AfricaCom Awards 2014 - Shortlist Announced!

10 October 2014

The digital industry’s most anticipated Awards event will take place on 12th November 2014 at The Waterfront Lookout, Cape Town.  Celebrating and acknowledging leaders in digital technology, ICT, Telecommunications and Media across Africa, attract a growing number of entries each year.

In 2014, 161 entries were received.  “The overall quality of the entries this year surpassed expectation,” commented Adam Thompson, Research Manager, Informa Telecoms & Media.  “The innovation taking place in the digital ecosystem across the entire continent is heartening and also world class.  Many are leaders in their fields and pioneers of new technology and services answering the needs of emerging markets that more traditional markets can and should take note of:

The shortlisted contenders or the various categories in 2014 are:

Best App for Africa
Orange – Libon
Orange – Orange Self-care Application: My Orange
Kirusa – InstaVoice
Bharti Airtel- Internet.org App
Spice – Mziiki

Best Connectivity Solutions for Africa
Orange – My Social WiFi
Liquid Telecom – 100Mbps FTTH Service
Breeze Micro and World Telecom Labs – New Inter-city VoIP Routes in Nigeria from Breeze Micro and World Telecom Labs
WIOCC – Connecting Somalia – closing the final link
Sky Vision – SkyVision Hybrid Satellite and Terrestrial network solutions

Best Cost Efficiency Solutions For Africa
TKM Maestro - TKM Cost Efficiency Solution
Nomanini – Nomanini payments platform
Digital Route – Mediation Zone
Afrigis – Voting Station Monitor USSD Solution
Huawei – Africa’s 1st SDN Innovation
Opera Software – Opera Web Pass
Fairwaves – Mobile network which you can build yourself

Best Device for Africa
Solarway - Solar Powered Mobile Phone Charging Station
Solarway – Solar Kiosk
Equatel – Equatel SIM Payphone
Nomanini - Nomanini payments platform
Bharti Airtel – Airtel Red

Best Marketing Campaign
MTN – MTN Corporate Campaign
OgilvyOne Africa /Airtel Zambia – Go For It : Be Whatever, Do Whatever
Orange – Emergency Credit Campaign
Orange – Orange Football Club Campaign
Huawei – MTN’s Mandela Birthday‘ 67 Minutes
Onlime – Marketing Campaign – Rebrand
Millicom Tanzania TIGO – Free Facebook in Swahili
Bharti Airtel – Mr Money Campaign

Best Mobile Money Solution
Orange – Mobile Travel Tickets
Orange – Mobile Pensions
Mobile Pensions – PocketMoni Mobile Money Service
Bharti Airtel – Airtel Money
Mahindra Comviva – Mahindra Comviva mobiquity Connect

Best Network Improvement
Ericsson - Unitel Angola, Smile Nigeria, TiGO Senegal
World Telecoms Lab – Nigeria’s new interconnect exchange carriers and World Telecom Labs’ 2nd Generation VoIP Switches
WIOCC – Extending WIOCC’s Pan-African Network into Somalia
Tigo Rwanda – Tigo Voice and Data Mobile Services
Bharti Airtel – Nigeria Data Service Improvement
Liquid Telecom – Upgrading and improving the fibre network of Liquid Telecom Kenya

Best Pan African Initiative
MTN - MTN GLOBAL MPLS VPN
PCCW Global – High-Quality Calling with Direct Routing in Africa
Orange – Pan-African Partnering Play Store
Liquid Telecom – East Africa Fibre Ring
Airtel Africa and IBM – Business Intelligence Solution (based on Cognos, DB2, Websphere, AIX and IBM Blade Center)

Breakthrough LTE Development
PCCW Global - Global LTE Roaming for African Mobile Subscribers
Ericsson – LTE Market Impact
Ericsson – Breakthrough LTE Development – Unitel
Orange – LTE for fix
Huawei – Innovative LTE Rollout
Smile Communications – SmileON and Data Management
Telkom – LTE
Surfline – Deployment of 4G LTE network in Ghana

Changing Lives Awards 
Afrigis - Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (GBVCC)
Orange – Digital School Project
WIOCC – Closing the final link – connecting Somalia
afb Mauritius Ltd – Mobile Consume and Businesses Unsecured Credit
TXT Ghana – JOB 1917
Bharti Airtel – Ebola Initiative
Sky Vision – Ghana Crossover Academy
Telekom – TNM Moyo Cover

Excellence in Customer Experience Management
Procera – RAN Perspectives
OgilvyOne Africa /Airtel Ghana – Uncle MB | Sorting data drama
SafariCom – Customer Care support for M-PESA product – the leading mobile money transfer service in the world
Orange – ’100% Successful Calls’ Suites of services
Bharti Airtel – Airtel Premier

Most Innovative Service 
Huawei – Huawei’s Digital Music Service for MTN
Millicom Tanzania TIGO – Tigo Pesa – International Mobile Money Transfer
Econet Renewable Energy Systems – Titan – Home Power Station
Opera Software – Opera Web Pass
Orange – Facebook Partnerships
Kifiya Financial Technologies – Digital Finance and Payment Service

VSAT Innovation for Africa
Afrique Telecom – Full VNO OSS/BSS for VSAT Industry and Customers
Liquid Telecom – Shared MPLS Satellite service
EMC – Fully managed VSAT services
Sky Vision – Sky Vision Active Series


The esteemed AfricaCom Awards returns to the spectacular Waterfront LookOut in Granger Bay, Cape Town. If you would like to book your seat or table at this year's Awards, please click here.

NFV and SDN Reloaded : Get started Telcos!

 By Sadiq Malik, Telco Strategist

According to Deutche Telecom CEO communication networks are facing a lack of scalable and sustainable architecture to meet the challenges ahead in terms of data traffic increases, video uploads and downloads, and enhanced M2M communication. But employing software-defined networking (SDN) techniques could help mobile carriers overcome those hurdles and attract new data-centric revenue streams.In a nutshell, SDN delaminates the data and control planes of the network and NFV virtualizes the functional elements of the network—routers, switches, firewalls—and expresses these functions as programs that run on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) IT hardware. While they are distinct technologies, the two work together in concert to turn the network into an infinitely programmable dynamic mesh, versus a hardware-based static map. Where SDN is the network admin gone virtual; NFV is the gear gone virtual.

Today’s mobile networks are limited and built upon a best-effort design, but that means they have latency issues and cannot dedicate high bandwidth to a particular user on the fly. Network virtualisation highlights the transformational path that operators are willing to take to counter the stress that financial pressures are putting on profitability while effectively and efficiently monetising data growth and reducing vendor lock-in. This trend clearly shows that, in order to be sustainable in the near-future, operators networks will require the right amount of mobility, ultra high-speed networks, cloud computing, big data analytics and security.

Research into NFV performed by leading analysts firms confirms the development of NFV and reveals major market potential. In November, Mind Commerce estimated that the NFV market in 2014 will be worth $203 million, and will grow at 46 percent annually until 2019, when it reaches $1.3 billion. The research firm states that the chief domains targeted by early NFV deployments will be IMS services and the EPC. Last August ABI Research predicted a similar growth curve, with a potential $6 billion market for virtual networking by 2018. A new study from ReportsnReports.com forecasts that the NFV, SDN and wireless network infrastructure market will reach $5 billion by the turn of the decade, driven by rising global wireless capital expenditures and growing demand for high-speed mobile broadband. Wireless carriers will play a critical role in the SDN value chain, and that carriers will initially focus on southbound APIs and switch fabric, SDN and virtualization that will enable IMS optimization and realization of investment, and that by 2016 carriers will focus more on northbound APIs and create full development environments.

Network virtualisation allows operators to simulate network resources through SDN and NFV technologies that decouple, run and optimise different functions of the network.The industry is evolving from proprietary equipment networks to IT-based data centre networks that employ technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualisation (NFV), cloud-computing and big data analytics to provide a variety of converged services to consumers. NFV is highly complementary to SDN. Network functions can be virtualised and deployed without an SDN being required and vice-versa. According to ETSI, early NFV deployments are already getting underway and are expected to accelerate during 2014-15.Software-defined networking (SDN) and Network Functions Visualization (NFV) will drive changes in data security investment, according to a new report from Infonetics Research. Their Data Center Security Products report noted a shift in how organizations protect digital properties, including a 44 percent rise in the sale of purpose-built virtual security appliances. They anticipate a fairly significant revenue transition from hardware appliances to virtual appliances and purpose-built security solutions that interface directly with hypervisors, with SDN controllers via APIs, or orchestration platforms.

Rather surprisingly, communications service providers (CSPs) themselves, not vendors, are driving the development of network virtualization technologies. The potential to dramatically accelerate new service delivery, lower operating costs, and eliminate vendor lock-in has CSPs salivating and network equipment vendors scrambling. Vendors who sell proprietary network gear don’t exactly welcome the thought of their intellectual property being replaced by standardized software running on commodity hardware. This has pushed the timeline for SDN and NFV further out, and prompted more than a few analysts to pull the hype card.The virtualization of service and control functions in the core network has been a first step in using cloud computing technology in the telco domain. However, for a full telco cloud implementation, virtualization needs to be complemented with a complete cloud platform and management system. This must include classical network management for legacy systems, plus virtualized network function, cloud orchestration and application management to achieve the full benefits of automated provisioning and elastic scaling of the network.

Driven by the promise of total cost of ownership reduction, wireless carriers are aggressively jumping on the NFV and SDN bandwagon, targeting integration across a multitude of areas including radio access network, mobile core, OSS/BSS, backhaul, and CPE/home environment.Telecom Italia has been among the tier 1 telcos driving the move to NFV. Along with AT&T, BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Verizon, the company a couple years ago pushed network functions virtualization into the spotlight by creating an ETSI group to explore the technology. The key goals of the NFV Working Group are to reduce equipment costs and power consumption, improve time to market, enable the availability of multiple applications on a single network appliance with the multi-version and multi-tenancy capabilities, and encourage a more dynamic ecosystem through the development and use of software-only solutions.

Telefonica’s UNICA platform is initially focused on virtualising signaling-related functions, including IMS (IP multimedia sub-system, DNS (domain name system), SMSC (short message service centre) and OCS (online charging system). The second phase will look at virtualising functions that carry traffic such as the core packet network. Telefonica’s NFV programme is notably designed to “source different functions to different suppliers” and avoid vendor lock-ins. The company wants to design a virtualised network architecture that allows vendor interoperability.Telefonica’s NFV programme is notably designed to “source different functions to different suppliers” and avoid vendor lock-ins. The company has designed a virtualised network architecture that allows vendor interoperability in order to enable a multi-vendor environment from day one.

Meanwhile AT&T, has introduced its vision for the company’s network of the future: the ‘User- Defined Network Cloud.’ AT&T claims their the cloud-based architecture is “a global first at this scale.” The operator also announced the group of vendors that will work on implementing this strategy. The carrier expects its revamped architecture will accelerate time-to-market for technologically advanced products and services. Integrated through AT&T’s wide-area network (WAN) and using NFV and SDN, the architecture is expected to simplify and scale AT&T’s network by separating hardware and software functionality, separating network control plane and forwarding planes, and improving functionality management in the software layer.This move to software-based telco environments will not only help incumbent providers become more agile and adapt to market trends and subscriber demands more effectively, but will open up the market to new players who may not have had such deep pockets needed to develop proprietary hardware. It will allow new carriers to quickly scale and compete, as they won’t have to load up on costly central office equipment to get started.

Telco Strategist Sadiq Malik will be speaking on day 2 of AfricaCom 2014 in the SDN & Network Virtualization stream. If you haven't got your AfricaCom ticket yet, register for FREE here: http://bit.ly/AfricaCom2014  

Source: http://maliksadiq13.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/nfv-and-sdn-reloaded-get-started-telcos/

AfricaCom 2014 Exhibitor PeerApp Offers a Glimpse at the Future of Digital Africa

By Geoffrey Shimanyula, Sales Director, Africa

As over 9,000 people congregate for AfricaCom 2014, we’ll have a chance to glimpse at the future of Digital Africa. Statistics on the growth of digital services in Africa are impressive. According to Telegeography, Africa boasts:

•    Almost 10 million broadband subscribers 
•    Since 2005, the greatest wireless growth rate of any global region (currently at 10%)
•    A CAGR of over 50% between 2010 and 2014 for Internet bandwidth and Internet traffic

Clearly, it’s a dynamic market.  As we’ve seen in other geographies, as Internet content consumption grows driven by increased bandwidth, appetite and devices, operators face challenges in delivering Internet content – especially video – in a way that is both cost-effective and meets customer expectations. 

PeerApp helps 80 operators in Africa and 450 globally to speed Internet content delivery across their networks to their subscribers.  Read on for a customer story. 

We hope to see you at AfricaCom 2014 – please come by our Stand #C9 and say hello, or better yet, drop me a note to arrange a meeting with me or one of my colleagues:  gshimanyula@peerapp.com

African Mobile Operator uses Transparent Caching to Cut Transit Costs and Boost QoE

One customer in particular is leveraging opportunities to reduce costs and improve effectiveness of their networks.  This customer wanted to reduce their bandwidth requirements in order to lower costs and improve Quality of Experience (QoE) for their subscribers.   With PeerApp’s UltraBand transparent caching solution, popular Internet content is held within the local part of the customer’s network, closer to the end subscribers. This allows that content to be served locally, without requiring access of the broader Internet, saving on transit costs. This also brings faster download speeds to subscribers for a better user experience.

In addition to the above objectives, the system needed to be able to handle current traffic and also be able to scale with growth. Support for a variety of methods of connecting with the network was also important.

Since deployment, the customer has seen the following quality improvements:

1)    Reduction in needed Internet bandwidth of > 25%
2)    Average bandwidth savings > 30%
3)    Cache productivity > 40%
4)    Download speed on tested files decreased from 30 seconds to 1 second!

With PeerApp, this African operator is realizing the benefits and cost savings of transparent caching, and their subscribers are thrilled with the much improved download speeds.

TM Forum Live! at AfricaCom 2014

AfricaCom are delighted to be working with TM Forum again this year, helping to make this edition even bigger and better than ever before.

TM Forum Live! at AfricaCom, will focus on how to transform to a digital business by tapping into the wisdom of 1000 high tech member companies with a specific focus on advances such as data analytics, virtualization and the impact of the ‘internet of things’ to help you reduce cost and risk, increase agility and customer satisfaction and ultimately drive better profits in the digital world. 

A host of leading names will take to the stage including Zanele Mgidi, Head of Mobile Money, MTN Group, Christian de Faria, CEO, Airtel Africa, Hugo van Zyl, Executive: Mobile Service Delivery, Telkom Mobile and TM Forum’s very own Tony Poulos and Peter Dunmore. TM Forum Live! will take place on day three, Thursday 13^th November. For the full agenda, please click here.

Register now to join the debate and discussion.

For FREE exhibition tickets, follow this link. Don’t forget to quote your priority code: MGLASS to be entered into our prize draw to win Google Glass worth $1500!!*

*The prize draw will take place on Day Three of AfricaCom – the winner must be present.

Catch a sneek preview of AfricaCom 2014!

Africa's premier communications congress & exhibition returns to Cape Town for its biggest & best year yet! Here is a preview of what you can expect at the 17th annual AfricaCom on 11-13 November 2014.

If you haven't got your ticket yet, register for FREE here: http://bit.ly/AfricaCom2014

AfricaCom speaker Nicola D'Elia on Facebook as an "on-ramp" for Africa's first-time Internet users

AfricaCom 2014 speaker Nicola D'Elia, Head of Growth and Partnerships, EMEA, Facebook on: Facebook's subscriber numbers in Africa and its biggest markets; its relationships with mobile operators and the different business models it's trying; its advertising operation in the region; the work of its strategic alliance Internet.org; and its present and future relationship with developers in the region.

Nicola D'Elia, Facebook, will be speaking at AfricaCom (11-13 November 2014). For further details and to register, go to: www.comworldseries.com/africa and follow it on #africacom

Interview by Smart Monkey TV

Zain Sudan CEO Elfatih Erwa confident of further growth in country’s telecom sector

•    Erwa participates in keynote interview at Middle East Com conference and details Zain Sudan’s operational progress to date
•    Country’s leading mobile operator investing heavily in network upgrades as well as in development and training of staff
•    Targeting growth in mobile data and mobile money usage; ready to launch 4G services in three months upon regulatory approval


Zain Group, a leading innovator of mobile communications in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, details the headlining participation of its Zain Sudan CEO, Elfatih Erwa, at the Middle East Com conference, organized by Informa Telecoms & Media, and hosted at Mina A’Salam hotel in Dubai this week.

In a keynote interview in front of 400 industry leaders, Erwa detailed the impressive progress Zain Sudan has continued to make since his appointment as CEO in 2008, and the subsequent secession of South Sudan in 2011.

“Internally the company is doing well on all operational levels and we are investing heavily in network upgrades,” Erwa told the delegates in attendance. “We have experienced 15% revenue growth year-on-year in local currency terms, and enjoy a leading 41% customer market share that reflects a 60% share of revenues in the overall market.”

Erwa explained that Sudan’s contribution to Zain Group’s overall service revenues had fallen from a peak of 20% to now contribute around 15% given the local currency fluctuations that has seen the Sudan pound depreciate by over 120% in recent years. He also noted Zain Sudan was contributing a similar 15% of Zain Group’s net profit, highlighting the debt-free nature of the operation, which places the operator in a prime position to benefit from market opportunities as they arise.

“I believe we are coming into another take-off period in Sudan, and in some geographic regions we are already witnessing an explosion of data usage. We are interested in the growing area of mobile money, and have recently launched a commercial service with the Bank of Khartoum. We also see other good growth opportunities in the country especially in value added services and we shall be committing resources towards those also,” Erwa said.

Zain Sudan currently counts over 11.4 million customers, with an estimated 40% of them already utilizing their devices to access Internet content, with the operator awaiting approval to introduce 4G services. Erwa noted that the company has invested over US$100 million in network upgrades in the past 12 months (approximately 17% of its revenues) and recently introduced appealing data packages for its customers. Approximately 11% of Zain Sudan’s revenues are from data and Erwa expects this to grow to 15% by end of 2015 as smartphone usage picks up further.

“We could launch 4G commercially within three or four months of being given permission to do so by the regulator,” Erwa asserted. “We already have a number of competitive advantages including being one of the founding mobile operators in Sudan so we have good access to spectrum, and are viewed as a preferred provider in the country. We also benefit from significant synergies with Zain Group, and we are very fortunate to have the ongoing support of one of the leading telecom groups in the region,” he added.

On human resource issues, Erwa detailed how the company is investing heavily in the training and development of his dedicated workforce and how the company has recently increased salaries to meet rising inflation. “By doing this, we are rewarding our workforce for their dedication and successes to date. It also works as a retention tool to avoid operators abroad from poaching them. We have the best talent in the country and we strive to keep them.”

Looking ahead, Erwa said he believes the telecom sector in Sudan shall remain a significant one, if not rise even further in importance given the increase in mobile penetration rates and use of mobile data services. He also forecasts there will be little chance for the successful entry of new players, and believes in fact that the industry may be entering a period of consolidation given the three mobile and two fixed line operators already providing services in the market.

“I’m optimistic about the potential of the telecom sector in Sudan and similarly for the future of Zain Sudan. We shall continue developing our strong distribution channels and innovating with new services, focusing on providing customers the best mobile experience in the country. We remain committed to deliver our brand promise of a Wonderful World to the communities we serve,” Erwa concluded.

About Zain Sudan
Zain Sudan is the pioneer of GSM services in Sudan, being the first to offer mobile operations back in February 1997. Today it serves the largest base of mobile customers in the country with more than 11.4 million active customers, reflecting a leading market share of 41%. It is part of the Zain Group, a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 46.5 million active customers as of 30 June, 2014. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (stock ticker: ZAIN).
For more, please email info@zain.com or visit: www.zain.com; www.facebook.com/zain; www.twitter.com/zain; www.youtube.com/zain; www.instagram.com/zaingroup; www.linkedin.com/company/zain

Focus on Digital in Middle East Com day one keynotes

The conference room was packed this morning at the 19th annual Middle East Com, for the opening presentation by Host Operator Etisalat’s Chief Business Officer, Salvador Anglada. Mr Anglada presented Etisalat’s view of the new opportunities available to operators in the hyper-connected world. With a forecast of 50 billion connected devices by 2020, and 4 billion new internet users in the next 10 years, operators must prepare for the benefits coming their way from the new digital environment.

Operators are no longer at the centre of the communications universe – they are part of it and need to establish what role they are going to take, and where they will build their capabilities. With the Middle East communications market still in growth phase, the time is ripe for consolidating current success and preparing for the future.

Charbel Sarkis of Google was next to present, with a speech on “Digitising the Customer Facing Value Chain”, highlighting the preference and benefits of a more digital approach to customers and customer service.

Zain Sudan’s CEO Elfatih Erwa was interviewed by Ovum’s Matthew Reed, giving a detailed insight into his operation, and was followed by the operator panel featuring Greg Young, CEO, Nawras; Mikkel Vinter, CEO, Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa; Sacha Dudler, General Manager, STC and Ahmed Mokhles, Executive Vice President, Consumer and Digital Business, du. The panel was moderated by Strategic Partner Telecom Review’s Editor in Chief Toni Eid and highlighted how telcos are contributing to business and consumer lifestyle enhancements.

Afternoon tracks focussed on Customer Experience Management, Transformation to the Networked Society and MVNOs in the Middle East.

Join us tomorrow for day 2 at the Mina A’Salam Madinat Jumeirah with keynote presentations from Ross McAuley, Vice President Brand Marketing at Jumeirah Group and Dr Aisha Bin Bishr, Deputy DG of The Executive Office, Member of the Smart Dubai Executive Committee. With top level discussions on Smart Cities, Smart Services and Managed Services, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

New for AfricaCom 2014: the Entrepreneurs Incubator Hub hosts the AMPION Venture Bus Finale

Young people with innovative ideas need access to investors, they need employees with technical expertise and they highly benefit from capacity building and mentorship opportunities. In Africa, in particular, it is also crucial to overcome infrastructural barriers. This is why our NGO AMPION is collaborating with startups, public institutions, partner NGOs, investors, incubators and innovation hubs (tech and co-working centers). We understand information and communications technology (ICT) not as an end in itself but as a crucial enabler reducing barriers to entry, lowering cost, speeding up growth, extending reach and thereby enhancing the potential impact of business ideas. That is why we target entrepreneurial talents across all industries, while placing special emphasis on enabling ICT experts to work with and for them.

In the Middle East and North Africa telecoms market a 2014 report by Analysys Mason shows that the mobile telecoms market is displaying signs of continued growth. While research by Deloitte and GSMA (Groupe Special Mobile Association) highlights that sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world (sporting a growth rate of 44% per year since 2000), Northern Africa and the Middle East are also benefitting from the progress of mobile penetration on the continent. Driven by strong mobile handset data growth, telecoms service revenue in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will grow at a CAGR of 2.9% during 2013–2018 (mobile at 3.3% and fixed at 2.8%), to reach USD96 billion in 2018.

AMPION Venture Buses operate all across the African continent and connect coders, web designers and business experts to investors and mentors. On five-day ‘hackathons’ they create startups from scratch. The buses are equipped with electricity and Internet. Every day the Venture Bus visits innovation HUBs to get the participants in touch with the local communities for feedback and an exchange of experiences. 

A key objective for AMPION is to make startups created on the Venture Buses sustainable. For this purpose we will offer a six month fellowship program for the 10 best startups created on the AMPION Venture Buses. It will include free offices in over 30 countries, a grant and the connection to our global network of mentors. In addition, it will feature trips to the centers of the global tech and startup scene such as the Silicon Valley and Berlin. 

2014 four AMPION Venture Buses will travel a total of 16 African countries. Along their journey our participants (200 overall) get in touch with more than 5000 young Africans interested in entrepreneurship and innovation. We also cooperate with international journalists and African media channels such as the BBC, Bloomberg, A24Media and many African tech blogs. Due to this extensive media coverage and our own active social media campaigns the spirit of our Venture Buses can potentially inspire more than 25 million young people in Africa and worldwide. 

Advancements through the power of digital and innovation can help to improve the day-to-day life of many people across Africa and the Middle East and may help building a foundation for the tech markets of tomorrow.  

In 2013 eight startups where created on our bus driving from Zimbabwe to South Africa. One of them, the App "sterio.me" is an e-learning app via SMS. It takes into account the challenges of the African market: Inadequate infrastructure and a lack of internet connectivity highly affect the access to education in Africa. Sterio.me helps to overcome these obstacles as the app requires neither mobility nor internet access: The user sends an SMS to the free service and then receives a call that is sent to him by his teacher tasks and queries learning content. 

The app "Bribed", also developed in 2013 in the bus, provides access to a network that tracks exposure to bribery. They now cooperate with Transparency Germany to help them improve their Global Corruption Index.

We are looking forward to many great new ideas on our four AMPION Venture Buses in 2014!

Check out the Entrepreneurs Incubator Hub which will take place on Day Three of AfricaCom 2014 – Secure your conference pass or FREE exhibition ticket here: http://bit.ly/AfricaCom2014 

Infrastructure leveraging, OTTs rising, and CIO's evolving role in ICT are the themes of day two at NigeriaCom

The 5th annual NigeriaCom event rolls into day two at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria, bringing together the leading figures in telecoms, ICT, Media and Finance, from across Nigeria and the wider region.

Speakers from the public and private sector gave a poignant discussion on broadband infrastructure to kick off. All shared the sentiment that private sector needs encouragement from government to invest in network infrastructure and in turn grow the enterprise investment across Nigeria.

On the topic of surge in OTT services, MTN's Bayo Adekanmbi sees this as the tip of the iceberg, so operators pricing must be well balanced.

Yookos coyly concluded the panel stating telcos need OOT players because they have the content!

Resuming after the morning coffee break the CIO forum began with a great panel of shared perspectives from leaders in corporate ICT. How can CIOs manage the nexus force of mobile, social, big data and cloud?

Critical thought was shared by Vodacom, Ekiti State, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Jumia, EMC and many others.

Still to come this afternoon - MVNO strategies for Nigeria and digital insights from market  king's iRoko TV, and more.

Networking is a major part of NgieriaCom: a busy Speed Networking session took place in the morning coffee break. The day’s proceeding ended with a drinks reception hosted that carried on into the event.