Emerging market smartphone sales to overtake developed markets’ by 2016

According to a new report by Informa Telecoms & Media, smartphone sales in emerging markets are set to overtake those in developed markets by 2016.
In 2010, the volume of sales in emerging markets was half that of the developed ones, which were reaching just under 200 million. Emerging markets are predicted to overtake the developed ones during 2015, to reach over 450 million handsets in 2016 against just under 400 million in advanced markets.
Smartphone strategies are becoming a crucial part of operators' strategies in emerging markets. Indeed, Neil Ahlsten, New Business Development for Google across Sub-Saharan Africa, pointed out at last year's AfricaCom that Kenyan operator Safaricom's mobile broadband revenues grew significantly after it launched an active smartphone strategy. This topic will be discussed at the next events in the Com World Series, with panel discussions bringing together mobile operators, device manufacturers and software providers.

African social networking site Yookos joins West & Central Africa Com

A new representative of the social media world has confirmed his participation to West & Central Africa Com, taking place in June: Tomisin Fashina is the CEO of Yookos, a social networking site created for Africans within the continent and the diaspora.
Yookos boasts a subscriber base of over 5 million users within a few months of its introduction. The site offers the traditional features of most social networking sites: searching, connecting, blogging, music and video downloads, groups. However, its uniqueness is that it is targeted at the Christian community and describes itself as a ‘values-based’ social networking platform which “engenders, within its target audience, universally accepted wholesome values that characterise most societal socio-economic ideals”. This echoes a discussion that was held at NigeriaCom in Lagos in September 2011, where Thecla Mbongue, Senior Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, suggested that church-based services may become a growing service for operators in the region.
At West & Central Africa Com , Mr Fashina will join a panel discussion on the content and apps ecosystem. Among the topics to be discussed will be how different players can partner to foster innovation, how to create attractive services for the consumers, and how to generate new revenues. The conference programme is still being confirmed – speaking proposals should be sent to julie.rey@informa.com

Kamal Okba confirms his participation as keynote speaker at North Africa Com

Kamal Okba, Chief Executive Officer at Mauritel, the incumbent operator in Mauritania, confirmed today he will join the North Africa Com conference taking place in Tunisia on 15th and 16th May.
He will join the Leadership Summit in the opening keynote session at the event, where he will share his perspective on how telcos adapt to changing market conditions, particularly in the digital age. He will share the podium with Michel Monzani, Senior VP for Middle East and North Africa Operations at Orange Group, and Ken Campbell, CEO of Tunisiana.
Mr Okba started his career as network engineer at Maroc Telecom in 1996. He held several senior positions within the Multimédia Division of Maroc Telecom. In 2002, he was put in charge of heading CASANET, the Internet subsidiary of Maroc Telecom. In 2007, he became Regional Director in charge of Maroc Telecom’s activities in Southern Morocco before being named CEO of Mauritel.

Gateway Communications Confirm Continued Support of AfricaCom Awards

For the fifth year in a row Gateway Communications are supporting the AfricaCom Awards - Africa's only dedicated telecoms, media and ICT awards ceremony and gala dinner.

2011's gala dinner saw another luxurious celebration of great industry achievements, as well as great food, great music, and great company.

The ceremony included the announcement of winners in the following categories:

Best Network Improvement - Best New Service - Best Cost Efficiency Initiative for Africa - Rural Telecoms Award - Best Backhaul Solution for Africa - Customer Service Excellence Award - Best Marketing Campaign - Satellite Service Provider of the Year - Best ICT Solution Provider for Enterprise Markets in Africa - Best Pan African Initiative - Changing Lives Award

The list of illustrious winners were:

- MTN South Africa - Orange - Helios Towers Africa - Ericsson - Huawei - Gateway Communications - MTN Zone - Skyvision - Safaricom - SEACOM & Main One Cable

The evening also saw the presentation of Orange's African Social Venture Prize, with first place awarded to the Horticultural Remote Irrigation System farmers & co-operative, second prize to AgaSha Business Network and third prize to the Kachile e-commerce platform.

2012 promises to be another great competition, and a great night of celebration - so don't miss your chance to take part.

The AfricaCom Awards organisers are grateful to Gateway Communications for their continued support, without which such an important platform for recognising excellence and endeavour would not be possible.

About Gateway Communications

Gateway Communications own and operate the largest and most advanced pan-African telecommunications network. Our scale, reach and resources are unparalleled. Gateway connect over 583 million people in over 40 African countries, working in partnership with the continents leading mobile phone operators. Our business experts are creating prosperity across Africa by working closely with multinational corporations, Africa’s leading mobile operators and other important sectors. With more than 45 transponders of satellite capacity over Africa we manage more connectivity over the continent than any other operator. And with 24 dedicated teleports, access to multiple SAT-3 and SEACOM landing ports, 17 African offices and 450 local experts, we’ve got more on the ground support than any other operator. Our award winning products and services are recognised for setting the standards for tomorrows communications in Africa. www.gatewaycomms.com

Mobile Marketing Summits to Launch at Com World Series

In brief, we are delighted to say that here at Com World Series HQ we have hooked up with the Mobile Marketing Association to run a series of Mobile Marketing Summits in Africa and the Middle East.  These summits will run alongside our events in Nairobi, Johannesbury, Lagos and Dubai.  This new partnership is a great addition to our events and provides a valuable extra dimension for our audiences.  For those of you who love detail the full text of the official Press Release is below:

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London, January 30 2012 – Informa Telecom & Media’s and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) are pleased to announce their partnership on a series of Mobile Marketing Summits, to be held in association with Com World Series – the flagship series of digital events in Africa & the Middle East. The addition of the Mobile Marketing Summits to Com World Series reflects the growing demand for knowledge by advertising agencies, brands and mobile operators active in the developing African & Middle Eastern digital economies.


“We are very excited about this partnership with the MMA,” said Ian Hemming, CEO of Informa Telecoms & Media. “We have injected a host of new speakers from across the entire telecoms ecosystem into our 2012 agendas and this link with the MMA reinforces our events as the only full-circle digital forums for the Middle East & African telecoms and media industries.”

The Mobile Marketing Summits – co-located with the East Africa Com, VAS Africa, Nigeria Com and Middle East Com conference & exhibitions – are a series of one-day, information packed conferences boasting brand and agency-led speaker panels.

“Last year, we saw significant growth in the use of mobile marketing in the Middle East and Africa. This led us to launch new local councils in East Africa and in the Middle East with hubs in Dubai and Cairo, to add to the successful council in South Africa” said Paul Berney, CMO and EMEA MD of the Mobile Marketing Association. “Brands increasingly understand the reach mobile has over other channels in the region. We plan to launch in West Africa in March as we continue to support the incredible innovation we are seeing and help to grow a sustainable industry. Our partnership with Informa for the prestigious COM series of events is vital in helping brands and marketers in the Middle East and Africa to deliver the best mobile marketing experiences to consumers.”

The Mobile Marketing Summits will explore the growth and potential of the mobile channel as a means of connecting and engaging with consumers. Drawing on experience from both African and international brands and agencies, the summits will showcase the best of mobile marketing and provide clear guidance on how to integrate mobile into the marketing mix.



Dates & venue of the forthcoming Mobile Marketing Summits are:

• Mobile Marketing Summit @ East Africa Com – Nairobi, Kenya, 18 April 2012

• Mobile Marketing Summit @ VAS Africa – Johannesburg, South Africa, 4 July 2012

• Mobile Marketing Summit @ Nigeria Com – Lagos, Nigeria –19 September 2012

• Mobile Marketing Summit @ Middle East Com – Dubai, UAE – 5 December 2012



Information on the first Mobile Marketing Summit can be found at: www.comworldseries.com/eafrica.



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About the MMA

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies.

The MMA is an action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelize the use of the mobile channel.

The more than 700 member companies, representing nearly fifty countries around the globe, include all members of the mobile media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe (EUR), Latin American (LATAM) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com. For information relating to the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

Follow us on Twitter @mma_emea

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About Informa Telecoms & Media & Com World Series

Informa Telecoms & Media's event portfolio of must-attend events has set the industry standard for over 25 years. Our congress and exhibitions, delivered in consultation with the industry and supported by our in-house analyst teams, drive the industry's agenda.

Com World Series is a world-class series of congress & exhibitions delivering next generation solutions for the telecoms, media & technology industries in developing markets. Event locations for 2012 include Turkey
Dubai | Kenya | Senegal | Nigeria | Tunisia & South Africa and will attract over 10,000 senior-level delegates including 700+ CxOs for more details visit www.comworldseries.com.

Follow us on Twitter @AllAboutCom and on Facebook: AllAboutCom.

EMC joins Cloud Africa panel of sponsors

EMC - a global power in the business data arena - has confirmed its support of the Cloud Africa event, being run by the Com World Series in Johannesburg on the 23-24 May.

EMC provides the systems, software, and services for leveraging business data. Africa is a prime market for organisations looking to optimise their information infrastructure; it's a market where companies face growing demands on their content management, security, archiving, storage, and virtualization.

You can find out more about EMC and their services here.

EMC join the great panel of VIP speakers already confirmed for the 2 day event:

Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom

Douglas Reed, CEO, Vox Telecom

Navi Naidoo, GM of Operations, MTN Business

Gerard Avoaka, Chief Technical Officer, Alink Telecom

Justin Colyn, General Manager, Fixed Mobile Convergence, MTN Business

Felix Martin-Aguilar, Strategy Executive & Head of Business Services, Cell C

Richard Vester, Executive Head, Vodacom Business Services

Deji Ilesanmi, VP, Group Enterprise Business – Africa, Marketing & Distribution, Airtel Africa Johann Van Der Westhuizen, CEO, e-Logics

Shishir Saraf, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Sameer Africa Limited, Kenya

Edward Mugerwa, Group Information Systems, Uganda Telecom

Evans Munyuki, Head of Architecture, Absa & Barclays Africa IT

Tom Juma, Head of ICT and Service Delivery, Old Mutual Kenya

Derek Smith, Head of Products & Services, Group Technology Infrastructure Business Unit, Standard Bank, S.A.

Michael Mbuthia, Information Security (ISO), Co-operative Bank of Kenya

Kageni Wilson, Founder & CEO, ionacloud, Kenya

Prof Pete Janse van Vuuren (PhD), CEO, The Thinking Cap, Director, Africa CIO Forum, CIO Council of South Africa

Don't miss you're chance to take part in the Cloud event for the continent - no where else will you meet such a cross section of the cloud ecosystem from across Africa.

Register now by clicking here!

BCX joins list of Cloud Africa sponsors

The organisers of Cloud Africa are delighted to announce that Business Connexion (BCX) have confirmed their support of the inaugural Cloud Africa conference and exhibition, taking place in Johannesburg on the 23-24 May.

Business Connexion have extensive expertise in the Cloud arena and they will bring this experience to day 1 of the conference.

And who better to represent them at Cloud Africa than Mr Andy Brauer, their Chief Technology Officer. Don't miss your chance to learn about cloud in Africa from the experts!

Speaker Profile:

Andrew John Brauer has extensive local and international ICT experience and is involved in researching and introducing new technologies to create business value. His strengths include networking telecommunications, system management, open source software development and service-orientated architecture, and now developing cloud computing models.

Brauer has worked on most of the technologies in the ICT arena. These include: electronics, telecommunication, software development, system and network management, system integration, strategy, operations, management and business development.

The leadership roles which he has held over the years include technical director, chief information officer and executive director. His current role is CTO – being internally
and externally focused. He is on the Research and Advisory panel of the Mereka Institute at the Council for Industrial and Science and a runner up in the ITWeb Visonary awards for 2011.

BCX will also be sponsoring the VAS Africa event in July, and the Com World Series' flag ship event - AfricaCom in November.

Safaricom sponsor Cloud Africa event

Safaricom, after launching arguably the first and largest African managed cloud service last year, have confirmed their place as a leading sponsor for Cloud Africa - the exciting launch event from the organisers of AfricaCom, taking place in Johannesburg on the 23-24 May 2012.

This innovative operator, the dominant force in the Kenyan market, will support the Cloud Africa event, as it provides a unique learning and networking forum for Africans. Cloud is undoubtedly a key theme for many in 2012, and this event will bring together the telecom and ICT communities, in an effort to truly understand what 'flavour' of cloud will work for Africans.

You can see Safaricom's CEO, Bob Collymore, address the whole conference on May 23 and then the networking drinks will be hosted by Safaricom.

Furthermore, they will be supporting the inaugural Cloud Africa Awards - for your chance to win a prestigious award (judged by representatives from AfriBiz, ITNews Africa, Ovum, ITM, and other industry leading organisations) email Emily.Martyr@informa.com for more details.

Airtel Congo starts selling Congo designed tablet - Hear more at West & Central Africa Com

Airtel Congo has started offering its customers the first African-produced tablet, leading the way in the region in terms of device strategy.
Airtel is Congo's mobile market leader, and launched the first 3G network in the Central Africa country in October 2011. The company has now launched a XAF150,000 (US$284) data package including a Way-C tablet, a Huawei modem and 25MB worth of data. The Android Way-C tablet was developed by local developer VMK and Internet connection is made via Wi-Fi or USB connection.
VMK's founder and CEO Vérone Mankou, dubbed as 'Africa's Steve Jobs' for his visionary initiative, will be a speaker at West & Central Africa Com taking place in Dakar, Senegal in June. The event will bring together the telecoms, media and ICT worlds to discuss the evolution of the digital market in the region. Other confirmed speakers include representatives of operators Sonatel-Orange, Etisalat Nigeria, Isocel Telecom Benin, Millenium Telecom Centrafrique, as well as social media specialists People Input and Yookos. The programme is still being finalised so get in touch with julie.rey@informa.com if you wish to recommend speakers.

Nader Gohar of CNC to discuss the role of the media at North Africa Com

Nader Gohar, Chairman of CNC Cairo News Company, and Chairman of the Arab Union of Electronic Media Journalists will be a keynote speaker at North Africa Com, to discuss the expanding role of the media in North Africa’s new digital society.
Nader Gohar is a pioneer in TV news production in the Middle East and an award-winning producer. His extensive career in journalism gives him an incomparable expertise on the changing role of the media, as well as first-hand experience of the importance of the media in the socio-political landscape in the region.
In 2011, he and his CNC staff fully supported the Egyptian Revolution being the first to cover the complete picture from Tahrir Square, risking their lives to do so. As a result in April 2011 Nader Gohar was honored at the Radio & Television Correspondent annual dinner at Washington DC convention hall for his role at the television coverage of the Egyptian revolution.
His experience will bring a unique perspective on the role of the media in North Africa's digital landscape. The event will take place in Tunis on 15-16 May.