Mobile Web East Africa - Feb 3,4 Nairobi, Kenya

Conference on African mobile technology

Mobile Web East Africa is the next in a series of progressive and innovative events to focus on one of the most important technological advances of the 21st century.

By utilising the exceptionally interactive roundtable format, the 2 day conference promises to be one of the leading events of 2010, where the future development of the mobile internet, mobile applications and mobile ecosystem in the region will be discussed and mapped.

Kelele - African bloggers conference

What is Kelele?

Kelele is an annual African bloggers’ conference held in a different African city each year and run by an organising committee in that city. Kelele will be held for the first time in October 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Why Kelele?
Kelele is the Kiswahili word for noise.

We are organising a gathering of African bloggers in the tradition of historical African societies where everyone has a voice. With too many voices marginalised or simply ignored in African society today for a variety of reasons, we believe that the internet in general and grassroots media tools such as blogs in particular represent the most powerful way in which to give Africans back their voice. We are gathering to make a powerful, positive, inspirational noise that will be heard across the continent and beyond. KELELE!

The specific theme of Kelele ’09 Nairobi is Beat Your Drum – which connects the traditional African method of getting your message across vast distances – the talking drums – to the 21st century and the tools we use today, blogs and the Internet. We anticipate that this conference will continue to be called Kelele wherever it is held. For example Kelele Nairobi ’09, Kelele Accra ’10, Kelele Cairo ’11 and so on.

ACTS - African Centre for Technology Studies

ACTS is a Nairobi-based international intergovernmental science, technology and environmental policy think-tank that generates and disseminates new knowledge through policy analysis, capacity building and outreach.

The Centre strives to rationalize scientific and technological information to enable African countries make effective policy choices for improved living standards. ACTS works with partners and networks including academic and research institutions, national governments, UN bodies, regional and international processes and NGOs. ACTS' research and capacity building activities are organised in five programmatic areas: Biodiversity and Environmental Governance; Energy and Water Security; Agriculture and Food Security; Cross-Cutting Issues; and Science and Technology Literacy.

African tech Hot Spots - Business Daily Kenya

Business Daily has listed some investment hot spots on a PDF that are ripe for investments. Most of these investments I've covered before, except for electronics assembly in Africa.

From Business Daily:

Retail - Telecoms dealer
New Media - Television Innovator
Power - Alternative energy supplier
Recycling - E-waste capitalist
Business Process Outsourcing (I've dabbled in this area) - Outsourcing specialist
Assembler - Local PC manufacturer
Software - Linux or other open source tools

Kenyan economic growth up to 7 percent!

Reuters Africa is reporting that Kenya economic growth is 7% for the second quarter of this year!

From Reuters


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economy grew a robust 7 percent in the second quarter, up from 5.8 percent in the same period 2006, the Central Bank said on Tuesday in good news for President Mwai Kibaki two months before an election.