African ICT news headlines for the past two weeks include a diverse grouping of 118 stories from 27 countries.

Algeria

• #DZ2014, a Hashtag against Fraud and Dictatorship in Algeria {Global Voices}
• Des abonnés furieux contre Mobilis {Ecofin}
• Ooredoo Algeria receives permission to deploy 3G in additional provinces {TeleGeography}

Angola

• Digital Surveillance in Angola and Other “Less Important” African Countries {Global Voices Advocacy}

Botswana

• Tremendous potential for e-payments in Botswana {BiztechAfrica}
• Botswana police stations turn to e-payments {ITWeb Africa}

Burkina Faso

• Le Burkina Faso expérimentera son premier e-conseil des ministres le 4 mars {Ecofin}

Cameroon

• Companies to make financial market bids on-line by 2015 {Business in Cameroon}

Central Africa

• Central African Ministers sign Brazzaville Agreement, committing to Open Access but key signatories missing {balancingact-africa.com}

Chad

• Le Tchad réadapte sa réglementation sur les télécommunications {Tchadinfos.com}
• Eight companies green-lit for SOTEL privatisation {TeleGeography}

Comoros

• Comoros undergoes IXP training {ITWeb Africa}

DR Congo

• Samsung unveils solar-powered school in DRC {ITWeb}

East Africa

• Tanganyika School to Host Google in Education Summit for East Africa {AllAfrica.com}
• Under pressure, Orange considers exiting east African telecom market {IDG}
• PIVOT East partners with Tech Hubs for 2014 startup competition {BiztechAfrica}

Egypt

• Campaign to improve internet speeds in Egypt {Ahram Online}
• For Egypt’s Startups, Unstable Government Is the Least of Their Worries {Mashable}
• 98.8 million cell phone lines and 38.18 million internet users in Egypt: Cabinet {Cairo Post}
• Egypt arrests seven pro-Mursi Facebook activists {chicagotribune.com}
• Fed up with ‘slow service’, internet users refuse to pay {Daily News Egypt}

Gabon

• Gabon Telecom (Libertis) gets 3G/4G licence via strategic agreements with Morocco {TeleGeography}

Gambia

• Banjul Confab On African Growth Through Technology Kicks-Off {AllAfrica.com}
• Internet Bandwidth Increases Four-Fold in Gambia {AllAfrica.com}

Ghana

• Teachers get Better Ghana Agenda laptops {BiztechAfrica}
• Ghana to unveil Child Online Protection Policy {HumanIPO}

Kenya

• Kenya Farmers to Be Empowered Through ‘Airtel Kilimo’ {AllAfrica.com}
• Kenyan government aims to attract foreign investment with ICT merger {IDG}
• Kenya private schools gear up for connected classrooms {BiztechAfrica}
• Nailab showcases third batch of startups {HumanIPO}
• Safaricom joins MTN as an Etisalat SmartHub user {ITWeb Africa}
• yu confirms shutdown plans; rivals scramble for assets {TeleGeography}
• Private schools to buy laptops for students {The Star}
• DadaabNet: Wiring the World’s Largest Refugee Camp {U.S. Agency for International Development}
• 240 schools in Nairobi to get free Internet {Capital Business}

Malawi

• Best website for Malawi elections in May {Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)}

Mali

• La Chine octroie un prêt de 39 milliards de FCFA au Mali pour l’installation de la fibre optique {Ecofin}

Morocco

• 4 proposals to develop online payments in Morocco [Wamda Debates] {Wamda.com}

Mozambique

• Mozambican Tech Woman Talks Local Impact of Social Networks {Global Voices}

Namibia

• MTC Ready for Data Tsunami {AllAfrica.com}
• Internet Exchange Point Launched on 7 March 2014 in Windhoek, Namibia {Internet Society}

Nigeria

• Government Urged to Invest More in Software Development {AllAfrica.com}
• Poor Service Quality – MTN, Globacom, Airtel Pay N647.5 Million Fin {AllAfrica.com}
• Is the NCC Act Up to Its Task? {AllAfrica.com}
• Winners of Nigeria’s first ever healthcare hackathon emerge {BusinessDay}
• Nigeria seeks to conquer African video games market {Phys.org}
• From email scams to e-commerce wins: How online shopping is helping Nigeria fix its Internet reputation {The Next Web}
• Nihilent inks pact with Nigerian NITDA to promote e-governance {The Times of India}
• 88mph, L5Lab launch joint venture fund ’440′ for Nigerian tech startups {ventureburn}
• Dancing around the threshold of a real broadband take-off {balancingact-africa.com}
• New mobile learning platform launched in Nigeria {HumanIPO}
• $1.5m accelerator fund launched in Lagos {HumanIPO}
• A4AI Abuja forum to discuss increasing Nigerian broadband penetration {HumanIPO}
• Oando introduces Nigerian pupils to coding through new initiative {HumanIPO}
• Can Nigeria generate $250 billion from technology? {IT News Africa}

Reunion

• Orange extends VDSL2 connectivity to Reunion {TeleGeography}

Rwanda

• Girls in ICT Elect Ms Geek {AllAfrica.com}
• Gender Equality in ICT On Track, Says Sector Technocrat {AllAfrica.com}
• Emphasis to be put on ICT utility in Rwanda {IT News Africa}
• The winning journey of Tech girls {The New Times}
• Science is a girl’s thing too {The New Times}

South Africa

• ANC and the Effective Use of Social Media {AllAfrica.com}
• 80% access web by phone {The Citizen}
• ADSL losing market share in SA, but not among techies {MyBroadband}
• Apartheid blocked Internet in SA: Zuma {MyBroadband}
• Online shopping in SA: popular sites, products bought {MyBroadband}
• This is what South Africa’s Internet actually looks like {MyBroadband}
• Broadband policy delay ‘hinders growth’ {BDlive}
• New tech incubator launches in Cape Town {HumanIPO}
• Institute to address e-skills shortage {IOL.co.za}
• MTN SA expands LTE footprint {IT News Africa}
• Tech features in election manifestos {ITWeb}
• Two caring farmers plus hi-tech maths and science tablet = A for maths {ITWeb}
• ICT growth a two-way street {ITWeb}
• ‘Bureaucracy stifles SA government’s technology efforts’ {ITWeb Africa}
• Why Mxit is SA election’s key internet battleground {ITWeb Africa}
• Spectrum critical to SA LTE expansion plans {News24}
• Malema promises state-led broadband {TechCentral}
• Stronger ICT regulation needed: gov’t {TechCentral}
• E-learning hard for SA to implement, but necessary: iLIVE {Times LIVE}

South Sudan

• MTN opens service centre at S. Sudan-Uganda border {Sudan Tribune}

Tanzania

• Lindi Youth Equipped for Digital Storytelling {AllAfrica.com}
• U.S.$6 Million Project to Expand Tanzania Telecom Services {AllAfrica.com}
• Access Bank Provides Computers to Dar School {AllAfrica.com}
• Dar ICT Hub Partners With Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce {AllAfrica.com}
• Duty Hike Hurt Telecoms {AllAfrica.com}

Tunisia

• En Tunisie, des partenariats public-privé innovants pourraient permettre d’offrir le Très Haut Débit par fibre optique à au moins 20% de la population {World Bank Blogs}

Uganda

• Can Uganda Use Another Telecom? {AllAfrica.com}
• KCCA to introduce online revenue collection {New Vision}
• Uganda telecoms have lowest ARPU in East Africa {Telecompaper}
• The Internet is both a blessing and a curse for Uganda’s LGBTI activists {Washington Post}

West Africa

• Behavioral change tops challenges for mobile money use in West Africa {PC Advisor}

Zimbabwe

• Creating a hub for techies {Harare News}
• Econet Zero free access to Wikipedia, Coursera, edX {Techzim}
• e-Tech Africa expo 2014 {Techzim}

General Africa

• More Than a Phone: Mobile Empowering Women {Huff Post}
• ICT Ministers Meet in London to Discuss the Future of Cyber-Governance {AllAfrica.com}
• VConnect as Africa’s first indigenous search engine {BusinessDay}
• What the Internet looks like: The undersea cables wiring the ends of the Earth {CNN.com}
• Facebook Looking Into Buying Drone Maker Titan Aerospace {TechCrunch}
• Bad business: the makings of an ecommerce venture in Africa {ventureburn}
• Liquid Telecom expands African satellite operation {BiztechAfrica}
• Video on Demand in Sub-Saharan Africa {Broadband TV News}
• Software and local apps key to Africa’s connectivity – Intel VP {Capital Business}
• Internet Governance: Why Africa Should Take the Lead {Circle ID}
• African tech startups to showcase apps at Mobile World Congress {HumanIPO}
• AfDB launches open data platform for 20 African countries {HumanIPO}
• GOWEX starts providing services in Africa through Yattoo {HumanIPO}
• ITU trains 1m disadvantaged women in ICT skills {HumanIPO}
• African governments slow to reserve dotAfrica names {ITWeb Africa}
• Juliana Rotich maps the future with Ushahidi {Mark Lives}
• First African Blog Awards now open for entries {News24}
• Q&A: Mariéme Jamme on Africa’s girl coder generation {SciDev.Net}
• YahClick notches up 20,000 users by end-2013 {TeleGeography}
• Why flying ‘Internet drones’ over Africa is a dumb, libertarian fantasy {The Globe and Mail}
• Mozilla To Launch $25 Smartphone {Ventures-Africa}
• Africa’s Digital Revolution: Full Speed Ahead {World Policy Institute}
• Lamudi expands across Africa {Zawya}