Africa

So it’s a holiday here in Germany, it’s a beautiful day outside and I’m still in my PJs, scrolling through my RSS reader, and two Reuters headlines scream out at me: “Nokia unveils 4 cheap phones” and “Nokia unveils bicycle mobile charger“. Sadly, Reuters doesn’t provide any details, but CNET’s Crave blog does: C1 phone (far left): Two SIM slots, only one line active at a time, six-week standby time (longest by far of any Nokia handset). Built-in LED flashlight!…

Apparently, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has commissioned a 160-ft high bronze statue commemorating the “African Renaissance.” The statue, “shows a muscular man in a heroic posture, outstretched arms wrapped around his wife and child, who is balanced on one of his biceps,” reports the Associated Press. Plus, the entire group is coming out of a volcano. (Last I checked there weren’t any volcanos anywhere close to Senegal.) Senegalese media reports that the statue will be dedicated in a grandiose ceremony…

My old friend and traveling buddy from my Senegal days, Al, writes: Hey Cyrus, Thanks for the Canada Day shout out. Sounds like things are pretty awesome with you, and that you’re up to the old traveling quite a bit. I thought I’d ask if you knew any potential candidates for a tech.-and development position I’m trying to fill. I’m spending the summer working for TechnoServe (poverty alleviation in agro-business, mostly) in Tanzania, where I focus on the cotton sector.…

Just a quick reminder: I’ll be speaking in Madison to kick off the “Africa Forward” lecture series this Thursday on the UW-Madison campus: Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:30pm – 5:30pm 5055 Vilas Hall 821 University Avenue I’ll also be speaking on Friday and Saturday (March 27-28) at the Engineers without Borders conference in Milwaukee, talking about how to best leverage information technology in Africa. Tell your friends, and if you’re a blog reader/Twitter follower, please come say hi!

Africa Forward with Cyrus Farivar Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:30pm – 5:30pm 5055 Vilas Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, WI Need inspiration on how to apply your interests in African Studies and Journalism after graduation? Come and meet Cyrus Farivar to find out how he went from studying abroad in UW’s Senegal program in 2003 to reporting for National Public Radio and The New York Times within five years of graduation. Cyrus Farivar is a freelance technology journalist, radio reporter/producer,…

A few weeks ago I was contacted out of the blue by an old UW-Madison professor, James Delahanty. As the academic advisor to my group (and current groups) of Madison students studying in Senegal, he was our stateside pointman for those of us trying to navigate our experience abroad. (I also slept on the floor of his Dakar hotel room in January 2007.) Jim recommended me to the UW-Madison chapter of Engineers Without Borders, who was looking for someone to…

WSJ: An entrepreneur’s quest to use satellites to bring high-speed Internet service to poor, remote countries is nearing liftoff with a major investment from some big names, including Google Inc. On Tuesday, O3b Networks Ltd., founded and run by 38-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur Greg Wyler, is expected to announce plans to launch as many as 16 satellites that could provide service to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Latin America by the end of 2010. The undertaking, expected to cost…

Vanguard: Dr Aja Nwachukwu, the Education Minister, told newsmen in Abuja that the scheme was discovered to be a “white elephant” project. “We discovered that the scheme is a conduit pipe to siphon public fund,” he said. Nwachukwu said the ministry was working on other options to promote the deployment of ICT at all levels of education. [via OLPC News]

NYT: DAKAR, Senegal — From the air, this sprawling city looks like a metropolis on the move, a buzzing quadrilateral jutting into the Atlantic. Cars speed along a supple, newly reconstructed four-lane highway that hugs the rugged coastline. Cranes dot the seaside, building luxury hotels and conference centers, as investors from Dubai revamp the city’s port, hoping to transform it into a high-tech regional hub. But on the ground the picture shifts. Jobless young men line the new highways, trying…

Slate: So what happens when good fortune delivers vouchers (and hence computers) into the homes of Romanian youths? Obviously a lot more time logged on to a computer—about seven hours more per week for vouchered versus unvouchered kids. Much of this computer time came at the expense of television-watching: Children in families that received a voucher spent 3.5 fewer hours in front of the tube per week. But computer use also crowded out homework (2.3 hours less per week), reading,…