Goodbye to the digital divide?![](https://biz-file.com/b/0907/30182.jpg?1) The 2009 edition of Trends in Newsrooms was released last week and apart from looking at ways in which to integrate new media into the newsroom it also looks at the role the internet plays in African journalism. Africa isn't quite as online as the rest of the world and while the internet may herald numerous advantages in the profession, the lack of access for a majority of the African population makes plugging those interesting new techniques difficult. Hopefully though, the switching on of Seacom may hasten the progress of the digital age on the continent. Seacom went live last Thursday, 23 July 2009 with a demonstration to show off the capacity, quality of bandwidth and connectivity the network could provide. Various countries on the African east coast were witness to the potential advantages of Seacom. Is it time to bid farewell to the digital divide? The new fibre-optic network is proclaimed to be faster and at the same time cheaper; we still hold our collective breath in anticipation to see whether all the hype is actually justifiable. Cheers! Sindy Peters, Content manager Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com. Top stories
Marketing
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33788.jpg) Database 360, a division of CG Consulting, has opened an office in London in order to provide information on African businesses within the UK. The company aims to provide companies doing business in Africa with strategy consulting and fact finding services as well as data and information. Read more >>2010 FIFA World Cup
[Carole Kimutai] South Africa Tourism launched a 2010 FIFA World Cup Campaign in Kenya exactly one year before the event. Last week, the annual one-day South African Trade and Consumer Show took place in Kenya and was attended by representatives from the South African travel industry who highlighted ways to increase business and leisure traffic to SA for the sporting event. Read more >>Advertising
[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's advertising industry is picking itself up as the country's economy moves slowly towards recovery, industry experts said. Read more >> Cinema
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/34024.jpg) The Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) last week presented plans to hold an international film co-production market on the African continent, the Durban FilmMart. Read more >>Design
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33944.jpg) Wolda, the Worldwide Logo Design Annual, has announced its panel of judges that will select the winning entries for its ‘09 edition. Wolda '09 is also now accepting entries of logos designed both in 2008 and 2009. Read more >>Digital
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL), the country's only fixed-line operator, has announced that its US$55m fibre-optic cable project is near completion. The company revealed at a press briefing in Blantyre on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 that the project is going to connect Malawi to the international superhighway. Read more >> Hewlett Packard (HP), in collaboration with the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), has launched an initiative to develop sustainable recycling processes to tackle the problem of e-waste in Africa. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33890.jpg) Undersea cable Seacom demonstrated the capacity, quality of bandwidth and connectivity the network will provide through simultaneous events in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique yesterday, Thursday, 23 July 2009. The demo, hosted in conjunction with Cisco Systems, provided media and invitees direct access to broadband connectivity, carried out live broadcasts and interactive real-time presentations across the system. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33793.jpg) IP Africa '09 takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa from 30 September to 1 October 2009. The event covers four areas; mobility and wireless, unified communications, virtualisation and the underlying network infrastructure and security. It aims to attract CIO's and decision-makers investing in technology and solutions. Read more >>[Lesley Stones] Telecommunications company iBurst is planning to enter the huge Nigerian market, and will partly fund the venture through cash it will raise by listing on the JSE later this year. Read more >> Education and Training
JOHANNESBURG: Insead, an international business school, and France Telecom, a telecommunications operator whose key brand is Orange, have announced the development of the ‘INSEAD Orange Endowed Scholarship for Emerging Markets'. Read more >>Magazines
EAST AFRICA Prestige boards Air SeychellesPrestige Magazine, a South African luxury lifestyle magazine has expanded its regional coverage and distribution. The magazine will be placed on-board all Air Seychelles flights between OR Tambo and Mahe in the Seychelles. Media
Journalists from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Mauritania can apply for a prize that aims to promote investigation and research of political, economic, social and cultural issues. Read more >>The World Editors Forum (WEF) released its annual media survey last week, Trends in Newsrooms 2009. The publication contains reports and ideas on the media today, including ideas on multimedia development and integration. Read more >>Journalists in Niger have begun a one-week strike to protest against restrictions on the media. Radio stations and media houses accuse President Mamadou Tandja of stifling press freedom and democracy after he made a decree which empowers the head of the regulatory High Communications Council to take decisions independently. Read more >>NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the government's growing crackdown on the independent press in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland as September presidential elections near. Read more >>Mobile
Cellular network operator, Econet Wireless Global (EWG), said on Thursday, 23 July 2009 that it had reached a three-year upgrade and expansion agreement with telecommunications group Ericsson to increase capacity for voice and data traffic in Zimbabwe. Read more >>NAIROBI: Listed telecoms firm, Safaricom has said the orders given by President Mwai Kibaki for the registration of all mobile phone subscribers can only be achieved with the necessary legal framework in place. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33978.jpg) MTN on Thursday, 23 July 2009, said it has launched its Mobile Money offering in Ghana. Read more >>[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi's Global Advanced Integrated Networks (G-Mobile) has entered into a deal with South Africa's Beryl Capital and Telecoms worth US$90m. The deal which is for the supply, installation and commissioning of the company in the country will enable G-Mobile to roll out and start its operations by December 2009. Read more >> ![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33948.jpg) Zain has extended its contract with Nokia Siemens Networks to handle the implementation of an additional 600km in Nigeria to its 4000km nationwide fibre-optic network. Read more >>[Lesley Stones] Africa's paucity of fixed-line phone networks has created a huge opportunity for mobile operators to step in and fill the gap for broadband services in a market that could be worth US$6bn by 2011. Read more >> ![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/33795.jpg) PARIS: French media giant Vivendi said on Monday, 20 July 2009 that it was breaking off talks on buying telecom operations in Africa from Kuwait's Zain company. Read more >>Newspapers
[Dumisani Ndlela] Finance minister Tendai Biti has scrapped a 40% customs duty on imported newspapers and magazines, saying access to information was essential to enhance decision-making in a global environment. Read more >> Research
The University of Ibadan in Nigeria is hosting a methodological workshop from 24 - 28 August 2009 for Nigerian students and researchers interested in infusing their writing with qualitative data. Read more >>Retail
[Arão Valoi] MAPUTO: Economic growth in Mozambique will remain at "comfortable" levels despite the slowdown caused by the crisis, reflected in the reduction of state exports and revenues, said the Portuguese Bank, BPI, on his report published in Maputo on 20 July 2009. Read more >> Entrepreneurs living in the United States with businesses back in sub-Saharan Africa have been given the opportunity to vie for a portion of a US$1.5 million grant offered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Western Union, and the African-based EcoBank. Read more >> [Janine Erasmus] Brewing giant SABMiller has announced plans to build a US$125-million (R990-million) brewery and soft drink bottling plant in Luanda, Angola. The new projects will double SABMiller's investment in the Southern African country in the past 18 months. Read more >>The increasingly meager levels of crop output by some of the world's least developed countries has brought awareness to a need for better fertiliser utilisation for smallholder farmers, mainly in Africa. Affordability and access have been identified as major qualifiers in the soil infertility prevalent on African farms. Read more >>TV
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/34020.jpg) BAUCHI: Zain Nigeria presented prizes to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University and its team that represented the country in the 32nd international inter-university Zain Africa Challenge: Battle of Brains organised by Zain. Read more >>Media Law Institute for the Advancement of Journalism - Johannesburg, 28 July AFRICA Seacom goes live
![](https://www.bizcommunity.com/g/0907/12667.jpg) AFRICA CNN/Multichoice African Journalist 2009 awards
![](https://www.bizcommunity.com/g/0907/12628.jpg) "Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages." - Terry Pratchett"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - Martin Luther King Jr."You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements." - Norman Douglas
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