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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
by the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) from 1995 to 2001 and by Africa Action
from 2001 to 2003. APIC was merged into Africa Action in 2001. Please note that many outdated links in this archived
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Africa: Internet Capacity Update
Africa: Internet Capacity Update
Date distributed (ymd): 010213
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains two recent press releases announcing steps
toward increased capacity in use of the internet for Africa. News
site AllAfrica.com reports a strategic alliance with the BBC's
Africa-related programming; and internet service provider Africa
Online reports acquisition of the second largest internet service
provider in Egypt.
For an earlier posting with a summary update on internet
connectivity in Africa, see the September 2000 report by Mike
Jensen at: http://www.africafocus.org/docs00/inet0010.php
The latest estimates available (from November 2000), report only
3.11 million people online in Africa, less than 1 percent of the
407.1 million estimated worldwide. Even so, almost every African
country now has at least one on-line newspaper.
Starting points for links to these and additional sources for news
and background information, organized by country and theme, can be
found at http://www.africapolicy.org/inet.htm
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Note to Readers:
New on Africa Policy Web Site, in 'From the Desk of Salih Booker'
http://www.africapolicy.org/desk
Commentary by Salih Booker, Los Angeles Times. February 9, 2001
'Pandering to Abortion Foes Cripples Global AIDS Effort'
Commentary by Salih Booker, The Nation, February 26, 2001
'Bush Medicine for Africa'
##############################################################
AllAfrica Global Media and BBC World Service Announce Collaboration
http://allAfrica.com
PRESS RELEASE
February 5, 2001
Washington DC
AllAfrica Global Media, which operates the leading Africa site on
the World Wide Web, has signed a strategic agreement with the
British Broadcasting Corporation. Under the agreement, AllAfrica's
web site, allAfrica.com, offers access to an array of
Africa-related programming from the BBC. The webcasts include
five-minute news bulletins, updated regularly, and the
award-winning Focus on Africa, a daily show featuring political and
economic reports and analysis. Other programs cover business,
sports, arts and popular culture.
The BBC World Service is widely regarded as the premiere
international news organization, with a global audience of over
150 million, including more than 45 million in Africa. Independent
research identifies the BBC as the most trusted source of news
worldwide. The agreement with AllAfrica offers the BBC a
prestigious platform for the diverse productions of the World
Service for Africa.
AllAfrica.com is one of the largest news and information sites on
the Internet, posting hundreds of reports daily from its own
correspondents and from more than 70 African news organizations.
The site, which went live in September 2000, logged over six
million monthly page views in January through word-of-mouth
growth. About three-quarters of the visits are from North America;
the other 25% are widely distributed internationally. "There is a
hunger for African news that other sources fail to provide," says
AllAfrica Global Media's president Amadou Mahtar Ba. "AllAfrica
fills that gap. And we are pleased to add the respected
productions of the BBC to our offerings. No other broadcaster can
match the range and the depth of the BBC's Africa reporting."
Barry Langridge, head of the Africa & Middle East Region for the
BBC World Service, also welcomes the partnership. The agreement
will heighten the profile of the BBC in the U.S. market, where it
has been less well known than elsewhere. "We are delighted to
extend our reach through the platform of allAfrica.com," he said.
"The agreement brings BBC offerings to a new forum, known for the
breadth of its Africa coverage." In addition to adding more than
500 new stories a day, AllAfrica.com has a searchable archive of
over 220,000 reports. Using its proprietary editorial tools and
rapid-download software, the site sorts and displays stories by
countries, regions and topics, including business, art, sports,
health, science and religion.
Eight BBC programs are available on the site initially: "African
News Bulletin"-- five-minute newscasts, updated regularly; "Focus
on Africa" -- a daily magazine of political and economic reports;
"Network Africa" -- interviews, sports and music every weekday;
"African Business Report" -- a daily roundup of business news;
"Fast Track" -- a weekday examination of African sports;
"Talkabout Africa" -- weekly debates and chat on topical issues;
"Postmark Africa" -- an encyclopedia of the air, answering audience
questions weekly; "Artbeat" -- a weekly look at the music, art and
the culture that enlivens Africa.
In addition to operating AllAfrica.com, AllAfrica Global Media is
the largest single source for current African news, serving
hundreds of clients, including Comtex, Bloomberg, Reuters,
iSyndicate, and for wireless applications OmniSky and AvantGo.
AllAfrica has strategic relationships with two non-profit agencies:
Africa News Service, which administers the Center for Africa and
the Media at Duke University and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Fellowship for African Journalists; and the AfricaNet Trust, an
African broadcast production company whose programming will be
webcast by AllAfrica.com. Visit the allAfrica/BBC program page at
http://allafrica.com/partners/bbc/
For further information contact:
Tamela Hultman
Chief Strategy Officer
AllAfrica.com
thultman@allafrica.com
202-546-0777
Africa Online - Press Release
http://www.africaonline.com
AFRICA ONLINE EXPANDS TO NORTH AFRICA
London, 12th February 2000: Pan-African Internet Service Provider,
Africa Online, has extended its operations into North Africa by
acquiring MenaNet Communications, the second largest ISP in Egypt.
The $8.7 million deal gives Africa Online a foothold in North
Africa & the Middle East and adds Egypt, one of the most important
markets in Africa, to a network that already covers eight countries
- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Swaziland, Ghana and
Cote d'Ivoire.
Under the terms of the agreement, MenaNet Communications will
become a fully owned subsidiary of Africa Online. Africa Online's
services to the Middle East and North Africa will be offered under
the 'MenaNet' brand name, while maintaining the 'Africa Online'
brand for services to sub-Saharan countries.
MenaNet began trading in April 1999 and has quickly established
itself as a leading ISP in Egypt with 60 employees, over 7,300
dial-up subscribers and over 9,000 users on Freenet, a toll-based
Internet access service operated on a revenue sharing basis with
Telecom Egypt. The company has a service network that extends to
Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, 6th of October city, Hurghada, Assiut and
Sinai as well as superior technical infrastructure for high speed
Internet access and extensive value added services that include Web
Mail, e-calender, Global Roaming, ISDN & XDSL service.
In addition to traditional ISP internet access services, MenaNet
has formed a joint venture with Nile Sat to provide Egypt's first
readily available broadband Internet infrastructure. The service,
known as 'MenaSat' uses NileSat's satellite to deliver satellite
Internet access to North Africa and the Middle East.
With the acquisition of MenaNet, Africa Online now has a combined
dial-up user base of over 33,000 subscribers. The Group also runs
e-touch, a programme that provides email and Internet access to
customers without their own computers through a network of over 700
walk-in centres in urban and rural areas all over Africa. The
service has attracted over 26,500 active users in the first 15
months of operation.
Africa Online also recently announced the formation of a joint
venture company with UUNET SA to develop Internet services across
14 countries in Africa. UUNET SA is Southern Africa's leading
Internet-based network service provider and is a joint equity
partnership between Datatec Limited and UUNET Technologies of
Fairfax, Virginia, the Internet services division of the global
technology giant WorldCom. The joint venture is expected to provide
Africa Online with access to upgraded network infrastructure for
the benefit of its private dial-up subscribers and will allow
Africa Online itself to focus more on its consumer activities
including the continued roll-out of its e-touch centres.
Group Chief Executive Ayisi Makatiani said: "Our entry into Egypt
has been a key part of our growth strategy and is an excellent
foundation for further expansion throughout the North Africa and
Middle East region. Our pan-African growth in top-tier regional
centres will continue, giving customers the very best local
services AND the most comprehensive ISP network and product range
in the business."
'MenaNet's goal has always been to make it possible for anyone,
anywhere to enjoy the benefits of the internet' said Gamal Marwan,
Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of MenaNet Communications 'Joining
with Africa Online will help make that goal a reality. We're very
excited about the opportunity to integrate MenaNet's state of the
art technology and services into the Africa Online network'.
Ayisi Makatiani concluded: "The whole Africa Online group
continues to operate on this premise - local focus and knowledge
combined with pan-African reach; personal attention combined with
global resource - to offer levels of service and innovation that
are unrivalled in quality, detail, scope and technical
performance."
Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, the Managing Director of Cairo-based Sigma
Capital Investment Banking, the financial advisor to MenaNet on the
transaction noted, 'Egyptian ISPs are seeking strategic
partnerships in the wake of rising local competition and the
synergies involved in the MenaNet/Africa Online transaction are
huge, not only in terms of economies of scales and geographic
expansion but also in terms of technology transfer and product
development'.
Note to editors:
Africa Online is backed by The African Lakes Group plc, a
trans-African enterprise focused on the provision of Internet
access, online content, e-business services and solutions as well
as IT distribution in the continent. The Group's vision is
'Connecting Africa'.
African Lakes, which is fully listed on both the London and Nairobi
Stock Exchanges, initially invested in Africa Online in October
1998 by way of convertible loan notes and has funded its growth
since then. However, the Company has recently moved to acquire 100
per cent control of Africa Online the purchase or TelCorp Limited,
Africa Online's parent company.
MenaNet is one of the leading Egyptian ISPs with dial-up coverage
offering services in Cairo, Alexandria and Sharm el-Sheikh in the
South Sinai. Based in Cairo, it offers a wide range of ISP services
including dial-up, leased lines and web design. In addition,
MenaNet has developed a free web-based mail service branded
separately as FreeNet (www.freenet.com.eg), which offers a range of
value-added services, including SMS. As at 31 December 2000, it had
approximately 7,300 dial-up subscribers.
The company also has a 50 per cent stake in Global Data
Broadcasting System, an Egyptian joint stock company trading under
the name MenaSat, which provides high-speed broadband access to the
Internet via satellite downlinks. Customers in the Middle East also
use this service.
Contacts:
Sam Nganga
Corporate Communications Manager
Africa Online
Email: snganga@africaonline.com
Tel: 254 2 243775
Ayisi Makatiani
Co-founder and Chief Executive
Africa Online
Email: ayisi@africaonline.com
Tel: + 254 2 253613
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC provides
accessible information and analysis in order to promote U.S.
and international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human rights.
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