Weekly News Roundup - Africa March 6

Country: Uganda
Created By: Esther on 5-Mar-2008 11:16 PM

440 Schools in Nigeria to get Internet Centers
At least 440 secondary schools are to benefit from two projects from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) with Internet Centers before end of this year, an official said.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Engineer Ernest Ndukwe said this Friday at the commissioning of the Two Internet Centers in Queens Comprehensive Secondary School and Unity Secondary Schools both in Enugu under the Commission's Digital Awareness Program (DAP).

Zimbabwe: Promote Solar-Powered Computers
A partnership between Government and a private indigenous electronics company to promote the use of solar-powered computers in schools around the country is laudable.
This development is coming on the back of challenges over power supplies that the country is facing, which have rendered computers in many schools, especially in rural areas idle.
President Mugabe has donated hundreds of computers to schools in cities, towns and rural areas to ensure that technology becomes the most affordable and effective way to educate young people and give them better job opportunities.


Ugandan Minister Urges More Effort to Attain ICT Effectiveness
Uganda has arguably made substantial progress in both rolling out key ICT infrastructures and creating an apt environment in which people can piggyback on these facilities to expand the comfort and convenience of their lives.
However the latter is not happening as it should be, according to Uganda's ICT Minister Dr Ham-Mukasa Mulira (pictured)and that realisation is partly the centre of intense deliberations by the ongoing e-Governance Forum on how citizens can be primed to effectively utilise ICT tools.

Election Campaigns Go Hi-Tech in Zimbabwe
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Savvy text messaging and cheeky ring tones are the new face of cost-effective political campaigning in Zimbabwe in the run up to the 29 March election, despite the creakiness of country's cell phone networks.
"Call it an SMS [short message service] craze if you like ... It's a simple, inexpensive and effortless way of campaigning for candidates of one's choice," Aleck Ndlovu, a political activist, told IRIN.

Songs of Web 2.0 Collaboration
IBM is inviting professional and amateur musicians from all over the world to use its Internet collaboration tools to compose songs about South Africa. The initiative, called Songs of Good Hope, is being officially announced at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover, Germany, currently taking place.
With this venture, IBM intends to demonstrate the advantages of a connected and global world without borders, as well as to familiarise the public and show the potential inherent in 3D Internet and Web 2.0 technologies. IBM sees these collaboration technologies as the future of the internet.

Microsoft Launches New Server Software in Namibia
Microsoft yesterday introduced three new software solutions to the Namibian market that it said would ultimately allow companies to maximise value and drive down overheads.
Microsoft General Manager for East and Southern Africa, Louis Onyango Otieno, said Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008, would help users secure their information, manage their networks more efficiently and ensure their users deliver better results.

'Enrichment' in Sea Cable Project Irks DA
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has published proposed guidelines to compel a 51% African shareholding in the company that lands a submarine cable in the country.
However, Democratic Alliance communications spokeswoman Dene Smuts has criticised the requirement - billed by the minister as necessary for the "rapid deployment of electronic communications facilities" - as being designed for nothing other than the rapid enrichment of African participants in submarine cables.


Uganda's Police Call Centres Boosted
For the first time in Uganda will people have the option of contacting the police through the use of the short message service (SMS) to report emergencies.
The service (sms option) will however only be available to Warid Telecom subscribers after the telecom firm last week handed over 47 GSM enabled complimentary desk phones that support the SMS technology to the Uganda Police Force.
With the phones, the deaf and incapacitated persons who may not be in position to talk will simply text their requests to 112 or 999, the traditional police emergency numbers.

Contact Name: Esther Nasikye

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