Africa wrap: Kenya in R580m fibre project

In this new feature, TechCentral wraps up the major technology news from around the African continent. Compiled by Craig Wilson.

Added by Craig Wilson on 4 July 2012.
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Kenya’s government has secured a 6bn shilling (R580m) loan from China to connect 36 Kenyan districts using fibre-optic cable. The project is intended to provide the East African nation’s government with the ability to communicate and transact digitally, even from remote areas. The project forms part of a plan by the Kenyan and Chinese governments to create a national fibre-optic network. The loan is to be repaid over a 15- to 20-year period. Source: Daily Nation

Safaricom in domain management plan
Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom and other partners are in talks with DotConnectAfrica, a nonprofit organisation run by Sophia Bekele, about setting up domain registry system infrastructure in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. DotConnectAfrica is vying for the .africa generic top-level domain alongside the ZA Central Registry. However, as the ZA Central Registry has the backing of the African Union it appears unlikely that DotConnectAfrica will be the preferred bidder when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers makes its decision as to which bidder wins the right to manage the domain later this year. Source: Standard Digital

Nigeria frets over imported tech
Nigeria’s minister of communications technology, Omobola Johnson, says the country’s import duties should favour locally manufactured technology producs and components, which will stimulate the local industry and create employment. Currently, many locally manufactured goods wind up more expensive than imported goods because of the duties on components and raw materials. The minister says this makes locally manufactured goods uncompetitive and that the situation “must be addressed as soon as possible”. Source: Vanguard Nigeria

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