Balancing Act News Update 95: DRC - DESPITE LONG WAR, INTERNET GROWTH ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Balancing Act's News Update 95
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COMING SOON: THE LESSONS OF UNIVERSAL ACCESS AND CREATING REGIONAL
CONNECTIVITY
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IN THIS ISSUE:

* TOP STORY: DRC - DESPITE LONG WAR, INTERNET GROWTH ACROSS THE COUNTRY

* NEWS: UGANDAN PRESIDENT SEEKS TO BREAK MONOPOLY ON INTERNATIONAL CALLS
* ON THE MONEY: SA'S VC FUND ARCHWAY BUYS STAKE IN BUSINESS EDGE
* WEB NEWS: MOGADISHU GETS A SECOND ISP THAT PROVIDES LOCAL DIAL-UP
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REGIONAL BURSARIES TO ATTEND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE ART OF MAKING THINGS
HAPPEN

We will offer a limited number of bursaries (covering travel and
accommodation) to attend the workshop taking place in Nairobi on 21 February
2002 to those living in the following countries: Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda
and Tanzania. There will be three bursaries covering travel and
accommodation and several others for travel only. If you would like to
attend this workshop, send your name, address and e-mail contact details to
[email protected]

These one day workshops are aimed at existing and potential entrepreneurs in
the internet, telecoms and computing areas. The workshops will be addressed
by those involved in investing in new companies and existing entrepreneurs
and will have active sessions where participants work up business ideas.

The Kenya workshop will be held in Nairobi on Thursday 21 February 2002 at
the Nairobi Hilton. The event is organised in association with the Kenya
Information Society.
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DRC - DESPITE LONG WAR, INTERNET GROWTH ACROSS THE COUNTRY
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The Democratic Republic of Congo is an enormous country with a population of
approximately 50 million people. Its capital Kinshasa alone is home to more
than 5 million people. Its vast land-mass is currently divided amongst the
many participants in its civil war. The telephone take-up rate is one of the
lowest rate in world and its telephone infrastructure is very decrepit from
years of corruption, neglect and war. The current period of "not quite war"
has focused attention on its enormous potential. Despite all these
unpromising factors, its internet services and users have grown across the
many different provinces of the country. Eric Nzita and Nico Tshintu attempt
for the first time to chart the spread of internet access.

If SITA services are included, it was possible fairly early on to get an
internet connection in Kinshasa. People could be connected to Compuserve,
AOL and Calvacom via SITA. But only a very few people knew about this
opportunity and you needed to have a credit card, not something that's easy
to come by in the DRC. The connection was very slow and service provided in
this way was not successful.

A standard ISP service offering a dial-up connection started in 1997. It was
very expensive and mainly aimed at the corporate sector although there were
some individual subscribers. It only operated in Kinshasa and was far too
expensive for ordinary people.

In October 1999 a second ISP was started by CongoNet, a joint venture
between the Office National des Postes et Télécommunications, société d'Etat
Congolais the South African company MediaPost SA (Pty) Ltd. Its was
primarily focused on Kinshasa and offered a wireless connection.

The beginning of the growth of cyber-cafes can be dated to this point. One
was installed in Matonge in the heart of Kinshasa city. It was quite
successful as it offered an effective solution for overcoming the country's
poor telephone system and for those unable to afford to buy a computer. From
its success sprang others and there are now at least twenty cybercafes.

Internet access for the majority of users is through cyber-cafes. Local NGOs
have also developed internet use for sending communications and documents. A
small number of these NGOs have got access to internet connections through
international aid agencies. Individual usage is negligible. The most used
applications are e-mail and web.

Today, there are seven ISPs in Kinshasa. All are offering wireless
connectivity. Only the first ISP founded still offers a dial-up subscription
but it also offers wireless options. The state telco is not offering any
internet services. The number of internet subscribers in Kinshasa is likely
to be approximately 2,000. It is hard to provide authoritative information
about usage across the country because of the extent of the country and the
impact of the war which has torn the country apart.

However it is now possible for the first time to provide some information
about what exists in the different government and rebel controlled areas in
terms of: towns and cities that are now connected to the internet, larger
providers of internet access and the position of certain international aid
and development agencies:

In the eleven provinces of the DRC, there are the following provinces of
note:

- The province of Kinshasa, the capital city.

There are seven companies offering internet services (with the year they
started in brackets): Interconnect( 1998),Raganet(1999), Afrinet(2000),
Usanent(2000),Roff Hi-tech(2000),Microcom(2000) and Africanusnet(2001)

- The province of Katanga with towns of Lumbubashi and Likasi.

Only the town of Lumumbashi is connected by Interconnect and Raganet.

- The province of Bas-Congo with the towns of Matadi, Boma et Muanda.

Only the town of Matadi is connected by Hi-Tech.

- The province du Kasaï Oriental with the town of Mbuji-mayi.

The town of Mbuji-mayi is connected by Microcom.

USAID has launched an initiative to provide provide internet connections for
local civil society organisations and NGOs to help them with information and
communication. It operates in Kinshasa, Mbuji-mayi, Boma, Muanda and Matadi.

There are two companies that have internet access in other parts of the
country: Golf-Congo in Munda in Bas-Congo Province and the Central Bank of
Congo in those provinces under government control.

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NEWS ROUND-UP AND SNIPPETS
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* UGANDAN PRESIDENT SEEKS TO BREAK MONOPOLY ON INTERNATIONAL CALLS

President Museveni has directed Prime Minister Apollo Nsibambi to cancel the
monopoly agreements held by MTN Uganda Ltd and UTL over international
voice-over traffic, to pave way for his attempt to attract new investors in
internet-based professional services.

"The problem are the monopolies we had previously given to UTL, MTN and
Celtel," said the president in a 2-page letter, "As per this monopoly, all
international telecommunication, including Internet, must go through the
three operators." He said the companies might overcharge the new investors,
or slow down their operations.

The new area of investment, which the president has chosen to champion, is
based on internet specialisation, by which professionals in Uganda can work
for a company in say, Canada, transacting all communications between them
over the internet.

"This is a very good chance for our unemployed graduates with Bachelor of
Commerce or Business Administration and Accountancy, to get lucrative jobs
without leaving the country. "Companies can send their books, get them
audited here, and sent back." he said. The Government has recently set up a
scheme of this kind working with Canadian consultants Perwit International.

The president reportedly has a further 15 companies eager to set up similar
businesses, and all they need is the licence to set up their own independent
links with satellites and access to international traffic.This would not
only guarantee reliability in terms of time and cost, but also in terms of
keeping business secrets. According to a survey on the viability of the
venture, Uganda stands to earn US $8.5m in the first year of operation, US
$24m in the second year.

In the letter, the president told Nsibambi that he had already told John
Nasasira, Minister of Works, Transport and Communications, and Sam Kutesa of
Planning and Investments, to get rid of the "triopoly", adding that he
wanted a law reversing it by Sept. 24 the same year.

However at a workshop last week, Nasasira said he had not yet reviewed the
licences to MTN and UTL, and no new law has been prepared to that effect.
Under their national operator agreements, each of the companies is entitled
to five years of monopoly on international traffic. MTN's period ends in
2003, but UTL's time is valid until 2005.
(source: The Monitor via http://www.allafrica.com)

* SA'S TELKOM INSTALLS COMMS NETWORK IN MALI FOR AFRICAN NATIONS CUP

A communications network designed and implemented by Telkom has doubled the
capacity of Mali's fixed line and mobile communications network between the
capital Bamako and the remote cities of Kayes and Sikasso to ensure
effective national and international communication for the duration of the
African Nations Cup.

The project was scoped in December last year and engineered in early January
2002. A combined team of Telkom and specialised turn-key systems staff
installed the network earlier this month.Consisting of national routes by
means of satellite links between Bamako, Kayes in the North and Sikasso in
the South (cities that are home to major soccer stadiums that were built for
the tournament), the network doubled Sotelma's existing network capacity in
these areas. Additional bandwidth was also supplied to MaliTel - the
country's mobile service provider.

* WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM BACKS GHANA SCHOOLS PROJECT

At the meeting of the World Economic Forum that took place last week in New
York City, the WEF Digital Divide Task Force proposed three WEF initiatives
to be piloted in Ghana. The goal of each is to extend Internet access for
students into remote, rural schools that will not otherwise be connected for
several years. Each seeks to develop and test new collaborative business
models that are sustainable, scalable, and could be rolled-out to other
countries in Africa. The three WEF pilots are: (1) an ISP experimenting
with a business plan placing telecenters in rural schools to provide
students with free Internet access; (2) a team of Ghanaian NGOs installing
used computers in 38 rural schools to connect them to the Internet; and (3)
partnerships between two universities in Ghana adopting the content
adaptation, teacher training, and computer/network maintenance for their
neighboring primary and secondary schools.

Africa Online and World Computer Exchange are the co-leads for Ghana of the
Education Steering Committee of the Global Digital Divide Task Force of the
World Economic Forum. This new collaboration is showing early success in
bringing a private business sector and a non-governmental organization
together to work out together novel forms of support in the ICT area. If the
WEF Telecenters-In-Schools is successful, they are considering working
together in Cote d¹Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and
Zimbabwe. World Links also made a major contribution to the development of
the Telecenters-In-Schools pilot initiative.

World Computer Exchange is planning on working with Kabissa.org,
InterConnection, SchoolNet Africa and IDRC, Teachers without Borders, and
World Links to expand the WEF Universities-Schools Partnerships initiative
into nine of the following countries: Bénin, Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya,
Malawi, Moçambique , Nigeria, Rwanda, Sénégal, Tanzania, Uganda, and
Zambia.
For more information on the WEF Donated Computers for Ghanian School
Initiative, you can visit the following link:
http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org/partner_plans/Ghana-CEV-Plan.doc

* ECONET GIVES TOLL FREE NUMBERS TO HELP ARMOURY RELIEF EFFORTS

ECONET Wireless Nigeria has donated five GSM hot lines to the Nigerian Red
Cross Society for effective communication as the society continues to assist
victims of the blasts that shook Lagos last Sunday. General Manager of the
company, Darlington Mandivenga, who presented the phones on behalf of the
company revealed that one of the lines (0802 3273 627) is specifically for
people to call and help locate missing persons. "There will be no charge for
calls made to that number," Mandivenga assured. He added that Econet
Wireless has also made special arrangements with Cool FM to broadcast names
of missing persons on an hourly basis.
(The Vanguard via http://www.allafrica.com)

* ELECTRIC GENETICS PROVIDES SOFTWARE PLATFORM FOR NEW DRUGS

Electric Genetics, South Africa's only genome informatics company, is
providing its globally recognised stackPACK(tm) software to biotechnology
experts from across Africa attending the Regional Training Course on
Bioinformatics Applied to Tropical Diseases in Africa, the company announced
today.

A two-week course is being held at the South African National Bioinformatics
Institute (SANBI), University of the Western Cape, and is sponsored by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and the World Health
Organisation (WHO), Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical
Diseases (TDR).

Fifteen scientists from seven African countries were selected from over 100
applicants to attend the course, which is geared to promoting capability
among endemic countries' scientists in applying the latest DNA technology to
tropical disease research. The focus is on bioinformatics (computational
biology) concepts with specific emphasis on the tropical diseases in the TDR
portfolio: Malaria, Tuberculosis, Dengue, Leishmaniasis, Chagas' disease,
African sleeping sickness, Leprosy, Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, and
Schistosomiasis.

stackPACK(tm), Linux(tm) and other leading open source products have been
loaded onto desktops provided free of charge by Compaq. Selected
participants will receive these computers to enable them to carry on the
scientific discovery work when they return home. For more information on the
TDR conference, visit www.sanbi.ac.za or email to
[email protected] .

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ON THE MONEY
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* SA'S VC FUND ARCHWAY BUYS STAKE IN BUSINESS EDGE

Venture capital fund Archway 2 has acquired a 25% stake in local IT company,
Business Edge Systems, for an undisclosed sum.Established in 1990, Business
Edge comprises an e-business division providing business process design,
development and integration services across industry sectors, and an
application products division that supplies packaged solutions to selected
vertical niches. The solutions include foreign exchange and employee
benefits.

Business Edge's clients include Absa, Standard Bank, First National Bank,
MTN, Investec, Liberty Life and Anglo Platinum as well as international
partners RedMane Technologies and Worldgroup Consulting.

Commenting on the investment, Leonard Bruhns, Archway Venture Partner GM,
says: "We have been impressed with the mature management team at Business
Edge and their excellent track record since inception. Archway anticipates
that Business Edge will continue to develop its business through both
acquisitions and organic growth."

* ALTRON, POWERTECH WARNINGS SPARK SPECULATION OF FURTHER CUTS

Warning notices issued by Allied Electronics (Altron) and Power
Technologies (Powertech) have sparked speculation that Altron is to
streamline its structure further.The notices, published simultaneously
yesterday on the JSE's news service, SENS, say only that ³certain
initiatives² are being considered.

Altron, which owns 59.2% of Powertech, began restructuring its shareholding
portfolio last year. Moves have included proposals to sell its 3.2% stake in
Voltex, along with Powertech's 28.8% holding in the company, to Bidvest.
Altron has said that the sale of the Voltex stake is in line with a broader
strategy to simplify the Altron group structure.It has also previously
announced proposals to buy out minority shareholders of Autopage and Fintech
as part of the same strategy.

* REVERSE TAKE-OVER AT C-TECH

A reverse takeover has occurred at Community Technologies (C-Tech),
resulting in a change of nature and name. C-Tech has issued 200 million
shares at 10c each to acquire Beget Group, Moneyline 654 (Eze-Bill) and
Orbes Manufacturing (TM Commerce). Beget was allocated 82.95 million shares,
Eze-Bill 73.56 million and TM Commerce 43.5 million.

C-Tech, to be renamed Beget Holdings, will become a provider of advance
services delivered via cellular and Internet technology, a change of focus
from its existing nature as a computer distribution company. Its core
competency will lie in database mining and combining the technologies of
cellular communications and Internet thin-client solutions with desktop
applications and databases.

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AFRICA'S DIGERATI: IT SERVICE'S PRINCE OWUSU-YEBOAH ON THE NEED FOR REAL
COMPETITION IN THE GHANA TELECOMS MARKET
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In 1992, when I first arrived in Ghana, I was bent on returning to the land
of my birth and putting in my quota to foster development and progress. At
the time all the signals were right for Ghana to bring itself out of the
deprivation and mis-management culture that had prevailed since it became
the first sub-saharan Africa country to gain independence from its colonial
masters.

I realised that infrastructure needed to be addressed extensively, and
therefore felt that with the acquired and learned technologies from the
United States of America, Ghana could leap-frog into the digital age in many
areas where even the United States of America was struggling to implement,
due to deregulation issues and so on.

I partnered with an American company, based in Chicago, Illinois known as
Vital Visionary Innovations (VVI), to form Telecable Communciations of
Ghana. VVI had managed to gain access to fiber-optic technology which was a
few years ahead in utilising converging communications. The company that VVI
had contracted the technology from was First Pacific Networks (FPN) based in
Sunnyvale, California.

This technology was introduced to then Post and Telecommunciations of Ghana
(P&T), and it was proposed at no cost to P&T to do a joint venture with
Telecable. We realised that we were going to have a very long battle on our
hands when the then Deputy Director-General told us that Ghana will not be
ready for such technologies for another 10-15yrs. It was absolutely
disheartening! Personally, I came to the realisation that Ghana was going to
be in serious trouble with its communication development when it had this
type of leadership at the helm of its main communication corporation.

In July 1992, when a communication conference was held at the State House,
cries for diversification was countered with most of the participants
requesting that government take its time and allow P&T to get into joint
ventures with other companies before deciding on diversification. It will
enable P&T to get out of its bad debt to income ratio of about 13 to 1 at
the time. But this fell on deaf years.

In 1994, at Labadi Beach Hotel similar sentiments to those raised at the
State House conference were raised again and fell on deaf ears.

In 1997, what I perceive as a bold move by the government was a done deal
and the exclusivity contract was signed sealed and delivered.

Lo and behold, in 2002, on the eve of the expiration of the exclusivity, we
look back and ask ourselves, "Have we not learnt our lessons well"?

In 2002, the communication sector recognises the failures in the decision to
diversify and grant monopolistic status to Ghana Telecom and Westel. While
the developed world were grappling with the advancement of technology, Ghana
got itself boiled down in a situation that was not progressive. In terms of
communication density and growth, we have actually retarded any progress.
Today, for every 10 phone lines turned on by Ghana Telecom, about 6 are down
or just not working. So where do they get the statistic that they have
240,000 phone lines in all of Ghana? First of all, they should be ashamed of
that sort of boasting in a country of about 20 million. And secondly, the
should be bold enough to state active phone lines and not lines that have
been turned on.

From my own perspective, we've had a problem with regulating or managing
anything and everything in Ghana. It is in our culture to mismanage. If we
don't want to tread that same path again, then we better make sure we have
the proper setup in place before we even think about managing or regulating.
This means that, logistics and proper human resource facilities need to be
made available. Most importantly we need to retrench a lot of our human
resources in order that they can become better managers. This is most
important in Ghana's economic development. But most of all for regulation in
communications.

We should be seen to be going forward, and not restricted by regulators who
do not have a clue and/or in tune with technological advancement. And when I
say advancement, I do not mean theoretically. I am talking about feeling,
seeing and doing!!!! Getting practical!

On February 19th 2002, when the exclusivity on voice communications comes to
an end, Ghana should not look anywhere else but to its own indigenous
business and communication experts to resolve our communication problems.
Convergence today in the communications sector will allow competition in
this sector solve all of our communication needs. Data, voice and video can
today be provided by any or all data or voice networks. This is the absolute
way forward!!

While this is ongoing, all efforts should be made to put in the proper
logistics for better regulating. And this can be achieved with both the
private sector and government coming together and furnishing out what is
required to meet our goals and objectives.

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AFRICAN WEB NEWS AND USEFUL SITES
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* MOGADISHU GETS A SECOND ISP THAT PROVIDES LOCAL DIAL-UP

The NationLink Telecommunications Company of Somalia has established a
second Internet company in Mogadishu, a senior manager of the company told
IRIN. Telecom Somalia, better known as Olympic Telecommunications, was the
first company to restore Internet services to Mogadishu after a gap of two
months during which residents had no access. It was established on 23
January.

The difference between the two companies is that NationLink provides a local
dial-up, whereas Telecom Somalia's service is routed through Norway,
according to Ahmad Dini, the general manager of NationLink. Dini said
NationLink customers would be able to "sign up for a 24-hour unlimited
Internet access, if they wish to do so". According to Dini, this option has
never been available before.
(source: IRIN)

* GHANA'S e-SHOPAFRICA.COM FINDS A RELIABLE CONNECTION

eShopAfrica.com is an ecommerce site selling African arts and crafts online,
writes Cordelia Salter-Nour. It was launched in Ghana in Spring 2001 its aim
being to get more orders for traditional African artisans. In order to stay
close to the artisans it's essential that the business be based in Africa.

Although Ghana offered enough reliable connectivity to run an ecommerce
site, online marketing was a big problem - the speed of even the best
dial-ups in Accra was too slow. Each product line needs separate marketing
and any search engine result that produced hundreds or thousands of results
was unworkable. Dial-up speeds are worse during prime working hours meaning
that the only time to market was on weekends and in the middle of the night.

Last November eShopAfrica moved into one of the start-up offices at
BusyInternet and now with a reliable Vsat connection online marketing has
become a reality. It's possible to make a search, visit the resulting sites,
pick out the ones with possibilities and send emails all within a normal
working day. Like all online marketing, there is a low percentage of
responses but we are creating an interest in our products and our orders are
up - all because of the speed of the connection.
http://www.eShopAfrica.com

* SIERRE LEONE ENCYCLOPEDIA LAUNCHES ON THE WEB

A new information resource giving a snapshot of the current situation in
Sierra Leone, what has been achieved in 2001, and a starting point for
further information gathering this year, is now available on Relief Web.

The Sierra Leone Encyclopedia (SLE) brings together a large amount of
information from a variety of sources including UN agencies, NGOs,
government ministries, and the UN Mission in Sierra Leone. SLE, of use to
those working in the country and to other outside interest groups, contains
maps, photographs, the latest assessments and information on humanitarian
assistance.

SLE was produced by the Sierra Leone Information System (SLIS), an
inter-agency project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) and UNHCR. SLIS recives major funding support from ECHO, the
humanitarian office of the EC.
The encyclopaedia can be accessed at http://www2.reliefweb.int/sle/index.htm

* FRENCH LAMGUAGE UNICODE GROUP STARTS

Je viens de commencer un e-groupe sur l'utilisation de l'Unicode pour
langues africaines dans les logiciels et sur l'Internet à:
http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/Unicode-Afrique À part le but principal
d'encourager une discussion sur pourquoi et comment Unicode pourrait
favoriser la présence des langues africaines dans les NTIC,
cet e-groupe "Unicode-Afrique" est un moyen de mesurer les accomplissements
et besoins actuels dans ce domaine. Don Osborn, Ph.D. [email protected]

* iii CLOSES SA WEBSITE

The London-based owners of the interactive investor web site
(www.iii.co.za) have decided to close the local web site in a move that
will allow the local management to develop the business independently as a
solutions provider to the finance sector.
http://www.mediatoolbox.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=2871&p=39

* IN BRIEF

- Africa Online Ltd has introduced an internet-based invoicing process
that enhances overall management of clients' accounts .

- UUNET SA has partnered with Intelleca to offer SpeechMail to its
employees and customers. The service provides remote, voice-enabled e-mail
access, allowing users to listen and reply to e-mail messages over the
phone.

- infoDev has recently given an implementation grant to Namibia to provide
seed funding for a country gateway.

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IN SEARCH OF THE BUSINESS MODEL
____________________________________________________________________________

* VOICE OVER IP: IT'S READY!

With IP-voice technology producing call quality equivalent to that of the
traditional phone networks, corporate users see VoIP as a way to save a buck
by using their existing data networks for phone calls, too.
(source: http://click.idg.email-publisher.com/maaagIEaaQ4Mua9tMcOb/ )

* READY OR NOT FOR E-PAYMENTS
You can start making e-payments any time. But are
you, your trading partners and your respective banks ready to be early
adopters?
(source: http://click.idg.email-publisher.com/maaagIIaaQ4PLa9n2s7b/ )

* THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ONLINE MALL

At one time, e-commerce retailers found it crucial to join one of the major
online malls if they wanted to have any chance of success. But times are
changing as portal sites de-emphasize shopping and consumers find other ways
to access their favorite stores on the Web.
(source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/16037.html)

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PEOPLE AND JOBS
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* The new Western Regional Director of Ghana Telecom David Mettle has
stated that his company has no agenda to sabotage Spacefon, a mobile phone
service provider in the country just because they have also entered into the
mobile phone market.

Mettle, who was talking to reporters in Takoradi last Wednesday, explained
that under their interconnection agreement with Spacefon and other mobile
phone providers, they have something they call channels linking the two
networks where the call coming from each end would be routed through.

The new regional director further explained to the newsmen that currently
the channels that come from Spacefon to link GT network are not even up to
hundred and considering the fact that GT at the moment has over 250,000
fixed lines, it would obviously be impossible for even two thirds of these
customers who call Spacefon network at the some time to go through.

He told the reporters who pressed him on the issue that the only way the
problem could be solved is for Spacefon to invest more in order to increase
the channels which has not been done due apparently to the large capital
investment required.

He also told the journalists that GT could have flooded the mobile phone
market with more of their starter pack (chip) but they have refused to do so
because their equipment cannot at the moment cope with that.

David Mettle takes over from Divine Kpetigo who goes to his new job in Accra
as director in charge of pay phones.

* Tanzania's Communications Minister Mark Mwandosya told the closing
session of the annual Training the Trainers Workshop for 2002:"...although
we tend to focus primarily on the issue of access to ICT services, which is
definitely important, a national infrastructure, its technology, and
establishing the "LAST MILE" is essential. To this end we cordially welcome
the initiatives of IICD to set up pilot projects, which would demonstrate
that Rural Communication at affordable costs is possible. But we also have
to look beyond the issues of access. For instance concrete measures for
developing local content and expertise in areas such as governance,
livelihood, education, health, agriculture, commerce and banking, and
tourism are essential to bring the real benefits of ICTs to all Tanzanians".

* According to Gary Shepherd of PDQ Convergence South Africa's Telkom is
not being completely open with its recent advertising campaign claiming only
a 5.5% average increase in tariffs."How Telkom calculates an average
increase of 5.5% is a mystery to me," he declares. "The only cost that has
been cut is that of international calls, but all local, national and
cellular rates have been significantly increased. Even for an import/export
company that makes numerous overseas calls, the bulk of their phone bill
will still consist of local, national and cellular calls. Considering that
only about 1% of the total call charges of the average phone bill comprises
international calls, the savings made on these calls will be totally
overwhelmed by the increases incurred in the cost of local, national and
cellular charges".

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EVENTS
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* ENTREPRENEURSHP AND ICT - THE ART OF MAKING THINGS HAPPEN (21 FEBRUARY
2002)

Location: Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya

10.00 Workshop attendees arrive for coffee

10.30 Opening speech (Juma Okech, Director, Information Technology, Ministry
of Finance and Planning/Treasury)

11.00 First session

Introduction: Purposes and structure of the day, Russell Southwood, Chief
Executive, Balancing Act

Sammy Buruchara, CEO of NairobiNet and Jyoti Mukherjee of Software
Technologies talk about their experiences in setting up their companies and
identify issues the participants will need to tackle.

Question and answers and discussion.

Ayisi Makatiani of Africa Online and Davind Sikand of CDC Capital Partners
describe what they look for in a business idea and how they assess an
investment proposal.

Question and answers and discussion.

1.00 - 2.00 Lunch

2.00 - 3.00 Participants "break out" into three smaller groups to prepare a
potential business idea for presentation to the panel.

3.15 - 3.30 Coffee break

3.30 - 5.00 Groups "pitch" business ideas to the "expert panel". The panel
will consist of the speakers above.

5.00 Ways of taking things forward

The workshop is free. Those wanting to participate should send your name,
address and e-mail contact details to [email protected] The
workshops are open to participants from neighbouring countries but there is
only a small budget from which to make contributions to travel expenses.

* STRUCTURATION ET FINANCE DE PROJETS NTIC, ABIDJAN, COTE D'IVOIRE (12-15
FEVRIER 2002)

Location: Golf Hotel-Inter-Continental. Sessions inclus: E - readiness : Où
en sont les NTIC en Afrique ? Les fournisseurs d¹accès internet, Les
cybercafés, Quelles solutions NTIC pour les institutions financières?, Les
NTIC et la chaîne de la valeur des entreprises africaines, ERP et internet,
le futur d¹aujourd'hui, E - g o v e rnment : réconcilier administration
et secteur privé, Sécurité de l¹information et sécurité sur
le web, Exemples de succès et d¹échecs dans le e - c o m m e rce en Afrique.
Pour l'information: APDF / AMSCO Mme Charlotte ASSAMOI
Imm. CCIA - Plateau 17è étage Tél. : (225) 20 21 96 97, Fax : (225) 20 21 61
51 E-mail : [email protected]

* WOMEN AND ICTs CONFERENCE POSTPONED UNTIL JUNE 2002

The Horn of Africa Regional conference on Women & ICTs to have been held on
11-15 February 2002 has been postponed to 3-7 June 2002. This conference is
being hosted by the African Centre for Women, Information & Communications
Technology. The rest of the conference details remain the same, and you can
get information
about this at:
web: http://www.acwict.or.ke
email: [email protected] / [email protected]

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BACK NUMBERS - AFRICA'S DIGERATI: PEOPLE MAKING THINGS HAPPEN
____________________________________________________________________________

We are now only listing back issues from issue 20 onwards. If you want to
search previous back issues offline you can buy our new CD-ROM (see bottom
of this e-letter) or go online and search at
http://www.balancingact-afric.com

91. Africa Online's Ben Parker on growing a portal
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act91.html

90. Mali's Seydou Coulibaly on the internet in Mali
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act90.html

87. Metrocomia's Charles Musisi on developing a web design business
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act87.html

86. UNECA's Mercy Wambui on ICT in rural comunities
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act86.html

83. Internet Ghana's Leslie Tamakloe on GISPA's ambitions
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act83.html

77. Ensquared's Craig Levy on local internet exchanges
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act77.html

76. Zamnet's Daniel Mpolokosa on the state of the Zambian market
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act76.html

74. Brian Longwe on Kenya's local internet exchange
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act74.html

73. Eric Osiakwan on the launch of Afrispa
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act73.html

70. Kechil Kirkam on donor-funded, IT implementation in Uganda
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act70.html

69. Cordelia Salter-Nour on the need for skills transfer
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act69.html

64. CyberTwiga's Adam Messer on its pre-paid service launch
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act64.html

62. Gambit Technologies' Andrew Myers on market growth
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act62.html

61. Amos Maleka on 3piCom's Smart Card
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act61.html

60. Peter Nsanze on Uganda, Africa's Digital Pearl
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act60.html

59. CITI's Peter Frampton on the launch of Bandwidth Barn
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act59.html

58. Jacques Perpetus Houngbo on the importance of INET to Africa
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act58.html

56. Michel Mavros, Metissacan on bandwidth
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act56.html

55. Seymour Howe on VOIP
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act55.html

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PAID FOR ADS
___________________________________________________________________________

In response to an increasing number of enquiries from companies wanting to
advertise their products and services, we have drawn up a rate card for ads
in this section (or in other parts of News Update) and for banner ads on our
web site. To see a copy of our rate card, e-mail a request
([email protected])

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OFFLINE SEARCHABLE BACK ISSUES OF NEWS UPDATE AND A BONUS OF FREE SOFTWARE:

This CD-ROM is to help all those users who want to make regular use of the
past information in our back issues without the expense of going online. It
covers issues 4.1 - 50. The CD-ROM contains a search engine that will allow
you to use key words to find subjects, countries or companies that you are
interested in.

As a bonus, it also has the following free software: ACDSee, Adobe Acrobat,
Eudora, GetRight, Netscape Navigator 3.04 - 4.5, Paintshop Pro, Shockwave
and Flash and Winzip. Most are available in either Windows or Mac versions.

If you would like to order a copy, please send a cheque or money order for
£25 or US$35 (includes postage and packing) payable to Balancing Act to
Balancing Act's News Update, 71 Crescent Lane, London SW4 9PT. We will not
generate pro-forma invoices for this product.
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All material printed in Balancing Act's News Update is subject to copyright.
Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the express
permission of the publisher.
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