[UgaBYTES] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP- AFRICA (WEEK 24)

[Mwathi Francis]

Congo Brazzaville: Dial 115 and save a child's life
11th June 2009

The public and private sectors in Congo have joined forces to use
near-ubiquitous mobile phones in an effort to save the lives of
thousands of children who die of treatable conditions every year.
About 125 of every 1,000 children in Congo die before their fifth
birthday, with half of this number not making it to the age of one. In
eight out of 10 cases, easily curable conditions - malaria, diarrhoea,
respiratory infections, and malnutrition - are to blame.

With the introduction of a 24-hour toll-free medical hotline set up by
the Congolese government, UNICEF and a mobile telephone network
operator, professional health operators will be on call to respond to
queries about paediatric emergencies.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84798


Africa Coast to Europe submarine cable extended to South Africa
9th June 2009

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable system, which was
initially planned to stretch from France to Gabon, will now be
extended to South Africa connecting all countries along the West coast
of Africa, from Morocco to South Africa. A statement from France
Telecom said this new cable will provide broadband interconnection to
the global telecommunications network to more than 25 countries in
Africa and Western Europe.
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=675552

Tanzania in bid to lower ICT costs
8th June 2009

The government of Tanzania is working on mechanisms that will lower
costs of information and communications technology (ICT) services.
This was said by the Director General of Tanzania Communications
Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Prof. John Nkoma, recently during the
World Telecommunications and Information Society Day.  “While the main
goal is to provide ICT access to all, we should be cognisant of the
fact that many people who are within coverage areas of ICT are still
not served because of the high costs of services,” he said. Prof.
Nkoma said Tanzania has seen exponential growth in the use of ICT,
especially of computers, radios, televisions and more recently mobile
phones with a tele-density of over 33% (13 million simcards in a
population of 40 million).
http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1644&Itemid=1

Rwanda Development Board Donates ICT Equipment to 12 Districts
11th June 2009

The arm of Rwanda Development Board in charge of the national ICT
implementation agenda, RDB-IT, has handed over IT equipment worth Rwf
129m to 12 districts as part of the programme embarking on deployment
and exploitation of ICTs in the rural areas. Local government
minister, Protais Musoni received the180 desktop computers, 180
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units, 12 network printers and 12
digital cameras at his offices in Kacyiru on Monday.
The 12 districts to benefit from this programme include Kirehe,
Bugesera and Gatsibo in the Eastern province, Burera and Rulindo in
the Northern Province, Ngororero, Rustiro, Nyamasheke and Karongi in
the Western province and Gisagara, Nyaruguru and Nyamagabe in the
Southern province.
http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13923&article=16511

Partnership agreement between Tunisia and Microsoft penned
10th June 2009

A partnership agreement between Tunisia and Microsoft was signed on
Tuesday during a ceremony gathering the Minister of industry, energy
and small and medium enterprises, Mr Afif Chelbi and Mr Jean Philipe
Courtois, the President of Microsoft International. The agreement
dubbed “Intejiya” aims at supporting small and medium enterprises in
integrating ICT, as well as increasing the international visibility of
Tunisian start ups.
http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/2009/06/10/partnership-agreement-between-tunisia-and-microsoft-penned/







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Francis Mwathi
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