ZIMBABWE

Zim banks vie for deposits as government battles for funding
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's commercial banks have embarked on aggressive marketing campaigns to woo depositors, whose faith in the formal banking system was shaken by a three-month cash crisis that ended late January.

Zimbabwe: Heading for difficult choices in dire times
Political violence has been a traditional staple of Zimbabwean elections, but with the ruling ZANU-PF party now split, next month's ballot could see a whole new scale of trouble.

SOUTH AFRICA

Africa: Bush's trip highlights flaws in US HIV/AIDS policy
President George W. Bush's praise for US efforts against HIV/AIDS in Africa should not obscure how his administration's policies continue to undermine HIV prevention on the continent and globally, Human Rights Watch said today.

Empowering women at J&J
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has teamed up with the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) to create a leadership development programme specially geared to advancing women in the company's European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) branches.

AFRICA

Egyptian resort harnesses SA English literacy expertise
A multi-billion dollar resort and entertainment complex under construction at Port Ghalib in Egypt on the shores of the Red Sea is embarking on training initiative to improve the English literacy skills of hundreds of its employees, using training materials developed by Johannesburg-based training solutions provider Media Works.

AMEP announces third Maputo International Advertising Festival
AMEP, the Mozambican Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations Association, has announced the third Maputo International Advertising Festival, which will take place between May 26 and 29, 2008.

Nic Wides new Touchline MD
Nic Wides is the new MD of Touchline Media, it was announced yesterday, Thursday, 14 February 2008. He replaces Marc Blachowitz, who resigned suddenly in the midst of the Media24 audit scandal in September 2007.

Global Mobile award winners announced
BARCELONA, SPAIN: The 13th Annual GSMA Global Mobile Awards proved lucky for some, as the winners were announced earlier this week at a gala dinner in Barcelona, hosted by international comedian Graham Norton.

Romantic getaway prize up for grabs for MTN Swazi customers - Starfish Mobile
Starfish Mobile International, an African Wireless Application Service Provider in partnership with MTN Swaziland, are running a Valentine campaign which will give one lucky customer a chance to win a romantic weekend away for two at the beautiful Royal Swazi Spa.

ZIMBABWE

Zim inflation rate over 66,000%
Zimbabwe's annualised inflation rate rose to a record 66,212.3% in December, dealing another blow to President Robert Mugabe's efforts to pull the once prosperous African nation's economy out of a deep crisis.

AFRICA

Business channel scores in Ghana
CNBC Africa, the continent's first 24-hour international business channel, recently secured a terrestrial television distribution deal in Ghana, effectively delivering the channel's business news to a potential audience of five million viewers in and around the capital Accra.

SOUTH AFRICA

CNN boosts SA operation
CNN has broadened its newsgathering presence in South Africa with the addition of Robyn Curnow and Nkepile Mabuse to the Johannesburg bureau, it announced yesterday, Thursday, 14 February 2008.