[UgaBYTES] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP-AFRICA (WEEK 48)

[Mwathi Francis]

*E-payment: The journey so far*

27th November 2009

Eleven months after the Federal government introduced the electronic payment
system in all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Nigerians are yet to
feel its advantage over the manual payment system it sought to replace.  It
has been tales of delay payments and people are asking questions. Government
said it is aware of the limitations of the system and has promise to seek
lasting solution to it. This prompted the government to issue directives on
the need for stakeholders to work together for a viable solution to the
problems. Many Nigerians have attributed delay in the payment of salaries
and other forms of expenditure by the Federal Government such as execution
of contracts to the new method of payment. While acknowledging the
limitations and problems associated with the e-payment, government still
maintains that the system is better than the manual payment system.

http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10234:e-payment-the-journey-so-far&catid=26:business&Itemid=153



*Tribute to Head of State for his commitment to ensure fair access to ICT*

26th November 2009

Participants in the 4th International Forum of Information and Communication
Technologies “ICT 4 All ,” held on November 24-25 in Hammamet, expressed
their consideration and support to the fruitful efforts exerted by President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to deepen awareness of the stakes of the digital
revolution. They also hailed his contribution to efforts exerted at the
Arab, African and international levels to ensure fair access to digital
technologies for all countries and all peoples.

http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=29937



*Banks urged on finger technology*

25th   November 2009

Uganda’s banking sector has been urged to fast-track the biometric finger
technology to attract the unbanked segment. Stelios Fragkos, the vice
president for the Middle East, Africa and the East Mediterranean region of
NCR, a supplier of ATM machines, recently said there were many positive
reasons for the adoption of biometric technology.  He noted that Uganda is
still low on the spread of automatic teller machines (ATMs), saying the
ratio of 1,000 ATMs to 30 million people was low compared to South Africa,
which has 323 ATMs for every one million people or Europe with 700ATMs for
every one million people.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/32/702262?highlight&q=Stelios%20Fragkos



*Minister hails fibre connection drive ***

26th November 2009

Zambia stands to gain economically once the installation of the optic fibre
network is completed, Communications and Transport Minister Geoffrey
Lungwangwa has said.

Professor Lungwangwa said in an interview yesterday that Government was
determined to invest in telecommunication infrastructure development which
he said would enable the country gain economically by virtue of being
centrally located.

Prof Lungwangwa said the optic fibre infrastructure would be a backbone for
easy and efficient communication with countries like Angola which already
had the infrastructure in place, Namibia and South Africa, including West
African nations.

He said the optic fibre network, once completed would ensure cheaper
telecommunication than the satellite network currently being used in Zambia.

http://www.times.co.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=6&id=1258954514



*World’s unbanked turn to cellphones for money services*

26th November 2009

The mobile phone will in 10 years be the tool of choice for the world’s 2.7
billion unbanked people, a new study says. More than two billion people who
have no bank accounts will be using it for simple financial transactions,
says the survey by CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, and
the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). “The fact that
many of the 2.7 billion people who currently don’t use a bank will have
access to branchless banking methods such as mobile phones and the internet
by 2020 is a huge step towards financial inclusion for people in developing
countries,” said UK Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas. In the
next ten years, most consumers will use their mobile phone as a key
financial tool, but they will not completely abandon financial institutions,
the research, contained in a report entitled “*Scenarios for Branchless
Banking in 2020*,” reveals.

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/805820/-/t72l44z/-/index.html