DRC musical band rocks SA

Participants at the 12th Highway Africa conference in South Africa were mesmerized as Afro Fiesta musical group from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took the stage at the Associated Bank of South Africa (ABSA) dinner night on Monday.Led by Mermans Mosengo Kenkosenki, the group played out their songs which portrayed the beauty of the African continent. Kenkosenki said he was happy to be part of the Highway Africa conference – an annual gathering of journalists, media and information experts from Africa. “I would like to thank ABSA bank for sponsoring us to come to South Africa and perform at this Africa night,” he said.The group played music of Africa touch from rhumba to kwasakwasa before they bowed out. Some of the delegates at this year’s conference have come from countries like Kenya, Namibia, Malawi, Uganda, Nigeria, Senegal, DRC, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Zambia.ABSA bank Chief Executive, Happy Nchingira said the bank was excited to be a friend of Highway Africa and an enabler of the growth and development of the Africa media. “ABSA believes in the free flow of information and in sharing ideas and hence organizing this Africa night dinner. As a bank we are looking at journalists playing a crucial role in disseminating the beauty of Africa, its people and all other things,” he said.He said the bank was making all its efforts to reach out to many people in Africa. It currently has subsidiaries in three countries – Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola.Highway Africa director Chris Kabwato hailed ABSA for sponsoring the event adding that it helps bring together journalists, network and show their various cultures. The conference opened on Sunday and winds up on Wednesday.

Fast internet for Africa in 2010

Cheap and high-speed web access via satellite will be provided to millions of people in Africa and other emerging markets by 2010. Google and Europe’s biggest bank HSBC partnering with cable operator Liberty Global would provide the services. Three billion people are to benefit from the project.A group called O3b Networks – stands for the “other 3 billion” people who do not have access to the internet – are helping to roll out the project. Reuters reports say the project will provide high-speed backhaul for telecoms’ operators and Internet providers, which can then sell services to businesses and consumers.South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel hailed the project at a conference in Germany on Monday. “The information gap is very real and clearly whatever we can do to close it must be encouraged,” Manuel told a news conference in Berlin on the U.N.-backed Millennium development goals.”Any initiative that can leapfrog over traditional means of getting information to people must be encouraged. Information is power and it supports democracy and it supports decision-making.”O3b networks said in a statement the satellites would be constructed by Thales Alenia Space and should be operational by the end of 2010. The company’s founder, Greg Wyler, told Reuters coverage would reach from Spain to South Africa, include most of South America, large parts of Asia and all South Pacific Islands. The project intends to offer fibre performance over satellite to parts of the world where it is not commercially viable or practical to deploy a fibre network.Because its satellites orbit earth at lower altitudes than those used to beam TV signals to homes, they work better for Internet access where latency — the amount of time it takes for bits of information to travel from source to destination — is an issue, Wyler said.The project is expected to cost $650 million until the launch, he said. Initial equity of $65 million has been raised, but the final mix of debt and equity has not been set. In some parts of the world, the company will compete with fibre-optic cables currently under construction — for instance, over a dozen cables have been announced connecting Africa to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

EU gives Africa energy lifeline

The European Union has struck a two-year deal with the African Union to pump 1 billion euros to fund power generation in several African states. The partnership also aims at enhancing investments in that sector. The beneficiary countries of the windfall are Senegal, Namibia, Ethiopia and Kenya.EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel revealed at a news conference on Monday. Experts say Africa needs to spend an estimated $560 billion by 2030 to generate an additional 260,000 megawatts (MW) of power, Reuters news agency reported.EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the agreement, which runs from 2008-10, would also promote energy interconnection projects between Africa and Europe.Africa and the EU have long standing relationship in the area of development. Leaders from the EU and Africa met in Lisbon on 8-9 December last year at the second EU Africa summit to agree a framework for a closer partnership between the two continents. Leaders approved a Joint Strategy and a series of Action Plans that set out specific commitments over the next three years. These new agreements build on many of the commitments made at Gleneagles and at the December 2005 European Council held under the UK Presidency. “EU Africa Partnerships” setting out co-operation and targets have been agreed under eight headings: the Millennium Development Goals; good governance and human rights; peace and security; climate change; energy; trade and integration; migration; and science and technology.