Summit ends with no agreement reached on Zimbabwe
[Michael Appel] JOHANNESURG: Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction leader and Prime Minister designate Morgan Tsvangirai told media early Monday morning, 10 November 2008, he rejected SADC's proposal of co-managing the Ministry of Home Affairs.

AFRICA

African showcase at Africa Investment Forum
12 African nations will showcase their major investment projects at the Africa Investment Forum, 18 - 19 November 2008, to an international audience of business and public sector leaders.

Elias Mugari, "Obama has had a profound effect on many Zimbabweans"
Businessman Elias Mugari squeezed into a crowded hotel lobby in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 5 November to watch a TV tuned to a satellite broadcast of the victory speech of US President-elect Barack Obama. With tears in his eyes, he told IRIN what he hoped an Obama presidency would mean for his crisis-ridden country.

Financial crisis could cut official aid by 30%
The financial crisis is expected to have a severe impact on humanitarian funding, with some analysts projecting cuts in official development assistance (ODA) of up to a third or more.

NORTH AFRICA

Ethiopian private banks declare profit
While banks in the US and elsewhere are going through tough times, some Ethiopian banks are bucking the trend.

Kenya: Nock knocked
The National Oil Corporation of Kenya turns to other options after losing Caltex bid to Total.

NORTH AFRICA

UN refutes Sudanese air carriers' claim
The UN has rejected claims that it is using foreign carriers rather than Sudanese companies in operations in the country by UNAMID.

Cape Verde: Money laundering taints economic growth
Faced with a growing number of drug trafficking, money laundering and organised crime investigations, the head of Cape Verde's judiciary police told IRIN his agents may know who the traffickers and money launderers are, but do not have enough resources to catch them all.


Have you pumped your brand?
The Playpump system not only helps you to help rural communities to obtain clean drinking water, it also provides you with an excellent medium to advertise and promote your company and its products to the community. For further details, and to see how you can make a wonderful contribution to the wellbeing of rural communities, click here. And have you thought of taking out a Bizcommunity.com Commercial Feature? It's a great way to tell the world about your company. For further details, email junita@bizcommunity.com.

AFRICA

Digitisation imperative in Africa - AFRICAST 2008
The 7th Biennial Conference of Africa Broadcasters, AFRICAST, was held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, Nigeria, in mid-October 2008. The theme of the conference was Digitisation and the Challenges of Broadcasting featuring the presentation of erudite papers by eminent scholars, professionals, veterans and captains of the industry from Africa and beyond.

Fuel launches pan African digital solution - Fuel Group
Fuel announced its expansion into Africa and the Middle East yesterday, Wednesday 5 November 2008, allowing the group to offer a greater degree of ease and targeting for brands looking to exploit African and Middle Eastern markets.

SOUTH AFRICA

Helping you to choose the right MBA
The number of MBA applicants in the world continues to rise. Offering these prospective MBA candidates the opportunity to meet face to face with the world's top international business schools, the Access MBA One-to-One event is crafted to be a unique and effective way to find the right MBA.

Nigeria, Uganda to dominate AfricaCom Awards
Nigerian and Ugandan mobile, telecommunications and internet service providers are set to dominate the forthcoming AfricaCom Awards to be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, set for November 18, 2008.

Eastern African Media - more focus on gender issues
ETHIOPIA: Media will not grow unless they give serious attention to gender issues, said secretary general of Eastern African Journalists Association, Omar Faruk on the first regional conference on gender held late last month at the Sudanese Journalist's Union (SJU) in Khartoum.

AFRICA

Media leaders call for media development in Africa
DAKAR: Over 32 CEOs of African media organisations met in Dakar, Senegal from 3 - 4 November 2008 and called for a stronger push for media development in Africa, and agreed to collaborate so that media can play a more proactive role in Africa's development.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Summer academy for SADC journalists
The Institute for Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) and the German-based International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), in conjunction with the Durban University of Technology (DUT), are hosting a 'Summer Academy' entitled "Freedom and Responsibility in the Media: Towards Sustainable Quality Journalism in the SADC Region".

Tanzania: Media march for press freedom
Tanzania's journalists took to the streets of Dar es Salaam last week to protest against the three-month banning of a newspaper that exposed official corruption. According to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), it was the first time in Tanzania's history that journalists marched against the government, accusing it of trying to stifle media freedom.

Arab Free Press Forum looks at issues and changing face of Arab blogging
The World Association of Newspapers is holding its third Arab Free Press Forum in Beirut, Lebanon, on 12 and 13 December 2008.

Zain wants a bigger slice of Africa
Even with the economic recession clouding the global economy, Kuwait-based mobile telecommunications company, Zain is eyeing acquisitions in Africa and the Middle East worth US$4 billion by 2010, said chief executive Saal al-Barrak last week.

ZIMBABWE

Telecel's appeal still unheard after 15 months
[Dumisani Ndlela] The Zimbabwean government is yet to decide on an appeal by Telecel Zimbabwe on the suspension of its operating licence, a move that has created uncertainty within the country's telecommunications industry.

Now prepaid airtime purchases cross borders
South African FNB customers registered for Cellphone Banking can now buy prepaid airtime and instantly send it to the cellphone of a friend or relative in Namibia.

Cellphone company launches BlackBerry in Tanzania
Research In Motion (RIM), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless solutions, and Vodacom Tanzania, have announced that the BlackBerry solution is now available to Vodacom Tanzania subscribers throughout the country. The BlackBerry solution is designed to bring together innovative smartphones, software and services to allow easy access to email (including attachment viewing), phone, messaging, organiser, web, multimedia and many other business and lifestyle applications for people on the move. For further details on options and costs go to the company website or contact your nearest dealer.

EGYPT

Indian hair care company to open third plant in Egypt
Marico India will officially inaugurate Wednesday its third plant in Egypt's Sadat City that will bring Parachute, the company's largest selling hair care brand worth LE 700 million, to the Arab world's most populous market.

Why we buy: Brain waves don't lie
It's the holy grail of marketing analytics - an unbiased look into the neurological signals underlying purchasing decisions. Scientists in England have been using neuroimaging to measure people's responses to marketing messages.

Vision Africa - 100% Namibian - Vision Africa
“We are proudly Namibian," says new MD of Vision Africa, Cornelius D'Alton. "There has been a change of ownership at Vision Africa and we are now 100% Namibian-owned.” Not only is the company completely local, but the new majority shareholder is a Black Economic Empowerment company.

EAST AFRICA

Illicit trade is not a victimless crime
A new business report, presented recently at the East Africa International Business Forum in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, found that illicit trade in the region is not only undermining the formation of a single East African market, it is also costing EAC countries many millions of dollars in lost revenues.

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe: Hunting for good garbage to eat
Desperate entrepreneurs are scouring rubbish dumps, abattoirs and poisoned waterways for scraps of food to eat or sell to other equally hungry Zimbabweans in a bid for survival.

Low season of promotions
[Carole Kimutai] Economic crunch forces Kenyan shoppers to change consumption habits.

Small town, BIG grant
There are no roads, no major industry and no historical landmarks in Otjivero, a village about 150km east of Windhoek, the Namibian capital and previously known for little more than its poverty. But in January 2008 it became part of one of the world's first basic income grant (BIG) projects, and now stands the chance of setting an international precedent in the fight against poverty.

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe: The grey economy is the real one
Takunda Moyo, 35, seems the epitome of a successful business person: he drives a sleek car, wears designer label clothes, and is never short of a dollar or two. He is part of a new class of entrepreneur - the illegal foreign exchange hustler.

NIGERIA

Nigerian property prices rocket
Property prices rise 150% despite stock market meltdown.

AFRICA

SA's Supa Strikas go global
At 5pm today, Friday 7 November, a group of creative artists from Cape Town will be glued to SABC2 to watch the characters they have crafted and shaped with love and flair over the past seven years come to life in the first of 13 half-hour animation episodes of Supa Strikas.

AFRICA

Kelly, Cassette, Asa warm up for the Africa music awards
Charismatic R&B star Kelly Rowland will be in Abuja, Nigeria, on 22 November 2008 to perform at the first-ever MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain. Joining Rowland on stage at The Velodrome, Abuja, for this celebration of African music and artists will be South African rockers, Cassette, and Nigerian soul diva, Asa.


Pay-TV network introduces Discovery World
GTV, the pay-TV network with a presence in a number of African countries, is launching Discovery World on its service on 10 November. Viewers will be treated to a selection of rich, colourful and high quality factual programming from around the globe in a compelling mix of history, culture, real life stories, investigation and mystery. It will kick off on the TV channel with the premiere of acclaimed documentary Expedition Alaska in search of the most extraordinary wildlife in one of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth - the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Other series include James Bond - A True Story, FBI Files and How Not to Become Shark Bai, which follows a host of experts experimenting with one of the world's most mysterious and deadly sea predators.