| | | Today's headlines | Exploding cell phone kills Chinese man
The social web's meager promise for retail marketing
Zimbabwe bans bulk sales as shelves empty
Sierra Leone editor freed, but…
IM at Work, Part 1: Idle Chatter, Serious Risk
Social networks and the citizen journalist
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Marketing | | ZIMBABWE Zim marketers band together
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's marketing professionals have established an association to further their interests in a country they say has not given them the recognition they deserve. Called the Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ), the association intends to promote marketing excellence and further the interests of the profession in a crisis-sapped economy.
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Branding | | NIGERIA Making capital out of reality shows and their ROI
[Emeka Enyadike] Sometimes I wonder if all that brands ask their agencies for these days are reality shows because I've lost count of the number. There are no dull moments… One ends, another begins and Nigerians just love them all.
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Cinema | | AFRICA EC grills Hollywood film studios on high-def format choices
The European Commission is informally investigating whether any antitrust regulations have been violated in Hollywood studios' support of either the HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc. The new shift in focus onto the studios follows the EC's launching of a broad inquiry into the competing formats in 2006.
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Digital | | AFRICA A frontier spirit
[Malcolm Ray] If billionaire cosmonaut and philanthropist Mark Shuttleworth has his way, free internet technology will revolutionise the innovation platform on, and rate at, which knowledge is created and transferred across the globe. But there's a sting in the tail.
KENYA African ICT achievers program to be launched in Kenya
The African ICT Achievers program will be launched this week as part of the eTourism conference to be held at the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa.
AFRICA Don't let your navigation be your downfall
How are users going to navigate throughout your Web site? It is vital that they understand your products and/or services.
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Media | | AFRICA World media told to speak for voiceless poor countries
[Carole Kimutai] Outgoing UN Envoy for Developing Countries Anwarul K. Chowdhury has told the world media to focus on the needs of the ‘voiceless' developing nations.
WEST AFRICA Gamibian journalist hiding after harassment
Modou Lamin Jaiteh, Banjul correspondent for the Pan African News Agency (PANA), an African news wire service based in Senegal, and former staff reporter of The Point newspaper, based in Banjul, has gone into hiding for fear of his life.
MOROCCO
'The Moroccan Façade'
Moroccan authorities have come to rely on a stealthy system of judicial and financial controls to keep enterprising journalists in check, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in a new report, 'The Moroccan Façade'. In a series of politicised court cases over the last two years, at least five Moroccan journalists have been hit with disproportionate financial penalties, five have been handed suspended jail terms, and one was banned from practising journalism. CPJ's Joel Campagna and Kamel Labidi report.
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Mobile | | AFRICA Exploding cell phone kills Chinese man
A 22-year-old welder in China was killed after his Motorola cell phone exploded in the man's chest pocket.
ZIMBABWE Mobile phone companies hit in price war
[Lebo Nkatazo] Zimbabwe's mobile phone companies have been forced to reduce prices by 900% as the government spreads its price war to all sectors of business.
WEST AFRICA Mobile initiative aids pilot paediatric project - Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent, together with the Orange Mali Foundation, Afrique Initiatives, Médicament Export (Médex) and Kafo Yeredeme Ton, has announced the launch of a pilot project called Pésinet, in the district of Bamako Coura in Mali. Pésinet has been designed to provide preventative healthcare services for children from 0 to 5 years old from low-income households thanks to remote diagnosis based on the mobile tracking and monitoring of changes in the children's weight.
MOROCCO
State sells share in Maroc Telecom
Morocco's finance ministry has announced that the state has sold 4% of its shares in Maroc Telecom (Itissalatt Al Maghreb), while retaining a 30% stake. Vivendi Universal still holds the majority share of 51% in the telecoms company, which is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange as well as the Euronext Paris. The sale was confirmed on Friday, 29 June, with the shares going to numerous domestic and foreign investors for the sum of 4.57 billion dirham ($568 million).
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Newspapers | | WEST AFRICA Sierra Leone editor freed, but…
A Sierra Leone newspaper editor has been freed on bail pending trial, but the court set tough conditions for release.
WEST AFRICA Gambia: Report on presidential ‘cure' earns reporter the sack
Newspaper journalist fired over article on President Jammeh's HIV/AIDS 'cure'.
WEST AFRICA Gabonese publisher in prison
An editorial critical of Gabonese President Omar Bongo, Africa's longest-serving head of state, has led authorities in the capital, Libreville, to arrest a publisher and suspend his newspaper, according to news reports and local journalists.
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Online Media | | AFRICA Social networks and the citizen journalist
Mainstream media outlets are reaching out to a new source to gather information for their readers: the readers themselves.
AFRICA Dynamic web content: Giving customers what they want
To improve Web content management effectiveness, companies are deepening their understanding of customers and their behavior to provide targeted messaging for specific customer segments.
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Radio | | AFRICA New AIDS radio page is live
 IRIN/PlusNews has launched a new radio page delivering audio feature programs that give a voice to people and communities on the frontline of the AIDS pandemic.
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Retail | | ZIMBABWE Zimbabwe bans bulk sales as shelves empty
[MacDonald Dzirutwe] Zimbabwean authorities ordered businesses Thursday to stop selling basic goods in bulk to avert shortages after an official price freeze triggered a frenzied buying spree that has emptied most shop shelves.
ZIMBABWE Social distinctions fade in the face of survival
A senior Zimbabwean police official has employed five young men to sell foreign currency on the streets of the capital, Harare, but while the police play cat and mouse with the illegal dealers, his "employees" conduct their business undisturbed because they cannot be arrested.
AFRICA The social web's meager promise for retail marketing
Online retailers looking to push sales through popular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook shouldn't set their hopes very high. If retailers want to take advantage of the social aspects of the Web, they should do so at their own Internet outlets, according to a recent report. Niche retailers stand to gain the most from social and community sites.
AFRICA Plan for urban population boom says report
[Carole Kimutai] Urban populations of Africa and Asia growing by one million people a week.
ZIMBABWE Price controls backfire again
Parallel markets are booming, businesses and industries are buckling and consumers are paying the price as the Zimbabwean government's attempts to forcibly control runaway inflation backfire.
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Sponsorship | | WEST AFRICA Celtel to 'rock' Sierra Leone
[Bai-Bai Sesay] Sierra Leonean musicians have hailed Celtel-Sierra Leone for 'coming to the rescue' of the industry with its sponsorship of a musical conference which took place in the capital Freetown last week. The conference attracted hundreds of musical artists all over the country.
NIGERIA Major boost for Nigerian athletics body
[Emeka Enyadike] Nigerian Telecommunications giant Globacom has signed a US$2 million deal with the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to sponsor the Lagos International Half-Marathon.
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TV | | NIGERIA Your chance to embark on the Ultimate Search
[Emeka Enyadike] Beer is the least important subject when the fourth season of the Ultimate Search comes alive but Nigeria's Ultimate Beer Gulder has put tourism and endurance at the heart of its famous reality show.
EAST AFRICA Somaliland reporter freed after three days
Abdirahman Musse Omar of the privately-owned television station SLTV was released on 1 July 2007 after appearing before a court in Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway territory of Somaliland. The authorities are not pressing any charges against Omar, who was arrested on 28 June on the orders of Hargeisa's mayor, Hussein Mohamoud Ji'ir. Omar was reportedly trying to get the mayor's comments on deadly clashes which had taken place between police and residents in the area before being arrested. See related article here. - RSF
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| | Business | | Kenyan bank merger raises questions
The proposed merging of Stanbic Bank and CFC in the East African country has generated a lot of interest, and raised a number of questions. [Management] | Angola bans BA
On Tuesday, British Airways reported that Angola has suspended its flight licence to operate in the African nation. [Business travel] | IM at Work, Part 1: Idle Chatter, Serious Risk
A recent monthly Instant Messaging Threat Watch by security firm Akonix tracked 20 malicious code attacks over IM networks during the month of May, bringing the 2007 total to 170 threats. The number of security threats associated with unmanaged instant messaging during work hours is steadily increasing. On average, at least one IM attack occurs per day. [Management] |
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| | Events to diarise | MODE 2007 MODE 2007 - Algiers, Algeria, 4 September
North African international fashion, casual and elegant wear exhibition. | | | IPTV World Forum Middle East & Africa IPTV World Forum - Dubai, UAE, 5 November
IPTV World Forum Middle East & Africa aims to provide the opportunity to benefit from established local deployments of IPTV and also meet those from further afield, along with other seasoned attendees from the IPTV World Series. | | |
| | Upcoming events | World-class professional selling skills AchieveGlobal SA - Boundary Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 9 July SEO training course Purple Cow Communications - Johannesburg, 9 July Reporting Africa Nordic-SADC Journalism Centre (NSJ) - Grahamstown, South Africa, 9 July World-class stellar service experiences - Boundary Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 11 July | More... Submit an event | | |
| | Jobs offered | | Receptionist - Cape Town | | Producer's Assistant - Cape Town | | Senior Designer - Durban-based | | Key Accounts Executive - Midrand | | Project Manager - Johannesburg - Rivonia | | Debtors Clerk - Woodmead | | Graphic Designer - Johannesburg - Industria | | Office Administrator - Johannesburg - Rivonia | | Product Manager - Durban - Morningside | | Campaign Manager - Online - Cape Town | | | |
| | Quotes | | | "The market is not attended from a single road." - African proverb | | More... Submit a Quote | | |
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