SOUTHERN AFRICA

Radio 2000, Nigerian stations begin 2010 deal
Radio 2000, the SABC's official 2010 radio station, has signed a deal with Nigeria's all-sports radio station, 88.9 Brila FM. The deal between the two stations concerns Radio 2000 circulating its 2010 information, reports, interviews, and features with Brila FM.

MOZAMBIQUE

Call to enter Maputo International Advertising Festival 2009
MAPUTO: AMEP, the event organiser of the Maputo International Advertising Festival, is calling for entries to the fourth annual festival, which recognises advertising agencies, producers and communication companies worldwide, especially from the southern Africa and Indian Ocean regions.

Uganda hosts IST-Africa 2009
IST-Africa 2009 will be hosted by the Government of the Republic of Uganda through the Ministry of ICT. The event is supported by the European Commission and technical co-sponsored by IEEE. IST-Africa 2009 will take place on the shores of Lake Victoria at Speke/Munyonyo Resort and Conference Centre, Kampala from 6 - 8 May 2009.

AFRICA

Media in Africa grows as Europe cuts back
[Adelia Saunders] PARIS: The demise of the news industry has been predicted with eerie frequency lately, and journalists and editors in Europe and North America have reason to be alarmed as news organisations trim budgets and shed staff. But in contrast to the grim outlook of their counterparts overseas, many African journalists are optimistic about the future of the press.

Swaziland: Church in bid to censor the media
MBABANE: On 10 February 2009, the Jericho Church, an indigenous Christian denomination, moved an application at the High Court of Swaziland to ban the media from reporting on the split that has rocked the church as a result of a leadership dispute.

Malawi media loses gurus to politics
[Gregory Gondwe] With Malawi going to the polls on 19 May 2009, two media gurus have resigned from their positions and decided to join the political race as parliamentary contenders.

Nokia launches service for Kenyan farmers
Nokia is launching a new service to offer prompt weather and agriculture-related information to farmers to enhance their preparedness in ensuring optimal food production.

Standard Chartered launches mobile banking in Kenya
Standard Chartered has announced the launch of mobile-phone banking (‘mBanking') in Kenya. It is the first bank in Kenya to introduce ‘mBanking' on the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) platform to the market.

AFRICA

Dates confirmed for World Newspaper Congress
The World Association of Newspapers has confirmed the new dates for its World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo, the global meetings of the world´s press, which will now be held in Hyderabad, India, from 30 November - 3 December 2009.

Neo Africa Group appoints MBP
The Neo Africa group of companies has appointed Marcus Brewster Publicity (MBP) as its PR agency. MBP will fulfill a corporate and commercial PR role across the six divisions of the group.

Job losses as diamonds lose their lustre
GABORONE: Thousands of mining jobs in Botswana are in jeopardy as diamond and other mineral sales dwindle and companies begin retrenching to cut costs.

Crisis hitting poor hard in developing world, World Bank says
WASHINGTON: The spreading global economic crisis is trapping up to 53 million more people in poverty in developing countries and, with child mortality rates set to soar, poses a serious threat to achieving internationally agreed targets to overcome poverty, the World Bank Group said.

DR Congo: Joblessness rises as global crisis hits mining
[Miriam Mannak] LUBUMBASHI: It is busy at the gates of Bralima brewery in Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). About 60 men are waiting at the doors, hoping for them to open and someone to offer them work. Their numbers have grown since the global economic crisis which has caused the collapse of the local mining industry.

Cameroon ends IMF programme
The government of Cameroon has ended an economic programme designed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and drafted its own instead. It marks the end of a three year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) between Cameroon and the IMF.