African ICT headlines, perspectives, and briefs from the past couple of weeks span 37 countries (among the most we’ve ever seen at once). Moving forward, expect this list followed by brief analysis of the top 10 curated stories from the week.

Algeria

• Algerian bloggers prep for presidential vote {Magharebia}
• La présidentielle sur le Web : des candidats encore à l’ère du fax ! {Maghreb Emergent}

Angola

• Govt Announces Creation of ICT Offices in Ministerial Departments {AllAfrica.com}
• Internet Users Choose Lectures as Good Way to Mobilise People for Census {AllAfrica.com}

Botswana

• Botswana youth employment portal rolled out {BiztechAfrica}
• Botswana’s Telecoms Corporation data services unit boosts growth {ITWeb Africa}

Burkina Faso

• Internet pour désenclaver les zones rurales : cas du Burkina Faso {Local Economic Development Network of Africa}

Cameroon

• Friedrich Ebert Foundation Publishes Report on the Use of Social Media in Cameroon {Global Voices}
• Viettel sollicite du gouvernement camerounais une prolongation de son monopole sur la 3G {Ecofin}

Cape Verde

• Mobile telephone penetration rate in Cabo Verde reaches 97 pct in 2013 {Macauhub English}

Chad

• Airtel gets 3G/4G licence in Chad {Business Standard}

Congo

• Des experts congolais formés à la gestion d’un Point d’échange Internet {Adiac-Congo}

Cote D’Ivoire

• YooMee Africa deploys TD-LTE network in Cote d’Ivoire {LTE TDD}

DR Congo

• Timeturns extremely slowly for Yozma; 2Q14 launch planned {TeleGeography}
• The market for apps in DRC can only get bigger {The Africa Report}

East Africa

• How are ICTs impacting Governance in East Africa? (a.k.a “ICT and Governance in EA” Project) {iHub}

Egypt

• In Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Internet Blackouts Are Systematic {Global Voices Advocacy}
• How One Start-Up is Revolutionizing Egypt’s Food Scene {Egyptian Streets}
• Ministry of Finance launches blog to communicate with the public {Daily News Egypt}
• Internet Revolution’ gains steam in Egypt; can it meaningfully challenge Big Internet? {Wamda.com}

Ethiopia

• Socio-Economic Mobile Apps Rewarded At Competition {AllAfrica.com}
• The Joke is on the Media: April Fool’s in Ethiopia {Global Voices}

Gabon

• Les travaux du projet d’interconnexion du Gabon et du Congo à la fibre optique démarrent en juin prochain {Ecofin}

Gambia

• Qcell Expands Network Capacity {AllAfrica.com}
• Netpage WiMAX reaches Brikama {TeleGeography}

Ghana

• MTN Ghana to invest GHC311m in 2014 {TeleGeography}

Kenya

• Use of E-Payments On the Rise in Kenya {AllAfrica.com}
• Mobile money revolution spreads to Europe as Vodafone brings M-Pesa to Romania {Gigaom}
• CCK vows to promote national Internet Exchange Points {News24 Kenya}
• The Promise of Code in Kenya’s Silicon Savannah {Motherboard}
• China’s ZTE eyes Kenyan ICT market {BiztechAfrica}
• Kenyan Deputy President takes to Twitter {BiztechAfrica}
• MTN to invest $9.2m in metro fibre in Kenya {HumanIPO}
• C4DLab launches in Nairobi {HumanIPO}
• African Tech Bits Episode 3: Gaming in Kenya The Young Industry {iHub}
• MTN to invest $9-million in Kenya fibre {IT News Africa}
• ICT to contribute 10 percent to GDP by 2015 {Kenya Broadcasting Corporation}
• Why Kenya’s school laptops program is not the answer {ONE}
• Nakuru becomes first town to enjoy free Wi-Fi connection {Standard Media}

Libya

• In Libya, Universities Struggle to Get Internet Access {Al-Fanar Media}

Madagascar

• Orange offre le Wi-Fi gratuit à partir de ses kiosques de rue {Ecofin}

Malawi

• Govt Launches E-Payment for Social Cash Transfer in Balaka {AllAfrica.com}
• TNM reports 275% rise in FY net profit {TeleGeography}

Mali

• IKON Tele-radiology Program – Using The Internet To Mitigate Shortage Of Doctors In Rural Areas {Innov8tiv.com}

Mauritius

• Internet Operators Will Be Punished {Mega.mu}

Morocco

• Casablanca: King Mohammed VI Launches Literacy Program Via TV And Internet {Morocco World News}
• Le Maroc en lutte contre le phénomène du «Tcharmil» sur Internet {RFI}

Mozambique

• Mozambique Wants to Criminalize ‘Insulting’ Texts, Emails and Internet Posts {Global Voices}
• Mozambique joins Alliance for Affordable Internet {BiztechAfrica}

Namibia

• Digital divide in Namibia and its consequences {The Villager}

Nigeria

• Nigeria’ll Have Five-Fold Broadband Growth By 2018 {AllAfrica.com}
• Mastercard Provides Tech Know-How to 1500 Nigerian Women {AllAfrica.com}
• Airtel Overtakes Globacom As Second Largest Telecoms Operator {AllAfrica.com}
• Experts advocate public-private partnership to combat cybercrime {BusinessDay}
• Built in Africa: Seun Osewa on building Nigeria’s most popular site {ventureburn}
• Nigeria to host third African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) {CIO East Africa}
• Nigeria’s Mark Zuckerberg’ puts tech into higher learning {CNN.com}
• Meet The Entrepreneurs Behind Nigeria’s Startup Revolution {Co.Exist}
• Nigerians lead Google Africa Connected winners {HumanIPO}
• Tech investment focus switches to Nigeria {HumanIPO}
• Nigeria licenses additional spectrum as it moves to increase broadband access {Oxford Business Group}
• Nigeria GDP rebase on Sunday likely to make it Africa’s No. 1 {Reuters}

Rwanda

• Rwanda seeks device financing models {BiztechAfrica}
• Video: How mobile money is changing lives of Rwandans {CNBC Africa}
• Let’s Build A Tech Startup In … Rwanda? {Forbes}
• Think incubator Rwanda {Millicom}
• Rwanda 20 years later: Does social media curb genocide, violence? {Tech Times}
• 20 years after the genocide, Rwanda looks to a tech revolution {The Washington Post}

Senegal

• L. Mbengue de SenegalTV reçoit un prix inattendu de Google #AfricaConnected {Afrique IT News}

Sierra Leone

• The Need for Digital Literacy in Sierra Leone {World Pulse}

Somalia

• Somalia in high speed internet ‘culture shock’ {BBC}

South Africa

• South African Apps Teaching Kids to Be Creative With Technology {AllAfrica.com}
• Thaba-Nchu School for Visually Impaired Gets Computer Lab {AllAfrica.com}
• Wireless Network Opens Doors for N Cape Learners {AllAfrica.com}
• How the Internet can bring R3.1 trillion to Africa {BusinessTech}
• Most popular smartphones in South Africa {MyBroadband}
• What the SA job scene looks like for developers [Infographic] {ventureburn}
• Orange to set up internet service provider in SA {BDlive}
• SA to have its ‘first digital elections’ {BDlive}
• Samsung hands over Digital Village in SA {BiztechAfrica}
• ICASA to receive greater e-commerce regulatory powers {HumanIPO}
• SA lags on IT literacy, broadband {News24}
• Tshwane free Wi-Fi project ‘best in Africa’ {News24}
• Govt to use social media to lure youth to Freedom month activities {SABC}
• SA’s ‘very scary’ online fraud numbers {TechCentral}

Swaziland

• Social Media First With the News {AllAfrica.com}
• Internet Exchange Point Launched on 10 April 2014 in Mbabane, Kingdom of Swaziland {Internet Society}

Tanzania

• Majority Tanzanians accessing mobile phone money services {Daily News Tanzania}

Togo

• Pourquoi il faut privatiser Togo Telecom et Togocel {Let’s Talk About}
• Les abonnés dénoncent la hausse du coût du forfait Internet par Togocel {Ecofin}

Tunisia

• Programme launched to train Tunisian youths in ICT {Gulf Times}

Uganda

• Uganda Develops National Web Portal {AllAfrica.com}
• Text For Change launches WASHtxt sanitation project in Uganda {HumanIPO}

Zambia

• Zambia Reports, Watchdog ‘Unblocked’ {AllAfrica.com}
• ZICTA Unveils Child Online Protection Plan {AllAfrica.com}
• Zambia’s President Michael Sata rejects online media freedom {ITWeb Africa}

Zimbabwe

• ICTs Key to Development {AllAfrica.com}
• Zimbabwe weighs up unbanning of BlackBerry Messenger {ITWeb Africa}
• Zimbabwe allocates LTE spectrum for operators {ITWeb Africa}
• Interesting take on Zimbabwe’s Innovation hubs {Techzim}
• TelOne revenue up 8% in 1Q14; telco set to invest USD100m by 2018 {TeleGeography}

General Africa

• Cyber Crime On the Increase in Africa {AllAfrica.com}
• Econet Wireless Founder Named Among CNN’s “50 Greatest Leaders” {AllAfrica.com}
• Innovation Prize for Africa 2014 Finalists Announced {APO}
• Geo-Mapping Tools and Data Analysis Redefine Reporting in Africa {Global Voices}
• AfricanHadithi, a News Portal Dedicated to Telling Africa’s Story {Global Voices}
• Funders in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurs in Africa {Indigo Trust}
• A Look at Spectrum in Four African Countries {Many Possibilities}
• AfricanUp aims to connect startups, accelerators, tech hubs {ventureburn}
• Unequal Distribution and Perception of Emerging Markets {WhiteAfrican}
• Bharti Airtel signe avec Thuraya pour fournir les services de mobile par satellite dans 17 pays d’Afrique {Ecofin}
• BBC poll: Web brings more freedom and more surveillance {BBC}
• Black Entrepreneurs Build Bridge With Africa’s Thriving Tech Hubs {BET}
• Make mobile central part of marketing strategy {Bizcommunity.com}
• Forget Bitcoin, African E-Money Is the Currency-Killer {Bloomberg View}
• What role should Silicon Valley companies play in bringing ICT into African education? {eLearning Africa}
• The Top 10 Most Innovative Companies In Africa {Fast Company}
• Internet affordability, accessibility key for Africa’s development – Microsoft {HumanIPO}
• Cheap smartphones key to Africa’s internet penetration – Duarte {HumanIPO}
• Q&A: Sonia Jorge, executive director, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) {HumanIPO}
• Agony of an African Programmer {iAfrikan.com}
• Red Hat looks to Africa {ITWeb}
• ‘Africa’s e-learning equipment must be exempt from tax’ {ITWeb Africa}
• Facebook, Google top Opera Mini’s popular sites list in Africa {ITWeb Africa}
• Seacom inks deal with Akamai {TechCentral}
• With a piracy rate of 80 percent, can the tech world convince Africa to buy legitimate software? {ZDNet}