AFRICA

ICOM+IN rapidly growing in Africa

ICOM+IN, the international network of independent agencies, has formed a sub-Saharan Africa region and is reported to be aggressively stepping up its activity. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Spot the strategy!

[Rolf Akermann] Is creativity clouding the issue...? When I studied at university and at IMM for a marketing manager course, etc it was always a task for students to define the target market and strategy that the brand was following of a particular campaign/commercial. At the risk of sounding like John Farquhar (whom I admire) I find creativity is clouding the issue. Read more >>

KENYA

The making of Nairobi Half Life with Tosh Gitonga

[Carole Kimutai: @CaroleKimutai] Nairobi Half Life is a film about a young man going to the city to follow his dream and instead ends up in crime. The film was submitted for an Oscar award. Tosh Gitonga, director of the film, speaks to us about Kenya's growing film industry and what the submission means. [video] Read more >>

AFRICA

IT Leaders Africa Summit 2013 aims to define IT governance

The 4th Annual IT Leaders Africa Summit is set to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 13-14 March 2013. The summit is produced by conferencing company, Kinetic Events. The summit series is hosted in strategic locations all over the world including Johannesburg, Dubai, Ghana, Cape Town and Nairobi. Read more >>

ANGOLA

Media state secretary launches National Journalism Award

The secretary of State for Social Communication, Manuel da Conceição, on Thursday, 1 November 2012, launched the 5th edition of the National Journalism Award, a competition that aims to stimulate and distinguish the creativity and journalistic research, Angop has learnt. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe targets 100% teledensity by December

[Paul Moyo] Zimbabwe's minister of Information Communication Technology, Nelson Chamisa says the country has its eyes on 100% teledensity by year end in order to justify the International Telecommunication Union's compliment of Zimbabwe being one of the fastest growing ICT countries in the world. Read more >>

AFRICA

Now Congo's VMK launches a smartphone

[Craig Wilson] The Congo-Brazzaville company has released an African-designed Android-powered smartphone. Read more >>

UGANDA

MTN Uganda launches Data and Switching Centre, and MTN Business Unit

MTN Uganda, on Wednesday, 31 October 2012, launched a Data and Switching Centre in Mutundwe, just outside Kampala city centre, as well as a new MTN Business Unit. This launch goes hand-in-hand with that of the new MTN Business Unit which will be a provider of converged communications solutions. Read more >>

AFRICA

iROKING partners with GoMetro

iROKO Partners, the online distributor of African music and movies, have announced a new partnership with GoMetro, a mobile site launched in September 2012 by mobi.lity in collaboration with South African commuter rail agency, Metrorail. Read more >>

AFRICA

Want to reach the mass market? Focus your digital spend on feature phones

Brands wishing to reach the mass market in Africa are "wasting their digital campaign spend if they fail to target feature phone users," says Marc Herson of 2go, a mobile social network with more than 20 million registered users in Africa. Read more >>

BOTSWANA

Botswana billboard buying season now open

[Tatenda Chiweshe] Last week as I met with several major media buyers in Gaborone presenting Media Trace's Botswana Outsights Report for October 2012, it became clear that October and November is their critical planning and buying season for the next year. Read more >>

AFRICA

Star FM scoops award

The country's first commercial radio station, Star FM, clinched first runner-up position for the Outstanding Marketing Entry of the Year at the 4th Annual Marketers Association Zimbabwe Convention held in Victoria Falls. The award is courtesy of the annual MAZ Outstanding Marketing Efforts Awards that seek to recognise and reward the most outstanding efforts and campaigns in Zimbabwe. Read more >>

AFRICA

Fact-checking service launched

Reportedly Africa's first fact-checking website, Africa Check (www.africacheck.org) officially launched on yesterday, 31 October 2012 in South Africa. The service is run in a partnership between Wits University and the AFP Foundation. Read more >>

AFRICA

PwC plans expansion into African markets

Professional services group PwC plans to expand into sub-Saharan Africa through both organic growth and by acquisitions, to take advantage of opportunities in highgrowth markets. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Cannes Chimera to mentor 10 new Gates Foundation grantees

LONDON, UK: The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today, the first Cannes Chimera Gates Foundation grantees who will work to develop innovative approaches to changing the global conversation about the impact of development aid. The grantees are part of the foundation's Grand Challenges Explorations initiative that fosters innovation to overcome the most persistent challenges in global health and development. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

D&AD Awards 2013: Entries open

LONDON, UK: So what's new? Well to start, we're launching with the announcement of this year's judges. Yep, all 195 judges from 25 countries. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

US consumers rushing into tablets: survey

WASHINGTON, US: Some 31% of US consumers have purchased tablet computers, and most of the others want one, a survey showed on Wednesday. Read more >>

CANADA

The Globe and Mail charging for its internet news

TORONTO, CANADA: Canada's national daily, The Globe and Mail, on Monday began charging readers a $20 monthly subscription to access news on its website. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Wrong to believe inequality has widened since 1994 - Zuma

President Jacob Zuma said it was wrong and scientifically not true that the gap between the rich and poor had widened since 1994, and that this amounted to an attack on the democratic government. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

SA now bottom of class in maths, science

After years of poor performances in education rankings, SA finally hit rock bottom in an international measure of the quality of maths and science education. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Telkom shareholders vote against board members

There was drama at Telkom's annual general meeting when shareholders‚ presumably led by the majority shareholder‚ the government‚ voted against the re-election and election of independent directors. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

New Brand SA trustees announced

President Jacob Zuma has appointed new members of the Brand SA Board of Trustees to help strengthen the South African brand identity locally and abroad. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Denel urges state to disburse R700m

State-owned arms manufacturer Denel made an urgent plea yesterday for the government to disburse the R700m allocation it had committed to for use by its ailing subsidiary Denel Aerostructures. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

New vehicle sales still in top gear

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] In spite of the impact of the transport sector's strikes and disruptions on local manufacturing plants local sales of new vehicles for October increased by 10.1% compared to the corresponding months in 2011. Sales were up by 5,519 units to 57,845 compared to the 52,326 units in October last year. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Small hotel, big experience: 10 out of 10

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] By winning the title of South Africa's Best Luxury Country Hotel for the second consecutive year in the 2012 World Luxury Hotel Awards, The Robertson Small Hotel has confirmed itself as a go-to destination. Read more >>