AFRICA

2010 Kick-off Celebration artist lineup announced

JOHANNESBURG: Control Room, global music events producer, and FIFA, announced today, Wednesday, 17 March 2010, the first group of musicians confirmed to perform at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Kick-off Celebration Concert. Global artists will perform at the event taking place the night before the first match at 8pm (GMT+2) on 10 June at the newly-renovated Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg. Read more >>

AFRICA

Airlines deny price-fixing allegations

CAPE TOWN: South African Airways (SAA) and sister airline SA Express have both distanced themselves from price collusion allegations ahead of this year's FIFA World Cup. Read more >>

NORTH AFRICA

Dubai Lynx 2010 winners announced

DUBAI: The awards ceremony for the 2010 Dubai Lynx took place on Wednesday, 17 March 2010 at the newly opened Palladium in Dubai Media City. The winners in this year's annual creative advertising competition for the Middle East and North Africa were revealed. Read more >>

AFRICA

Dubai Lynx announces Integrated shortlist

DUBAI: Dubai Lynx has released the last of the shortlists for this year's awards. Nine entries have been shortlisted in the Integrated category. The winners of all categories will be announced tonight, 17 March 2010 at the Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony and dinner, taking place at The Palladium in Dubai Media City. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Loeries 2010 to be largest spectacle ever (in Woodstock), promises Human

[Herman Manson] The Loeries 2010 Call for Entries campaign launches today, Monday, 15 March 2010. Loeries CEO Andrew Human discusses this years' campaign theme, rule changes, 'pro-active' work and what's in store for the biggest (advertising) event of the year. [poll] Read more >>

AFRICA

Festival of Media announces keynote speakers

The keynote speakers at the fourth annual Festival of Media have been announced. The lineup includes founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales. The event will be hosted 18 - 20 April 2010 in Valencia, Spain and will also feature a lineup of business leaders from the global communications and advertising industry. Read more >>

EAST AFRICA

Ethiopia: SEACOM connects ETC with international broadband

SEACOM, the privately funded and over three quarter African-owned submarine fibre optic cable system, has been awarded an agreement to supply Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) with international broadband fibre connectivity via a backhaul link through Djibouti. Read more >>

AFRICA

Global talks for Water Day hosted on Twitter

WASHINGTON, DC: The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) will host a worldwide discussion on sustainable water resources on behalf of its online program, Africa Rural Connect (ARC). The discussion will take place on Twitter all day Monday, 22 March 2010, as part of World Water Day and will focus on issues farmers in Africa face concerning access to water for irrigation and drinking. Read more >>

AFRICA

Net Prophet 2010 registration open

Registration for Net Prophet 2010 is officially open. This year's conference, hosted by the RAMP Foundation, will focus on digital innovation in Africa, as well as building a globally competitive IT economy in South Africa. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Africa: less than 1 million country domain sites - survey

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The latest revelation that Africa has less than 1 million country domain websites is a sign that the continent still favours priorities such as poverty eradication, land redistribution, basic health care, clean water and education, among others, ahead of developing its technological capacities. Vika Mpisane, GM of .ZADNA, made the revelation during the presentation of .za market research survey yesterday, Tuesday, 16 March 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Read more >>

WEST AFRICA

New partnership for WAFICT 2010

IT & Telecoms Digest have partnered with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), based in London, to organise the 2nd annual West African ICT Congress (WAFICT). The event, to be hosted in Lagos, Nigeria from 1 - 3 June 2010, will be held in conjunction with the West African Telecommunications (WAfriTel) exhibition and conference and the Nigerian ICT Business Solutions Expo (NISE). Read more >>

AFRICA

Africa Online boss decries high operation fees

[Walter Wafula] Regulators of Africa's information and communication technology sectors have been advised to cut back the high fees charged on operation licenses to boost the penetration of internet communication on the continent. Read more >>

TANZANIA

Applications open for Tanzania Media Fund fellowship

ARUSHA: The Tanzania Media Fund (TMF) is now accepting applications from journalists for its fellowship program. The application deadline is 31 March 2010. Those awarded will be given an opportunity to travel to different parts of the country to write on issues that could break fresh ground for media coverage in Tanzania. Read more >>

UGANDA

Google to train Ugandan journalists

[Walter Wafula] Google, through its Ugandan subsidiary, will next week train local business and information technology journalists to sharpen their reporting skills by utilising its products and services. Read more >>

NORTH AFRICA

Alek Wek, cover-girl on ELLE birthday issue

Sudanese supermodel, Alek Wek will feature on the cover of the April 2010 issue of South Africa's ELLE magazine, celebratng its 14th birthday with an interview with the international star. The shoot took place in South Africa with Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani. Read more >>

AFRICA

ICIJ announces Daniel Pearl Awards finalists

WASHINGTON, DC: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has announced the finalists for the 2010 Daniel Pearl Awards for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. This year's biennial competition saw 85 entries from 40 countries. Read more >>

UGANDA

Ugandan press slams media law

The Ugandan press has condemned a proposed law that would allow the government's Media Council to shut down media houses and jail journalists for publishing content considered to endanger "national security, stability and unity". Read more >>

AFRICA

WAN-IFRA condemns detention of Iranian journalists

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has condemned the continued imprisonment of Iranian journalist Emad Baghi and what it deems repressive measures employed by the state to silence critical publications. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

MTN signs confidentiality agreement with Zim operator

[Dumisani Ndlela] MTN, has signed a confidentiality agreement with Zim state-owned cellular network, NetOne, as the South Africa-based mobile company moved closer to acquiring a key stake in the Zimbabwean company. Sources in Harare said MTN had wound up its due diligence on NetOne and was expected to place its final bid soon. Read more >>

AFRICA

MTN Business appoints GM for African expansion

JOHANNESBURG: MTN Business, the wholly-owned division of MTN SA, has announced the recent appointment of Johnny Aucamp to general manager for strategic relations and business development in Africa. Read more >>

AFRICA

Reiner Mittelbach leaves WAN-IFRA in May

Reiner Mittelbach, former CEO of IFRA prior to the July 2009 merger with the World Association of Newspapers, has decided to leave the merged organisation, WAN-IFRA, at the end of May 2010. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

Zim: State-owned newspapers in the red despite monopoly

[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's state-owned newspapers performed dismally last year despite enjoying a virtual monopoly on the daily news market, recording an operational loss of US$329 000 during the year to 31 December 2009. Read more >>

AFRICA

Few will pay for news sites

WASHINGTON: The good news for traditional US news organisations? Their websites are popular. The bad news? Few news consumers click on ads and hardly any are prepared to pay for news online. Read more >>

AFRICA

SABC screens ten southern African love stories

Love - Stories in a time of HIV & AIDS is a series of 10 half-hour short films from 10 countries in southern Africa that aim to explore the facets of love. The series will be broadcast on Wednesdays from 24 March 2010 on SABC1 at 8.30pm. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

ZACRAS establishes secretariat in Bulawayo

The Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS) has announced the establishment of a secretariat in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe to spearheard specific advocacy and lobby activities aimed at establishing community radios stations in the country. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

Zim: Newspapers grow, state TV declines, satellite surges

[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's newspaper market chalked up favourable gains during the 12 months to 31 December 2009, but the state-owned television continued to sing the blues as viewers trooped to satellite television. Read more >>

AFRICA

Other African countries to gain SA's CA brand

[Sue Blaine] SA's chartered accountant (CA) brand is growing in sub-Saharan Africa and the country's professional body is working with Zambia and Lesotho to bring these countries into the South African CA examination system. Read more >>

AFRICA

Sub-Saharan Africa For Women in Science fellows chosen

The innaugural L'Oréal and UNESCO Regional Fellowships for Women in Science in sub-Saharan Africa will be awarded this year at a public ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa on 30 March 2010. Read more >>

AFRICA

CNN launches Marketplace Africa

CNN International, this week, launched its new programme CNN Marketplace Africa which looks at the dynamics of African business on and off the continent. Each week features major players affecting African enterprise and changing the commercial landscape. Read more >>

AFRICA

Saatchi & Saatchi awarded for Guinness TVC

CAPE TOWN: Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town recently won AdForum¹s Ad of the Week award for it's 'Scout' television commercial for Guinness. The commercial for Guinness in Africa, is the next installment of the Guinness 'Greatness' series in Nigeria, which was launched in November 2009 to coincide with the Nigeria versus Kenya World Cup qualifier match. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

AdExpo experiences high interest from industry - CADEK Media

The Mega Media AdExpo will be staged from 23-25 March 2010 at Sandton Convention Centre and is generating a lot of excitement and interest from the advertising and marketing industry. The organisers, CADEK Media, report that they experience an influx of pre-registrations from the industry. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Win a car a day with Nigeria's Bid2Win mobile campaign - Starfish Mobile

Glo, Nigeria's second biggest mobile operator with over 25 million subscribers, has partnered with Africa's biggest mobile value added services company, Starfish Mobile, to launch one of the biggest and most innovative mobile operator promotions ever run in that region. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Linear Range - Right Stuff

Right Stuff's Linear Range is a series of banner stands made up of printed banner panels and optional brochure holders designed to be configured in a number of different ways as they have interlocking connectors, providing the user with the ability to create a display stand to suit his or her unique requirements. Read more >>