[UgaBYTES] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP-AFRICA (WEEK 35 )

[Mwathi Francis]

*Zambia wants rural areas to join ICT*

26th August 2009

 THE Government has said rural areas should be connected to the information
communication technology (ICT) network to encourage uniform development with
other areas. President Rupiah Banda said that the Government had come up
with a national ICT policy to promote the use of ICT in rural areas. He said
this in a speech read for him by Communications and Transport Minister,
Geoffrey Lungwangwa during the official opening of the fourth Commonwealth
Telecommunications Organisation conference at Zambezi Sun Hotel in
Livingstone yesterday.

http://www.times.co.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=6&id=1251265707



*Embrace technology to fight poverty*

25th August 2009

Ugandan researchers should embrace modern technology to remain vibrant and
steer Uganda out of poverty, Ephraim Kamuntu, the industry state minister,
has said.  He noted that more research in agriculture was needed to
transform the economy from subsistence to market-oriented production. The
minister, however, observed that the rapid advancements in science and
technology made research a complex venture.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/692376



*Nigeria as e-waste dumping site*

27th August 2009

 E-waste entails Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) including old,
end-of-life (eol) or discarded electrical /electronic appliances.It is
rather unfortunate that environmentally sound management (ESM) practices in
e-waste is virtually absent in developing countries of which Nigeria is one.
The issue of electronic waste otherwise known as e-waste, is the fastest
growing waste stream in the world today, and the large volume of e-waste
which is globally estimated at about 50 million tons annually, is more than
three times the municipal waste generation, as contained in a communiqué
recently issued by stakeholders at the end of International Conference on
E-waste Control held in Abuja.

http://news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5051:nigeria-as-e-waste-dumping-site&catid=34:environment&Itemid=30



*Moroccan fixed, mobile internet users up 15 percent in 2009 second quarter*

27th August 2009

 Morocco added 128,222 internet subscribers in the second quarter, for 15
percent quarterly growth to 834,463 at the end of June and 47.29 percent
growth versus June 2008, according to telecommunications regulator ANRT. Of
the total internet customers, 50.75 percent are on ADSL and 48.7 percent are
on 3G mobile networks. ADSL subscribers were static at 488,567 at the end of
June, compared to 489,043 at the end of March

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=688028





*Seacom enters into partnership with Uganda Telecom, Rwandatel SA*

26th August 2009

 Seacom, a submarine fibre-optic cable operator has entered into partnership
with operators in Uganda and Rwanda to extend its reach across Eastern
Africa. The firm said Uganda Telecom and Rwandatel SA, both subsidiaries of
Libyan African Investment Portfolio, have purchased international broadband
capacity from it.  In turn, it said, it has struck a deal to make use of the
two regional players’ terrestrial networks between Kampala, Uganda and
Kigali, Rwanda.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=1144022415&cid=14&j=&m=&d=



*India's Amity University offers IT degrees to Africans*

17th August  2009

One of India’s top universities, Amity, is to offer online IT degrees and
diplomas to 100,000 students on the African continent over the next five
years. The 100,000 IT students will be trained at 53 learning centers in the
53 African Union (AU) countries under the Pan-African E-network project. The
Pan-African e-Network project is a joint initiative of the government of
India and the AU and is funded by India at an estimated cost of US$116
million. The project, which has three components (tele-education,
tele-medicine and diplomatic communications), is coordinated by the
ministries of ICT wherever it has been adopted.

http://www.computerworld.co.ke/articles/2009/08/17/indias-amity-university-offers-it-degrees-africans
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Francis Mwathi
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