AFRICA

Zimbabwe's MDC pulls out of run-off
Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of Zimbabwe's violence-wracked presidential run-off Sunday, declaring that the election was no longer credible and the loss of life among his supporters was simply too high.

SOUTH AFRICA

The best time to send an email
[Aaron Smith] The email messages you send out will be much better received if they arrive at a time when the recipient is more likely to be in the right frame of mind to read them. If they arrive at any other time - particularly if they arrive along with a raft of other messages - there is a good chance they will end up being deleted ... unwanted and unread.

Global business leaders give G8 leaders a practical climate change plan
Climate change poses a massive threat to Africa. Unreliable rains, rising food prices... global warming will impact on these and other factors influencing the continent's food security.


Marketing's forgotten child
E-mail marketing is fast, cheap - and a big mystery. There are very few tools at the marketer's disposal to gauge a campaign's success. Blogger Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at Aite Group, contends it doesn't have to be that way, and suggests one possible e-marketing feedback mechanism.

Reserve Bank of Malawi to issue a K5bn bond
[Gregory Gondwe] On June 25, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) will issue a K5bn three-year bond as a monetary policy tool to contain the growing money supply.

SA must grant temporary status to Zimbabweans
Human rights body says the South African government should halt deportations and allow refugees the right to work.

AFRICA

How Africa rates in world trade
East Asian economies Hong Kong and Singapore occupy the top two positions in the Enabling Trade Index ranking, followed by Sweden and Norway, according to The Global Enabling Trade Report 2008, released by the World Economic Forum. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand complete the top 10 list.


African civil society leaders unite to call for free and fair election process in Zimbabwe
H.E. Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Wangari Maathai among those calling for an end to violence and intimidation in the run up to June 27 presidential run-off.

ZIMBABWE

Global ad agency dumping Zim firm over Mugabe campaign?
[Dumisani Ndlela] Global marketing and advertising agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R) is to sell its stake in Zimbabwean associate Imago Young & Rubicam (Imago Y&R) after the Zimbabwean agency's involvement in an election campaign for President Robert Mugabe.

November 1 lands Mascom Wireless account and joins Africa's young emerging business leaders - November 1
November 1, the up and coming Johannesburg-based branding group, has landed the Mascom Wireless account. Mascom Wireless is the leading cellphone operator in Botswana, with its network coverage now spanning 80% of the population.

The spread of telepresence tech, Part 1: Need arises
[Andrew K. Burger] Rising transportation costs and concerns about social and environmental responsibility are spurring corporate demand for videoconferencing, collaborative software and virtual telepresence technology. Wider access to broadband Internet is a key enabler.

Smart strategies for compensating telemarketing service providers
[Peter Ostrow] With a third of all lead generation budget dollars allocated to outsourced business-to-business teleservices providers, how do Best-in-Class organisations most effectively compensate their external vendors? Aberdeen survey respondents from more than 200 organisations provide rich detail regarding their preferences for how they prefer to model the fiscal relationship they build with their outsourced provider partner.

Cameroon: Brain drain hampers public services
Highly qualified Cameroonian graduates are leaving for Europe and North Africa in unprecedented numbers, and unlike in the past no longer feel compelled to return, starving the professional classes of qualified workers, according to experts.

Malawian journo pulled from China media tour
The Chinese Embassy in Malawi has removed Wisdom Chimgwede, Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) editor, from the list of journalists travelling to China on a media tour it sponsored after receiving instructions from Malawi's Ministry of Information and Civic Education. The visit was slated to begin on 21 June 2008. The ministry had earlier on accused the journalist of writing negatively about the government.

NORTH AFRICA

IFRA heads to North Africa
DARMSTADT, GERMANY: With a focus on new developments and latest challenges for the news publishing industry, such as business models, cross-media marketing and digital publishing, IFRA is offering a diverse programme of conferences and study tours international and regional events in North Africa, India and Europe in the second half of 2008.

SOUTH AFRICA

SABC crisis reaches boiling point
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] From ‘Mighty SABC' to ‘Mickey Mouse SABC', South Africa's public broadcaster has become a laughing stock, and its reputation and credibility dented by a succession of dodgy suspensions, intense infighting, political manipulations and rebellion. As CEO Dali Mpofu's career in Auckland Park seems to have come to an abrupt and sad end, more than 100 managers are now calling on President Thabo Mbeki to intervene to protect the institution against what many call a ‘hit-and-run' and ‘soulless' board.

SOUTH AFRICA

Diageo Africa Business Reporting finalists announced
The finalists in the fifth annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards were announced on Friday, 13 June 2008, following a record number of entries.

ZIMBABWE

Zero defect of the worst kind haunts Zim networks
[Dumisani Ndlela] The outbreak of zeros on the country's struggling currency has caught up with Zimbabwe's mobile networks, with Net*One saying escalating tariff charges had hamstrung the production of airtime vouchers.

Moroccan daily ordered to stop publishing
On 19 June 2008, a Rabat court ordered the Moroccan Arabic-language daily Al Jarida Al Oula to stop publishing hitherto unpublished testimony about repression under the late King Hassan II, which senior officials gave to an official truth commission called the Equity and Reconciliation Panel (IER).

It's a wrap!
If you want to make your mark in Botswana, then the largest outdoor advertising boundary wrap in the country will do it!

SOUTH AFRICA

Intl leaders discuss high oil prices
An energy meeting, focusing on rocketing oil prices, concluded Sunday, 22 June 2008, in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah, with a statement calling for "improved" transparency and regulation in oil production and financial markets dealing in crude.

Congo: Gunning for biofuels
The Republic of Congo plans to set aside part of its arable land for biofuel production, even as a debate rages over the part played by biofuels in the current global food crisis.

ZIMBABWE

Zim forex trade halted as prices soar
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's central reserve bank temporarily halted foreign currency trade on the official market as concern intensified over escalating commodity prices.

Zimbabwe lifts ban on aid agencies - state media
Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on charities involved in food distribution and AIDS treatment, state media said Wednesday, 18 June 2008, ahead of next week's tense presidential run-off.

SOUTH AFRICA

SuperSport, UEFA renew pay-TV rights
SuperSport yesterday, Thursday, 19 June 2008, announced that it has signed a deal for the exclusive pay-TV rights in sub-Saharan Africa for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup from 2009 - 2012. The latest agreement means football fans will be treated to the best of European club action until 2012.

SpongeBob SquarePants to hit sub-Saharan Africa
MultiChoice Africa has signed a multi-year distribution deal with MTV Networks International to carry leading kids' entertainment brand, Nickelodeon, in southern Africa. Starting 1 July 2008, Nickelodeon will launch as a 24-hour English language channel, broadcasting to more than one and a half million DStv subscribers in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.