Why Debswana tourism project was abandoned
When Blackie Marole took over as Debswana managing director he made it clear that he wanted the mining giant to focus on its core business - mining.

Botswana-Zimbabwe: Botswana to close its Harare embassy
GABORONE: Botswana will close its embassy in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, within the next few weeks a senior diplomat told IRIN.

AFRICA

New "event visa" to help process 2010 visitors faster
[Michael Appel] JOHANNESBURG: The Department of Home Affairs is to issue "event visa's" to allow soccer fans coming to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to use dedicated counters at airports and give them pre-clearance before they arrive.

Skills shortage impacts on customer care in Nigeria
Nigeria has expressed concern over lack of manpower and expertise in the field of information and communication technology.

Over 700 million illiterate adults in 2015, warns UNESCO
[Adelia Saunders] PARIS: Millions of words circle the earth each day, many of them at lightening speed. They contain facts and ideas - planting instructions, bedtime stories, emergency alerts. But in this age of information, 776 million people - 16% of the world's population - cannot read them.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

SADC to launch science and technology desk
[Nthambeleni Gabara] JOHANNESBURG: Science and technology ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries will meet in Johannesburg on 9 December, 2008 to officially launch a science and technology desk.

AFRICA

Young reporters go mobile
[Janine Erasmus] Afrigadget, the acclaimed website that showcases African ingenuity, has launched a new initiative known as the Grassroots Reporting Project, which will train young reporters across the continent and equip them with mobile technology, with the aim of getting more African stories out into the world.

KENYA

Kenya's Ushahidi wins We Media Game Changers Award
Online media star ZeFrank, mobile texting service Twitter, David Plouffe, the Obama campaign mastermind, Japanese digital designer Yugo Nakamura and Kenyan mobile alert service Ushahidi are among nine winners of the We Media Game Changers Awards to be presented at the We Media Miami conference in February 2009.

Cardoso killer recaptured
Killer of journalist Carlos Cardoso re-arrested after third prison escape.

Vodafone, Safaricom and Western Union form partnership
Vodafone, Safaricom and The Western Union Company announced on Monday, 8 December that they will partner to pilot a cross-border Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) service between the UK and Kenya. This service will enable customers to send cross-border remittances from select locations directly to Safaricom mobile subscribers in Kenya.

Messaging remains driver behind mobile data
Messaging will remain the driver behind mobile data revenues for years to come, yielding an anticipated US$224 billion by 2013, which amounts to 60% of combined non-voice revenues, according to a new forecast by market analysis firm Portio Research.

Egypt's MobiNil confident of further growth
MobiNil, Egypt's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, said it would continue to experience robust growth despite the global economic crisis.

NIGERIA

SA, Nigeria commit to fast track trade, economic relations
[Luyanda Makapela] PRETORIA: South Africa and Nigeria have committed to fast track trade and economic relations between both countries at the South Africa-Nigeria Bi-National Commission (BNC), Tuesday, 9 December.

BDA bank funds construction of rural shops
Over six million Angolan kwanzas (about R600,000) were made available by the Angola Development Bank (BDA), for the implementation of a project for the construction of five rural shops, in Andulo district, at 130km to the north of Kuito city, capital of the southern Bié Province.

Burkina Faso: High rice prices despite tripled harvest
Despite a 2008 rice harvest over three times that of 2007, local rice prices remain out of reach for many consumers.

SABC3 to broadcast Miss World pageant
Johannesburg is hosting the Miss World pageant for the first time and SABC3 will be there to cover all the glamour and excitement when the winner is crowned at the Sandton Convention Centre.