AFRICA

AUB-FIFA launch broadcast academy
COTONOU/BENIN: FIFA and the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB) on Thursday, 30 October, 2008 launched a joint broadcast academy to enhance the quality of football coverage and to assist in the better commercialisation of sports rights in Africa.

Agreement allows for free viewing of 2010 matches
COTONOU: Following a strategic co-operation agreement between FIFA and the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB), Africans in sub-Saharan Africa will be able to view the 2010 FIFA World Cup free of charge.

Two Cape Town creatives to judge 2009 D&AD
Almost 250 judges have now been confirmed for the D&AD Awards 2009, with the advertising and digital juries announced yesterday, Wednesday, 29 October 2008. So far, the two South Africans are Draftfcb Cape Town's Glynn Venter on the Direct jury (who was also a Cannes Lion Direct judge this year), and BBDO Cape Town's Ivan Johnson for Radio Advertising.

Online media seen as Kenya's next advertising frontier
The Kenyan media landscape is no longer what it was in the 1990s; holding a television screen in your palm is now a reality; the internet continuously keeps online readers updated with breaking news at every turn. The digital era has led to renewed competition, as consumers look for comfort and speed.

SOUTH AFRICA

“Google joins world of copyright” - ACAP
The ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol) Project yesterday, Wednesday, 29 October 2008, welcomed the landmark settlement reached in the case brought against Google by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), in which Google has acknowledged publishers' intellectual property rights in the online environment, putting copyright back centre stage of the creative marketplace.

Financial crisis triggers cyber-crime surge
Panda Security has issued a security alert that reveals a direct correlation between the recent stock market volatility and the growth of new threats.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

2008 John Manyarara Investigative Journalism Awards winners
Charles Mpaka and Mike Chipalasa of the Daily Times, Malawi and Conceição Vitorino of Canal de Mozambique have won the 2008 MISA John Manyarara Investigative Journalist of the Year Award and the MISA John Manyarara Upcoming Investigative Journalist of the Year Award respectively.

Journalists barred from covering talks
Journalists were barred from covering the SADC Troika-mediated talks in Harare on 27 October, 2008 as part of efforts to break the impasse over the allocation of ministerial positions in accordance with the terms of an agreement for an inclusive government signed by ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations.

Etisalat Nigeria plans free calls to win market
Barring intervention from the country's telecom regulator, Etisalat Nigeria will offer subscribers free network-to-network calling for no less than six months to win over mobile subscribers.

Microsoft to make MS Office available online
As part of the next release of Office, Microsoft has announced that it will deliver Office web applications - light-weight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote - through a browser. With these new applications, people can use a browser to create, edit, and collaborate on Office documents.

SOUTH AFRICA

PEP opens in Angola
South Africa's biggest single brand store network, PEP, is extending its southern African store footprint into Angola and is making a major investment in Africa's fastest growing country. On 31 October 2008, PEP opens its first store in Lobito, central Angola. The group has also established a 2 000 m² distribution centre in Benguela.

EAST AFRICA

Illicit trade undermining single East African market
Illicit trade is undermining moves to establish a single market in East Africa according to a report issued yesterday, 30 October, 2008 at the East Africa International Business Forum in Kigali.

Zimbabwe's survival recipe book
Rural Zimbabweans have always turned to an emergency larder of wild foods to see them through hard times, but in this year of shortages and dizzying prices for all basic foodstuffs, the fruits and roots foraged from the bush are keeping many alive.

BUSA calls for a new partnership with China
Business Unity South Africa has called for a new partnership for economic cooperation between Chinese and South African business in Africa.