[UgaBYTES] Weekly News Round Up - Africa

[Mwathi Francis]

ICTs discussed at high level NEPAD meeting
January 29, 2009

Addis Ababa - The New partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has
challenged more African nations to get involved in the project to
develop Internet connection linking African countries to one another
and to the rest of the world by 2015.

The project, called the Broadband Infrastructure Network, hopes to
connect east African countries to a communications network stretching
from South Africa to Rwanda. A second broadband network will connect
Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, Namibia and
Madagascar to an undersea cable running along East Africa.

The connection will be made via fibre-optic submarine cables along the
coast of east Africa.

The policy and regulatory advisor for e-Africa Commission, Edmund
Katiti, said on Saturday it was important for Africa to get connected
to the rest of the world so it can engage in e-commerce, which has
made a lot of money in countries like India.

"Currently we can't do that because we don't have broadband, and where
broadband is available it is expensive.

"We want to make sure that all countries in Africa have access to
broadband connectivity and this connectivity is affordable and reaches
as many people as possible."

Mr Katiti, speaking at the 29th NEPAD Heads of State and Government
Implementation Committee (HSGIC) meeting on Saturday, said however,
that NEPAD was facing the challenge of getting as many countries as
possible to sign the Kigali protocol supporting the effort and its
conditions and policies.
http://www.buanews.gov.za/news/09/09020210451005


Africa: Internet Growth Accelerating
February 4, 2009

"Until recently, the experience of the internet in Africa has been
like having to eat a three-course meal by sucking it through a straw:
time-consuming, unreliable and expensive. .. [but prices are dropping]
and cheap international bandwidth is an essential component for any
developing country to remain competitive in a changing world." -
Russell Southwood, in Global Information Society Watch 2008
Although Africa still remains last among world regions in estimated
internet penetration (5.4% of the population as compared to the world
average of 23.4%, according to end-2008 figures from Internet World
Stats - see article below), it also features a growth rate of over
1,000% between 2000 and mid-2008, with an estimated 19.8% growth rate
between end 2007 and end 2008. Internet World Stats now estimates more
than 51 million internet users in Africa, while leading expert
Southwood estimates an even higher user/population rate, if usage at
internet cafes is fully taken into account.
http://www.africafocus.org/docs09/int0902.php


NSSF to issue E-statements
February 4, 2009

Kampala-In a bid to boost transparency, the National Social Security
Fund (NSSF) will start sending member contribution statements by
e-mail. The acting Managing Director, Martin Bandeebire, said that the
Fund will send out 180,000 statements to members by end of February
2009 after all 3 pilot tests confirmed the feasibility of the project.
"We sent out e-statements to 10 selected employers and all were
successfully delivered," he said.

Employers whose statements were successfully sent during the pilot
tests include URA, NSSF, Makerere University Walter Reed Project,
Chevron, Uganda Debt Network and Save the Children Uganda, among
others. However, Bandeebire admitted that not all registered employers
and employees have e-mail addresses so the fund is now appealing to
them to provide the addresses.
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&a...


Number of Tunisian Internet Users Reaches 2, 8 Million
January 27, 2009

Tunis, - The number of internet users has reached nearly 2,8 and the
ADSL networking rate stands at 11,1 Gigabits per second, said Mrs
Lamia Chaffai Sghaier, the Secretary of State in charge of computers
and free software at the opening of the first edition of "2009
Technology Days on information systems" (JTSI 2009), which began at
the El Ghazala technological park on Tuesday.
The aim of the event is to offer a space of exchange and reflection to
the many economic stakeholders involved in ICT. JTCI 2009
(www.jtsi2009.tn) will present case studies, discussion panels and
workshops.
http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/2009/01/27/tunisianumber-of-intern...

EU parliamentarian leads campaign against e-waste to Africa
January 30th 2009

A Belgian parliamentarian is campaigning against the export of illegal
goods to developing countries.
He has resolved to specifically lobby the Belgian and Flemish
Parliament to stop the export of e-waste (electronic waste) to
developing countries by strengthening the inspection power in the
European harbours.

Rudi Daems, a member of the Flemish parliament in Belgium in the North
of Western Europe has for over two years been researching into illegal
export of all kinds of waste to developing countries in Asia and
Africa.

During a meeting with media in Accra, Mr. Daems said, "My aim is not
to prohibit the export of second hand goods to Africa or Asia. But the
condition has to be that these goods are 100% re-usable and that
afterwards they are recycled and treated in an environmentally
friendly way." He bemoaned that a lot of the electronic goods such as
computers and television sets that are transported under the name of
second hand or personal goods, end up in dumping sites, notably
Agbobloshie in Accra. The Basel Convention on hazardous and other
waste adopted in 1989 and entered into force in 1992, obliges member
countries to ensure that hazardous waste are managed are disposed of
in an environmentally sound manner.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=12748


MTN Boosts Small Entrepreneurs in Uganda
January 29, 2009

Kampala — MTN is to invest $250,000 (about sh487m) as seed capital in
a project aimed at boosting small and medium businesses.The money will
be available through MYC4, which is an online market place that
connects people from all over the world with African entrepreneurs who
lack capital to develop their businesses," Erik van Veen, the chief
commercial officer, said."This is a three-year partnership investment
targeting rural women involved in agriculture, artifacts and
information communication technology," he told a press conference at
the Sheraton Kampala hotel this week.
MYC4 operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana, Cote
d'Ivoire and Uganda.
Van Veen said businesses, which qualify throughout the country, would
get credit of up to 3,000 euros (about sh7m) under the programme.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/669729/MTN


Kenya Revenue Authority starts online tax returns system
January 29, 2009

Filing tax returns will be much faster and easier this year, after
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) launched the service on its web site.
The new service includes registration by taxpayers, filing of tax
returns, payment of taxes and lodging of enquiries.
Payments will be made via commercial banks, including the National
Bank of Kenya and Kenya Commercial Bank, among others.
With the new service, KRA expects to reduce tax evasion at ports of
entry that takes place when traders declare their goods to Customs
officials.
KRA also hopes to reduce traffic to and queues in its offices, and to
save time and money spent on tax transactions. The online feedback,
KRA says will be useful in helping it improve its services.
http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144005329&cid=14&j=&m=&d>


-- 
Francis Mwathi
Support Community Facilitator
UgaBYTES Initiatives (www.ugabytes.org)
Telecentr.org (www.telecentrecommunity.ning.com)
Tel: +256 414 370163
Mob: +256 752 995063
Skype: francis.mwathi
E-Mail: mfrancis at ugabytes.org