Countless interesting, intriguing, and optimistic stories emerged from Africa last month. Perhaps a couple thousand focused on ICT developments. Of those stories, a few situations were of highest social and political relevance. These Internet-related events arguably had the most global coverage:

• 1st-11th. The month began with unrest in Cote d’Ivoire over Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to step-down from power. Tensions calmed once he was captured, however. Internet usage within the nation dropped during this time, but has since returned to normal levels.
• 9th-19th. Nigerian elections took center stage as Goodluck Jonathan was re-elected amid scattered violence and controversy. Emphasis was given to the role social media played in spreading candidates’ information and reports of questionable voting practices.
• 14th-19th. Uganda’s Communications Commission sent a memo to ISPs instructing them to prepare for a 24-hour shutdown of Facebook and Twitter. The message came amid fears of widespread protest but fortunately never was enforced.
• 15th-19th. Broadband cables were the talk of South African tech media. The 15th saw an announcement for the upcoming 12.8 Tbit/s SAex cable. A few days later, the WACS cable landed in Yzerfontein, South Africa, ushering in more hopes of reduced connectivity costs when it goes live in 2012.