Econet Wireless Kenya has announced the resignation of its CEO, Michael Foley, just six months after he took up the appointment.

A terse official statement from the company said that Srinivasa Iyengar, the company's resident director, would take over the position as company head, indicating the firm could be hunting for a new chief to direct its African operations....... more >>

Date: 24 February 2009,

Venue: Muson Centre, Lagos, Nigeria

The 2009 edition of the forum under the theme, “See...very far ahead” is the second edition of the annual business summit on the ICT industry's roadmap of developments that will shape and define the broader spectrum of the Nigerian economy in 2009 and beyond....... more >>

Date: 18-20 March 2009

Venue: Pavilion Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

Under the theme “Empowering Communities with 3G CDMA", operators will be talking about their challenges and success. One will present a case study on enabling mobile payments, another on tapping into Africa's broadband backhaul network, one on ways to increase ARPU with EV-DO Rev. A broadband services and another on monetizing (the economics of) low-ARPU 1X subscribers, amongst others......more >>

Date: 23rd-26th March 2009

Venue: Hilton London Tower Bridge, London, UK

Telecoms Fraud & Risk is the perfect place to learn about the developments in fraud prevention from the leading operators and solutions suppliers across Europe and beyond. Gain a greater understanding about how to manage the risks that the migration to NGNs is having, thereby securing your network and minimising fraud........ more >>

Date: 24-26 March 2009

Venue: Kigali, Rwanda

The CTO is honoured that this year the Ministry of Science and Technology, Rwanda will be hosting the 3rd Annual African e-Gov Forum. Join key ICT stakeholders in the region, including Ministers of technology, heads of e-Gov projects, civil society leaders and representatives from IT organisations; mobile operators; infrastructure providers; foundations;.... more >>

Date: 25-26 March 2009

Venue: Brussels, Belgium

For the first time in Europe, sub-Saharan African and European policy-makers and research organisations are being brought together to address the development of research collaborative projects in the ICT field. ..... more >>

A new Country General Manager has been appointed for IBM Nigeria. He is Mr. Endy Chiakpo.

Chiakpo is a hands-on and result-oriented executive that has had a 20-year career with IBM in both Nigeria and the United States of America spanning hardware and software as System Engineer, Senior Engineering Manager and recently as Programme Director. Having spent his early life in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, Chiakpo received part of his elementary and post primary education in the south east of Nigeria. ..... more >>

More accolades came the way of multiple doctorate degree holder and one of Nigeria's most accomplished Computer Scientists, Professor Oliver Eberechi Osuagwu when he was recently appointed a Chartered Fellow of the prestigious British Computer Society (BCS), the second Nigerian to be so honoured.

Professor Osuagwu, who is currently a Professor of Information Technology at the Department of Information Management Technology and Coordinator of Post Graduate Programmes in IT at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, is a distinguished scholar, a forensic scientist and a prolific writer. ........ more >>

Glo Mobile subscribers who travel to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland can now recharge their phones while there. This follows the commencement of sale of Glo recharge cards in the two countries.

A statement by Glo Gateway, Globacom's international gateway arm, said the Glo Recharge card being sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland is a Globacom network credit voucher which subscribers roaming in the two countries can buy and top up their phones. ......... more >>

A winner of Peugeot 307XT, in the Kaduna edition of the Glo Easier and Bigger Win N Rule promo held recently, Adesola Samuel Bamidele, was at his generous best as he gave out free Glo lines to neighbours and passers-by when Globacom officials visited his Ugwa Pana, Sabo Tasha, Kaduna residence to deliver the car to him. Adesola, a sales executive with Challarams Plc, Kaduna, insisted that the beneficiaries of the free Glo lines must remove the SIMs of other networks in their handset and activate their new Glo lines, promising that every month; he would give out 20 of such lines free of charge to whoever wished to be on the Glo network.
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Ericsson and Angola's Unitel have signed a contract for network performance consulting and continued expansion of Unitel's GSM/WCDMA network over the coming three years. The contract includes a comprehensive network performance partnership agreement, to strengthen Unitel's network quality.

Under the agreement, Ericsson consultants will perform network improvement and optimization services for the core, radio and transmission networks.

For the continued expansion of Unitel's network, Ericsson will deliver services including network design, network deployment, systems integration and network support. Ericsson service professionals from Angola and Portugal will be involved in the project....... more >>

Leading mobile telecommunications provider Zain has announced plans to bring mobile banking to over 100 million people in East Africa with the launch of its new service, Zap.

Providing the most comprehensive and accessible package of mobile banking features currently available on the African continent, Zap will be initially available in Kenya and Tanzania prior to launch in Uganda.

Zap represents the most comprehensive mobile banking service ever launched and will provide millions of people with access to banking for the very first time......... more >>

South Africa-based mobile group MTN saw a 3% rise in its share price after it announced that it is expecting to report an increase in annual earnings of up to 44% when it releases its 2008 financial results next month.
The earnings have been boosted by unrealised foreign exchange gains on loans, MTN says............ more >>

The East Africa Marine Systems (Teams) has been given the first submarine cable landing operator license, opening the way for the country to tap cheaper high speed Internet connection.

The license will allow the firm to convey international telecommunications traffic and provide connection to local Internet providers who have already placed cables across the country, said Communication Commission of Kenya Director General, Charles Njoroge........ more >>

Orange Guinea Conakry and Ericsson are deploying base stations fully powered by solar energy, to connect remote parts of rural Africa. Using Ericsson's base stations, a hybrid diesel-battery solution and solar panels, Orange aims to increase mobile coverage in rural and urban areas, and help reduce CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, according to a report by bizcommunity.com.
Alassane Diene, CEO of Orange-Guinea Conakry, says: “We are reducing our energy bill.

These base stations are also easier to install and require less maintenance than the traditional site...”
Jan Embro, President of Ericsson for sub-Saharan Africa, says: “It is extremely exciting to be able to run sites on alternative energy sources. Limiting dependency on fossil fuels brings many advantages, but the greatest is the ability to offer sustainable connectivity to low-income users in remote areas across Africa.”......... more >>

Nigerians should prepare for a recession if the fall in oil prices and the devaluation of the Naira are to be properly interpreted. Both critical factors forewarn the country that she is indeed on the threshold of recession.

Corporate persons must therefore, begin immediately to adopt strategies that would ensure that the ongoing penetration in the IT sector are not stalled because only an increased pace of digitalization can guarantee enough productivity to pull the country out of the woods.

These assertions were made recently by the Managing Director of Task Systems Limited, Dave Ibelegbu, while discussing IT in a depressed economy with some IT journalists.
Ibelegbu expressed the confidence that the recession would inspire growth in the Information Technology sector because it would curb under-utilization of available equipment, lay an emphasis on appropriate technology and catalyze more creative and effective means of support........... more >>