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No free pass: global financial crisis will impact Africa’s telecoms sector
by alice 24 Oct '08

24 Oct '08

(From Balancing Act) No free pass: global financial crisis will impact Africa’s telecoms sector It’s early days but the conventional wisdom so far has been that Africa will avoid the worst of the backwash from the global financial crisis. Its banks are less over-committed as lenders and its relatively small number of consumers still struggle to find credit. However, as everything is connected globally, Africa is bound to take a hit like every other continent and that hit will impact directly on Africa’s telecom’s sector. Russell Southwood tries to read the tea leaves. Over the last five years about half of the countries on the continent have experienced above average economic growth. This growth amongst the “fast track” economies has fed through directly into wealth levels among the people affected. For example, the middle class in Kenya grew by 3% over the last three years: this is a small percentage of a big number so it affects several million people. The slower moving economies have often been those emerging from civil war so any growth has been a bonus compared to past years. A significant part of the economic growth of the “fast track” African countries has come from the giant emerging economies of China and India buying food and mineral resources. However, if people in developed economies buy less of the consumer goods that have fuelled the growth of China’s economy then it in turn will need less mineral resources from places like Africa. Less demand for mineral resources will mean lower prices for things like oil and copper. The only upside of the latter is that there may be less organised cable vandalism. But if China sneezes, Africa catches a cold. So how does this general economic analysis feed through into Africa’s telecoms sector and what’s it likely to mean for your business?: - If you’re trying to raise funds to invest in Africa, life has got significantly harder. Some of those who were in the process of doing this were talking deals with financial institutions that have now been rescued by the US Government. Sovereign wealth funds (largely from oil-based economies) may be more immune to the liquidity crisis but the fall in the price of oil will cut the scale of these funds over time. Africa’s local stock exchanges may still be good for some fundraising but the scale of funds available is modest alongside the size of past deals. The interesting one to watch is Nigeria where the banks still appear to be anxious to lend and open for business. Also, barring a major financial crisis, the Chinese Government (which has a considerable amount of US dollars) will continue to support its export drive by offering soft loans to Africa’s impoverished state-owned telco incumbents. Perhaps some mobile operators will join them in this queue? - Africa’s mobile opportunities have been seen as a licence to print money and even with proliferating competition, newcomers have been keen to enter the market, paying top dollar. However, it’s noticeable that some of the more opportunistic investors without a background in telecoms have decided to take money and run: for example, Hits Telecom has sold out to France Telecom (see news item below). Nevertheless, they probably passed coming in the other direction Orascom’s new Africa unit, Telecel Globe. The global tides of financial panic wash people in and out: remember Vivendi who quit Africa during the telecoms finance crisis but returned as things got better. The logic of the current global crisis dictates that less available money will mean lower prices and less contenders. But the number of opportunities for new mobile licences or market entry points through acquisition are limited. Therefore Africa will do what it’s always done best up till now and “sell shortage” at a premium. For there are not many places in the world where you can get an above average return on your money within eighteen months to two years and there’s still another 5-10% of the addressable market untouched. And investing in mobile telephony is probably a better bet than giving people 120% mortgages on their houses in the current climate. - Less investment means less money going into African economies means less growth. Again the specifics are that if a mobile operator invests US$200-400 million in a country operation, a large part of that goes into things like employing people, buying local services and advertising. In advertising terms, the mobile operators have been among the top 5 spenders in any country where tracking exists. With potential buyers of mobile services possibly having less money to spend, the competition for the market share they already have will intensify. There will be a lot of soothing talk about the importance of service and new features before price wars set in. The smaller, one-country or small number of country operations will feel this heat hardest and will come up for acquisition or may even go out of business if the heat gets too intense. - The glimmer of hope against this backdrop is that the African consumer (the person with a monthly salary and some disposable income) is largely not in debt to anything like the same level as his or her European or American counterpart. They will not splash out wildly in the current context but they will continue to spend. The poor who have not yet become consumers will continue to scrape by as ever. However, the level of remittances from relatives abroad may drop as they become affected by the downturn in developed economies. Last week South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel was telling people not to panic which is usually a prelude to people heading for the lifeboats. However, the worst that appears to be in store is a strong dose of wage inflation. Telkom’s failure to address its overstaffing may seem like a victory for its employees but if wages continue to rise above inflation, it will begin to squeeze the companies already pressured profits. Whatever the political pressures, hard times will demand drastic solutions. - Economic slowdown means that Government will have lower tax revenues and private companies less income. Both will impact on the replacement and purchase cycle for ICT equipment. SAP commented in its Q3 results that results from BRICs (the key grouping of developing countries) were mixed. And whilst Cisco reported a resurgence in emerging markets orders, bookings in Africa were very weak. Money spent on rescuing deserving causes like banks may also turn into money not spent on foreign aid. Since the latter supports a great deal of the ICT purchases by African Governments, this will also create a tightening in the market, particularly for the larger IT multinationals with a presence on the continent. All have put feet on the ground in the promise of business tomorrow and the more timid or financially windswept may pull back. - On a counter-cyclical basis, there are two key factors: the big change in the cost of international fibre capacity with the arrival of new cables and for South Africa, the World Cup in 2010. The first (in Q2,2009) will be a welcome boost as bandwidth prices will fall from US$5-6,000 a meg on the east coast to nearer to US$500-1,000 a meg. This will not be good news for those selling high-priced bandwidth as a way of making a living but will benefit those selling services and applications on top of the network. On the west coast, this fall will happen in Q2, 2010 and will be slightly less dramatic. The World Cup in 2010 will be a welcome boost to growth for South Africa and is allowing it to put in place key infrastructure. The only question is: will it be finished on time? - The hardest part to read is the sheer irrationality of financial markets: the kind of cold sweat fear that's been gripping the markets in the North does not always relate to fundamentals but it may convey itself South. Asia is already anticipating the worst. But this will probably only happen if the global crisis keeps extending and there is a feeling that Government money simply won’t contain the difficulties. Everything hangs on that difficult word confidence. So hang on to your hat because it may get bumpy….

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[Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] Vint Cerf warns on IPv6 uptake]
by alice 23 Oct '08

23 Oct '08

Vint Cerf warns on IPv6 uptake You have until mid-2010, says Google sage. Mikael Ricknäs, IDG News Service 21 October 2008 The Internet will get support for IPv6, a more secure domain name system and international characters, during the next couple of years, according to Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google. "This year and the next year are probably the most significant years for Internet's evolution that I can remember," said Cerf, who was one of the keynote speakers at the Internetdagarna (The Internet Days) conference in Stockholm. The biggest change is the move to IPv6, which will give the Internet a much larger address space and ensure future growth. The current estimate is that the number of IPv4 addresses that can be allocated will be exhausted around the middle of 2010, according to Cerf. "It's slowly entering into the network, but people haven't felt very much pressure up until now to implement it," said Cerf. But the deadline is coming closer, and it's becoming more apparent to many people that it's time to start implementing IPv6 in parallel with IPv4, according to Cerf. Besides its 128-bit address space, IPv6 has other benefits. "One of them is that if the other side says I need to go into encrypted mode you are supposed to comply with that, it's optional in IPv4," said Cerf. There are also some problems, the network management tools are for example not yet as mature the ones for IPv4, according to Cerf. He says the current lack of addresses, and the IPv4 32-bit address space, is his fault. "My only defence is that decision was made in 1977, at a time when it was uncertain if the Internet would work," said Cerf, and adding that a 128-bit address space seemed excessive back then. But IPv6 isn't the only project that will keep the industry busy. The implementation of domain name system security using DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) has also got off the ground. "The idea here is to improve the assurance that when you do a domain name hookup you get back the IP address that was intended, as opposed to something that was modified by a hacker," said Cerf. If the DNSSEC is supposed to improve security on the Internet, the addition of internationalised domain names (the support for non-Latin character sets) is supposed to make it a more global place. Languages such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so on, will all become a part of the domain name systems vocabulary, according to Cerf. "This is a big change, because for the last 30 years the only thing you could use was Latin characters, and just the letters A though Z, digits 0 to 9 and a hyphen," said Cerf. There is still a lot to be done to make the Internet more useful than it is today. Broadcast and support for multihoming, which can make it convenient for users to have more than one ISP, are two areas where there is room for improvement, according to Cerf. "So we have lots of potential, new designs to add to the Internet to make it more functional and effective than it is today," said Cerf. This article was printed from Techworld : www.techworld.com <http://www.techworld.com/> The UK's infrastructure & network knowledge centre © 2008 : All rights reserved -- Anne-Rachel Inne _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Re: [kictanet] Kenya’s Banks ask for regulation on Mobile Money Transfers
by John Maina 22 Oct '08

22 Oct '08

Lizette and wainaina Banks in this country never invest in innovation. They invest on alot of research but never innovation. Where were they when Safaricom was researching and investing on technology? regulatingg MPESA will be so catastrophic. It should just be policed but not regulated and I believe thaat if at all Bw. Njuguna and PS. Ndemo are going to fall for the tricks of these banks then we are in for intersting times. Banks must invest in innovation and they can easily get to Kenyan universities and sponsors competitions which will bring very much good results. JM ----- Original Message ---- From: Lizette Kraft <lfkraft(a)gmail.com> To: j.maina(a)ymail.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:26:29 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya’s Banks ask for regulation on Mobile Money Transfers Hey what's up with these Banks who give their customers a real raw deal anyway!! The banks have never done anything for the people other than use them! Now they want to crush the one system that helps and allows the rich and the poor and marginalised to send funds without having to pay the drastic fees the banks charge. Everytime there is something that works for the masses and not just the priviledged there is an uproar to defeat the purpose!! The banks need the competition so they can learn to respect all. People in business in Kenya have for too long ripped off the wanainchi and they will have to learn to respect the consumers. Good on CBK not to agree bring M-Pesa and the like under their ACT. It shouldn't be allowed to operate without rules and regulations of course, to protect peoples money but we should do all possible to help technology take root that can help the people. My opinion entirely! On 10/18/08, alice <alice(a)apc.org> wrote: (From Balancing Act) Kenya's Banks ask for regulation on Mobile Money Transfers The banking fraternity is crying foul over what it described as unfair and increasing competition from money transfer operators. The industry says the operators are enjoying privileges similar to those extended to deposit taking institutions despite not being covered by the same regulatory regime. "Currently, there is no legal framework within which these entities provide their services despite behaving like current account institutions," says John Wanyela, executive director of the Kenya Bankers Association. "If these operators want to join the financial sector, they have to be properly licensed." The bankers are calling on the government to subject the services to prudential regulations "for robust and secure movement of funds across the economy." Under the proposed guideline, the services will have to be supervised by a specialised financial regulatory authority that will oversee their financial soundness and stability. Currently, the two leading mobile phone service providers - Zain and Safaricom - are offering money-transfer services in the country under Sokotele and M-Pesa brands respectively. Like other deposit takers, the bankers association wants the mobile cash transfer operators restricted on how much deposits they can take. To avert undue competition with the banking fraternity, Wanyela says, M-Pesa and Sokotele services have to meet the capitalisation requirement as stipulated in the Banking Act. According to the Act, a deposit taking institution should maintain a minimum capitalisation of Ksh250 million ($3.5 million). This is however expected to double come December next year before hitting Ksh1 billion ($14.2 million) by 2010 after capitalisation requirements were amended in this financial year's budget. The bankers also say the "digital money" has implications for the conduct of monetary policy by the Central Bank of Kenya. To control inflation levels in the country, CBK continuously monitors the amount of money in circulation, mainly in the hands of people and commercial banks. With the monies in circulation, CBK is in a position to maintain a reserve money target and, therefore, intervene to control inflation. Observers say it is this huge amount of money circulating electronically that has defeated CBK in the fight against inflation. Wanyela says it is time the government stepped in to ensure M-Pesa and Sokotele services are regulated before "something goes wrong." Debate has been rife on who should regulate the mobile phone money transfer operators, with some arguing that the CBK should be party to the issuance of guidelines as "part of M-Pesa and Sokotele services fall under the national payments system." Fundamentally, the two mobile operations are guided by the Communications Commission of Kenya. Early last month, CBK said it had no intention of bringing the mobile cash transfer services under the Banking Act. It claimed that treating the money transfer services under the Act may impede competition in sector that is still at its infancy in a country whose majority population has limited access to financial services. Safaricom statistics show that as at the end of the first quarter of this year, more than Ksh3.1 billion ($44.2 million) had been transferred. From its launch in March 2007 till May this year, the service has facilitated the transfer of more than Ksh23.77 billion ($339.5 million). (Source: The East African) For further information on mobile payments in Africa purchase Balancing Act's report "M-Money - Finances, Banking and Payments through mobile phones" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: lfkraft(a)gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lfkraft%40gmail.com -- Lizette Kraft P.O. Box 18488, 00500 Nairobi, Kenya Cell: 0722-800362

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Fwd: Official Invitation Letter from Chinese Government
by waudo siganga 22 Oct '08

22 Oct '08

This could interest some collegaues, particularly those in BPO On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:15:20 +0800, "AP-SUMMIT " <admin(a)ap-summit.org> sa id: Dear sir or madam, We are honored to extend to you our cordial invitation to: The 2^nd Global Outsourcing Summit (2008) Date: 4^th Dec, 2008-6^th Dec, 2008 Venue: Yuda Palace Hotel, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China Theme: Global Outsourcings Role in Promoting the Prosperity of World Eco nomy Organizers: Asia-Pacific CEO Association (APCEO) Zhengzhou Municipal Peoples Government, P.R. China International Outsourcing Center (IOC) The 4^TH International Cooperation Summit for CEOs ??Provincial Governors and Mayors Special Investment Project: Reconstructing Sichuan with the Help of International Business Community Date: 7^th Dec, 2008-9^th Dec, 2008 Venue: InterContinental Hotel, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China Organizers: Asia-Pacific CEO Association (APCEO) Chengdu Municipal Peoples Government, P.R. China Topics: l Strategic thinking on the variable aspects of the Global econom y l Global industrial Transfer & Innovation throughout World Econom ies l Reconstructing Sichuan with the help of international business community The Municipal Government and People of Zhengzhou Welcome You! The Municipal Government and People of Chengdu Welcome You! Respectfully yours: ZHAO Jiancai, Mayor of Zhengzhou City GE Honglin, Mayor of Chengdu City Organizing Committee of the Global Outsourcing Summit (GOS) Organizing Committee of the International Cooperation Summit for CEOs ?Pr ovincial Governors and Mayors (ICS) NOTE: The governmental support to the attendees: · No participation fee will be charged; · Free hotel accommodation and meals during the conferences; · Complimentary shuttle bus for attendees will run from International Air port to the conference location and the hotels; · Free translation service and match service. ** If for any reason you are unable to come to the summit, we would appre ciate that you extend our invitation to others in your organization who might be able to attend in your stead .** Liaison Person: Barbteana Deng Organizing Committee of ICS & GOS Tel: +86-10-64987220 Fax: +86-10-64973173 Mobile: +86 13381370016 Website: [1]www.ap-summit.org [2]www.ioutsourcing.org/gos/ Address: D1-18 Floor, Sunshine Plaza, No.68, Anli Road, Chaoyang District , Beijing 100101, P.R. China References Visible links 1. http://www.ap-summit.org/ 2. http://www.ioutsourcing.org/gos/ Hidden links: 3. http://www.ioem.org/gos Men trip not not mountains, the stumble on stones - Chinese Proverb

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[Fwd: [i-network Uganda] Wall Street Simplified]
by alice 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

a look at the current financial situation with a light touch....from Uganda -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [i-network] Wall Street Simplified Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:14:20 +0300 From: Stephen S. Musoke <smusoke(a)infoma.com> Reply-To: I-Network Uganda <i-network(a)dgroups.org> To: I-Network Uganda <i-network(a)dgroups.org> If you have difficulty understanding the current world financial situation, the following should help... Once upon a time in a village in India, a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10. The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts. The man further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50.' The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere! Welcome to WALL STREET. Stephen The I-Network Dgroup is a platform for ICT Knowledge Sharing:- Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, ICCO, IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank:-You are currently subscribed to subst('i-network(a)dgroups.org') as: alice(a)apc.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-i-network-1222184T(a)dgroups.org

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Kenya’s Banks ask for regulation on Mobile Money Transfers
by alice 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

(From Balancing Act) Kenya’s Banks ask for regulation on Mobile Money Transfers The banking fraternity is crying foul over what it described as unfair and increasing competition from money transfer operators. The industry says the operators are enjoying privileges similar to those extended to deposit taking institutions despite not being covered by the same regulatory regime. "Currently, there is no legal framework within which these entities provide their services despite behaving like current account institutions," says John Wanyela, executive director of the Kenya Bankers Association. "If these operators want to join the financial sector, they have to be properly licensed." The bankers are calling on the government to subject the services to prudential regulations "for robust and secure movement of funds across the economy." Under the proposed guideline, the services will have to be supervised by a specialised financial regulatory authority that will oversee their financial soundness and stability. Currently, the two leading mobile phone service providers - Zain and Safaricom - are offering money-transfer services in the country under Sokotele and M-Pesa brands respectively. Like other deposit takers, the bankers association wants the mobile cash transfer operators restricted on how much deposits they can take. To avert undue competition with the banking fraternity, Wanyela says, M-Pesa and Sokotele services have to meet the capitalisation requirement as stipulated in the Banking Act. According to the Act, a deposit taking institution should maintain a minimum capitalisation of Ksh250 million ($3.5 million). This is however expected to double come December next year before hitting Ksh1 billion ($14.2 million) by 2010 after capitalisation requirements were amended in this financial year's budget. The bankers also say the "digital money" has implications for the conduct of monetary policy by the Central Bank of Kenya. To control inflation levels in the country, CBK continuously monitors the amount of money in circulation, mainly in the hands of people and commercial banks. With the monies in circulation, CBK is in a position to maintain a reserve money target and, therefore, intervene to control inflation. Observers say it is this huge amount of money circulating electronically that has defeated CBK in the fight against inflation. Wanyela says it is time the government stepped in to ensure M-Pesa and Sokotele services are regulated before "something goes wrong." Debate has been rife on who should regulate the mobile phone money transfer operators, with some arguing that the CBK should be party to the issuance of guidelines as "part of M-Pesa and Sokotele services fall under the national payments system." Fundamentally, the two mobile operations are guided by the Communications Commission of Kenya. Early last month, CBK said it had no intention of bringing the mobile cash transfer services under the Banking Act. It claimed that treating the money transfer services under the Act may impede competition in sector that is still at its infancy in a country whose majority population has limited access to financial services. Safaricom statistics show that as at the end of the first quarter of this year, more than Ksh3.1 billion ($44.2 million) had been transferred. From its launch in March 2007 till May this year, the service has facilitated the transfer of more than Ksh23.77 billion ($339.5 million). (Source: The East African) For further information on mobile payments in Africa purchase Balancing Act’s report “M-Money - Finances, Banking and Payments through mobile phones”

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ICANN Posts Draft Implementation Plan for the Add Grace Period (AGP) Limits Policy
by alice 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-20oct08-en.htm ICANN Posts Draft Implementation Plan for the Add Grace Period (AGP) Limits Policy ICANN is today opening a public comment period on the draft implementation plan for the AGP Limits Policy. http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/agp-draft-20oct08-en.html This recently approved consensus policy is intended to limit the behavior known as domain tasting through modifications to the AGP. The Policy will affect gTLD Operators (hereinafter referred to as "Operators") and ICANN-accredited registrars (hereinafter referred to as "Registrars") and become effective following appropriate comment and notice periods on the implementation plan. On 26 June 2008, at its meeting in Paris, the ICANN Board resolved http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-26jun08.htm#_Toc76113173 to adopt the GNSO recommendation on domain tasting. Following implementation of the Policy, Operators will be prohibited from making refunds of registration fees to Registrars for AGP deletes that exceed the threshold limits set by the Policy unless an exemption has been granted by an Operator. The limits defined by the Policy are (i) 10% of that Registrar's net new registrations ( calculated as the total number of net adds of one-year through ten-year registrations as defined in Operator Agreements) in that month, or (ii) fifty (50) domain names, whichever is greater. The draft implementation plan details how this Policy will be implemented. Comments on the proposed AGP Limits Policy implementation may be submitted to agp-limits-policy(a)icann.org and will be considered until 20 November 2008 23:59 UTC. Comments may be viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/agp-limits-policy/. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat(a)gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Re: [kictanet] What should the Investment Policy Be?
by mwananchi＠hushmail.com 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

Walu, That was actually PS Ndemo's proposal in 2007 and it appears to have been part of the proposed ICT bill. It was: What we are saying is that a foreign investor needs time to (get to) know whom he can work with," Ndemo says. "In three years he can do a private placement or in five years do an IPO (initial public offering) or introduce employee option plans, but they must give 30 per cent to locals." It is good that PS Ndemo is sharing details about the foreign investors and what they actually said, contrary to what was reported about the companies not wanting to partner with Kenyans. Lost in this debate is the wide scope of the ICT sector. Some businesses such as BPOs don't tend to be capital intensive projects requiring upwards of greater than US$5 million. BPOs bring in inflows and foreign exchange earnings into the country. The same case with manufacturing through exports even though those tend to be capital intensive. I will return to these two points shortly in regards to the application of FDI policies. Lets visit some of the points raised by PS Ndemo. I believe we are getting closer to tackling some of the real causes of these problems or obstacles. 1. The case where a foreign investor is tied to non-performing locals in Telecom operator licensing more so those conducted through public procurement procedures: The problem can be easily solved by CCK amending its tender specific rules or the law as applicable to: a) Keep the current provision of not changing the nature of the consortium prior to the announcement of the tender outcome. This is to prevent manipulation of the evaluation process by the lead applicant or technical operator who may defect to other consortia in the middle of evaluations after private or political lobbying. b) Change the current provision addressing the post tender results to allow the removal of any equity participant without consequence to the licence when the regulator has satisfied itself that there is a valid case of a failure to contribute capital to meet licence fee requirements. The poison pill however should be that the removal of the technical partner should certainly be fatal to the ability of the consortium to roll out. The lead applicant if its not the technical operator should only be replaced under extreme circumstances. These provisions however should not be abused to engage in unrelated shareholder battles other than those involving the ability to contribute to licence fee payments. c) Allow a consortium to take on additional investors after the tender results and before roll out of the licence following approval by the regulator in cases where the regulator is satisfied that capital constraints are a hindrance to paying for the licence or roll out. d) If all else fails, allow Government intervention as outlined by the PS in early 2007 (can be improved on) except where the technical partner/foreign investor is the cause of the failure through application by the investor to the Government. Other options include the Government taking an equity stake in trust to prevent the collapse of the investment where all else has failed and the investor is short on capital to cover the local component. This would prevent the failures of Reliance and Vtel as the PS mentions. 2. Reform and strengthen the regulator as an institution with a very strong emphasis on financial due diligence during public procurement tenders. Remove any and all loopholes in existing procedures to restore and enhance bidder confidence in the process. In this and other regards the Global Communication and Information Technology Policy Division of the World Bank could be approached to play a key advisory role based on its expertise: http://www.worldbank.org/ict/policy Noted above were references to BPO's and manufacturers. The growth of which has somewhat stagnated if not yet to take off (manufacturing). Given the ICT board's recent initiatives regarding BPOs, shouldn't we give local operators a chance to harness these new opportunities? The use of blanket policy without specificity should be avoided if possible. Take for instance the following varying characteristics of a telecom operator, a BPO and a manufacturing facility: a) The BPO and Manufacturer export goods and services while a Telecom operator more often than not will serve a domestic market solely. b) Telecom projects build significant infrastructure as do Manufacturers. c) All three without exception create local jobs. d) Out of the 3, BPOs and Manufacturing are budding if not yet to bud industries in Kenya. e) Manufacturers and BPOs can primarily be located in EPZs. The policies PS Ndemo referred to were announced in conjunction with the intention to licence a 5th mobile operator within the next 18 months. One might as well have assumed the policy adjustments were being made for a 100% foreign owned operator to enter the mobile telephony market. In which case one would be justified as was the case, to ask who the foreigners were and if they indeed demanded these adjustments to suit their business ambitions including the pre-planning of an upcoming tender. Now that more has been revealed, it is apparent that some exemptions from policy are needed rather than blanket rules and regulations. Below are some additional suggestions: a) Temporarily lift the local component requirement for the first X number of manufacturers to set up shop in the country. However provide additional incentives for including local components both in shareholding and the manufacturing process. Local equity participants need not provide cash as they could provide capital inputs such as land and physical facilities. The government could give free land as an incentive if the manufacturing facility was set up in areas targetted for development for instance. b) Evaluate BPO requests for exemption on a case by case basis after demonstration that the local equity component could not be filled (See PS Ndemo's 2007 proposal as a starting point). A blanket, inflexible policy could have the potential effects of foreign BPO's fleeing from rising costs elsewhere to potentially upstage the efforts of indigenous BPOs as well as the ICT board. This should not be misread to mean that competition is unwelcome. c) Make no changes as pertains to Telco's except as suggested above for tendering procedures. Adopt something similar to PS Ndemo's original suggestion. d) Seek the World Bank's advice as suggested above. This does not mean succumbing to arm twisting rather it means drawing upon the World Bank's experience and expertise in an area where it has advised several Governments facing similar matters: http://www.worldbank.org/ict/policy All in all there should be some key incentives granted for investors who voluntarily include locals in entity equity participation. Peterson On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:59:27 +0000 John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >Plse lets hear more opinions on this issue. I heard one opinion >that in the vent local investors are unable to raise funding, we >could allow the foreing investor get in at 100% ownership on >condition that they offload 20% to local investors within 3- >5years. Is this workable? > >Yet another opinion was that local investors do have the funds - >its just NOT structured i.e. well consolidated and cordinated. I >think this may also be true if the recent Safaricom IPO is >anything to go by. So it looks like we do have the funds for ICT >investments while at the same time we dont! Where is the catch, >bottleneck? How could this be resolved? > >walu. >--- On Fri, 10/17/08, bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> >wrote: > >> From: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> >> Subject: What should the Investment Policy Be? >> To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com >> Cc: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" ><kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> >> Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 11:22 AM >> Dear Listers, >> A number of you have written to me off-list seeking to know >> the >> organizations that have sought excemption from the 20% >> local equity >> partcipation. >> >> These are four of the World's largets call centers and >> two ICT equipment >> manufacturers. They have said very clearly that they do >> not want to go >> through what some of the investors in telecoms sector went >> through or are >> going through. By this they mean local >> "Investors" who fail to raise >> their part of the bargain. We failed thrice to get the SNO >> simply because >> our local investors could not live up to their promises >> (Vtel, Reliance >> etc). This is an annormally in the current policy that >> does not allow the >> investor to seek for another local investor in the event of >> a disagreement >> in the first marriage (Do not read Econet since law is >> never applied >> retrospectively). >> >> Any progressive policy would give a chance to other people >> instead of >> forcing investors to stay in a marriage that does not bear >> fruit. You >> recall in past meeting we have called for such investments >> to seek for >> partnership at the stock exchange. This would mean then >> that the current >> policy is changed to allow that in the event there is a >> disagreement, the >> foreign investor can seek for a nother partner or better go >> to the stock >> market. >> >> My responsibility among others is to ensure that we achieve >> vision 2030 >> objectives as presicribed in the vision. In order to >> achieve the targets, >> especially of getting at least 50,000 youth into BPO sector >> in the next >> three years, we must get these bigies. This is what >> Ireland, India and >> Philipines did. >> >> Regards >> >> >> Ndemo. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > Hey Folks, >> > >> > I have lurked in the background for a while and like >> Wainaina I got a bit >> > lost in the exchanges. But I think one fundamental >> thread in all this - >> > despite the muddy exchanges - is the question of how >> do want to engage >> > with Foreign Investors? JM and others may have a >> point here - despite >> > their strong language. >> > >> > So maybe to bring benefit out of all these, we could >> indulge for a day or >> > two on the Policy we want as far as Foreign Direct >> Investments (FDI) into >> > our ICT industry are concerned. >> > >> > Correct me if am wrong but I believe the Government >> position/policy on >> > this has been that the Foreign investor MUST >> incorporate a local investor >> > at minimum ratio 20%(local) to 80%(foreign) >> ownership/equity. I think the >> > members who feel that this should be changed have >> cases/examples where the >> > local equity/investor failed to come up with their 20% >> capital and so the >> > opportunity for investment disappears. On the other >> hand, other members >> > feel that local investors are abundantly rich and can >> come up with even >> > over 50% of any capital/equity required to invest in >> the industry. >> > >> > I honestly dont know which side is right and which one >> is wrong - but what >> > I do know is that there exists cases where the local >> investors have failed >> > to meet their capital requirements - hence the need to >> review or >> > interrogate whether this policy is detrimental or >> indeed beneficial to our >> > industry. >> > >> > Plse lets have objective comments that are devoid of >> personal attacks and >> > we shall make progress. Otherwise we begin to sound >> like a broken record. >> > >> > walu. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > --- On Thu, 10/16/08, gachuhi anthony >> <gachuhi.anthony(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> > >> >> From: gachuhi anthony >> <gachuhi.anthony(a)gmail.com> >> >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] PS Ndemo, ECONET Scandal >> aand Vested Interests >> >> To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com >> >> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" >> <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> >> >> Date: Thursday, October 16, 2008, 8:16 AM >> >> Moderator >> >> Is there a way off having an online poll to know >> where we >> >> stand maybe >> >> from there we may be able to know who is for or >> against the >> >> policies >> >> being discussed. >> >> Then we can give reasons as I don't think this >> a list >> >> to decide who is >> >> more kenyan than the other its about what will >> affect us >> >> all >> >> Tony >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On 10/16/08, Wainaina Mungai >> >> <wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org> wrote: >> >> > Dear all, >> >> > >> >> > What is the desired outcome of this very >> energised >> >> thread? (Select one) >> >> > >> >> > A: That the PS (I&C) announce that >> policies shall >> >> be developed in an >> >> > open, transparent and consultative manner. He >> also >> >> must organise a >> >> > forum to kickstart non-emotive talks by >> mid-November. >> >> > >> >> > B: That PS Ndemo resigns and is replaced with >> a person >> >> of your choice. >> >> > >> >> > C: That the Econet licence, Kencall licence >> and >> >> related MoUs, >> >> > contracts signed by PS (I&C) be >> cancelled. >> >> > >> >> > D: That all stakeholders Govt., KICTANET, >> KIF, CA, etc >> >> organise an >> >> > "ICT Investment" policy forum to be >> held in >> >> Nairobi around mid- >> >> > November 2008. >> >> > >> >> > I hope this shall help us focus on defining >> and >> >> achieving a common >> >> > goal so that we desist from personal attacks >> on >> >> integrity, racial >> >> > profiling and so on... >> >> > >> >> > Good day, >> >> > Wainaina >> >> > >> >> > On 10/16/08, Joseph Manthi >> <jmanthi(a)gmail.com> >> >> wrote: >> >> >> Edith,There are some useful lessons - but >> these >> >> lessons do not include: >> >> >> >> >> >> 1. How to give away your national >> treasures - like >> >> bandwidth - to foreign >> >> >> entities just because they say they can >> not do any >> >> business with local >> >> >> entrepreneurs. In fact I know this for a >> fact, you >> >> would never get a >> >> >> license >> >> >> to operate in UAE if this was your >> argument. >> >> Further to this lesson I >> >> >> would >> >> >> like to point to these additional >> countries that >> >> would laugh you out of >> >> >> town >> >> >> if you made that argument - US (some >> businesses >> >> like Airline, Military and >> >> >> Defense, Telecommunications (not ISP), >> Radio & >> >> TV), India, Singapore, >> >> >> Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, the >> whole of >> >> Middle East, South >> >> >> Africa, >> >> >> Japan (especially Japan) >> >> >> >> >> >> 2. How not be conned. Kenya seems to >> heading there >> >> with its eyes opened. >> >> >> When a man approaches a woman, it would >> be a very >> >> stupid woman, who >> >> >> knowing >> >> >> what a man is capable of, to accept the >> BS that >> >> the man is feeding her. >> >> >> And >> >> >> if she does then she deserves what she >> gets. Kenya >> >> will get what it >> >> >> deserves >> >> >> and very soon. A good example is Russia >> and its >> >> oligarchs - all members of >> >> >> the Forbes Richest. >> >> >> >> >> >> 3. Great leadership is necessary to grow >> a >> >> country. A leadership with >> >> >> intestinal fortitude to say no under >> pressure. Top >> >> to bottom, >> >> >> >> >> >> 4. That the local mwananchi can invest in >> their >> >> own country and manage its >> >> >> growth >> >> >> >> >> >> 5. That a great nation looks upon its >> diaspora to >> >> grow it - a la Israel >> >> >> and >> >> >> India >> >> >> >> >> >> 6. That a great nation does not wait to >> be raped >> >> twice - We seem to be >> >> >> following a process that will guarantee >> our raping >> >> despite how Kenyan some >> >> >> members of this committee think they are. >> Its just >> >> a matter of time before >> >> >> they pick up their bags and leave. I >> really do not >> >> think that as a >> >> >> national >> >> >> planner I should be putting my eggs in >> that >> >> basket. >> >> >> >> >> >> Joe >> >> >> >> >> >> On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 4:55 PM, >> >> <eadera(a)idrc.or.ke> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >>> Anyone has taken the time to >> thoroughly study >> >> the secret behind >> >> >>> Dubai's tremendous growth? (U.A.E >> in >> >> general). There are some useful >> >> >>> lessons! >> >> >>> >> >> >>> >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> >---- Original Message ---- >> >> >>> >From: j.maina(a)ymail.com >> >> >>> >To: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke >> >> >>> >Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fwd: PS >> Ndemo, >> >> ECONET Scandal aand Vested >> >> >>> >Interests >> >> >>> >Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:03:50 >> -0700 >> >> (PDT) >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> >>Lizette >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>I think that you have >> racially >> >> inclined your mind. >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>When did KENCALL directors >> become >> >> Kenyans? After getting good >> >> >>> >friends to bribe their way to >> this >> >> country. And let me tell you that >> >> >>> >the money the so called investors >> are >> >> using are Kenyan money not >> >> >>> >money from foreign banks. >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>They have come and borrowed >> from >> >> Kenyan banks. How much does the >> >> >>> >most profitable telecomms >> companies leave >> >> in this country, very small >> >> >>> >amount. We have Telecomms >> companies which >> >> are on their marks. They >> >> >>> >have very inferior systems and >> dont >> >> actually deliver in service but >> >> >>> >make billions and run away with >> the >> >> billions. >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>Dada Lizette, we know that >> there are >> >> Kenyans who are white, black >> >> >>> >coloured and all but know that I >> am a >> >> mixed race Kenyan and really >> >> >>> >sad when our brotehrs have to >> suffer >> >> because of bad policies from >> >> >>> >people like PS >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>JM >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>----- Original Message ---- >> >> >>> >>From: Lizette Kraft >> >> <lfkraft(a)gmail.com> >> >> >>> >>To: j.maina(a)ymail.com >> >> >>> >>Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy >> Discussions >> >> <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> >> >> >>> >>Sent: Tuesday, October 14, >> 2008 >> >> 1:52:07 PM >> >> >>> >>Subject: [kictanet] Fwd: PS >> Ndemo, >> >> ECONET Scandal aand Vested >> >> >>> >Interests >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>Just my two pennies worth >> here. >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>Kenya is not an Island that >> it can >> >> survive on its own even through >> >> >>> >local investment. Most times we >> dont have >> >> the funds. I do agree >> >> >>> >though about the Government and >> banks not >> >> supporting local investors >> >> >>> >with loans etc. They must start >> giving >> >> them the opportunity to setup >> >> >>> >local expertise and turn them in >> money >> >> making ventures, if only they >> >> >>> >wouldn't fleece their own >> companies. >> >> Even America, the giant needs >> >> >>> >investors!!! You all have a valid >> point >> >> but use it for the best >> >> >>> >interests of Kenya and its people >> first >> >> and foremost. Not just self >> >> >>> >interest for the few. And by the >> way >> >> Kenyans come in all shapes, >> >> >>> >sizes, COLOURS, and creed. So >> please >> >> don't generalise who is kenyan >> >> >>> >and who is not!!! Kencall >> directors and >> >> owners are Kenyan and not >> >> >>> >outsiders if I understand >> correctly. When >> >> we are taxed whether >> >> >>> >individually or coorporately, the >> money is >> >> used for Kenya and Kenyans >> >> >>> >and not for outsiders who >> invested! >> >> Forcing local partnership in >> >> >>> >foreign owned companies has >> >> >>> >> its negative and positive >> effects. >> >> >>> >>This needs to be look at more >> >> seriously to make it a win-win >> >> >>> >situation. It has been known in >> the past >> >> that foreign investors with >> >> >>> >forced local partnership have >> been >> >> subjected to threats and >> >> >>> >intimidation by the local >> partners when >> >> they wanted more than their >> >> >>> >fare share, (given to them mind >> you). Thus >> >> the weariness o >> >> >>> >>of being forced now. This >> does not >> >> attract any investor. But the >> >> >>> >foreigners should not fleece the >> country >> >> either! >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>Let us have some constructive >> >> critisism without being racially >> >> >>> >inclined. Fight to make things >> right no >> >> matter what but without >> >> >>> >pinpointing nationalities or >> colours of >> >> people. >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>On 10/7/08, John Maina >> >> <j.maina(a)ymail.com> wrote: >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>http://www.wananchiforums.com/showthread.php?p=3150#poest3150 >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >> >> >>> >>kictanet mailing list >> >> >>> >>kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>This message was sent to: >> >> lfkraft(a)gmail.com >> >> >>> >>Unsubscribe or change your >> options at >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lfkraft%40gma >il. >> >> >>> >com >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >>-- >> >> >>> >>Lizette Kraft >> >> >>> >>P.O. Box 18488, 00500 >> >> >>> >>Nairobi, Kenya >> >> >>> >>Cell: 0722-800362 >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >> >>> >> >> >>> >> >> >>> >> >> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> >>> kictanet mailing list >> >> >>> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> >> >>> >> >> >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> >>> >> >> >>> This message was sent to: >> jmanthi(a)gmail.com >> >> >>> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> >> >>> >> >> >> >http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jmanthi%40gmai >l.com >> >> >>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> >> Joseph Manthi >> >> >> CEO >> >> >> MEO Ltd >> >> >> http://www.meoltd.com >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> > -- >> >> > Sent from my mobile device >> >> > >> >> > Made in Kenya Network >> >> > Apt. B-8, Elite Park >> >> > Ole Odume Road >> >> > P. O. Box 72031 - 00200 >> >> > Nairobi. Kenya >> >> > Tel: +254-20-3590451 >> >> > Cel: +254-722-811171 >> >> > Cel: +254-735-370840 >> >> > www.madeinkenya.org >> >> > >> >> > http://www.bungesms.com >> >> > >> >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> >> > kictanet mailing list >> >> > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> >> > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> > >> >> > This message was sent to: >> gachuhi.anthony(a)gmail.com >> >> > Unsubscribe or change your options at >> >> > >> >> >> >http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/gachuhi.anthon >y%40gmail.com >> >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> kictanet mailing list >> >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> >> >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> >> >> This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> >> >> >http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo. >com >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > kictanet mailing list >> > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> > >> > This message was sent to: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke >> > Unsubscribe or change your options at >> > >> >http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jamb >o.co.ke >> > >> > ---------------------------------------------- >> > This message has been scanned for viruses and >> > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is >> > believed to be clean. >> > --------------------------------------------- >> > "easy access to the world" >> > >> > >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------- >> This message has been scanned for viruses and >> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is >> believed to be clean. >> --------------------------------------------- >> "easy access to the world" > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.yahoo.com > >_______________________________________________ >kictanet mailing list >kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >This message was sent to: mwananchi(a)hushmail.com >Unsubscribe or change your options at >http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mwananchi%40hu >shmail.com -- Click here to find travel and cruise franchise opportunities. http://tagline.hushmail.com/fc/Ioyw6h4frktsUNAhpwVFG3Jkg5yjygvxZp3xF7JkRFMT…

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Local software now set for exponential growth.:
by Gakuru Alex 19 Oct '08

19 Oct '08

[Business Daily] Experts praise new State guidelines on IT budgets Written by Okuttah Mark October 20, 2008: Government institutions will be required to spend half of their IT budgets in the local market in a move meant to promote software development. ... With the growth of mobile phone industry and the increase of Internet usage in the country, the move could also spur more innovative software on mobile phone applications for education, commerce and health. Information and Communication minister, Samuel Poghisio, says the decision was aimed at boosting the local industry as well as creating job opportunities. Mr Poghisio asked the multinationals in ICT industry to offer special development tools, training, certification and marketing support to local software developers. "The Government is keen on promoting local software development by encouraging a scheme to ensure that at least 50 per cent of Government software procurement is sourced from local developers," said Mr Poghisio. <http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10707&Ite…> ---excerpt-- This move closely follows Linux Professional Association of Kenya research that established that approximately 99% of government software was proprietary clearly marking the beginning of public sector software procurement correction alongside, expected Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) benefiting much;) Due salutes to the Minister and Permament Secretary. Sincerely, Alex

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The E Whiteband - ICTs WORKING FOR DEVELOPMENT
by Constance Georgina Khaendi Walyaro 19 Oct '08

19 Oct '08

THE E WHITE BAND http://www.whiteband.org/Action/join-us The electronic white band (E-White Band) is a virtual white band where you can leave your message to end poverty and inequality ….as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest. Nelson Mandela freedom, democracy, trade justice, equity, accountability, development, human rights for all, ...... nothing worthwhile comes cheap, or easy halving poverty by 2015 is entirely doable if enough people are willing to get involved; no doubt we are the generation that can see an end to poverty, we have helped create the most powerful tools ever, but they are worthless unless they can be effectively applied to address the greatest challenges at the core of the real global development agenda. supporting the global fight against poverty and inequality is about invoking the human spirit, seeking more hands and generating fresh perspectives to fashion a lever long enough to move society to a much better place; comprehensively improving the human condition. “Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I will move the world” Archimedes, 220 BC the human family is suffering and greater leveraging can help, STAND UP NOW, TAKE ACTION TODAY! Constance Georgina Khaendi Walyaro Director, Chair FWG International Young Professionals Foundation constancewalyaro(a)iypf.org www.iypf.org --- On Fri, 17/10/08, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] MAKE ICTs WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT - STAND UP NOW, TAKE ACTION TODAY! To: constance(a)youthaidscoalition.org, "Wainaina Mungai" <wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org> Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Date: Friday, 17 October, 2008, 9:19 AM > > 1. Tell your MP what you think: send SMS messages to the number 3454 with > the word STAND UP. > United in eradicating poverty! but, won't the SMS action path actually leave poor senders poorer? Regards, Alex On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 3:10 AM, Constance Georgina Khaendi Walyaro <constance(a)youthaidscoalition.org> wrote: > > > > > Poverty > affects us all > > > > > > 'Today is the UN's official World Poverty Day. But every day is poverty day > for the two billion people worldwide who have less than two dollars a day to > live on. Of those, just under one billion live on just one dollar a day. In > September 2000, 189 countries pledged to halve the number of those in > poverty by 2015. When we look at the results so far, hope mixes with > despair. Over 100 million children are still unable to go to school. Each > year, 10 million children die before their 5th birthday. 40 million are > living with HIV and AIDS, and 5 million die of it each year.'17th Oct 2004 > Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development > > > > > > Today, nearly half of the world's people live in poverty, 70% are women. > 50,000 people still die daily as a result of extreme poverty, and yet …..we > have the power to change this. www.standagainstpoverty.org > > > > > Last year, 43.7 million people around the world took part in the biggest > global mobilization to end poverty and inequality, and to promote the > Millennium Development Goals. This year, at a time of global financial > crises and food shortages, more than ever we need to ACT together in order > to send an even stronger message to push world leaders for more and better > aid, debt cancellation, education for all, healthcare, trade justice, gender > equality, public accountability and an end to extreme poverty by 2015. > > > > > > As the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty unfolds across the > world we're hoping to mobilize 1% of the global population - over 67 million > people around the world to STAND UP and TAKE ACTION [17th - 19th Oct] > against Poverty for the MDGs. Your actions count! > > > > > > 1. Tell your MP what you think: send SMS messages to the number 3454 with > the word STAND UP. > > > > 2. Attend Global Gatherings: a series of parallel IYPF events held in over > 30 different countries focused on mobilizing and engaging young > professionals in activities and processes that are holding governments and > leaders accountable and contributing to the achievement of the MDGs. > www.iypf.org > > > > 3. Join Virtual Stand Up: log in from October 17th to 19th and interact with > the world on MDGs; build a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world. > Facebook IYPF StandUp Global Gathering www.iypf.org > > > > > > > > We have the power and an obligation to make ICTs work for development! > STAND UP NOW, TAKE ACTION TODAY, Make Poverty History! > > > > > > > > Constance Georgina Khaendi Walyaro > > Director, Chair FWG > > International Young Professionals Foundation > > constancewalyaro(a)iypf.org > > www.iypf.org > > > > > > Wainaina P. Mungai > > Make in Kenya Network > > wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org > > www.madeinkenya.org > > > > > > > > > > StandUp is an initiative of the Make Poverty History and Global Call to > Action Against Poverty (GCAP) campaigns. IYPF is a GCAP Global Mobilization > Partner. www.makepovertyhistory.org > > > > > Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gma… > Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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