Below are a variety of news articles related to IT developments across the continent and global trends that influence African tech progress. For country-specific stories from this time period, see OA News: December 29, 2011 – January 8, 2012 (Country-Specific).

Africa in General

• Question Box is currently expanding its presence in South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, and Sierra Leone:
  Google In A Box Helps Bring The Internet To Remote Villages {PSFK}
• The arrival of submarine cable links therefore leaves infrastructure providers with the task of accelerating the deployment of national backbones and cross-border links between coastal countries and landlocked countries so as to ensure that as many Africans as possible can share in the benefits of international capacity and access to data services:
  Making best use of international cable capacity: a real wind of change for Africa in 2012? {Balancing Act}
• Broadband prices could drop by 10-20% when the ACE and WACS cables go live later this year. It could take up to 18 months, however:
  Broadband price drop expected {Mail & Guardian}
• iPhone 4S will be available in Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, and Uganda, among others. Nigeria will not receive the device, however:
  iPhone 4S in Africa next week {Biztech Africa}
• 3G is coming to numerous French-speaking African nations in 2012, including Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and DRC:
  3G growth and revolutions in Africa {The Africa Report}
• The humanistic touch to Africa’s innovations is just as important as the digital links:
  Building a ‘Knowosphere,’ One Cable and Campus at a Time {The New York Times – Dot Earth}
• Africa is now the world’s second largest mobile market by connections after Asia, and the fastest growing mobile market in the world:
  Africa: The new pot of gold for cellphone telecoms {The Economic Times}
• Startups can’t function with talent, no matter how promising their ideas:
  The Lucrative Skills African Talent Should Acquire in 2012 {Appfrica}
• A recap of successful Kenyan happenings (iHub, m:lab, AfriLabs, Pivot, Ushahidi, etc) and how 2012 will mean more funding for good ideas and business pitches:
  What’s on Tap for 2012 {WhiteAfrican}
• A journalist traverses Africa to see how widespread 3G coverage actually is. He finds it is common enough in Eastern and Southern Africa, but access costs are high:
  Taking a tablet to Table Mountain {The Economist Blog}
• The 144-page report identifies specific opportunities and challenges, and recommends areas of intervention for governments, educational institutions, the private sector, NGOs, and development partners, with a particular focus on five general themes:
  eTransform Africa Final Report {Edu Tech Debate}
• Are we overemphasizing the IT success in Africa? Have technology firms lost their edge to IT firms?
  Information Technology’s Dangerous Trend in Africa {Harvard Business Review Blogs}
• A run-down of 3G launches in South Africa, Morocco, Kenya, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, and Madagascar:
  Afrique: la course a la 3G est lancee {Ecofin}

Global

• Top 1% of Mobile Users Consume Half of World’s Bandwidth, and Gap Is Growing {The New York Times}
• Internet not a human right, says Internet’s dad {msnbc}
• A group of German hackers is trying to start a movement to build a communications satellite that could support unrestricted channels on the Internet:
  Hackers to launch pirate satellite to help build pirate Internet {ITWorld}
• Amazing growth (5.3% CAGR) considering the state of the global economy:
  Telecoms to earn $2.7 trillion by 2017 {Mobile Entertainment}
• Many global investors seek to own a responsible portfolio. That means staying away from cyber-surveillance companies:
  Avoid Investing in Repression {The Motley Fool}