Financial crisis could cut official aid by 30%
The financial crisis is expected to have a severe impact on humanitarian funding, with some analysts projecting cuts in official development assistance (ODA) of up to a third or more.


Have you pumped your brand?
The Playpump system not only helps you to help rural communities to obtain clean drinking water, it also provides you with an excellent medium to advertise and promote your company and its products to the community. For further details, and to see how you can make a wonderful contribution to the wellbeing of rural communities, click here. And have you thought of taking out a Bizcommunity.com Commercial Feature? It's a great way to tell the world about your company. For further details, email junita@bizcommunity.com.

Fuel launches pan African digital solution - Fuel Group
Fuel announced its expansion into Africa and the Middle East yesterday, Wednesday 5 November 2008, allowing the group to offer a greater degree of ease and targeting for brands looking to exploit African and Middle Eastern markets.

Arab Free Press Forum looks at issues and changing face of Arab blogging
The World Association of Newspapers is holding its 3rd Arab Free Press Forum in Beirut, Lebanon, on 12 and 13 December 2008.

ZIMBABWE

Telecel's appeal still unheard after 15 months
[Dumisani Ndlela] The Zimbabwean government is yet to decide on an appeal by Telecel Zimbabwe on the suspension of its operating licence, a move that has created uncertainty within the country's telecommunications industry.

Now prepaid airtime purchases cross borders
South African bank offers cross-border prepaid airtime purchases in Namibia.

Cellphone company launches BlackBerry in Tanzania
Research In Motion (RIM), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless solutions, and Vodacom Tanzania, have announced that the BlackBerry solution is now available to Vodacom Tanzania subscribers throughout the country. The BlackBerry solution is designed to bring together innovative smartphones, software and services to allow easy access to email (including attachment viewing), phone, messaging, organiser, web, multimedia and many other business and lifestyle applications for people on the move. For further details on options and costs go to the company website or contact your nearest dealer.

EAST AFRICA

Illicit trade is not a victimless crime
A new business report, presented recently at the East Africa International Business Forum in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, found that illicit trade in the region is not only undermining the formation of a single East African market, it is also costing EAC countries many millions of dollars in lost revenues.

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe: Hunting for good garbage to eat
Desperate entrepreneurs are scouring rubbish dumps, abattoirs and poisoned waterways for scraps of food to eat or sell to other equally hungry Zimbabweans in a bid for survival.

Small town, BIG grant
There are no roads, no major industry and no historical landmarks in Otjivero, a village about 150km east of Windhoek, the Namibian capital and previously known for little more than its poverty. But in January 2008 it became part of one of the world's first basic income grant (BIG) projects, and now stands the chance of setting an international precedent in the fight against poverty.

Low season of promotions
[Carole Kimutai] Economic crunch forces Kenyan shoppers to change consumption habits.

AFRICA

SA's Supa Strikas go global
At 5pm today, Friday 7 November, a group of creative artists from Cape Town will be glued to SABC2 to watch the characters they have crafted and shaped with love and flair over the past seven years come to life in the first of 13 half-hour animation episodes of Supa Strikas.

AFRICA

Kelly, Cassette, Asa warm up for the Africa music awards
Charismatic R&B star Kelly Rowland will be in Abuja, Nigeria, on 22 November 2008 to perform at the first-ever MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain. Joining Rowland on stage at The Velodrome, Abuja, for this celebration of African music and artists will be South African rockers, Cassette, and Nigerian soul diva, Asa.


Pay-TV network introduces Discovery World
GTV, the pay-TV network with a presence in a number of African countries, is launching Discovery World on its service on 10 November. Viewers will be treated to a selection of rich, colourful and high quality factual programming from around the globe in a compelling mix of history, culture, real life stories, investigation and mystery. It will kick off on the TV channel with the premiere of acclaimed documentary Expedition Alaska in search of the most extraordinary wildlife in one of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth - the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Other series include James Bond - A True Story, FBI Files and How Not to Become Shark Bai, which follows a host of experts experimenting with one of the world's most mysterious and deadly sea predators.