Kenyan Pundit

China’s African adventure (NYTimes Magazine piece).

- Phonezoo - find and share ringtones.

- Spurred on by the debate around the lack of diversity at blogging indaba in Grahamstown, Tanzania bloggers hold a virtual conference.

Only in Kenya can these headlines run simultaneously…

- Water rationing to continue in Nairobi. Why hasn’t the Sasamua dam been repaired since freaking 2003?

- State appeals for 500 million Kshs to assist flood victims.

I was reading through the latest edition of the Computing Connections newsletter and couldn’t helped but be impressed by a number of developments in the ICT sector. Hard to believe that as recently as 2003, wi-fi and VOIP was illegal in Kenya.

Though there is still much progress to be made, the landscape (especially from the government and regulatory perspective) is VASTLY improved and demonstrates how much progress the country can make if we had the right people in policy/decision-making positions.

Some highlights from the report:

- So far this year, ten small business process operations have been launched in Kenya.

- Mobile operators will be required to contribute 1% of revenues to a Universal Access Communications Development Fund (which is apparently making them unhappy…I hope the government ignores them on this one and how about lowering tariffs?).

- Sammy Kirui, who was fired from the CCK amidst wide protests, is doing a good job at Telkom Kenya and pushing aggressively into the wireless/cdma space. I admit I was one of those people who very very sceptical about Kirui’s move and about Waweru’s move to the CCK, but it seems to have worked out.

- There are plans to revive the former KPTC telephone assembly plant and use it to manufacture mobile phones, low-costs computers etc.

- In a case over the issuance of a competing gateway license, the Communications tribunal ruled that “the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) was to ignore any policy guidelines of a specific nature coming from the Ministry as the [Communications] Act was clear that CCK was to give “due regard to policy guidelines of a general nature”. This means that CCK’s independence as a regulator has been reemphasized and underlined.” This is HUGE. Most regulatory bodies in Africa suffer from a lack of independence due to constant interference from the government, ICASA is South Africa is a good case in point.

- KDN’s plans for a national fibre network are full-steam ahead.

AIDS Awareness Poster in Botswana

Originally uploaded by ateka.

I took this picture in a customs office at a small border post between Botswana and Namibia

It’s been interesting to see that’s there’s very little I miss about the U.S.

The good

:
- Worry-free high speed internet. I have reasonably fast access at home and work in Joburg, but it’s very expensive and you have to constantly worry about exceeding data caps.

- Retail and late shopping hours. Though I’m finding all the choice overwhelming. I used to be the queen of rummaging through stuff to find the deals, I just don’t have that patience anymore…problem is my wallet has yet to catch up with my champagne tastes.

- Amazon.com

The bad

:
- The food sucks. Was it really always this bad? Even the fruit has no taste.

- This place is cold. Not just the weather, but in general. Was sitting at a deli yesterday and there was a young girl (a customer) eating her sandwich seated right next to the door…she greeted everyone who came in with a smile…people actually looked puzzled. South Africa is hardly the warmest place in Africa, but at least I get my “Howzit sissy!”

- Everyone is so busy…I hate the feeling that I’m imposing on guys…everyone’s rushing somewhere.

The ugly

:
- TV. I’d have had like two Tivos or something. There’s fifteen minutes of ads for every five minutes of programming. It’s so annoying. After spending lots of time watching uninterrupted soccer, watching American football is positively painful.

- Political ads. Need I say more. And if the Democrats can’t win at least the House, they just need to disband.

- No international news. Yes, I know my gripes are the standards ones, but seriously. If it wasn’t for the internet I wouldn’t have known about Pik Botha’s death.