Digital Digest - DigAfrica's Technology Alert

Partners fight internet fraud

NEW YORK: Thirteen countries on Tuesday backed a project to tackle cross-
border internet fraud and improve consumer confidence in e-commerce.

A multilingual website - number of important decisions is quite encouraging in the online world," he
said.

"It may be that warm flesh still beats cold plastic from many business
decisions."

While 85 per cent of executives agreed e-mail had improved business
communication they complained of wasted time dealing with junk mail.

"While the impact of e-mail is dramatic, we also believe that half of an
e-mail users time is spent dealing with junk e-mail, a significant waste of
an organisation's valuable resources," Dr Goldhaber said.

Rogen International is a global consulting and training company and
Goldhaber a research organisation.

SOURCE: theage via DigAfrica

Digital Digest – DigAfrica´s Technology Alert
April 28, 2001

1. Nigeria: Atlantic Bank Opens Shop for Internet Banking
2. Nigeria: Nitel's Privatisation
3. Gambia: Gambians Abroad May Vote in October Elections

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Atlantic Bank Opens Shop for Internet Banking
by Martina Ogu

Apr 27, 2001 -- "The bank's technology initiative Internet banking does not,
however, stop us from physically locating our branches at the doorsteps of
our customers," he stated.

SOURCE: Vanguard via DigAfrica

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Nitel's Privatisation

Lagos, Apr 27, 2001 -- The plan to privatise the Nigerian Telecommunications
Limited (NITEL) which has been on the drawing board since the privatisation
and commercialisation programme began a few years ago is finally being
concretised.
With the September 2001 deadline given by President Olusegun Obasanjo for
NITEL's Privatisation, it could be taken for granted that the
telecommunications company will soon join the privatisation train.

Obasanjo's firm position on NITEL's privatisation was made public at his
recent meeting with the National Council on Privatisation (NCP). At the
meeting, the president underscored the urgent need to have NITEL privatised
as the exercise would send the right signal to both local and foreign
investors about the seriousness of government on the privatisation
programme.

It is encouraging that a decisive step is now being taken on NITEL's
privatisation. The entire privatisation programme has been slow and,
sometimes, uncoordinated. Not only that, certain vital sectors of the
economy have not been given the needed attention that would convince the
investment public that government really intends to move away from the old
system of government ownership and control of vital public enterprises. This
fear is rooted in the fact that NITEL and the National Electric Power
Authority (NEPA) whose services are germane to the growth of the economy
have not benefited from the privatisation exercise. If government makes its
chosen September deadline realistic, it would have recorded a milestone in
the privatisation programme.

There is every reason to have NITEL privatised and urgently too. The
importance of telecommunications in any economy cannot be over-emphasised.

Telecommunication is one of the vital infrastructures which lubricate an
economy. In Nigeria, we are all aware of the damage which a non-functional
telecommunication system has wrought on the economy. Businesses which ought
to be transacted within minutes are delayed or outrightly frustrated owing
to ineffective telecommunication system.

We recognise the fact that concerted efforts have been made in recent times
to move away from this problem. The recently introduced Global System of
Mobile (GSM) Telecommunications which is expected to become operational in
Nigeria in a few months time is a case in point. But we must not lose sight
of the fact that mobile telecommunication systems are expensive here and
therefore not within the reach of many. There is no guarantee, for instance,
that the GSM will be cheap. The man in the street cannot therefore hope to
get any succour from it.

The real hope which Nigerians have in the telecommunications business is an
improved and efficient NITEL. If this has to come through its privatisation,
we cannot but welcome it.

What needs to be done is to ensure that the exercise does not run into
hitches. Already, government has taken the lead in this regard by ensuring
that all bottlenecks that could hinder the privatisation are eliminated.

Significant among this is government's decision to halt the negotiations
between NITEL and Dutch-based Mobile Systems Intern-ational (MSI) on the
ground that the joint venture negotiation would be inconsistent with NITEL's
privatisation. This is a sensible decision considering the fact that a
privatised NITEL would have its ownership structure changed and cannot
therefore be in a position to go into joint venture partnership. A
continuation of the negotiation would have meant that somebody is already
sure of what a privatised NITEL would look like.

As government has advised, it is now incumbent on concerned government
agencies to work harmoniously so as to ensure a speedy privatised NITEL. It
is also important to adhere strictly to the privatisation time table
released by government in this regard. If NITEL is successfully privatised,
government would have made a significant progress in the privatisation and
commercialisation programme.

SOURCE: This Day via DigAfrica
-------------------------------

Gambians Abroad May Vote in October Elections
by Sheriff Bojang Jr & Pa Ousman Darboe

Banjul, Apr 27, 2001 -- Efforts are being made to register Gambians abroad
as voters in the October presidential elections.
This was disclosed Thursday by Gabriel Roberts, chairman of the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC), at a press conference on the imminent voters
registration exercise.

However, according to him, the exercise would only be done in countries
where Gambians are many.

On the planned voters registration exercise, Mr. Roberts said it was to
enable the commission update its data on eligible voters.

He added that the first phase of the exercise "has been the upgrading of our
computer network and the development of new database software that will not
only be more robust and allow greater data manipulation, but will also take
care of the other problems associated with the 1996 registration system."

Mr. Roberts pointed out that the new registration exercise would ensure that
voters are registered not just anywhere within their constituency, but
within the ward they live in and at the same station they will cast their
vote on election day.

The IEC boss explained that the exercise would render the records of the
1996 exercise obsolete and that all Gambians must register again, regardless
of whether they currently have a voter's card or not.

He announced that Monday, May 21 would be the first day of the registration
exercise which would end on Saturday, June 30, noting that "though
registration will be on throughout this period, not all registration
stations will be opened and closed at the same time." Only the new voter's
card, he said, would be accepted at the polling booths on election days.

SOURCE: The Daily Observer via DigAfrica -- DigAfrica analyzes, informs and
updates on Internet & Telecommunications activities and progress in Africa
as-they-unfold.
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