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Africa-it.biz.com, online purchasing platform reserved for IT professionals and telecommunications in Africa, was officially opened by its president Issa Namen, May 5 in Paris. This company wants a new kind of interface between manufacturers benefiting from European label and distributors in Africa. This initiative is timely for the Vice-President of the ECOWAS Jean de Dieu Somda, in a context of crisis on the African continent digital.
  Friday, May 14, 2010 / by Alicia Koch

It moves in the ICT sector [1] African. Africa-it.biz, wholesaler of computer equipment destined for the African continent, has just made its entry on the web. Exclusively IT professionals (IT and Telecommunications), the site defines itself as an interface between manufacturers benefiting from European label, guaranteeing quality, and African dealers and distributors. Thus nearly 200 brands available to the 21 Francophone African countries and presented in an online catalog of 60,000 references products: laptops, desktop printers, telephones, digital cameras, plasma screens, etc.. An initiative warmly welcomed by Jean de Dieu Somda, Vice-Chairman of ECOWAS, in a context where the digital divide in Africa and the rest of the world grows ever wider.

Inaugurated on May 5 in Paris, by its president Issa Namen, this platform was born from a simple observation. "I worked initially in a structure of business services in Africa. But I soon realized there was a problem. When I received my contract, I had to find the required products in record time. We owed more quickly view all offers available to provide the best for our customers. This sometimes took several weeks. The more lead time, this represented a real problem. The idea of Africa-it. Biz is therefore part of this difficulty, "said Issa Namen. One goal for Africa-it.biz therefore, be as quick as possible. "With this new site, we are always able to deliver products and inform the customer waiting time. This represents a real time saver and responsiveness, "adds the entrepreneur Franco-Burkinabe.

Reactivity and Real Time

Saving time which can be explained by the concept of the site be available 7 / 7 days 24/24h by the customer. From estimate to delivery, the potential buyer with an account can follow the evolution of his order in real time, without being linked with the sales department. Product availability, prices, technical specifications, promotions, delivery time, much information instantly available, "says Issa Namen.

The principle of Africa-it. Biz is simple. The customer opens an account by entering a username and password, which will be verified by the company. He then has one month to confirm it by making a first purchase. Purchase can be done by various means of payment. Namen Issa proposes an innovative concept that will strengthen the competitiveness of African enterprises ICT specialists, a highly competitive market.

Online Africa has put together an interactive timeline of Microsoft's activities in Africa by compiling press clippings of their published activities. Here's a sneak peak:

Now go over to the original article for the full details: Timeline: Microsoft in Africa, 1992-Present.

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On the social networking site Twitter, there are many people who talk about ICT4D, and many who talk about Africa. But there are few who talk only and consistently about IC4D in Africa. So to try and cut through the clutter and hone in on the relevant voices for ICTworks, back in August I started a FollowFriday list in the ICTworks Network.

While that effort did find a few new voices, it wasn't very effective at sharing these voices with others. Then just yesterday, Twitter turned on a "list" functionality - you can now make your own lists of Twitter people, and share this list with others. And now we have:

@ICT_works/ICT4D-Africa-Twitters

You can now follow ICTworks's ICT4D Africa Twitters list in Twitter, which will give you a high-quality, real-time understanding of what is happening in Africa around information and communication technologies for development.

But by no means is this list fixed - members may come and go, depending on their focus and tweet quality. If you know of others that we should follow, please let me know. Self-referral is okay too - just add yourself in the comments below.

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Internally displaced people camp at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium. Political turbulence following last year’s post-election violence was cited as the greatest threat to the business environment in the country.

A consultancy firm focusing on analysing the risk of doing business in individual African countries has been launched, adding onto the information resource pool international investors need to make decisions on which part of the continent to invest in.

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