Full coverage: Africa

29.03.2005 President Robert Mugabe has pulled out all the stops before elections in Zimbabwe Thursday, spending US$100 million of the state's money on Hewlett Packard laptops that he passes out at schools as he campaigns across the country. Meanwhile, many of the schools receiving the high-tech computers have been without textbooks, electricity, furniture or even roofs for many years.

21.03.2005 This year's APC Hafkin Prize recognises community initiatives that use the internet and other digital communication networks to access markets, skills and opportunities to derive real economic benefits.

18.03.2005 This paper argues for the key role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play in reducing poverty, and enhancing empowerment, opportunity, and security; this potential is despite the fact that ICTs have had a relatively small impact on realising the MDGs so far. Improving access to ICTs will have knock-on effects for further reducing access barriers, improve productive competitiveness, and overall help to meet PRS goals. Improving access should be mainstreamed into the implementation of sectoral components, complementing the poverty-reducing priorities of the national ICT strategy. Targeted pro-poor regulations and policies are key.

18.03.2005 Africa will have to break its dependency on patented software such as Microsoft if it wants to speed its development process. This was a position advocated at a conference examining the link between ICT, good governance and economic development, held at the CSIR in Pretoria today.

09.03.2005 Celtel-Zambia has launched the provision of subsidised rural communities payphone services in partnership with PRONET and Computer connections.

08.03.2005 Institute for War and Peace Reporting seeks applications for the position of Senior Radio Trainer, to be based in Uganda. Specifically, the trainer will develop a radio broadcast module and training manual, in conjunction with the IWPR Uganda Project Director, local expertise and IWPR’s training materials Consultant.

07.03.2005 The website of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), the opposition party in Tunisia, is blocked by the government authorities. PDP’s website is the latest in the long list of websites, including Reporters Sans Frontiers’ (RSF) http://www.radionongrata.org , blocked by the Tunisian government.

03.03.2005 UNESCO is supporting a project for community access to ICTs in Nigeria, by providing FM broadcasting equipment for radio programmes aimed at raising awareness of information and communication technologies.
The Federal Government of Nigeria is launching a project called NetPost, which plans to provide post offices with Internet points to bring affordable access to the people of Nigeria.