WEST AFRICA

Drop 'bogus charges' against Gambian journalists' leader, says IFJ

BRUSSELS: The International Federation of Journalists (FJ) on Friday, 22 July 2011, joined the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), in condemning the decision by the Gambian government to charge Ndey Tapha Sosseh, FAJ treasurer and former president of the Gambian Press Union (GPU), an IFJ affiliate, with treason and sedition, and called for these charges to be dropped. Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi: Police ordered closure of radio stations - MACRA

[Gregory Gondwe] The Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has disclosed to the media that the police ordered them to switch off three private radio stations, Capital Radio, Joy FM and MIJ FM which is ironically owned by government-run journalist school, the Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ). Read more >>

COTE D'IVOIRE

Ivory Coast charges TV presenter for Gbagbo-leaning show

NEW YORK: Authorities in Ivory Coast detained a journalist on Thursday, 21 July 2011, for moderating a TV talk show favourable to ousted former president Laurent Gbagbo, according to local journalists. Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi cracks down on media covering protests

NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned sweeping arrests and attacks on journalists, as well as censorship by the administration of Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika against media outlets reporting on nationwide anti-government protests that erupted on Wednesday, 20 July 2011. Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi: MACRA stops radio coverage of demonstrations

[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi, on 20 July 2011, turned on its head as demonstrations against bad governance turned violent, prompting Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to stop all privately-owned radio stations, which had been covering the proceedings live, from doing so. Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS), Capital Radio and Joy Radio all confirmed receiving communication from MACRA to stop covering the demonstrations. Read more >>

ZAMBIA

Zambian ruling party members charged in TV crew attack

NEW YORK: Zambian law enforcement and judiciary officials must ensure that justice is fully served in Monday's attack against three television journalists and their driver, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday, 20 July 2011. Two officials of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) have been arrested in connection with the attack. Read more >>

WEST AFRICA

Senegal: Walfadjri media group hounded prior to elections

DAKAR: Reporters Without Borders has expressed alarm at the sharp decline in relations between the government and the media in Senegal amid a wave of protests against President Abdoulaye Wade, who announced on 14 July 2011, in Dakar that he planned to "keep hold of the helm, come hell or high water." Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi: Thugs burn two Zodiak vehicles

[Gregory Gondwe] Masked thugs smashed and burnt two Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) vehicles within 24 hours as Malawi has been engulfed with tension with a planned mass demonstration slated for Wednesday, 20 July 2011 on protest of bad governance and a poor economic situation. Read more >>

AFRICA

Media leaders join CPJ board of directors

NEW YORK: Five distinguished leaders of new and traditional media worldwide have joined the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The new members - John Carroll, Arianna Huffington, Jonathan Klein, Mhamed Krichen, and Jacob Weisberg - join a roster of remarkable journalists and news executives playing a vital role in CPJ's fight for press freedom. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Search, directory companies get 'deal' button to drive traffic

"Merchants are tired of being sold 'clicks to a website', when what they really want are customer transactions and revenues," states David Strebinger, CEO of Wantsa, an international deal exchange that creates and distributes deals that benefit consumers, merchants and publishers. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Don't be scared of Walmart, just do things right - Simon Mathers

[Issa Sikiti da Silva: @sikitimedia] It is believed that South African top retailers - a group including Pick n Pay, Shoprite and Spar - are terrified of the arrival of Walmart in SA, as the US retail giant makes a 'triumphal entry', bringing a huge dose of expertise and innovation to the African retail market. But one global retail expert, Simon Mathers, has urged SA retail groups not to be scared and to just do things right. [video] Read more >>

ANGOLA

Angola, hotbed for foreign investors - mergermarket

LONDON: Despite a 36% decline of African mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year, there are some positive trends that involve Angola, according to data from mergermarket. Read more >>

AFRICA

SEACOM invests in SA infrastructure

SEACOM has invested R100 million in additional South African infrastructure to meet the growth in demand for broadband services and applications. The investment includes the purchase of physical optical fibre links from Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) as well as installing the equipment required for SEACOM to manage the network linking Kwa-zulu Natal's coast where the SEACOM marine cable lands to two redundant Points of Presence (PoPs) in Gauteng. Read more >>

EGYPT

Egyptian bloggers say revolution was built on more than just tweets

Six months after they launched a revolution that ousted the regime, Egyptian bloggers have acknowledged that it takes more than a Facebook page to overthrow a dictator. Read more >>

AFRICA

So your PA is a web specialist?

[Donna Stephen] Have you seen the kind of job ad looking for a PA/web co-ordinator, including secretarial duties and running the company web strategy/SEO/social media? I have - too many times. These same companies use their poor results obtained by their junior PA for their website traffic, as justification for why it's not worth investing in a "qualified" or "expensive" web specialist. Read more >>

AFRICA

A first for Africa, FNB launches smartphone, tablet app

A first for South Africa and the continent, one of South Africa's Big Four, First National Bank (FNB) announced the launch of the FNB Banking App for smartphones and tablets. Read more >>

AFRICA

Let Google suggest your keywords

[Yoray Narainpersad] Many businesses are of the notion that their website is working well for them, especially when it boils down to their SEO. For example, if a business sells toys for children, they would assume that if someone searches for 'kids toys' in Google and their website appears number one, then their SEO is excellent. It may be so, for that keyword, but there are definitely hundreds, if not thousands, of keywords that they are missing out on. Read more >>

AFRICA

Google +1 over Facebook Like, and is it worth it?

[Sookie Shuen] Google's +1 service is akin to Facebook's "Like" system, but, unlike, well, Likes, it's applicable to the whole of the web - think of it as 'do-it-yourself SEO', and useful to any inbound marketing agency. Read more >>

AFRICA

Teaching information ethics in Africa

PARIS: An academic workshop on information ethics took place from 4-5 July 2011 at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. A number of delegates from universities in Africa, Europe and the United States of America gathered to discuss the principles related to the development of a curriculum for teaching information ethics in Africa. Read more >>

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Pre-election broadcasting regulation workshop held in Lesotho

MASERU: A five-day training workshop started on Tuesday, 19 July 2011, in Maseru, Lesotho, to promote existing legal and regulatory frameworks covering broadcasting regulation during election periods, as well as election coverage by broadcasters. This workshop for journalists and the Lesotho Communications Authority is taking place from 18 to 22 July 2011. Read more >>

AFRICA

Rhodes University to open new Telkom-Highway Africa Building

Rhodes University plans to officially open the new Telkom-Highway Africa Building at a ceremony at the campus on Friday, 29 July 2011. The Telkom-Highway Africa Building is part of Telkom's contribution to the success of the annual Highway Africa conference. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Marc Ashton named Finweek acting editor

Marc Ashton, a multi-award winning journalist and entrepreneur who joined Fin24.com in 2008 to cover the financial services and entrepreneurship sectors, with Finweek later added to his portfolio, has been named acting editor of the financial title by Media24 Weekly Magazines. Read more >>

AFRICA

Bharti Airtel signs five-year agreement with Ericsson

Bharti Airtel recently announced a five-year managed services agreement with Ericsson for its Africa operations. As per the agreement, Ericsson will manage and optimise Airtel's mobile networks in Africa. Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi: MACRA puts hold on CIRMS project

[Gregory Gondwe] MACRA has halted the implementation process of the Consolidated Information Management System (CIRMS) after a deafening protest from the public and telecommunication operators. This was revealed by a high-powered MACRA team that attended a workshop for journalists aimed at shedding more light on the matter. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

Indian investor eyes stake in Zim phone operator

HARARE: Zimbabwe's debt saddled and sole fixed landline phone operator, Tel*One, is set to undergo a restructuring exercise which will result in the government losing its majority control in the firm as the commercialisation of loss-making state parastatals gathers pace despite stiff resistance from some officials. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

San Reddy to lead PR firm marcusbrewster

[Herman Manson: @marklives] San Reddy, best known to South Africans as a former primetime news anchor on free-to-air channel e.tv, has been appointed MD of the public relations firm marcusbrewster effective 1 August 2011. He replaces Hein Kaiser, who left to launch his own agency, RedStar Communication. Read more >>

AFRICA

Kenya: Consumer Options launches ENGAGE

Kenyan-based market research company Consumer Options launched one of its home grown tools: ENGAGE, late last week. ENGAGE aims to allow companies to immerse themselves into their consumer's lives, understand their world and real situations which in turn could translate into opportunities to grow business. The launch was held at a breakfast event at Intercontinental Hotel with the Chris Kirubi, chairman of Haco Tigerbrands (EA) as a guest. Also in attendance was Patricia Ithau, CEO L'Oreal; Margret Mwaura, brand builder Unilever; Peter Nduati, CEO Resolution Health, among others.

ZIMBABWE

Zim campaign to counter influx of foreign products

Irked by an influx of foreign products and commodities on the local market, Zimbabwe's business sector and concerned stakeholders have launched a Buy Zimbabwe Campaign to promote local products. Read more >>

AFRICA

AU, AfricaRice to promote Africa's rice sector

COTONOU: In recognition of the growing importance of rice as a strategic crop for Africa's food security and poverty reduction, the African Union Commission and the Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly promote the rice sector in the continent through research, development, supportive policies and capacity building. Read more >>

AFRICA

China Africa Business Forum set for October

The China Africa Business Forum will be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on 20 October 2001. The forum will host trade and industry professionals, investors and diplomatic representatives to discuss how to increase trade between African and Chinese businesses. Read more >>

UGANDA

Uganda: MultiChoice pleads for signal distribution deal

[Walter Wafula] MultiChoice Uganda, the DSTV service provider in the country has asked the government to allow it to play a major role in Uganda's analogue to digital broadcasting exodus. According to Steven Musoke, the chairman of MultiChoice Uganda, the company has the technical capacity that can facilitate the transition in a period of eight months. Read more >>

UGANDA

Uganda: Information minister roots for local television content

[Walter Wafula] Uganda's minister of information has urged domestic pay television companies to increase local programming to be more relevant to viewers. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Vodafone's 2Q results highlight the potential for smartphones and data to sustain industry growth

LONDON, UK: Vodafone's 2Q results provide concrete proof that increased data usage and the increasing popularity of smartphones provide operators with the opportunity to create a robust and sustainable new period of growth amid declining voice revenues, says Paul Lambert, Senior Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

The ProPublica reader's guide to the phone hacking scandal

[Braden Goyette, ProPublica] Though News of the World shut its doors on Sunday, the UK's hacking scandal is deepening. Allegations of illegal activity have spread beyond News of the World to other Murdoch papers, and far beyond hacking into people's voice mails. With all the new details emerging, it's getting hard to keep track. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

C-Class becomes even classier

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Improving on a model series that has sold more than one million units world-wide since 2007 is no easy task but one which the white coats at Mercedes-Benz seemed to have accomplished with aplomb after taking on the challenge of making the face-lifted C-Class range, which has just released in this country, prettier, safer, more tech savvy and friendlier to Planet Earth. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

North Wharf - your home from home

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] The Protea Hotel North Wharf is really geared to longer stays, when having a fully fitted kitchen with dishwasher, washing machine and dryer comes as a godsend. What you can save on room service and laundry really makes this property very competitive. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Gautrain in troubled waters

NEWSWATCH: According to a Fin24 report, millions of litres of groundwater is leaking into the underground tunnels used by the Gautrain and there are growing concerns about the impact this will have on the environment. An environmental impact study was due to have been submitted to the Department of Water Affairs in March 2011. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

A culinary trip to Greece at The Grand

[Sindy Peters: Africa editor] I turned down tickets to see Kylie Minogue live in Cape Town in order to take a culinary trip to Greece at The Grand Café & Beach in Granger Bay. This fusion-driven restaurant always seems to produce the most divine starters and yet falters when it comes to the main course. This month's trip to Greece, though, improved much on June's rather ordinary sojourn in France. Read more >>