WEST AFRICA

Senegal: Walfadjri media group hounded prior to elections

DAKAR: Reporters Without Borders has expressed alarm at the sharp decline in relations between the government and the media in Senegal amid a wave of protests against President Abdoulaye Wade, who announced on 14 July 2011, in Dakar that he planned to "keep hold of the helm, come hell or high water." Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi: Thugs burn two Zodiak vehicles

[Gregory Gondwe] Masked thugs smashed and burnt two Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) vehicles within 24 hours as Malawi has been engulfed with tension with a planned mass demonstration slated for Wednesday, 20 July 2011 on protest of bad governance and a poor economic situation. Read more >>

AFRICA

Media leaders join CPJ board of directors

NEW YORK: Five distinguished leaders of new and traditional media worldwide have joined the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The new members - John Carroll, Arianna Huffington, Jonathan Klein, Mhamed Krichen, and Jacob Weisberg - join a roster of remarkable journalists and news executives playing a vital role in CPJ's fight for press freedom. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Search, directory companies get 'deal' button to drive traffic

"Merchants are tired of being sold 'clicks to a website', when what they really want are customer transactions and revenues," states David Strebinger, CEO of Wantsa, an international deal exchange that creates and distributes deals that benefit consumers, merchants and publishers. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Don't be scared of Walmart, just do things right - Simon Mathers

[Issa Sikiti da Silva: @sikitimedia] It is believed that South African top retailers - a group including Pick n Pay, Shoprite and Spar - are terrified of the arrival of Walmart in SA, as the US retail giant makes a 'triumphal entry', bringing a huge dose of expertise and innovation to the African retail market. But one global retail expert, Simon Mathers, has urged SA retail groups not to be scared and to just do things right. [video] Read more >>

ANGOLA

Angola, hotbed for foreign investors - mergermarket

LONDON: Despite a 36% decline of African mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year, there are some positive trends that involve Angola, according to data from mergermarket. Read more >>

AFRICA

Let Google suggest your keywords

[Yoray Narainpersad] Many businesses are of the notion that their website is working well for them, especially when it boils down to their SEO. For example, if a business sells toys for children, they would assume that if someone searches for 'kids toys' in Google and their website appears number one, then their SEO is excellent. It may be so, for that keyword, but there are definitely hundreds, if not thousands, of keywords that they are missing out on. Read more >>

AFRICA

Google +1 over Facebook Like, and is it worth it?

[Sookie Shuen] Google's +1 service is akin to Facebook's "Like" system, but, unlike, well, Likes, it's applicable to the whole of the web - think of it as 'do-it-yourself SEO', and useful to any inbound marketing agency. Read more >>

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Pre-election broadcasting regulation workshop held in Lesotho

MASERU: A five-day training workshop started on Tuesday, 19 July 2011, in Maseru, Lesotho, to promote existing legal and regulatory frameworks covering broadcasting regulation during election periods, as well as election coverage by broadcasters. This workshop for journalists and the Lesotho Communications Authority is taking place from 18 to 22 July 2011. Read more >>

AFRICA

Kenya: Consumer Options launches ENGAGE

Kenyan-based market research company Consumer Options launched one of its home grown tools: ENGAGE, late last week. ENGAGE aims to allow companies to immerse themselves into their consumer's lives, understand their world and real situations which in turn could translate into opportunities to grow business. The launch was held at a breakfast event at Intercontinental Hotel with the Chris Kirubi, chairman of Haco Tigerbrands (EA) as a guest. Also in attendance was Patricia Ithau, CEO L'Oreal; Margret Mwaura, brand builder Unilever; Peter Nduati, CEO Resolution Health, among others.

AFRICA

China Africa Business Forum set for October

The China Africa Business Forum will be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on 20 October 2001. The forum will host trade and industry professionals, investors and diplomatic representatives to discuss how to increase trade between African and Chinese businesses. Read more >>

GERMANY

FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011 sets new TV viewing records

BERLIN, GERMANY: The FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011 has smashed several TV audience records along the way. This was particularly notable in the host nation Germany, the defending champions twice over, as well as in the countries of the two finalists, the USA and Japan. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

Mojiva Inc joins the MMA as a Global Premium Member

NEW YORK, US / SINGAPORE / LONDON, UK / SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL: The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has announced that (Mojiva Inc), parent company to Mojiva, the leading mobile ad network, and Mocean Mobile, the mobile ad serving standard, has joined the MMA as a Global Premium Member. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

Apple reports record revenues; quarterly profit

CUPERTINO, US: Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 third quarter ended 25 June 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of US$28.57 billion and record quarterly net profit of US$7.31 billion, or US$7.79 per diluted share. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

US mobile map audience grows 39%

RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, has released results of a US study of mobile map usage based on data from its comScore MobiLens service. Read more >>

GERMANY

Hopes of economic recovery in Europe

NUREMBERG, GERMANY: Consumer sentiment in many European Union countries is improving for the first time since the financial and economic crisis, despite the uncertainty created by discussions around the Greek rescue package. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

C-Class becomes even classier

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Improving on a model series that has sold more than one million units world-wide since 2007 is no easy task but one which the white coats at Mercedes-Benz seemed to have accomplished with aplomb after taking on the challenge of making the face-lifted C-Class range, which has just released in this country, prettier, safer, more tech savvy and friendlier to Planet Earth. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Gautrain in troubled waters

Millions of litres of groundwater is leaking into the underground tunnels used by the Gautrain and there are growing concerns about the impact this will have on the environment. An environmental impact study was due to have been submitted to the Department of Water Affairs in March. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

The Skype's the limit

Mary Shilleto, CEO of Thompsons Travel, which specialises in providing seamless corporate travel solutions to the business sector, gives us 10 reasons why corporate travel, a necessity for many of us, but which means time away from the office and loved ones, is better than Skyping. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

A culinary trip to Greece at The Grand

[Sindy Peters: Africa editor] I turned down tickets to see Kylie Minogue live in Cape Town in order to take a culinary trip to Greece at The Grand Café & Beach in Granger Bay. This fusion-driven restaurant always seems to produce the most divine starters and yet falters when it comes to the main course. This month's trip to Greece, though, improved much on June's rather ordinary sojourn in France. Read more >>