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International Telecommunication Union Plans Three Conferences In Kenya In Sept

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The global agency, International Telecommunication Union( ITU), that allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide, has announced three conferences at Kenya.

 

The links to the conferences are here. There are also listed below. The three conferences will hold in Nairobi (Kenya)  on Sept 28, 2011.

 

  • Workshop on “Mainstreaming the disability perspective for an inclusive society”

 

  • Workshop on “Implementing good practices in accessibility for an inclusive society”

 

  • ITU/EBU Workshop on “How Can We Reach the Media Have-Nots of the Developed and Developing Worlds?”

Business Payment Is Going Online In Africa – But Wait, The Cost Is Still Prohibitive For Merchants

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eTranzact is the first online real-time payment system that allows account holders to pay for goods and services purchased from merchants, transfer funds to any bank account, cell phone, any card, pay bills, order products in some African cities. This is just a new dimension in the mobile and online revolution of the continent.

 

The landscape of the ecommerce in Nigeria has long been cemented. Gone were the days when nothing could happen online. But all that has changed.  The nation is making progress and very quick.

 

Tekedia notes that there are many Nigerian sites with full e-commerce capabilities these days with payment method denominated with Naira. In other words, they have built methods for those that operate electronic payments in Naira to participate. This industry is growing and very healthy indeed.

 

With more Nigerians online now, this business will surely improve. In most statistics, including Facebook and other top websites Nigerians are getting online and that is good news for the growth of the mobile and electronic payment. The more time they spend online, the more they will shop online.

 

With some kind of standards and unification in the payment system, there is now a big order.  Interswitch is the behemoth while etranzact works the line. Nearly all the banks have Interswitch readiness.  Having that consortium is already helping the ecosystem. The good news is that the card which is used in Nigeria could be used as in other nations – POS, Internet, ATM. Of course, not many will use their cards online because of the illusion of risk.

 

For some big websites, we have noted direct logo of international brands like Visa and Mastercard. The banks are using these cards in the country.  Though Paypal are integrated in some sites, but the banks are not local and that does not help that much.

 

The big change will come with the penetration of mobile payment. As the players juggle with their licenses, mobile and epayment in Nigeria will grow.

 

The major drawback to the faster adoption of eCommerce remains the cost of  integrating Interswitch. It is very expensive with more than N150,000 just to set it up per site. With that kind of money, people will not go in a hurry to have that included.

The CDMA Crises In Nigeria And How Nigeria Stock Exchange Punishes Tech Firms

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Starcomms is the first telecommunications operator in Nigeria to be listed on the domestic Exchange.  With a vast network of over 3.2 million subscribers, it is the fourth largest telecommunications operator and largest CDMA 3G Mobile network in the country.

 

Today, Starcomms holds a presence in 38 major cities, covering 182 towns. This is indeed a rosy introduction. Starcomms used to matter. Their financial woes took them to the stock market where they met Nigerian investors that never like anything that is not oil, finance or conglomerate. Tech companies end up trading as junks in the exchange. Check Omatek, Chams and you will agree.

 

 

CHAMS

Trade Date 19 July, 2011 Currency NGN (NIARA)
Last Trade 0.50 volume N/A
Net Change +0.00 Value N/A
% Change +0.00 Issued Shares 4,620,600,000
Open N/A Market Cap. 2,310,300,000.00
Today’s High N/A Bid N/A
Today’s Low N/A Ask N/A

 

SSTARCOMMS

Trade Date 19 July, 2011 Currency NGN (NIARA)
Last Trade 0.55 volume 1,463,630
Net Change -0.02 Value 818,673.40
% Change -3.51 Issued Shares 6,878,478,096
Open 0.57 Market Cap. 3,783,162,952.80
Today’s High 0.57 Bid N/A
Today’s Low 0.55 Ask N/A

OMATEK

Trade Date 19 July, 2011 Currency NGN (NIARA)
Last Trade 0.50 volume N/A
Net Change +0.00 Value N/A
% Change +0.00 Issued Shares 2,941,789,472
Open N/A Market Cap. 1,470,894,736.00
Today’s High N/A Bid N/A
Today’s Low N/A Ask N/A

 

 

Visafone looks healthy but the underlining business is shaky. The same goes to the conquered Multilinks.

 

So what can these CDMA companies do? Merge or let acquisitions take place among them. They need scale to avoid customers decamping to the GSM juggernauts of MTN, Glo and Airtel. The financial challenge of doing business in Nigeria in onerous. They have to understand that and gang up.

 

Tekedia predicts that within five years, these CDMA will be exiting the stage if they do not come together.

Tech4Africa – Calling All Startups To Pitch Their Ideas To Angel Investors

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Tech4Africa, the web and emerging technology conference, has launched Ignite, an initiative that will provide leading African startups with the opportunity to pitch their products to a carefully curated panel of Angel investors, mentors and business leaders.

 

Startups selected to partake in the Tech4africa Ignite pitches will be given five minutes to showcase their products, with the opportunity to gain not only potential investors but also invaluable exposure to the wider Tech4Africa audience of thought leaders, decision makers, journalists, influencers and potential recruits.

 

Ignite takes place in the main auditorium at Tech4Africa. The top 8 applicants will be required to demonstrate a working prototype of their early stage product to event attendees and a panel of judges.
Whilst there is no formal prize, the winning startup will be announced on the second day of the conference and have the opportunity to present their innovation to the entire Tech4Africa audience. The winner will also receive valuable exposure and profiling through the Tech4Africa website and http://tech4africa.tv.

 

 

Interested startups should visit http://tech4africa.com/ignite/ or get in touch using startups@tech4africa.com. Deadline for submission is August 31, finalists will be announced in the first week of September.

 

About Tech4Africa

Tech4Africa runs from 27-28 October 2011 at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg. The event is targeted at business professionals and technologists from businesses of all sizes, from entrepreneurs and start-up owners through to professionals working at large organisations.

 

Josh Spear, one of the youngest and most respected digital marketing strategists in the world, will be joined by Herman Chinery-Hesse who is commonly known as ‘The Bill Gates of Africa’, to present the keynote addresses at the Tech4Africa conference. Josh and Herman join a stellar line-up of international technologists including speakers from organisations such as Amazon, HP, Johns Hopkins University, Mozilla, SimpleGeo and Clearleft, and African technologists from SwiftRiver, the African Institution of Technology, Ultinet Systems, Motribe and many more. Early bird ticket price R3900 (R4446 incl. VAT).

 

Web: http://tech4africa.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tech4africa

Indian Spice Telecom Partners Stovex Technologies To Distribute Spice Phones In Nigeria

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Spice Telecom is the brand name of Spice Communications Limited, a mobile phone service provider in India.

 

It just signed an agreement to enter Nigerian market through Stovex Technologies Ltd which is committed to provide the best used computer equipment sale in the Nigerian and African market. That was before. Stovex was a known brand for used computers. But it seems that they are moving to the mobility business.

 

About 9 models will be distributed by Stovex for Spice across Nigeria. One of the models include the very popular and award winning model M-9000 which debuted as the first phone with inbuilt projector and dual SIM. Another good one from the list is M1-270 which is an Android 2.2 mobile phone with dual SIM cards.

 

Congratulations Stovex for giving Nigerians more options. At least the price of phones will fall further based on this.