Headlines
MarketingEAST AFRICA Equity Bank ready to take on Uganda[Carole Kimutai] Less than 10 years ago, multinationals dominated Kenya's banking sector. Many Kenyans were unable to access banking services because they could not meet the minimum bank balance. That was until Equity Bank came into the market and revolutionalised the sector. AFRICA Enter integrationWith the costs of doing business on the up and up, and the associated costs of creating awareness of your products and services getting more costly and competitive, marketers today have to ensure that every bit of the budget devoted to sales and marketing is used effectively. MAURITIUS China may use Mauritius as a gateway to AfricaThe People's Republic of China has expressed interest to invest in Mauritius and use the island as a gateway to Africa especially in the financial services sector. ZIMBABWE Zimbabwe: Voices out of the violenceYvonne Chipowera endured 16 hours of beatings, rape and being urinated on, all because of her support for Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). AFRICA South Africa: Reintegration with trepidationTens of thousands of foreign nationals displaced by South Africa's wave of xenophobic violence have returned to their home countries but those left behind, scared and robbed of every possession, are reluctant to go along with government plans to resettle them into the communities that drove them out.
BrandingGHANA SA oil company wins Ghana-NEPAD awardEngen Petroleum Ltd commits to Africa, remains on track to be a continental leader.
CRMNIGERIA UBA launches tourism paycard in NigeriaUnited Bank for Africa Plc, has introduced UBA Tourism Paycard in Nigeria.
DigitalAFRICA Africa's broadband set to explodeUntil recently the Internet in Africa has been the poor relation to the much more successful spread of mobile phones. The experience of Africa's Internet with dial-up connections has been like trying to eat a meal by sucking it through a straw. It's been slow and expensive for the individual user so it's hardly surprising that it has thus far only attracted a relatively small band of users compared to mobile phones. AFRICA IBM opens New Africa Innovation Centre[Gabi Khumalo] An Africa Innovation Centre was officially opened in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday 24 June 2008, with the aim to drive information technology skills development and address business challenges in the economic growth of sub-Saharan Africa. ANGOLA SA firm opens imaging bureau in LuandaSouth African enterprise content management (ECM) firm Digital Archiving Systems (DAS) has opened an imaging bureau in the Angolan capital. The enterprise, which is worth US$250,000, will see the employment of 10 skilled ECM workers.
Education and TrainingEAST AFRICA Somali journalists trained to survive captivityThe International News Safety Institute (INSI) and its Somalia partner, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), has provided safety training to 48 Somali journalists and other media staff in Djibouti.
EventingSOUTHERN AFRICA National Arts Festival to be extended in 2009, 2010[Edwin Tshivhidzo] The Grahamstown National Arts Festival will be extended next year to cater for the thousands of soccer fans who will visit the Eastern Cape during the Confederations Cup in 2009. This will also occur in 2010 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. AFRICA Fans, celebrities honour Madiba at 46664 concert[Gabi Khumalo] About 27,000 music fans from around the world crammed into the Hyde Park venue in London on Friday where the annual 46664 concert was held to celebrate former President Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. AFRICA Mbeki gives emergency SADC summit a missSouthern African leaders will hold an emergency meeting in Swaziland today, Wednesday 25 June 2008, to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe but key negotiator President Thabo Mbeki will not attend, officials said.
MediaSOUTH AFRICA End in sight for SABC board?[Issa Sikiti da Silva] NEWSWATCH: The SABC's controversial board could be heading to a shameful early exit by September as the ANC in parliament pushes for a proposal to amend the Broadcasting Act that will make it ‘legal' to fire the embattled group, according to Sapa and The Sunday Independent. But chairperson Khanyisiwe Mkhonza remains defiant and undeterred by the move, saying for now it is business as usual. ZIMBABWE We've done enough damage. All we can do is send food[Simon Jenkins] Robert Mugabe is making a mockery of liberal interventionism. He has become God's gift to cartoonists, politicians and commentators. He is depicted wielding clubs dripping in blood. He stands triumphant over a pile of skulls. He is Bokassa out of Idi Amin out of Charles Taylor. He is that old familiar, the African heart of darkness, monstrous, buffoonish, grotesque and evil. If Britain, as Kipling jeered, were ever capable of "killing Kruger with your mouth", Mugabe would long be dead. SOUTH AFRICA Mpofu's case against SABC postponed[Issa Sikiti da Silva] Thrice-suspended SABC CEO Dali Mpofu's case in the Johannesburg High Court against the board has been postponed to Tuesday, 1 July 2008, to give chairperson Khanyisiwe Mkhonza and her band time to file an answering affidavit. Before postponing the matter yesterday, Tuesday 24 June 2008, Judge Mohamed Jajbhay made an impassionate plea to both parties to try by all means to resolve the matter in an amicable way.
NewspapersZIMBABWE Tsvangirai disowns article published in UK paperZimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had disowned an article published under his name in Britain's Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, 25 June 2008, in which he was said to have called for “words of indignation by world leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military force”.
PrintingSOUTH AFRICA Embarrassed Paarl Media donates to Zim victimsIn an attempt to lessen the negative fallout from the debacle over being found out to have printed election material for Robert Mugabe, Paarl Media has decided to make a special donation to the people of Zimbabwe.
RadioKENYA Kenyan government threatens to shut radio stationThe Kenyan government has threatened to shut down a vernacular radio station for allegedly stoking ethnic tensions that culminated in the post-election violence earlier in the year. ZIMBABWE Zimbabwe's feel good radioThe lead story in the morning radio news bulletin of Zimbabwe's state-run broadcaster on 25 June was the success of the country's tobacco sales; next, the national consumer council's praise for the government's efforts to make available scarce food items was reported, followed by an announcement by Air Zimbabwe that its telephone lines were down. ZIMBABWE Zimbabwe: Aid will flow if Mugabe goes As the sole remaining candidate in Zimbabwe's presidential election run-off on 27 June, Robert Mugabe should win. But then what? ZIMBABWE Zim vendor arrested for listening to ‘wrong' stationA street vendor has been arrested and faces a jail term of as much as six months for listening to critical radio program. In addition, his newspaper copies were seized.
RecruitmentSOUTHERN AFRICA Employers urged to invest in their staff[Edwin Tshivhidzo] Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has called on employers to invest in their employees in order to advance production.
RetailSOUTH AFRICA LESOTHO: Food prices aggravate crisisAlready heavily dependent on food handouts, Lesotho is buckling under chronic food insecurity, poverty and one of the highest HIV rates in the world. WEST AFRICA Guinea's food prices some of highest in regionFood price hikes have hit Guinea's capital Conakry harder than many others in West Africa according to the World Food Programme (WFP), while an export ban is preventing rural populations from benefiting from high global market prices, leading to fears that mounting food insecurity could lead to instability. SOUTH AFRICA Summit to debate soaring food, oil prices[Luyanda Makapela] Africa needs to urgently address the issues of soaring food and oil prices and take appropriate measures as they negatively impact on poor households, said African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping. SOUTH AFRICA African govts must unite against high fuel prices[Edwin Tshivhidzo] Governments throughout Africa must unite against the high fuel prices, says Deputy Director General in the Department of Minerals and Energy, Nhlanhla Gumede. EAST AFRICA Kenya approves biofuel projectKenya has approved a biofuel project which environmentalists fear will destroy wetlands and impoverish local residents.
TVSOUTH AFRICA DStv launches HD TV with free advertisingOracle Airtime Sales (OATS) is joining the High Definition (HD) craze sweeping the country by offering free advertising on DStv's first HD channel, which is set to launch on 8 August 2008 with the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. HD PVR recorders will also become available from end-July to ensure the HD experience is complete. NORTH AFRICA Attempt to restrict satellite broadcasting, electronic media continuesArabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has spoken out against the efforts of the ministerial council of Arab information ministers, held in the headquarters of the Arab League from 20 - 21 June 2008, to further restrict satellite television broadcasting. | 
