Sharing the African knowledge The African advertising industry lost one of its unsung heroes last week. Piet Smit's influence in media research has reached far and wide, from Namibia to Mauritius, and into Europe and the USA as well. He will be remembered as a pioneer of his time as his work continues to aid a growing African ad industry. The mobile internet industry in Africa, however, still has its work cut out for it, according to Strike Media's founder, Russel Stromin. From a development perspective he believes that Africa has more distinct requirements when it comes to the mobile internet. Features and applications will need to cater for the specific needs of the African population and serve as useful tools rather than provide leisure-value. If you have some wisdom to share with the rest of Africa's communications practitioners, the IABC is calling for papers for the 2009 IABC Africa Region Conference. The theme for this year's event is "Right Message. Right Audience. Right Medium." The event takes place in South Africa in October this year and submitting your proposal might get you a seat where those gathered will share their knowledge and insight. Cheers! Sindy Peters, Content manager Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com. | Top stories
Marketing
 Southern Africa Direct and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) have entered into a marketing partnership that aims to provide SATSA members with access to an international marketing platform. Southern Africa Direct is a 24-hour travel TV channel for Southern African travel, tourism, lifestyle, business and cultural experience. Read more >>
Advertisement:  The Zimbabwe Research Initiative (ZRI), an initiative established by disaffected Zimbabweans to determine the impact events and developments has on the country, produced a "Vote MDC" Z-CARD that encouraged people to vote for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in the country's elections held early last year. Using the influence soccer has on people living in the country, ZRI created cards that used soccer rules to communicate the message. Read more >>
2010 FIFA World Cup
 [Bathandwa Mbola] Over 1.6 million ticket applications have been made to FIFA for the 2010 World Cup, in the first phase of ticket sales that ended Tuesday night, 31 March 2009. Read more >>
[Nthambeleni Gabara] JOHANNESURG: The special "event visa" which will help process soccer fans faster at the country's airports, is to be launched on 27 April 2009, on national Freedom Day in South Africa. Read more >>
Advertising
Piet Smit, former technical director of the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF), passed away on Friday, 3 April 2009. Doctors suspect that it was due to a massive pulmonary embolism. Smit's influence in the industry extended across Africa. Read more >>
Advertisement:  LONDON: The juries for the 2009 Film and Press Lions, in the 56th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, were announced yesterday, Thursday, 2 April 2009. Two South Africans will be jurists: The Jupiter Drawing Room's Ross Chowles for Film and Net#work BBDO's Graeme Jenner for Press. Read more >>
 [Carole Kimutai] Ayton Young & Rubicam Group (AY&R) has been rebranded to Young & Rubicam Brands, a move aimed at better integrated communications and driving its pan-African growth. Young & Rubicam Brands was founded in 1972 as Hill Ayton Limited. Read more >>
From this year, Gold, Silver and Bronze Integrated Lions will be awarded for the first time, replacing the Integrated Lion trophy in the 56th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The deadlines across all 11 entry sections have also been extended until Thursday, 9 April 2009. Read more >>
The Loerie Awards Travelling Exhibition will be hosted at the DV8 Saatchi & Saatchi office in Windhoek, Namibia, from 4 - 13 April 2009. The expo, which showcases 2008 winners, is making its way around southern Africa, visiting educational institutions, agencies and festivals along the way. Read more >>
 Transition Optical is launching a TV ad called the ‘Live Your Vision' ad in South Africa in April 2009. The commercial, conceptualised by Saatchi & Saatchi New York and shot in Africa, will also be broadcast on the National Geographic Channel in Europe and Africa. Read more >>
 [Mário Manuel dos Santos Ferro] The Mozambique advertising industry has, over the last ten years, undergone very significant change both in qualitative and quantitative terms. The current overall volume of advertising business in Mozambique is valued at approximately $US120 million annually. Read more >>
Branding
 African energy company, Engen, says it has overcome stiff challenges while rebranding from Shell to Engen in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the acquisition in 2008. Wayne Hartmann, general manager of Engen International Business Development, says much behind-the-scenes work was required to win the confidence of stakeholders in the DRC operation. Read more >>
Digital
 [Russel Stromin] The global buzz about the coming of the mobile internet is attracting lots of investment and interest in the sector - but anybody interested in Africa needs to understand that the continent is on a very different path from the developed world. Read more >>
Twitter is aimed at personal users, but Gartner says that companies must wake up to the positive implications of employees' tweets, which are to their own advantage. Read more >>
Eventing
 On 18 April 2009, the finalists for Miss FTV Africa 2009 will compete for the title at the Theatre of Marcellus at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg in South Africa. The casting process for Miss FTV Africa 2009 started in January where 24 fashion model finalists from across the nation's five biggest cities were chosen. Read more >>
Media
The International Centre for Journalists is calling for nominations for the 2009 Knight International Journalism Awards. The organisation aims to recognise outstanding journalists who uphold the highest standards despite overwhelming challenges. The deadline for nominations is Monday, 13 April 2009. Read more >>
Advertisement: About 100 journalists, human rights activists and media personnel gathered in Cairo on 29 March, 2009 to mark the "100th Anniversary of Press Freedom Demonstrations in Egypt 1909", an event organised by IFEX members in Egypt the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR). Read more >>
[Gregory Gondwe] A number of local and foreign journalists sustained injuries on Tuesday, 31 March, 2009 when Malawi police officers descended on them in an attempt to protect US popstar Madonna who is currently in Malawi. She is in the country to adopt a second Malawian orphan. Read more >>
The closing date for entries for the Africa Business Reporting Awards 2009 is 15 April 2009. The awards reception will be held at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, in London, on 2 July. Read more >>
[Kelvin Kachingwe] LUSAKA: After almost a decade of fighting for self-regulation, the Zambian media may finally have its wishes entrenched with constitutional protection. The new draft constitution of the country prohibits legislation that would undermine media freedom and administrative behaviour that could hinder the development of the sector. Read more >>
PARIS: Attempts by Islamic countries to have a “defamation of religion” resolution passed at the UN's Human Rights Council have been criticised by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF), which believe that such a resolution could be misused by authoritarian governments. Read more >>
 [Gregory Gondwe] Zambia's Vice-President George Kunda on Tuesday, 25 March challenged African journalists to hold fast to issues of good corporate governance principles as one way of ensuring sound economic management when covering business stories. Read more >>
Mobile
[Titus Kaloki] MTN Africa has its eyes set firmly on finally entering the Kenyan market by offering to buy Econet Wireless International's (EWI) stake in local mobile provider Econet Wireless Kenya (EWK) which operates as Yu. Currently Yu is the latest entrant in the telecoms market and it has already had its share of trouble after its founding CEO, Mike Foley, resigned only six months after being appointed. Read more >>
 MTN Group President and CEO, Phuthuma Nhleko, believes the new appointments will help MTN to achieve its vision of being a leading telecoms player in emerging markets. MTN, which started in South Africa 15 years ago, currently has 21 operations in Africa and the Middle East. Read more >>
Globally Advanced Integrated Networks (GAIN) received its mobile phone service operating licence on Monday, 30 March, 2009 from the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) and pledged to inject US$40m within the first five years into the operation. Read more >>
LOS ANGELES: Mobile-XL, a mobile technology company, on Saturday, 28 March 2009, announced that it is partnering with Rich Management, Nairobi Stock Exchange Authorised Data Vendor, to provide real-time stock prices to mobile audiences. Consumers can use Mobile-XL's XLBrowser to receive stock quotes. Read more >>
 [Carole Kimutai] The battle for a share of Kenya's growing mobile phone subscribers continues to intensify with Telkom Orange launching a migration service for new Orange Mobile subscribers from other networks. The new service christened Gura, (Swahili word that means moving houses), allows new Orange subscribers to automatically alert callers free-of-charge via a personalised SMS. Read more >>
Newspapers
[Sam Hungwe] Zimind Publishers, a newspaper publishing house, is looking for an agency to launch a marketing campaign for its planned daily newspaper, NewsDay, which has already started recruiting staff. Read more >>
Online Media
 Niche market industrial publishing company Rival Industrial has purchased African-focused blogging platform Bundublog effective 1 April, 2009. Bundublog is a South African-based free blogging community with approximately 130 active blogs featuring bloggers across Africa in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria. Read more >>
Production
NAMIBIA Namib Film represents NFC at 2009 AFCI Locations Trade ShowNamib Film, co-sponsor of the Namibia Film Project, will be representing the Namibia Film Commission (NFC) at the 2009 AFCI Locations Trade Show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Los Angeles from the 16 - 18 April. The company provides film production services within Namibia with global clients including Klum Film & Video Productions (Australia), Cellusion Films (Belgium) and Navigator Films (South Africa). For more information on the event click here.
Public Relations
[Walter Wafula] Public relations firm Moringa Ogilvy has become the new communications agent for Nokia in Uganda, according to an official at the Kampala-based firm. Read more >>
The IABC is calling for speakers willing to share best practice, case studies, local and international trends and their experience with delegates at the 2009 IABC Africa Region Conference. The event will be held 8 - 9 October 2009 at Kiewits Kroon, Gauteng, South Africa. Read more >>
 Daniel Munslow, Newsclip's executive strategist, recently took part in judging the final tier of the annual Gold Quill Awards, hosted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in San Francisco. "The lessons learned, especially in terms of global best of practice, are invaluable and show that South African work is on par with the world's best,” commented Munslow. Read more >>
Radio
NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on authorities in the south-eastern Congolese city of Likasi to allow two private stations to return to the air. On 11, March 2009, the mayor of Likasi, Denis Kalondji Ngoy, ordered the closure of Radio Communautaire du Katanga (RCK) and Radiotélévision Likasi 4 (RTL4) in connection with their coverage of a local strike, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). Read more >>
Recruitment
 Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters, a recruitment company in South Africa has expanded its operations to West, East and sub-Saharan Africa. Managing director, Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, says her company has formed an Africa division in the wake of increasing demand from multi-national corporate clients in the banking, retail, FMCG as well as construction, telecoms and petroleum sectors. Read more >>
Retail
 JOHANNESBURG: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided Standard Bank with a US$400 million line of credit to support trade in sub-Saharan Africa and address the shortage of trade finance resulting from the global financial crisis. The loan, announced on Thursday, 2 April, 2009 during the G20 Summit, is part of a co-ordinated global initiative. Read more >>
 Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has reported that it has posted higher revenues and profits for the first half of their fiscal year from 1 July 2008 to Jan 2009, compared to the same period for the previous year. The carrier generated US$599 million in operating revenues which equated to a 54.8% increase and net profit was up 9% to US$46 million compared to the 2007/2008 results for the same period. Read more >>
COTE D'IVOIRE 3bn Ivory Coast debt write-offThe International Monetary Fund will write off US$3 billlion of Ivory Coast's US$12.8 billion national debt. The decision comes after the fund agreed to lend another US$565 million to the country, on condition that the government reduces poverty and improves financial transparency. Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo called the write-off good news. But the IMF remarked that an extensive reform programme is needed for the nation to qualify for more loans in the future. Source: Panos London
The Central African Focus Seminar was held at the Michelangelo Hotel, in Sandton, on the 20 March, 2009. The seminar looked at issues such as the impacts of mining on utility and support services, infrastructure development, and trade and investment in Central Africa. Other issues included the influence of African communal networking on trade and investment and whether there is still room to successfully do business in what is perceived as a war torn region. Read more >>
 SAMFYA: As food prices soar and stocks continue to fall, Zambians are finding it increasingly difficult to depend on maize and are being urged to look at a cheaper, drought- and pest-resistant alternative that already puts food on the table in the north of the country. Read more >>
MBABANE: Southern African leaders have suspended Madagascar from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for what they describe as an unconstitutional change of government. The member states further called on Andry Rajoelina to step down and vacate the President's office as a matter of urgency or face the consequences. Read more >>
[Bathandwa Mbola and Neo Semono] JOHANNESBURG: South African business expects the Group of 20 countries meeting in London later this week to renew their commitment to enhancing the stability of global financial markets. This is important for developing countries in particular, said Business Unity SA chief executive officer, Jerry Vilakazi, who was briefing the media ahead of the summit. Read more >>
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