Somali media took another heartbreaking blow with the murder of a Radio Mogadishu journalist last week, report the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) and other IFEX members. Just one day after World Press Freedom Day, on 4 May, gunmen abducted and killed the journalist; he had worked for a station managed by the Transitional Federal Government.

Investment in information technology can help Africa to improve governance, overcome poverty and deal with critical infrastructure gaps, taking India as an example, the co-chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2010 (WEF) said. “There is no need to reinvent the wheel,” Ajai Chowdhry, also chairman and chief executive officer of HCL Infosystems in India, told IRIN on the sidelines of a recent WEF conference in Tanzania.

Karanja Macharia is the founder and CEO of Mobile Planet, a mobile company in Kenya that provides third party services to both the main mobile providers and other corporate clients. Fritz Ekwoge is the founder of iYam.mobi, he too comes from a professional background, though as a programmer and developer, not pure business.

World Press Photo, an independent, non-profit organization, together with Canon, TNT and IFAD are sponsoring a project that builds on the capacity of French-speaking photojournalists in sub-Saharan Africa. Photojournalists from the region will be selected through a competition and their work will contribute to increasing global awareness on the challenges and opportunities facing the African continent.

Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to halt the forced eviction of 200 families in the north-east of the country as part of a road widening project. Without prior notice, bulldozers arrived to demolish the homes in Zerzara slums in Port Said on Tuesday, 4 May 2010, leaving fifteen families homeless and another 200 at risk.

Mayuge district has 31,000 farming families served by just nine agricultural extension workers. In Wainha village, an internet centre run by the Busoga Rural Open Source and Development Initiative is more than filling the gap in assisting farmers. Joseph Wangolo is still mesmerised by the computers, six years after he first saw one. "That thing is so clever it will give you information about anything. It knows even our village, can you imagine?" he says.

Disgruntled mobile phone customers in West African nation Ghana are planning a day to switch off their phones for six hours to register their grievances to network operators. Customers have not had quality for their money over the years and are hoping to get heard with the "Ghana Off Phone Day."

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has accused Ethiopian politicians of resorting to threats and intimidation against many Ethiopian journalists in lead up to forthcoming next general elections envisaged for 23 May 2010. “Election times are always a risky period for journalists in many African countries at a time where media have a crucial role for the consolidation of democracy,” said Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office. “Ethiopian political leaders must respect media as an independent watchdog of the democratic process with the sole duty to inform the citizens,” he added

The statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) is set to receive applications for registration by media houses with effect from 4 May 2010 in a development that raises hope for the return of the banned The Daily News and other new publications.

Zimbabwean Attorney General Johannes Tomana has appealed a High Court decision earlier this week acquitting Roy Bennett, a senior official of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of charges that he conspired in 2006 to assassinate President Robert Mugabe and overthrow his government.

Reporters Without Borders has expressed deep shock at the death in unexplained circumstances of cameraman Jerry Usanga of Channels Television, whose body was found on the roadside by passers-by, on 4 May 2010. The spot where Usanga’s body was found, in Calabar, Cross River state in the south-east of the country, is close to the headquarters of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

Reporters Without Borders has written to President Paul Biya calling for exceptional measures and bold, deep-seated reforms to improve press freedom in Cameroon. The Cameroonian authorities cannot continue to take no action in response to the death two weeks ago of journalist Ngota Ngota Germain, also known as Bibi Ngota, in Yaoundé’s Kondengui prison, the letter said.

Government officials, civil society leaders and journalists from across the Maghreb gathered in Nouakchott Monday (May 3rd) for a large regional celebration of World Press Freedom Day, held under the banner, "Freedom of information and right to know, what future for the Maghreb?"

Supporters of Uganda's ruling party, including government officials, are threatening and intimidating journalists in an effort to curb criticism of the government, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch urged the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government to honor World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2010, by publicly condemning such practices and amending laws to protect free expression in the lead-up to the 2011 elections.

Congolese authorities have been urged to ensure two soldiers and a civilian sentenced to death for murdering a reporter face some form of punishment. A right groups says it fears as there is a moratorium on death penalties in the Democratic Republic of Congo those found guilty this week may be freed.

The chairman of Jubbaland Independent Journalists Association (JIJA) Mr. Ali Yasin Gurbe together with all the other members of this association hereby send an obituary to the family and friends of the slain famous Somali Journalist in Mogadishu Mr. Sheikh Noor Mohamed Abkey. Abkey was a senior journalist and had a reputation within the Somali journalists. Indeed, we shall miss him. Also the Somali people will miss his noble service. We are also very worried of the ever increasing persecution against the Somali journalists. May Allah rest his soul in eternal peace.

The first Great Lakes Field Course will take place 17-23 July 2010 in Bujumbura, Burundi. The course is a graduate-level, residential programme designed for aid workers, peacekeepers, researchers and diplomats – those already living and working in the region and those about to start. Taught in French and English, with interpretation available, the course will offer a full programme of talks, seminars and visits to sites of interest, with many opportunities for informal discussion with the teaching staff and other participants. Please download a prospectus below. To request an application form, please write to the Great Lakes Course Administrator. The application deadline is 7 May 2010.

Four African journalists have taken part in a study tour to Beijing, initiated and conducted by Fahamu’s Emerging Powers in Africa Programme. Hayley Herman and Sanusha Naidu report back on the visit, and invite readers to contribute their voices to a forthcoming newsletter that will provide African perspectives on the emerging powers in Africa.

There’s a tendency among technophiles and people in the development industry ‘to state the obvious and make it sound incredible’, writes Sokari Ekine, in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, but AppAfrica’s insights on Google SMS in Uganda make a refreshing change.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, Sokari Ekine reflects on the murders of three Nigerian journalists. She accuses the Nigerian press of colluding with government in its own oppression and presenting an illusion of the free press by failing to defend its own members.