CENTRAL AFRICA

Chinese minister in DRC to finalise deals
China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, 8 January, to formalise a series of recent deals between the two countries, officials said.

Call for design :output
For those design students who aren't satisfied to see their projects dumped in the back of a drawer once critiqued by lecturers, :output offers these works one last chance to see the light of day.

UGANDA

ICT sector registers double digit growth
[David Muwanga] Uganda's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector has registered a double digit growth since 2000 and grew by 33% in 2006/2007, according to a report released by the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA).

ALGERIA

Reshuffles in the Algerian Public ICT
[Laeed Zaghlami] Algeria's minister of ICT, Boujemaa Haichour has appointed Mouloud Djaziri as Algerie Telecom's (AT) new director general. This comes one week after he accepted the retirement of the director general of Mobilis Hachemi Belhamidi and the appointment of Belhamidi's replacement, Lounis Belharat.

KENYA

Nairobi to host banking technology conference
[David Muwanga] Africa's banking sector will gather in Nairobi from 15 - 22 February 2008 to share knowledge on technological developments and best practices.

IBJ Awards to honour top business reporters
[Walter Wafula] Eleven top business reporters will on March 7, 2008 win various awards and prizes such as laptops, cameras, airtime, mobile phones and cash in the second version of the annual Image Business Journalism Awards, organized by Corporate Image Limited, a new business communications firm.

EGYPT

Egypt's first SMS divorce?
An Egyptian woman is seeking clarification from a court on whether her husband's declaration of divorce by text message is legally valid, a state-run newspaper reported.

Zim to produce elephant biltong
The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe plans to produce biltong from elephant meat to sell in retail outlets throughout the country "as part of sustainable utilisation of the animals," the Herald online said recently.