SOUTH AFRICA

Prepping marketers for the global market
[Louise Marsland] Marketing innovation in Africa is something that we should be shining a light on for the rest of the world, believes Donovan Neale-May, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council international founder, who was in South Africa in the past week to launch CMO Africa. Highlighting marketing best practice globally and training up the next generation of Africa's marketers for the global market will be a core competency of CMO Africa.

Govt, civil society sign Declaration to fight attacks on foreigners
[Nthambeleni Gabara] Pretoria: Government and civil society organisations have adopted a Declaration which seeks to foster an understanding of the plight of immigrants and educate foreign nationals about their rights in host countries.

Con Court reserves ruling on the temporary shelters
[Bathandwa Mbola] Johannesburg: South Africa's highest court has reserved judgement on an application to prevent the closure of temporary shelters for people displaced by violence in Gauteng.

Digital v Anti Digital: D&AD Annual launches next month
Some of the best design and advertising in the world will be immortalised with the publication of the D&AD Annual 2008 on 18 September 2008. Designed by Neville Brody from Research Studios exclusively for D&AD membership, the book is themed ‘Digital vs Anti Digital'. For the first time this year, all of the work will be published online, as well as in the iconic book.


Call to enter APEX Awards 2009
Entries are now open for the 2009 APEX Awards, the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) announced earlier this week. The awards will now be held annually and entries are open to the entire African continent.

SOUTH AFRICA

Gearing up for Sign Africa 2008
Practical Publishing is gearing up for its largest event of the year, the international Sign Africa Johannesburg and the Africa In-Store show 2008. The show opens 10 - 12 September 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre, covering two exhibition halls and features a new Sign Africa Technology in Africa Conference area.

A fresh look for Uganda Clays
[Walter Wafula] Uganda Clays a brick- and tile-making firm and one of Uganda's oldest companies has rebranded to a more corporate look.

East Africa: Book to track region's top brands
East African companies have been urged to become more innovative in order to secure international markets for their products and services and in the quest for competitiveness.

Africa's oldest map to be commemorated today
The world's oldest map of Africa is being commemorated in Cape Town today, 25 August 2008. The Montalboddo Fracan map of Africa is 500 years old.

East Africa to join high speed internet
One of the last missing sections in the global high speed internet will be filled in when East Africa finally gets connected. The area has so far been reliant entirely on expensive satellite connections to dial up to the world wide web.

China doubles its scholarships for African students
Accra: The Chinese government has doubled the number of scholarships it grants to Africa to 4000 students per year, says Yu Wenzhe, China's ambassador to Ghana.

Fort Hare University to honour Madiba
[Nthambeleni Gabara] Johannesburg: The University of Fort Hare is to hold a Festival of Ideas to celebrate the 90th birthday of one of it's former students - Nelson Mandela. According to Sahm Venter of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the two-day festival themed "Fort Hare as a space for African Liberation," will kick off on 29 August.

The 3rd Annual Combating Terrorism in Africa Conference
The 3rd Annual Combating Terrorism in Africa Conference will create a platform for Africa's defence force, government populace and non-government organisations to dissect and foresee future strategies to combat further spread of terrorism. The conference takes place from 26-28 August 2008.


SADC satisfied with Angola's election preparations
Luanda: Observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have expressed satisfaction at Angola's preparations towards their legislative elections on 5 September.

Uganda to host first Africa honey show
Uganda is to host the first honey exhibition in Africa to raise awareness about investment opportunities in honey trade.

Limpopo strengthens economic ties with Swaziland
[Nthambeleni Gabara] Polokwane: Limpopo companies are to strengthen their trade and investment with neighbouring Swaziland by participating in the Swaziland International Trade Show.

SOUTH AFRICA

Meetings Africa 2009 to focus on local corporate market
Meetings Africa will be held for the fifth consecutive year, 25 - 27 February 2009, at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, and South African Tourism is reminding companies in the business tourism industry - including conference venues, incentive travel destinations and event support services - to reserve their space as soon as possible as space is running out.

Upper east holds exhibition of made-in-Africa products
A five-day exhibition of made-in-Africa products and cultural awareness creation is underway in Bolgatanga in the upper east region. It seeks to showcase potentials of the northern, upper east and upper west regions and provide avenue for Africans in the Diaspora to easily trace their roots and invest in Ghana.

NAMISA appeals for TVM, MBC budget allocation
The National Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA) has appealed to opposition legislators in the country to approve budgetary allocations for the country's two public broadcasters, Television Malawi (TVM) and Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).

CENTRAL AFRICA

BNL journalists take control of Malawi's MISA
[Gregory Gondwe] Journalists from Malawi's Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL), publishers of The Daily Times, Malawi News and Sunday Times, on Saturday took Control of Malawi's Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Chapter when they swept all influential positions in the polls held in Blantyre during the body's Annual General Meeting (AGM).


SAMRO contributes to legal form process
The Southern African Music Rights Organisation has been instrumental in bringing clarity to a section of the proposed Companies Bill, which was the subject of public hearings in parliament last week.

BOTSWANA

Botswana: Proposed law would give government power to interfere with media
Botswana Member of Parliament for Mogoditshane, Patrick Masimolole has called upon the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology to drop the Media Practitioners Bill arguing that the proposed law grants too much power to the ministry in interfering with the operations of the media.

Media landscape still uncertain as Ethiopia releases jailed journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed concern yesterday, 20 August 2008, about the media environment in Ethiopia even though all journalists jailed in relation to their work since the November 2005 crackdown, have been released.

Mauritania junta tightens grip on media - critics
Nouakchott: Mauritania's ruling junta is censoring the media and stage-managing public rallies as it tries to show popular support for this month's coup and deflect a tide of anger from Western donors, critics in the country say.

MFWA lawyer Femi Falana wins Bernard Simons Award
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) announced that Femi Falana, a founding member of its Lawyers Network for the Defence of Media and Journalists in West Africa, won the 2008 Bernard Simons Memorial Award for his contributions to human rights in his home country, Nigeria, and West Africa.

CENTRAL AFRICA

Malawi's media practitioners to be accredited
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawian journalists will from November this year, be accredited by the Media Council of Malawi before starting their practice in the country.

AFRICA

First woman in Africa nominated as one of Mobile Entertainment's top 50 women in mobile
According to a recent article published by Mobile Entertainment, Emma Kaye, together with well-known industry names such as Amelia Gammon, director of NBC Universal Mobile, Peggy Johnson, executive VP of Qualcom for the Americas and India, and Sissel Henriette Larsen, director of content for Telenorhave all been named as some of the top 50 women in the mobile industry today.

AFRICA

21% increase in African mobile web traffic - AdMob
SAN MATEO: AdMob last week released its July Mobile Metrics Report, which focuses on increasing usage of the mobile web in Africa and worldwide mobile browser marketshare. According to the report, there has been a 21% increase in traffic since the company began tracking the Africa market in Q1 2008.

Global internet innovators at Africa's first international E-Tourism conference
World-leading online experts will be speaking at Africa's first international e-tourism conference next month, giving presentations at the two-day conference, 1 - 2 September 2008, on how southern Africa's tourism sector can harness the potential of the web, especially in the lead up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Malawi trade union body clashes with Chinese investors
[Gregory Gondwe] Barely nine months after Malawi entered into diplomatic ties with China, Chinese investors visiting Malawi because of the ties, clashed with the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) over working conditions of local employees.

Child labour in cocoa industry
With the fears that the multi-billion dollar cocoa industry may have consigned the Harkin-Engel Protocol to the dustbin of history, there seems to be no end to the suffering of the poor children working in about two million cocoa farms in West Africa.

Kenyan retail supermarket now in Rwanda
[Carole Kimutai] Kenyan retail supermarket chain, Nakumatt opened a branch in Kigali, Rwanda, officially opening its doors last weekend as part of its campaign in reaching the Pan African market.


Cape Town onboard Monopoly's World Edition
Monopoly fans the world over have had their say, and the final results are in as to which cities will be represented on the new Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition game board. As the only African city to be featured in the game, Cape Town claims its place in the green, ranking the third most-expensive property space behind Montreal and Riga respectively.

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe: New law fails to weaken demand for electricity generators
[Dumisani Ndlela] Generator sales remained buoyant despite a government decision to regulate ownership of electricity generators that have become popular in the country due to frequent power outages.

Zimbabwe: Duty waiver makes food cheaper
Harare: Zimbabweans who have become dependant on cross-border forays to source necessities heaved a collective sigh of relief when the government decided to suspend import duty on essential food and non-food items.


BP Zambia restart Ndola operations
[Gregory Gondwe] British Petroleum (BP) Zambia Limited, which was barred from collecting fuel from its Ndola terminal due to a K26bn debt, has started operations after offsetting the debt.


Zambia to open Africa's largest copper mine
[Gregory Gondwe] Zambia, which is endowed with substantial mineral resources, is to open Africa's largest copper mine in December this year.

Engen expands in Rwanda, Burundi and Guinea Bissau
Engen Petroleum Limited, South Africa's refined petroleum products company, is set to acquire Total's downstream operations in three African countries - Guinea Bissau, Rwanda and Burundi - in terms of sale and purchase agreements signed recently.


Zambians urged to take advantage of Free Trade agreement
Lusaka: A senior Zambian government official has called on local producers and manufacturers to take advantage of the recently launched Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement to produce goods of high quality which can compete favourably in the region.

ZIMBABWE

Travellers in a quandary as American Express cuts off Zimbabwe
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's banks were reportedly scrambling for a solution after American Express began the process of withdrawing from the country.

Jet honours Namibia and Botswana's community heroes
Southern Africa's premier grassroots awards programme, the Jet Community Awards, has honoured five outstanding community-based organisations from Namibia and Botswana as the first regional winners were announced at an open event at the Jet store in Southgate in Johannesburg last week.

Standard Bank Namibia sponsors the Leadership for Conservation in Africa
The LCA Chapter in Namibia under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism, Leon Jooste launched the annual council meeting, earlier this week, which will be held from 4-7 September 2008 at Okakeujo in the Etosha National Park.

Second African Experiential Marketing Summit - final agenda and speakers announced - Exp
The finalised agenda and lineup of speakers for the second African Experiential Marketing Summit have been announced.


Gateway Communications sponsors AfricaCom Awards
London: Gateway Communications, provider of pan-African voice and data connectivity services, has given its endorsement and is committed to sponsoring the AfricaCom Awards 2008.

AfricaCom attracts more than 3,000 people to its conference and exhibition, taking place in Cape Town from 18-19 November, 2008. The inaugural AfricaCom Awards celebrates the outstanding achievements of the African communications market during the last twelve months.

AFRICA

Big Brother Africa is back
Once again 12 housemates from 12 African countries have been plucked from their homes and cut off from the outside world.

UGANDA

Sports TV granted broadcasting licence
[Walter Wafula] Uganda's Sports TV has officially been granted its broadcasting license meaning that the station is now operating under the law. Sports TV was given the licence on August 21, according to Jacque Kigozi the station's public relations manager.