News: Access to information, Africa

Senegal: Behind the guise of competitive prices

CALGARY 10 September 2009 (LC for APCNews)

Cybercafés are in decline in Senegal. Too much offer compared to demand because of prices that are still out of reach for the average Senegalese, have resulted in the closure of many of these access points to knowledge and communication, once found around the clock on every street corner in Dakar. The arrival of a much-anticipated new operator, Expresso only led to disappointment – the operator jumped into the mobile telephone market rather than focus on the much-needed fixed telephony and internet sector. As a result, the state-owned operator continues to control basic infrastructure, creating a mere façade of competition among operators.

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“Cybercafé in a container”: Rural Kenya's mobile internet stations

CALGARY 11 June 2009 (LC for APCNews)

What do you do when you want to install a telecentre but there is no building available to house it? APC member Arid Lands Information Network has solved the problem by building cybercafes in shipping containers. These containers, known as maarifa (or knowledge) centres are fully equipped with computers and internet access and can be moved when the need arises.

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The GenderIT copyright edition: The struggle for access to information in Africa

CALGARY 20 April 2009 (LC for APCNews)
Women in Africa may be accessing the internet, but are they getting the information they need? Whether they are students, members of civil society, leaders of indigenous communities or women and youth affected by HIV/AIDS, patents and copyrights are making it increasingly difficult for women in Africa to access the information they need. This edition of Gender Centred, a periodic bulletin produced by APC's programme for the GenderIT.org policy site, focuses on the challenges copyright and the lack of information exchange bring to those who need it most, and explores the different issues surrounding open source software, copyright and rights to information.
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Tags: copyright

South Africa: Calls for broadband strategy

JOHANNESBURG 4 March 2009 (Audra Mahlong for ITWeb)

South African tech site, ITWeb, interviews APC’s Willie Currie on the forum being convened by APC and SANGONeT along with South Africa Connect and the Shuttleworth Foundation with the aim of drawing up a framework for a national broadband strategy.

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Software Freedom Day 2008

YAOUNDE 5 August 2008 (Avis Momeni for APCNews)

PROTEGE QV will join the rest of the world over to celebrate the Software Freedom Day 2008 taking place on September 20 2008. The innovation in this year’s free and open source software activities in Yaounde, Cameroon, is that they will be help in an open air setting.

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Copyright and education in Africa: Launch of the ACA2K network

JOHANNESBURG 29 April 2008 (Asma Hassan for ACA2K)

As the global community marked World Intellectual Property Day 2008, last 26th of April, an eight-country African research network was launched with a mandate to investigate the relationship between copyright and education in African countries.

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A little goes a longer way with ICT-based networking

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA 21 May 2007 (Katherine Walraven for APCNews for APCNews)

In the former Ethiopian capital of Mekelle, the Mekelle Child Centered Forum (MCCF) reaches approximately 5,840 disadvantaged children, youth, and women living in the city. The winner of one of this year’s Harambee awards, MCCF will use its grant money to expand its reach of service towards its target of 20,000 individuals.

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Overcoming the orphan curse with ICTs

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA 2 April 2007 (KW for APCNews for APCNews)

In releasing the list of successful applicants in one of its small grants initiatives, APC’s women programme in Africa injected some real-life into the Swahili word "harambee" in March 2007. DSI.ORG, a small non-profit located in the western Ugandan district of Kabarole, was one of six Harambee small grants winners. It’s recently created Diary Project, which assists boys from child-headed families affected by HIV/AIDS to cope with grief, stigma and discrimination, share experiences and knowledge, and work together.

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East Africa needs a fair entry-ticket to afford cyberspace: Easing Access to EASSy

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA 8 March 2006 (APCNews)

Africa currently has to pay for some of the most expensive bandwidth in the world. All this will change if the proposed East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) cable is built as it will connect countries on the eastern side of the continent and if this new capacity is offered in a way that maximises use and lowers price.

To help make this possible, APC is launching a new website “Fibre-for-Africa” and on March 10 will hold a consultation with more than 80 key stakeholders from all over Eastern and Southern Africa to ensure that access to EASSy -which will serve eight coastal and eleven land-locked countries- is ‘easy’, affordable and open.

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