent to nearly $5.67 billion by 2011. The skills shortage in the country, however, remains a major inhibitor in the IT services market. This week the labour department said there was a shortage of 6 675 information and communication technology (ICT) managers. Kok said: "Despite public and private sector attempts to address the severe skills shortage, filling vacancies and keeping them has been a tough task. (Source: Business Report) In brief:- South Africa’s minister of public service and administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, took centre stage at a protest march in Norway. The march was held to protest alleged irregularities in the ratification of Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) document format as an ISO standard last week. - Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has proposed a new initiative that will see its services launched on an electronic platform accessible through the Internet. The e-NHIS will be the Scheme's automated business transaction and technology platform which will simplify our processes as well as those of HMOs, HCPs, banks, and the beneficiaries. - With the financial support of the European Union, Senegal will roll out a e-commerce platform across the country to facilitate business at the local level. The pilot project is currently hosted at Trade Point Senegal. - Mandriva announced the release of Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring. The new release includes features such as full support for the Asus Eee, easy synchronisation with Windows Mobile 5 and later, Blackberry, and Nokia devices, a new parental control utility, the Elisa multimedia center, Codeina for easy installation of necessary media codecs, PulseAudio by default and much more.
Namibia’s MTC Profits Up 1,8 Per Cent for 2007Namibian mobile operator MTC has netted a 1.8 per cent net profit increase for 2007, just N$8,8 million more than at the end of 2006, due to notable rises in certain costs like staff, sales, marketing and transmission costs. Subscribers increased to 743,509, of which 676,831 are prepaid customers. "Total revenue in 2007 grew by 18,7 per cent to N$1,1 billion, up from N$944 million in 2006; net profits only increased by 1,8 per cent, being N$493,5 million, compared to N$484,7 million in 2006," MTC Chief Executive Officer Miquel Geraldes said in a presentation to the business sector last week. Earnings before tax increased from N$568,1 million in 2006 to N$586,6. "Income from contract customers was N$254,6 million, up from N$219,4 million in 2006, and earnings on prepaid [Tango] came to N$622,3 million against N$498,6 million the year before. Capital expenditure came to N$339 million, much higher than the N$217 million in 2006. All capital projects were funded from our own resources," Geraldes said. Dividends paid out per share increased by 206 per cent from N$3.20 in 2006 to N$9.80 per share. "On the regulatory front we had some surprises with the introduction of an additional mobile service [Switch] by the fixed line operator, Telecom Namibia. This is a controversial development since Government sold a 34 per cent stake in MTC to a private entity, Portugal Telecom. The sale took place with the understanding that there will be only two mobile operators in the Namibian market for the next few years [MTC and Cell One],"Geraldes added. He also called the decision of the Finance Ministry's to slap 15 per cent VAT on airtime sold to prepaid customers "an unpopular decision." (Source: The Namibian) Vodacom 'Might Face Legal Action on Airtime Deals' in South AfricaVodacom faces the possibility of legal action from the Competition Commission, which claims the company withheld information in a bid to win approval for its R206m acquisition of two companies that resell its airtime. The cellular operator could be had up for contempt if the commission acts on a recommendation to prosecute the company to the full extent of the law. But the penalty for withholding information from the commission is a mere R2000, prompting commissioner Shan Rambaruth to say it would investigate every option before deciding whether to proceed. The call for retribution comes from the Competition Tribunal, which believes Vodacom intentionally withheld certain documents relevant to an acquisition hearing. The tribunal took "an exceedingly dim view of the contempt that Vodacom's conduct reveals for the regulatory process", said its chairman David Lewis. That was a "flagrant contempt for the law" and the only solution was to prosecute. The power to instigate legal action lies with the commission. While Vodacom has raised the tribunal's wrath in this particular case, Lewis said an increasing number of companies were trying to win approval for proposed mergers by presenting carefully constructed but deceitful affidavits. They should be rejected, and when the commission discovered that they were trying to camouflage the truth, it should prosecute them. If a merger was approved on the basis of misleading or withheld information, approval should be withdrawn and the guilty parties fined, he said . Last week Rambaruth said he would look at the tribunal's rulings in the Vodacom case and carefully consider the options. The tribunal feared that if hard action was not taken against evasive or untruthful companies, such deceit would occur more frequently. "Using our powers more is very important for the proper functioning of these institutions," he said. Vodacom SA MD Shameel Joosub said: "We unequivocally deny we deliberately withheld information from either the commission or the tribunal, or made any attempt to mislead them. Vodacom had a high regard for both those bodies and always dealt with them with the utmost respect, he said. "Whilst we must accept responsibility for submitting a document late, the document was nevertheless voluntarily submitted by Vodacom after Vodacom itself had discovered it." Despite condemning Vodacom for its action, the tribunal has allowed the deal and gave its reasons yesterday. Even when the evidence Vodacom tried to hide was considered, the deal would not substantially erode competition in the market, the tribunal said. Vodacom will now terminate a licence held by Global Telematics and acquire its business of signing up cellular subscribers. Global Telematics subcontracts some work to Glocell Service Provider Company, and as part of the deal Glocell will hand that business back to Global Telematics. Vodacom will therefore absorb the subscriber bases of both those service providers. (Source: Business Day) Uganda: Utl to Sell Safaricom SharesUganda telecom (utl) and Renaissance Capital will handle the sale of Safaricom shares at utl's service centres countrywide. Renaissance is in partnership with Afrika Investment Bank, which is one of the two lead brokers for the share purchase. utl's role is to provide its extensive customer service network as a platform for selling Safaricom shares. Afrika Investment Bank is not working on the sale of the shares on its own, but through Renaissance Capital. Renaissance staff will help investors open up Central Depository System accounts at the service centres. "This is an opportunity for everybody to become investors in East Africa. Safaricom is the largest telecommunication provider in Kenya and have the highest growth rate in east and central Africa." Hans Paulsen, the utl chief commercial officer, said. (Source: New Vision) Neotel Makes Inroads in Telecoms Market in South AfricaNational operator Neotel has clocked up R1bn of business in its first year of operation and expects to win deals worth R2bn this financial year as more companies grow to trust its services. Profits are still a long way off, however, as capital expenditure of R1.5bn this year will soak up its revenue as it rolls out more wireless and fibre network facilities. Neotel will invest R11bn in its operations over a decade. It spent the first R1,5bn last year. Its cash flow should turn positive after three years, said CEO Ajay Pandey. "Out of the top 350 customers, we have made inroads into almost 120 and we are beginning to get repeat orders. We have been able to pick up contracts worth more than R1bn." So far, most companies have given Neotel only about 5% of their telecoms spending, but a handful now give it at least 25% of their voice and data contracts. Three organisations were planning to phase Telkom out of their businesses entirely though none had done that so far. Its network was extensive enough to let it reach most corporate premises within 48- 72 hours, he said, either by laying fibre or by using wireless "last mile" connections. From the end of this month, consumers in certain areas would be able to sign up for a Neotel rather than a Telkom line. It will also offer handsets capable of handling video calls and accessing the internet. Telkom announced this week plans to bulk up its own voice and data carrying capacity, largely by installing far more wireless technologies. (Source: Business Day) In brief:- Senegal’s national incumbent, Sonatel is prepared to hand out to its shareholders (Senegalese Government, France Telecoms and private investors) the total profit realised by the company in 2007. Subject to the approval of the Board, the total amount to be distributed is 89,7 billion CFA francs (US$202 million). - Etissalat has set up strategic alliances with television and internet content providers in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia as a prelude to mergers and alliances. "The move is in line with the global trend towards mergers between telecommunications companies and media content providers," said Ahmed bin Ali, Vice-President of Corporate Communications. "The mobile phone is not only a means of communication but has become an important medium to surf Internet and watch TV."
Uganda’s District Web portals soon available in local languageIn an effort to popularise Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in rural areas, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) through the Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) has decided to provide translated versions of each District Web Portal across the country, after realising that the absence of local languages has hindered the usage of these websites. "Now that we appreciate that language is one of the limitations for usage of the District Web Portals among other ICTs, we have provided a translated version of each Web Portal into the respective local languages," the RCDF, Fund Manager, Mr Bob H. Lyazi said. He added, "This means that someone in Soroti District can log on to the Internet wherever he is and is able to access all information concerning his district like agricultural activities, health, education, tourism, economic activities, product prices, district administration, among others. "The inclusion of local content will go a long way to increase participation of Ugandans especially those in the rural areas," Lyazi noted. He added that this will be in two areas, translation of the available content into local languages or uploading appropriate content and translate it in a local language for a given community. "That way, we will be able to cause increased usage of ICTs in rural areas." "We have acknowledged that ICTs are not integrated into what the local people do in their everyday life, so that is why they do not go in for ICTs. For example farmers will need agricultural information related to the particular activity they are engaged in," Lyazi said. "Every user has his or her unique circumstances or demand. Some users are able to read and write but they just lack computer skills. Then you have those who have no formal education. But to everybody there is a communications need so each one of the users must be provided with appropriate assistance," Lyazi said. Lyazi observed that Uganda is actually lagging behind in development because ICTs are currently the driving force for social and economic development. "Therefore the failure of Ugandans to embrace ICTs means we can't realise social and economic development in the short term." Lyazi said: "ICT is now the way to cause development. It reduces the distance between people. It means that a local person in Arua district can sell his products to somebody in Mombasa just like if he would be selling to someone in the local market in Arua. There is very low demand for services in the rural areas meaning that the business operators can't make business sense out of these investments," Lyazi observed, adding that: "All these challenges mean that sustainability of ICTs in rural areas is indeed a big challenge in itself. We encourage the creation of ICT projects next to other businesses catchment areas like schools hospitals and banks. Our schools intervention programmes are to encourage students because they are the ones to demand for the services later on." "The other problem we have is the very high cost of bandwidth in Uganda and Africa generally," Lyazi noted. "This forces many users to opt to purchase less than adequate bandwidth. Consequently, you get poor quality services meaning slow speeds and sometimes you can't download big documents." Like all other facilities in Uganda, the Batud ICT Training Centre found in Mayuge district in eastern Uganda has to contend with unreliable power is its major challenge and a generator and solar as an alternative sources of power are very expensive. It also has to contend with high Internet tariffs and an unreliable service by the providers. "It costs me between Shs30-50 per minute to access the Internet at the Batud ICT Centre. Imagine If I was to spend an hour it would be costly for me," Deogracious Kiganira Kijambu said. (Source: The Monitor) Passport Applicants to Benefit From SMS Tracker in KenyaKenyans seeking passports will be spared unnecessary trips to the Immigration offices to check their application status once an SMS tracking facility becomes operational. An Immigration official said the tool would be in operation in July together with a service charter requirement that all passports be processed in 10 days. Presently, the official period for securing the travel document is three weeks, but it takes about three months in most cases to get hold of the travel document once requirements are met. "Applicants are forced to come several times. Electronic tracking will help them save time and money. Processing should not take more than ten days then," said Mr Stephen Karanja, the Principal ICT officer at the Department of Immigration. Tenders for the service will soon be invited. The department pointed out the service will not be offered at premium SMS rates. Within the department, officers are able to track the applications from the intranet. However, he said applicants would still be required to appear before officers for positive identification on application and issuance. A month ago, the department introduced a new type of passport that will carry the bearer's digitised image. In the old passports, the individual photos were pasted then laminated to the passport. Also the new passport will carry two photos where one, the immigration department refer to as 'ghost image,' cannot be seen with the naked eye. The move is aimed at curbing substitution of the photographs by forgers. (Source: Business Daily)
People* Entrepreneur Nkosinathi Khumalo has resigned as a director of technology company of South Africa’s EOH to join a private equity fund based in Seattle. * Dr James Kulubi has been appointed the Director of Kenya College of Communications technology (KCCT). Events* EURO-AFRICA ICT AWARENESS WORKSHOP Supporting sub-Saharan African organisations in FP7/ICT 16-17 April 2008, Peacock Hotel, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania For further information visiter their website at http://www.euroafrica-ict.org/awareness_workshops.html * MED-IT@ALGER 2008 22- 23 April 2008, Algier, Algeria The fifth edition of this B2B exhibition will provide plenty of opportunities to develop contacts and relationship with local companies in the IT and Telecoms sectors. The exhibition main topics are: new mobile services, call centre solutions and equipment, VoIP, IT security, banking software, CRM, ERP and storage solutions. For further information please http://www.medit.eu.org/2008/algerie/presentation.htm * AFRICA MOBILE MARKETING FORUM 23-24th April 2008, Lagos, Nigeria Up until recently the only mechanism for delivering advertising messages to mobile devices was via SMS and WAP Push. However, now that 3G phones, with their multimedia capabilities, are reaching critical mass, the opportunities for advertising and brand extension, primarily via mobile video, are greatly increased. For further information visit http://www.mobilemarketingafrica.com/ * VoIP WORLD AFRICA 12-15 May 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa The world of VoIP is rapidly changing - costs are coming down; more applications are coming into play and new forms of revenue generation are being exploited. For further information visit the website
* ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2008 12 - 15 May, Cairo, Egypt, Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Centre (CICC) Comprising a high-calibre Exhibition, a Forum and a whole lot more, ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2008 will provide a major networking platform for Africa's top ICT names to come together to focus on the core issues relating to ICT expansion across the region. For further information visit http://www.itu.int/AFRICA2008/?050707 * ITU REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM 2008 "Bridging the ICT standardization gap in developing countries" for the African Region 26-28 May 2008, Accra, Ghana The Forums are intended for executives from National Regulatory Bodies, Telecommunication Operators and Service Providers in the regions who need to be kept abreast of the latest development in telecommunications and who need to be familiar with the future challenges ITU is facing and, therefore, be able to draw up strategies to achieve greater participation in ITU activities, in particular ITU Study Group activities. For further information visit http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/tech/indexDevelopmentForum.html * TELECOMS FRAUD AFRICA 2008 26-29 May 2008, Cape Town, South Africa IIR's Telecoms Fraud Africa conference 2008 brings you case studies, networking, advice and analysis from expects in detecting and managing telecoms fraud. With special attention to roaming frauds and internal frauds, operational issues and the impact of new technologies. For more information please visit, http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=11306 * E-LEARNING AFRICA 29-30 May 2008, Accra, Ghana eLearning Africa 2008 is a conference organised by ICWE GmbH and Hoffmann & Reif that focuses on ICT for development, education and training in Africa. The event establishes and links a Pan-African network of decision makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers, industry, and important partners in development cooperation. For further visit www.eLearning-Africa.com * SEMINAR ON E-GOVERNMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT: STRATEGIES AND POLICIES 13-27 June 2008, Washington DC, USA This intensive face-to-face seminar includes lectures, panel discussions, and interactive workshops presented by leading e-Government experts from USAID, USTTI Board member corporations, private sector firms, universities, NGOs, and multinational organizations. For additional information about the content of the course, how to apply, as well as funding, visit the USTTI website at http://ustti.org * FRAUD PREVENTION AND REVENUE ASSURANCE MEA 1-2 July 2008,Dubai UAE ViB events’ Fraud Prevention and Revenue Assurance MENA will bring together telecoms operators and industry experts to discuss the critical issues, which are faced by revenue assurance and fraud personnel today. For further information visit website
* UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIAL IMPAC August 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa The fourth annual SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” conference and exhibition will be held in August 2008 in Johannesburg. This year’s event will be co-hosted with MobileActive.org and branded as “MobileActive08”. For further information visit www.sangonet.org.za Jobs and Opportunities* Geneva-based Project manager & Regional Coordinators The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) starts a new joint project with the European Community entitled “Support for the establishment of harmonized policies for the ICT market in the ACP”. This is a four-year project aiming at developing and promoting an harmonized approach to Information and Communication Technology ICT policies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of States (ACP), in close collaboration with the regional organizations, through the development of harmonized ICT policies, guidelines and regulations in the area concerned and at building institutional capacity in the field of ICT through a range of targeted training, education and knowledge sharing measures. In order to customize the project to the specific needs of each region, the project is implemented via three sub-projects: a) Support for Harmonization of the ICT Policies in Sub-Sahara Africa (HIPSSA), b) Enhancing competitiveness in the Caribbean through the harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulation Procedures (HIPCAR) and c) Capacity Building and ICT Policy, Regulatory and Legislative Frameworks Support for Pacific Island States (ICB4PIS). ITU seeks talented people to fill the following job opportunities related to the joint ITU-EC project: * PPP1-2008 - Project Manager (P5), Support for the establishment of harmonized policies for the ICT market in the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of States (ACP) Duty station: Geneva, Switzerland * PPP2-2008 - Senior Project Coordinator (P4), Support for harmonization of the ICT policies in Sub-Sahara Africa” (HIPSSA) Duty station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * PPP3-2008 - Project Coordinator (P3), Enhancing competitiveness in the Caribbean through the harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulation Procedures (HIPCAR) Duty station: Trinidad The deadline for applications is 28 April 2008." More information about these vacancies can be found at: www.itu.int/employment/field-fr.html (in English) and www.itu.int/employment/field-fr.html (in French). * Director-General – Communications Commission of Kenya The Commission has advertised the position of Director-General and CEO to replace the incumbent Eng John Waweru whose term is expiring in May 2008. The ideal candidate should have postgraduate qualifications in a relevant discipline, knowledge in managing fully liberalized markets, as well as large-scale managerial and leadership experience. The successful candidate will be responsible for directing the day-to-day affairs of the Commission, overseeing the development and execution of the CCK’s long-term strategy, business plans and preparing budget to meet the organization’s statutory mandate. The position will be on contract terms for four years which may be renewed for a further three years based on performance. Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their applications not later than 14th April 2008. For further information visit the CCK’s website at www.cck.go.ke Contracts* Linkserve, Nigcomsat and Viasat - Nigeria Nigeria's ISP, Linkserve Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership with Nigeria Satellite Limited (Nigcomsat) and Viasat Inc, a US based global manufacturer of digital satellite communications equipment. The purpose of the strategic partnership is mass deployment of cost-effective broadband services, to the Nigerian market.
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