EAST AFRICA

Three years in prison for Somaliland editor

NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned a three-year prison sentence handed to a newspaper editor in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland in connection with a story alleging public corruption. Read more >>

AFRICA

WOM: Embracing the unknown, changing the status quo

[Mongezi Mtati] The most commonly cited reason for lack of breakthrough, is fear of the unknown. Most companies, in their marketing strategies, stick to the known and mostly reach expected results. Sometimes, on the rare occasion, they exceed targets. Read more >>

EGYPT

Egypt blocks Twitter after day of rising protests

Twitter was inaccessible in Egypt on Tuesday in what was believed to be a move by the government to thwart protesters using the social network in a campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak. Read more >>

AFRICA

Bandwidth vs. connectivity in Africa

At the Capacity Africa conference held in Kenya in September 2010, as well as the Capacity Europe conference held in the Netherlands in November 2010, the focus was on the international wholesale of bandwidth and network services. With more bandwidth becoming available, courtesy of the commissioning of the SEACOM and EASSy undersea cables as well as the WACS cable due for connection on the West Coast of Africa in 2011, there are some challenges. Read more >>

AFRICA

Bamako Encounters Biennial 2011 open for entries

Co-organised and co-produced by Mali's Ministry of Culture and l'Institut français, the Bamako Encounters Biennial has been held every two years since 1994, focusing on issues in contemporary photography and video in Africa. This year's event runs from 5 November - 5 December 2011. The organisers have opened the event for applications from artists. Read more >>

KENYA

Kenya: 2011 Africa Business Reporting Awards launched

[Carole Kimutai] Diageo has launched the annual Africa Business Reporting Awards in Nairobi, Kenya. The six year old awards is an initiative of Diageo - a premium drinks business with majority shareholding in East Africa Breweries Ltd (EABL). In 2010, 700 entries from more than 25 countries were received. Read more >>

AFRICA

Gateway, Altobridge shortlisted in 2011 Global Mobile Awards

JOHANNESBURG: A combined mobile connectivity product by Gateway Communications and Altobridge has been shortlisted in the 'Best Mobile Technology for Emerging Markets' category in the 2011 GSMA Global Mobile Awards. Gateway Communications, a supplier of African telecommunications services and Altobridge, a provider of GSM products for remote communities, launched the joint product in 2010. Read more >>

NIGERIA

Airtel launches Wazobia in Nigeria

LAGOS: Airtel recently launched its new recharge service, Airtel Easy Recharge, in Nigeria. The new recharge service is expected to offer ease in loading phone credit. The new system will shortly see an extensive roll out in 15 other markets in Africa. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

No word from Zimbabwe on halting deal

[Zeenat Moorad] SA's second-largest grocer, Pick n Pay, said on Tuesday (25 January 2011) that it had not received any notification from the Zimbabwean government of its intention to halt its bid to acquire 24% of Zimbabwean retailer TM Supermarkets. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Cocoa prices surge on Ivory Coast export ban

LONDON, UK: Cocoa futures soared to one-year highs on Monday, 24 January 2011, as the recognised winner of presidential elections in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, ordered a halt to exports of the commodity. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Ivory Coast's Ouattara orders cocoa exports halt

ABIDJAN, CÔTE D'IVOIRE: Ivory Coast's internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara on Monday, 24 January 2011, ordered a one-month halt to exports of cocoa and coffee, a statement said. Read more >>

AFRICA

Multichoice, Sony launch Sony Max in Africa

Sony Pictures Television and MultiChoice on Tuesday, 25 January 2011, announced the launch of a new channel, Sony Max, available in more than 40 African countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania. The 24-hour action and reality channel, available from 1 February, is aimed mostly at a male audience.

UNITED KINGDOM

[2011 trends] Social channels: Opportunities and threats for media industry

[Ovum] LONDON, UK: Publishers, studios and broadcasters need to seize the opportunities presented by the growth of social media and video on mobile devices in 2011, according to Ovum, one of the Datamonitor group of companies. However publishers et al should also be aware of the long-term threat these channels pose to their share of audience and advertising budget, finds the independent technology analyst. Read more >>

CHINA

Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival announces jury

SHANGHAI, CHINA: The organisers of the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival announced the jury line-up for the 9th AME awards. The jury will be chaired by Bob O'Leary, head of global marketing for Citi. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Comair: 737-200s out, 800s in

Comair has bid farewell to its fleet of Boeing 737-200 aircraft that was instrumental in the company launching into the mainstream airline business 15 years ago. The Boeing 737-200 fleet, which flew across the kulula.com and British Airways liveries, were gradually phased out of operation with the last planes taking their final flights in December 2010. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Cape Town in Lonely Planet's Top 10

One of the world's leading travel guide resources, Lonely Planet, has announced their choice of the World's 10 Best Beach Cities and Cape Town was voted second amongst the likes of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Sydney, Australia and Miami in the USA. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

We got our "hoppa" on with BBB

[Sindy Peters: Africa editor] South Africa has been attracting a Liquorice Allsorts bag of international talent since we hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup: U2, Roxette, Kings of Leon, Rammstein, Faithless, Andre Rieu, Imogen Heap, Neil Diamond, The Parlotones... Cape Town and Jozi had some Balkan flavour thrown into the party mix last weekend with the eight-piece New York-based Balkan Beat Box (BBB) dropping by to break the monotony. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Dr Feel Good - Mr Sakitumi

[Ruth Cooper] Multi-instrumentalist and electronica wiz kid Mr Sakitumi, aka Sean Ou Tim, is a freaking nice guy. If he could have any super power it would be the ability to make people feel good about themselves. It seems like he already possesses such powers, with such an obvious talent and enthusiasm for creating and performing, anyone witnessing a gig of his will be feeling those feel-good vibes for sure. Read more >>