South Africa: The answer to xenophobia is a community
In the aftermath of the xenophobic violence that erupted in South Africa in May, the "reintegration" of displaced people into their communities became a buzz word, but with few concrete ideas how that could be achieved. Paarl, a town in the Western Cape Province's winelands, may have figured out a way.

ZIMBABWE

ADMA agrees on shorter ad payment terms as crisis worsens
[Dumisani Ndlela] The Zimbabwe Advertising Media Association (ADMA) has abandoned its 30-day payment system for new payment terms for newspaper advertisements as inflation continues to escalate in the crisis-torn economy. A statement issued by the ADMA chairman, Pilate Machadu, said a meeting of the ADMA executive committee held on July 1, 2008 had unanimously agreed to reduce the payment period.

IOC appoints Getty Images as Official Photographic Agency for the Beijing Olympics - Gallo Images
Getty Images sports specialist photographers will again be providing live updates of every sports and medal event at the Beijing Olympics in August via direct feeds to the world's media and a live stream on the Getty Images website.

SA oil giant expands its presence in two more African countries
Engen Petroleum Limited, one of South Africa's leading refined petroleum products company, will acquire Shell Petroleum Company Limited's downstream business interests in Lesotho and Zimbabwe, in terms of sale and purchase agreements signed in July 2008.

AFRICA

African footprint at 29th Durban International Film Festival
Cinema in all its diversity will once again be celebrated at the 29th Durban International Film Festival which runs from 23 July to 3 August with an expressive concentration of 71 South African films, and a further 38 films from the African continent.


Encounters Africa Shorts focus on love
Encounters South African International Documentary Festival 2008, the Jan Vrijman Fund of IDFA and the SABC this year produced five short documentary films on the theme of love with filmmakers from Malawi (Virginia Ndasowa), DRC (Makela Pululu), South Africa (Joanne Levitan), Zambia (Mali Kambandu) and Zimbabwe (Dorothy Meck-Chimbuya). The festival provides the platform to release and market the filmmakers and their shorts continentally and internationally. Leonard Retel Helmrich and Brian Tilley supported and mentored the five filmmakers. All the shorts will be screen at Cape Town Nu Metro V&A Waterfront on Wednesday, 9 July 2008 at 8.30pm and on Sunday 13 July with a Q&A session at 6.15pm. For more information, go to www.encounters.co.za.

AFRICA

CBC-African Business Awards 2008 winners
LONDON: The inaugural CBC-African Business Awards took place on Thursday evening, 3 July 2008 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Just under 500 government, business and media leaders from Africa, Europe, Asia and the USA attended the event. The awards were presented at the glittering ceremony, which was co-hosted by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and African Business magazine, and sponsored by Zenith Bank, Ecobank, IGI and the private sector arm of the African Development Bank. A distinguished panel of judges, chaired by Omari Issa, selected winners in 16 categories. The nominees came from north, south, west and central Africa.

AFRICA

Kenya Trade Fair and Conference to usher in new era of business opportunities
The first annual Kenya Trade Fair and Conference will take place 19 - 21 September 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. The initiative aims to create an ongoing platform and environment to build business linkages between South Africa and Kenya through expanded trade and business development opportunities for both countries.


FACIM 2008: Maputo International Trade Fair
The Maputo International Trade Fair (FACIM) is respected as the most important international event of its kind in Mozambique and one of the most important in Southern Africa since 1963. The event will take place from 1-7 September 2008 with business people and enterprises from different parts of the world coming together.

EAST AFRICA

New laws threaten free expression in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has passed a new media law that bans censorship of private media and the detention of journalists, but which critics say maintains other threats to free expression.

Writer instructed not to write about military matters without permission
The Military Prosecutor General decided to release journalist and writer Abd Al Khaliq Farouq on 8 July after two and a half hours of questioning. However, Farouq was instructed to not address any issues related to the military without permission from the concerned bodies.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Nominations open for MISA 2008 Press Freedom Award
Calling all Southern African journalists and media organisations. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) with the Southern Africa Trust is inviting nominations for its 2008 Press Freedom Award. The deadline for entries is 12 August 2008.


Government closes Niamey's press house
NIGER: Reporters Without Borders is baffled by the communication ministry's decision on 30 June 2008 to close down Niamey's House of the Press, a centre used by journalists for various activities, including training seminars organised by the French and US embassies.

BOTSWANA

Controversial media practitioners' bill announced
On 27 June 2008, the government of Botswana gazetted a media practitioners' bill which is expected to regulate the media by, among other things, setting up a statutory press council. The bill also seeks to register media practitioners residing in Botswana and provides for hefty penalties for any violation of the law. As an example, anyone contravening the regulations stipulated in the bill would be liable for a penalty of 5,000 Botswana pulas (approximately US$750) or three months in prison.

Concern over Botswana plan to register mobile phone subscribers
The Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) has announced that prepaid subscribers of mobile phones will be registered as of 15 September to curb, among other things, mobile phone crimes. The move has alarmed media watchdogs, however.

Practical content necessary for mobile phone user satisfaction
A recent study by the Research & Insights department of AKQA, a US company, in conjunction with dotMobi, finds that there is a strong consumer desire for practical mobile content on phones.

AFRICA

Zimbabwe: Newspapers grab new pricing opportunity to prevent collapse
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's media houses have seized on a new dispensation allowing them to charge cover prices without engaging price control agents by imposing weekly increases on newspaper prices.

ZIMBABWE

WAN tells Mugabe: "Drop punitive tax"
The World Association of Newspapers had told Mugabe to drop a "luxury" tax clearly aimed at stifling news.

Pan African E-Tourism conferences to boost online marketing for 2010
A new initiative to develop Africa's tourism and travel sector was launched the week. For the first time in Africa, E-Tourism conferences will be held across the continent to assist Africa's tourism sector to better understand the internet and the range of online marketing opportunities now available, especially in the lead up to the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa.


Kick Off Online extends and launches East African website
Kick Off Online has launched an all new Kick Off East Africa website, Kickoffeastafrica.com, which will service mainly Kenyan, Ugandan, Rwandan and Tanzanian football. The new website joins the trio of Kick Off South Africa, Kick Off Nigeria and Kick Off Ghana on the magazine's portfolio.

Government suspends independent radio station's broadcasts
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the government's decision on 8 July to suspend independent Radio Despertar's broadcasts for 180 days on the grounds that their current range, 400km, is much more than the 50km stipulated in its licence. The suspension comes just one month before an election campaign is due to begin on 5 August.

Your reputation online, Part 1: How damage is done
These days, it's almost a given that a prospective employer will scour the internet for information about you, so it's a good idea to think a little before you click "submit" on that fiery political blog entry you just wrote. There are ways to clean up after yourself, but they can be difficult.

RPO market booms despite economic downturn
[Pat O'Brien] Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is growing rapidly and has the potential to be a multi-billion dollar market, taking advantage of the trend towards single process deals in human resources outsourcing.

Company of the Year Awards improves management practices in Kenya
[Carole Kimutai] In Kenya, there are managers working very hard, under very difficult circumstances to create goods and services, pay taxes and keep Kenyans in employment, yet their efforts go largely unrecognised. In fact, the only time that attention is paid to these companies is when things go wrong.

SUDAN: Darfurians find ways round trading challenges
The Western Sudanese region of Darfur was once an important contributor to the global economy. Cattle, gum arabic, tobacco and manufactured goods made their way into the markets of Khartoum, the Gulf States, and even Europe and North America. Since the Darfur conflict erupted 2003, many of these links have been broken.

CENTRAL AFRICA

Malawi's uranium project 2nd to tobacco exports
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi is set to start mining uranium this September at Kayelekera Uranium Mine in the northern district of Karonga which will become the second biggest forex earner in the country after tobacco. It is expected to contribute 20% of the country's total export income.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Economic recession in SA - premature and unnecessarily alarmist
SOUTH AFRICA: In assessing the current economic outlook in SA, BUSA (Business Unity South Africa) says that, while there are indisputable signs of a serious and rapid slowdown in economic and business activity in 2008, the overall growth outlook remains positive.


UN/Malawi signs pact to develop micro-finance sector
[Gregory Gondwe] The government of Malawi, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) have signed an agreement to support the development of the micro-finance sector in Malawi under a project known as Financial Inclusion in Malawi(FIMA).

Why everything costs more
A rough guide to why food prices keep going up.

Zimbabwe: No foreign currency, no food
A R100 (US$13) remittance from a relative living in South Africa was a lifeline to food for Lydia Nxumalo, 36, and her family in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city.

Shell may pull out of Zimbabwe
LONDON: Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, may pull out of operations in Zimbabwe, the Observer newspaper reported Sunday.


Unspent EU farm aid to go to Africa
The European Union will channel one billion euros (US$1,6 bn) in unused European farm subsidies to African farmers as part of its response to the global food crisis, the head of the EU executive said.

Al-Jazeera bureau chief fined for "disseminating false information"
On 11 July 2008, a Rabat court fined Al-Jazeera's Rabat bureau chief, Hassan Rachidi, 50,000 dirhams (approx. 4,500 euros) under Article 42 of the press law because the Qatar-based satellite TV station wrongly reported in June that people were killed in clashes between police and protesters in the southern port city of Sidi Ifni.

GTV expands service to French-speaking African countries
LONDON: GTV is set to expand its footprint into Francophone Africa in early August providing channels and content specifically targeted at French-speaking viewers. Channels will include African-produced content, international series and sitcoms, kids entertainment, religious and educational/documentaries.


DStv 'scores' at Nigerian Cup final
SuperSport's involvement in Nigerian football was taken to the next level at last weekend's Nigerian Cup final between Ocean Boys and Gombe United in Makurdi. The DStv channel's commitment to Nigerian football includes training programmes for individuals involved in all aspects of broadcasting, from operating cameras to production and directing.


Flat screen TV sets look great, right?
But there is a problem. It seems the rising popularity of the slim and sleek devices has not been good for the environment.