Communications Solutions Limited gets new MD
Kris Senanu is the new managing director of Communications Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of AccessKenya Group. Senanu will be responsible for overseeing strategy and operations of the internet division of the AccessKenya Group.

Countdown to first annual Kenya Trade Fair and Conference begins
The first annual Kenya Trade Fair and Conference, taking place 19 - 21 September 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, is a few days away. South African businesses will be able to engage with a host of Kenyan government and business stakeholders.


First E-Tourism Conference for Southern Africa a success
Johannesburg: Africa's first international e-tourism conference was held last week in Johannesburg. More than 250 delegates attended the E-Tourism Southern Africa conference and training seminars, including delegates from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho.

KENYA

Kenya: Fourth estate dances with double-edged sword
[Carole Kimutai] Love them or hate them, journalists are here to stay. Yesterday they were your best friends because they published an excellent review of the new product you just launched. Today they are your enemy; they published a story that you think was not well-balanced. So, to whose tune should the scribes dance to?

Niger Communication Minister urged to end crackdown on media support group
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Wednesday, 10 September 2008, urged the Communication Minister of Niger, Mohamed Ben Omar, to stop his crackdown on the Press House, an independent media support group, after he threatened to dissolve its board and all the member associations.

KENYA

Kenya: Mobile phone companies irk banking industry
[Carole Kimutai] In Kenya, the mobile phone has become a very powerful gadget. Apart from just receiving and making calls, the cell phone can do a lot of other things that a few years ago were thought impossible. From the cell phone I can; send and receive email, buy airtime from my bank account, receive airtime from another phone user, top up another phone user and pay my bills.

Mobile applications white paper from MMA
NEW YORK, LONDON, UK, SINGAPORE AND SAO PAULO: Earlier this week, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced the publication of its latest educational resource: a white paper on mobile applications. The paper provides an overview of the mobile applications available to advertisers and the key considerations for optimising both campaign effectiveness and the overall user experience.

Nigeria Mobile Football Trivia game kicks off with the English Premiership - Starfish Mobile
Starfish Mobile Nigeria has teamed up with Zain, a major mobile telecommunications company, to launch the second Mobile Football Trivia Game in that region. The latest game will be based on the current English Premiership League. The first mobile trivia game was launched in June and was based on the 2008 Euro Champs tournament.

CENTRAL AFRICA

Malawi's third daily newspaper on the cards
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi will, from this month have a third daily newspaper after President Bingu wa Mutharika's Guardian Publications Limited (GPL) announced its plans to turn tri-weekly, The Guardian into a daily.

Call for making decent work “a reality in Africa”
High-level participants of the Monrovia international workshop, held on 10 September 2008, called for practical strategic partnerships between African countries, tripartite constituents, civil society organisations and development partners to make decent work a “reality in Africa.”

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe: Hotels defy govt as crisis escalates
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's hotels and leisure operators this week defied a moratorium on price hikes, threatening to close operations if government went ahead with threats to force prices down.

Central bank dispels fears of dollarisation
[Dumisani Ndlela] The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has unveiled a foreign currency-denominated strategic commodities imports bond (SCIB), while also opening up the scarcity-ridden domestic market to trading in foreign currency.

Embassies 'used for smuggling'
[Sibongakonke Shoba] Authorities are struggling to prevent counterfeit goods entering South Africa as criminals are using embassies to smuggle the products into the country.

AFRICA

Doing business in Africa
Doing Business 2009: Record year for regulatory reform in Africa - Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Botswana make key improvements; Mauritius ranks highest in region on ease of Doing Business.