AFRICA

Top 10 economic reasons to invest in Africa
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] For too long, Africa has been at the centre of negative publicity, partly promoted by foreign biased media reports and Afro-pessimists, scaring away potential investors and hampering its development. But, Riddle Markus, ABSA Capital strategist, said all that is in the past, citing top 10 economic reasons to explain why it is now good to invest in Africa.


Kenya markets BPO services
[Carole Kimutai] Earlier in the week, the Kenya ICT Board, a delegation of Kenyan industry players and stakeholders launched the country's BPO value proposition to the European market at the Call Centre Expo in Birmingham.

South Africa: Constitutional Court may decide fate of safety camps
Johannesburg: An interim order by South Africa's Constitutional Court could keep temporary shelters open for the foreigners displaced by xenophobic violence earlier this year - or it could leave more than 4,000 camp residents out on the street.

Mbeki to lead high-level meeting on Africa's development
[Luyanda Makapela] Pretoria: President Thabo Mbeki is expected next week to lead a high-level meeting with African leaders to review the continent's developmental needs as well as the implementation of its development goals.

feelgoodfilms shoots Zain and Mitsubishi ads
Jeremy Goodall and feelgoodfilms have been at the helm of the re-branding of Celtel to the Middle Eastern and African service provider, Zain and have journeyed through South Africa to Mozambique to produce a playful yet daring Mitsubishi ad.

SOUTH AFRICA

Top global brands' valuation down by US$67 billion
LONDON & NEW YORK: Independent brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance yesterday, Thursday, 18 September 2008, revealed the impact of recession on the 100 leading global and US brands - between January and September, the brand value of these top brands has decreased by 4.2%, a drop of US$67 billion.

African parliamentary staff to learn science communication skills
Representatives of parliaments from 13 countries across Africa will attend a workshop in Kampala, Uganda next week to develop the skills needed to inform parliamentarians about the scientific aspects of the issues they face in policy-making decisions.

Africa: The global green field outsource location
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) along with the CyberMedia (India) group will present the first ever "African Outsourcing Summit" from 27 - 28 November 2008 in London. The summit will bring policy-makers and industry representatives from Africa together with decision-makers, outsource service buyers and other stakeholders from the European and global outsourcing industry.

CPJ to honour Ugandan journalist
[Walter Wafula] Andrew Mwenda, a founder and managing editor of The Independent magazine in Uganda will be one of the five courageous journalists who will be honoured with awards by the Committee to Protect Journalists, this November.

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe: Raising a moribund economy
Harare: Financial aid is vital to the recovery of Zimbabwe's once vibrant agricultural and industrial sectors, but will only come if the new inclusive government speedily adopts "comprehensive and workable frameworks" to address the dire economic straits prevailing, analysts told IRIN.

Rwanda: Carbon offset firm to help reverse deforestation
Kigali: A Canadian carbon offset development company plans to invest US$17m on reforestation projects in Rwanda over the next 20 years, one of its senior officials said.

ForgeAhead and USAASA give away computers
ForgeAhead and USAASA will be implementing a tele-container at the Ramogabudi Secondary School in Polokwane Limpopo. ForgeAhead and USAASA have adopted this school as one of the African ICT Achievers CSI projects and will be presenting the tele-container made up of computers to the school on 26 September 2008.

Ernest Morolong the winner of the Top African ICT Achievers Educator Award identified the Ramogabudi Secondary School as a worthy recipient and is his opportunity to contribute to the upliftment of South Africa's underprivileged learner's computer literacy.

The adoption of this school by ForgeAhead means that the company will continuously seek sponsorships that can further help the school manage the computers effectively i.e. server connection, maintenance etc.

CENTRAL AFRICA

Malawi Television in crisis
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi Television (TVM) is in a crisis after having operated for two years without any financial assistance. TVM deputy director general, Chimwemwe Banda said they are failing to replace equipment while its TV crew operate at the mercy of news sources.

AFRICA

Become a video star with the MAMAs
Budding music video creators and music fans across Africa are being given an opportunity to shine at the first ever MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain (MAMAs), with the My Video Award contest. In an award category dedicated to the ‘MeTV' digital generation, MTV's My Video Award salutes music videos created for and by MTV viewers.