Media freedom - still a battle - 21 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Media freedom in many parts of Africa is still under threat. In Liberia, a criminal court judge has warned proprietors of three local media houses, after it was recently shutdown by government for allegedly broadcasting hate messages and misinformation, not to repeat such acts. read more AfricaCom 2011 has come and gone - 14 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] AfricaCom 2011, the communications conference and exhibition which took place last week, 9-10 November 2011, with a record number of attendees, has come and gone. Furthermore, Spinlet, a music download service, launched their technology which allows music lovers to digitally ditribute music on a mobile platform; Informa Telecoms & Media, organisers of the event, also revealed that South Africa is more ready than Kenya and Egypt to embrace mobile government services; the winners of AfricaCom Awards 2011 were also announced. read more AfricaCom takes place this week - 7 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] AfricaCom, reportedly the largest communications conference and exhibition on the continent with the gathering of over 5 000 telecoms decision-makers and key players, takes place this week. Starting on Wednesday 9 November until Thursday 10 November 2011 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa, the event focuses on issues concerning the future of digital in Africa. As part of the conference, the 4th AfricaCom Awards, which acknowledges the growth and importance of the telecoms and digital sectors across the African continent, will take place at a gala dinner on the Wednesday evening. read more Progress in Africa - 31 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] On Friday 28 October 2011, the two-day Tech4Africa conference came to an end. The conference, which focuses on mobile, web and emerging technologies and with the goal of bringing a global perspective to the African context and finding African solutions for African problems, revealed that cloud computing could just be the best solution for emerging businesses on the continent. Ummeli (the Nguni word for mediator), a mobile career opportunity platform that helps jobseekers share job and unemployment opportunities was launched last week by Gustav Praekelt of the Praekelt Foundation. Also launching last week, was the 3G service in Central Africa by Airtel and the government of the Republic of Congo. read more Media and the government - 24 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Last week, South Africa celebrated Media Freedom Day on Wednesday, 19 October 2011. Critics have asked why, the South African Presidency, during the festivities, called for fairness, objectivity and open-mindedness in the coverage of government and especially of the head of state, when a statement in support of press freedom could have been made instead. In Malawi, following the arrest of a journalist for snapping images of the president's residence, the government has now identified two witnesses, who will testify against the journalist. In Mauritius, authorities have imprisoned a journalist for contempt of the Supreme Court for allegedly "publicly scandalising the Supreme Court". In Nigeria, the CEO of Airtel has called on the federal government to issue a National Policy on Communications that incorporates government's commitment since the development of broadband in the country. Newly elected president of Zambia, Michael Sata, has issued Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi, a television broadcasting licence after the Malawian government turned down the TV broadcasting license to run Joy-TV. In other news, following the recent global disruption of the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), Research In Motion has offered its customers premium apps available for download at BlackBerry Application World until 31 December 2011. Tech4Africa, the continent's only web and emerging technology conference starts this week. read more The battle for media freedom - 17 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] In Malawi, media continue to suffer police persecution, after three journalists were summoned, with one even receiving death threats. The merger between the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi has been stopped by the government after several flaws were found. The Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) have warned two local radio stations for broadcasting programmes in which one insults President Bingu wa Mutharika, and the other for broadcasting programmes that could spark religious strife in the country. The High Court of Malawi has ordered the government to stop using equipment of the Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management System (CIRMS) Project to access phone records of subscribers. read more Keeping it African - 10 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] The 2011 AfricaCom Awards, which acknowledges the growth and importance of the telecoms and digital sectors across the African continent, has released its shortlist of finalists in various categories. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 9 November 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa. read more Don't become a victim of cybercrime - 3 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] In the recently released 2011 Norton Cyber Crime Report, it was revealed that 431 million adults worldwide have fallen victims to cybercrime in the past year. At the sixth annual meeting of Internet Governance Forum, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, 27-30 September, it was brought to attention that cybercrime is on the increase and vulnerable groups are being targeted. In South Africa, cybercrime has reached significant proportions after the death of a women who was allegedly gang-raped after responding to a job ad she found online. In a most recent case, a man known as the "Facebook rapist" is being sought by South African police for over 30 crimes, including murder. read more Developing Africa - 26 Sep 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] This week sees the second annual Brand Africa Forum, hosted by the International Marketing Council of South Africa (the custodians of Brand South Africa) and Brand Leadership Academy, taking place on Thursday, 29 September 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The one-day platform will tackle key issues affecting Africa's growth, reputation and competitiveness. read more Let's innovate...just some more - 19 Sep 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Highway Africa, regarded as the largest annual gathering of African journalists on the continent, took place this past weekend at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The conference, themed 'African Media and the Global Sustainability Challenge', brought together media and key ICT players from across the continent to converse on important issues and challenges that face Africa. Keynote speaker Koos Bekker, on the topic 'How do we innovate in the media?', suggested that Africa was failing at Internet innovation. read more Africa is going places - 12 Sep 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] We Africans are spreading our wings and making things happen on our continent: The South African Institute of Marketing Management has joined forces with Zambia's Institute of Marketing, the Marketers Association of Zimbabwe and the Marketing Society of Kenya to launch the African Marketing Confederation, which aims to promote and maintains standards of professional skills, ability, ethics and integrity among marketers through the various African marketing bodies. Then, last week, Aegis Media, in conjunction with Bizcommunity, held the first of many marketing/media online digital debates. read more Let the games begin... - 5 Sep 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] With the start of the 10th All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, over the weekend, PocketMedia Solutions was selected by the German Development Cooperation, in conjunction with the National Aids Council, to produce Z-cards thats includes a map and programme of the events for the multi-sports event. Best of luck to all those participating! This Thursday 8 September, Bizcommunity in partnership with Aegis Media brings you the first of many marketing/media debates titled 'Thought Leadership Digibates'. read more Towards a brighter future - 29 Aug 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Last week, we at Bizcommunity celebrated 10 years since our very first newsletter was sent out in 2011. I would like to extend a very big thank you from the Biz family for all your well wishes and words of encouragement and for your continued support over the years. read more Party like its OUR birthday! - 22 Aug 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Today Bizcommunity celebrates 10 years since our very first newsletter was sent out in 2001. Come and join in the fun and celebrate with us, wherever you might be in Africa. read more Media under pressure - 15 Aug 2011[Rod Baker: General manager of content] Africa's media is under pressure yet again - in Malawi, President Bingu wa Mutharika has singled out Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) for allegedly perpetrating violence, and in Gambia, where the Gambian National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has forced Taranga FM to drop its news and current affairs programs for the second time this year. On a more uplifting note, a South African airline, kulula.com, in partnership with Interactive Africa flew 10.5 tons of aid to Somalia on Friday 12 August 2011 to help Somalis who are in the grip of a famine. More positive news is that Japan's Fujitsu company is to expand Malawi's ICT sector and to get the ball rolling has launched a new range of modern products in Malawi as a drive to expand Malawi's ICT sector. read more |
