Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- More than 5,000 industry leaders and stakeholders were due to converge in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja Monday for the start of the Africa Information Technology Exhibition (AFRITEX). Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The Africa Union (AU) and Microsoft have agreed to join forces in acceleration of social and economic development in Africa through the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Full text...

Cairo- Egypt (PANA) -- The 2008 edition of the ITU Telecom Africa conference has started off in Egypt, with about 200 companies from 45 nations attending. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) – Some 50 Ghanaian and South A-frican scientists, academics a nd policy makers began a four-day meeting in Accra on Tuesday to work towards th e establishment of joint collaborative research and development projects. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegalese schools are billed to get 30,000 computers as part of the progress made toward realising the goals of ''Digital Solidarity Fund'' project, according to the Director of SENECLIC, Ababacar Diop. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The First Global Business Conference and Competition for Off-grid Lighting in Africa has been scheduled for Accra, Ghana, 5-8 May, the World Bank Group announced in a statement made available to PANA here. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- The Arab Satellite Communication, Arabsat, on Wednesday signed two contracts with Libya and Sudan at a ceremony in Marrakech, southern M o rocco. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Microsoft's Office Open XML, the world leader in softwar es,recently certified by ISO (International Standardisation Organisation) and th e CEI (International Electrotechnic Organisation), has met the criteria required t o join the HTML, PDF and ODF formats, so far recognised as the formats of ISO-CE I documents in open standard, a communiqué of Microsoft issued on Tuesday said. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- US software giant, Microsoft, is to help African governm ents create local computer industry and support small-scale enterprises to becom e competitive on the world market. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Delegates from some 20 African countries who took part in the Third Conference of Free Software (IDELO 3) in Dakar on Monday urged users of software in Africa to be involved in the use of these new computer programmes. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will pr ovide 500,000 computers for the Least Developed Countries (LDC) in its fold in a n effort to help enhance their technological development, the Executive Secretary of the Digital Solitary Fund (DIF), Alain Clerc, announced here Friday. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- A sub-regional symposium on science, technology and the parliament opened here Tuesday to draw the attention of parliamentarians to the importance of science and technology in development, a parliamentary source here said Wednesday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with four Nigerian companies, has donated 362 computers to the University of Lagos to enhance technological development among students, according to a statement from the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate in Lagos. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- African scientists on Thursday ended a four-day brainstorming conference in Addis Ababa with a call for the creation of a secretariat that will serve as a permanent forum for interaction between them and their international partners. Full text...

Havana- Cuba (PANA) -- Mozambique is set to create a biotechnology centre with te chnical and scientific support from Cuba. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Underlining the urgent need for Africa to catch u p with the newly-industrialized regions of the world, African scientists meeting here Wednesday pleaded for the upgrading of the agenda on science, technology an d innovation (STI) issues across the continent. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The US and South Africa have agreed to establish geospatial and earth observation joint working groups focusing on global change, sustainable development, energy, and health, the US Department of State said in a statement. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Scientific research and development should be see n as a development priority for Africa, a senior UN official said here Tuesday a t a meeting of African scientists and policy-makers seeking to improve the contin e nt's participation in global research and development activities. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Over 300 experts in scientific and technological developments will gather here next week to explore how African science based entities can step up their role in international research and development (R ensure improved linkages between international scientific research programmes and business enterprise to expedite economic growth in Africa and provide a framework for using Science and Technology options to support economic progress in Africa. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Five women scientists - one from each of the five contin ents of the world - have been selected as winners of the 2008 L'OREAL-UNESCO awa r ds for women in science. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- The Namibian government Monday announced plans to construct a nuclear power station within a decade, as it seeks an independent power supply status amid a regional power crunch. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- About 400 experts in information and communicatio n technologies (ICTs) are meeting here to kick-start a process that aims at enab l ing investments in the sector in the East Africa and the Indian Ocean regions. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa alone account for 60% of Internet users in Africa, according to a report issued here Friday by the United Nations Conference for Trade and Developement (UNCTAD). Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Contending they constitute environmental and health hazard, Nigeria's federal government has announced plans to restrict the importation of used computers as well as other electrical and and electronic appliances. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- The first Pan-African direct telecommunications and television satellite, RASCOM-1, which had experienced some problems shortly after its launch by the Ariane rocket 22 December 2007 in Kourou, in French Guiana, was finally put into orbit Monday, according to the manufacturers. Full text...

Marrakech- Morocco (PANA) -- The French aeronautic group JPR-CAP and the Moroccan National Aeroports Office (ONDA) Friday in Marrakech signed an agreement on establishing Mohican-Maroc, a new industrial branch of the group, which will be located at the aeropole of Nouasseur (near Casablanca). Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- Cape Verde is the fifth most advanced African country in the field of electronic governance behind South Africa, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Egypt, according to a United Nations report issued in Praia on Monday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, will p articipate in the first Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, holding in Madri d , the Spanish capital, 15 and 16 January, according to a UNESCO press statement i ssued in France Thursday and made available to PANA here. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- UNESCO has said it will showcase its guidelines for teachers to enable them use information and communication technology (ICT) to improve education world wide. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The UN has named the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) its lead agency for the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) in 2009, according to a UNESCO press release issued in France and received here Thursday by PANA The UN, which had proclaimed 2009 as its IYA in celebration of Galileo's ground-breaking invention 400 years ago when he gazed into the stars for the first time using a telescope, also named the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as its implementing body. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria has projected the generation of 1,000 mega watts of electricity from seven nuclear stations by 2017 and 4,000mw by 2027, the local press reported Wednesday. Full text...

Cairo- Egypt (PANA) -- Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have agreed to sign a cooperation agreement for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Scientists who explored a swath of tropical rain forest in Ghana have discovered a rare species of animals, birds, butterflies and plants, among others, according to an international website, 'livescience. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Leading mobile telecommunications company MTN has become the first phone company in Nigeria to launch the third generation mobile telephony, according to a statement issued here by company Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Farroukh. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The 10th conference of the Association of African Chemists rounded off in Benghazi, Northeastern Libya, Tuesday with the participants calling for support for actions aimed at finding solutions to environmental problems in Africa. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- A submarine telecommunications cable which wi ll connect Southern and East Africa with India and Europe during the 2010 World C up Football Finals, to be hosted by South Africa, will be laid soon, official so u rces told PANA here Monday. Full text...

Milwaukee- US (PANA) -- The government of Nigeria's northern state of Kano plans to establish a multi-million naira Information Technology (IT) park to boost e-learning in the state, a top official of the government said here. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Participants at an international, two-day conference on the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which ended here late Tuesday, have expressed their optimism about the success of the African inter connectivity project. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- US software maker, Microsoft Corporation, is ready to help Africa in the implementation of major initiatives to build rural telecommunications and eradicate poverty, a senior executive said here Monday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- African experts in the telecommunications industry will begin a meeting here Monday which they hope will make the continent the fastest growing hub in the Information, Technology and Communications (ICT) sector, a Senior UN official said Sunday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- At least 10 African leaders are due to attend the international summit on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), dubbed "Connect Africa", scheduled for 29-30 October in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, an official source told PANA here Monday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, on Tuesday sounded the alarm about climate change and argued for a sound environment as the first and foremost condition for a sound development. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Eric Mechoulan, a Canadian academic, said here Monday Western countries "have something to learn from the countries of the South in terms of reception and solidarity among people". Full text...

Cape Town (PANA) -- The Bill Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South African opposition African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has expressed dismay at recent statistics showing the widening gap between South African telecommunication's costs and that of the rest of the world. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- A Virologist, Professor Oyewale Tomori said on Wednesday Africa should develop her own vaccines to fight yellow fever. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Ghana on Wednesday launched a National Food Fortification programme aimed at addressing micronutrient deficiencies, particularly afflicting women and children in the country. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- A regional meeting of experts in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) from 23 African countries convene 15-16 September in Pretoria, South Africa, to look for ways on how to harmonise their respective national programmes in implementing the underwater fibre optic project in the Indian Ocean, a reliable source told PANA here Thursday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- A major plan for assisting Africa to improve the quality of its infrastructure for information and communication technology (ICT) could be the outcome of the Connect Africa Summit scheduled for 29-30 October 2007 in Kigali, Rwanda, according to Abdoulie Janneh, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- By surrounding people with powerful tools and the right culture, providers of information technology can amplify the ability to adapt more rapidly to developmental challenges, said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Full text...