Africa news and blogwatch
A new government has been formed in Côte d’Ivoire.
58 Somali refugees stranded at a Ugandan airport have been freed.
Mozambique is seeking $200 million for technical schools.
The leader of the last remaining Ituri militia group has surrendered to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The parliament in Cameroon is considering a bill to legalize traditional medicine.
Disqualified candidates continue to campaign for the Nigerian election, as political violence spreads and the U.S. Congress expresses concern over the election.
Entrepreneurs in Somalia, “arguably the world’s most failed state.”
Yet, despite the chaos, and the lack of any central government, Somalia has one of the most efficient telephone systems in its region. It takes just three days for a landline to be installed, compared with waiting times of many years in neighboring Kenya, where a stable democratic government has been in place for half a century.
The country also has a thriving mobile phone network. According to the World Bank, Somalia now has 112,000 fixed lines and 50,000 mobile subscribers, up from a total of 17,000 lines in 1991.
Competition between rival suppliers has resulted in some of Africa’s lowest call costs: about 50 cents per minute. In addition, problems such as allowing calls between different networks are resolved through the Somali Telecoms Association.
A stronger law against trafficking in persons is proposed in Uganda.
Fighting violence against women in Ethiopia.
In Sudan, more peacemakers have been attacked in Darfur, and looting by the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army threatens food security in the south.
South African businesses make inroads in other African countries, and welcome to the South African blogosphere.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
3 days for a phone line? We can wait weeks here in high-tech NYC – my neighbor resorted to placing orders with several phone cos and giving the business to the one who showed up first.