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Tag: Durban

  • Huawei: ICT has transformative power to boost economic development

    Chinese technology firm, Huawei Technologies, has said information communications technology (ICT) has the transformative power to boost sustainable socio-economic development, adding that  governments have a vital role to play in forming a favorable environment for the dynamic and healthy development of the Industry.

    This was contained in a position paper launched at the just concluded International telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World 2018 in Durban, South Africa.

    In the position paper titled “Telco: Investment, Innovation and Competition in ICT Infrastructure”, Huawei said  the development trends of ICT as observed around the globe and their potential social economic development spurred by ICT, after conducting a regression analysis based on a data set of 125 countries for the period 2010 to 2016. It concludes that every 16-20 per cent increase in ICT investment brings one per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP), stressing that in order to fully unleash the potential of ICT in promoting economic growth and societal well-being, governments have a critical role to play in terms of supporting investment in ICT infrastructure, encouraging ICT innovation, and in guiding and regulating ICT competition.

    Read Also: Huawei wins ‘mobile innovation’ award

    At the launching ceremony, Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General, said government should make ICT policy not just sectoral but national. The development of ICT and relevant infrastructure cannot be realised by solely relying on participants in the ICT ecosystem. Instead, it requires support and guidance from governments.

    He said: “Our objectives are clear: connecting the unconnected, providing people with more advanced technologies, developing new applications, and facilitating other ecosystems. And to succeed in this endeavor, we need more innovative public-private partnerships.”

    Also speaking, Chief Content Coordinator of ITU Broadband Commission for Digital Development, Phillippa Biggs, said policies for an enabling environment are a must for broadband, including enabling policies and regulation to help co-investment of cross-country interconnection, Universal Service Fund (USF) for broadband roll-out and promotion of utility infrastructure synergies.

    Vice President of Huawei Global Government Affairs Department, Zhou Mingcheng,  said ICT has become a fundamental feature of modern society, and fast and healthy development of ICT industry requires supports and guidance from governments in stimulating investment in ICT infrastructure, encouraging ICT innovation and regulating competitions.

  • NCC woos investors with 30% income tax reduction

    Regulator says sector attracts $5b quarterly FDI

     

    Nigeria’s telecoms sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday said prospective investors into the telecoms sector would only need to pay 30 per cent of income tax, among other mouth-watering incentives rolled out by the Federal Government.

    The regulator also said the telecoms sector which attracted $70 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, has been adding between $4 billion and $5billoon quarterly in FDI since the beginning of this year.

    Its Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, who unveiled the packages to prospective investors who thronged the Nigeria Pavilion during its opening at the ongoing International Telecoms Union (ITU) Telecom World in Durban, South Africa,  said investors stood to enjoy pioneer status as well as import duty waivers on essential equipment needed for them to setup businesses in the telecoms sector.

    He said the Executive Order of the Federal Government laid special emphasis on transparency in the discharge of official responsibility.

    According to Prof Dambatta, with a huge youthful population ever ready to communicate, investors needed not fear about quick returns on investment (RoI). He said the steady growth of telecoms sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now at 10.5 per cent bore eloquent testimony to resilience of the sector.  He said the non-oil sector has been growing the GDP in line with Federal Government’s Economic diversification blueprint, adding the telecoms sector has been taking the lead in this area.

    He said opportunities for investment are available in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry, stating while voice appears not to be doing badly, data is the next investment frontier.

    Read Also: NCC, CBN may clampdown on electronic fraudsters

    He said ITU forum usually provideo opportunity to learn about new technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and other new technologies.

    He said: “We also come to share our experiences and take home new ideas in global best practices that will assist us to strengthen our regulatory processes and interventions that will make the accelerated growth of telecommunications to dovetail into a better and stronger economy.

    “In our modest quest to bridge the digital divide, the board of the NCC has put in place initiatives to fast track internet access and taking services to several unserved and underserved areas of Nigeria

    “Although we have 162.3million active subscribers on our various networks, we at NCC believe there is much left to be done in terms of improvement of Quality of Service (QoS), more access to as many people as possible.

    “We must admit that the QoS is not where we want it to be yet, but with time and increase of infrastructure deployment, we should be there soonest than later,”Dambatta said.

    He recalled that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched the ICT Roadmap in the country, stressing that driving broadband penetration for accelerated economic growth formed the kernel of the roadmap.

    “With a population of 180million, active subscriber base of over 160million and internet penetration of over 100 million, Nigeria remains an attractive country for investors who crave for adequate RoIs.

    “While we celebrate the seemingly success story recorded in these directions, the NCC has put in place incentives for Infrastructure Companies (Infracos) in order to encourage speedy deployment of infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration as quickly as possible.

    “This is part of the roadmap to take Nigeria to the next level under the Open Access Model template.  So far, six Infraco licences have been issued to cover Lagos, Northeast, Northwest, South South, Southwest and Southeast zones of the country. Arrangements are underway to re-licence the North Central zone,” he said.

    The Commission had earlier assigned 2.3GHz licence to Bitflux Consortium and six of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and two slots to Openskys.  Six slots are still available for assignment.

    “We undertook these regulatory steps in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP of 2013-2018) where it is anticipated that 30 per cent penetration will be attained, by the turn of 2018,” he said.

    Nigeria had a mere five per cent penetration of broadband in 2012 but now has 22 per cent and hopes to hit the 30 per cent prescribed by NBP (2013 – 2018) by December, 2018 through various initiatives including granting subsidies to Infraco licencees, Spectrum Trading among others.

    He said in line with the Commission’s initiatives to encourage investors for Infracos to roll out, it has created provisions in its 2017 and 2018 budgets as subsidies to the Infracos.

    “This is essentially to be disbursed piecemeal to the InfraCos as the deployment of their infrastructure progresses.  “We have assured all the licencees that this subsidy is based on the implementation/milestones of their roll out obligations,” he said.

    He told the investors thatb there are also opportunities for investors in digital transmission system including microwave, satellite and optic fibre; submarine cable communications; digital exchanges for both wired and wireless lines; billing systems; data communications networks; broadband and  Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN).

    Nigeria, he said needs 120,000km metropolitan optic fibre coverage for ubiquitous network connections nationwide.  With only 38,000km coverage now, this area also beckons on both foreign and local investors, he said.

  • $2.5 bn arms deal: ‘I am innocent,’ Zuma tells cheering crowd

    Former South African president Jacob Zuma told thousands of supporters outside court in Durban on Friday that his opponents were telling lies and he would be proven innocent in a corruption case against him.

    Speaking in Zulu in his home province, Zuma said that the judiciary and politicians believed that he did not have rights.

    “The truth will come out. What have I done?” Zuma told the cheering crowd.

    “I am innocent until proven guilty.”

    The Durban High Court adjourned until June 8 the case of corruption in a 2.5 billion arms deal dollars, filed against Zuma.

    Zuma’s legal team and lawyers for the state agreed to the postponement to give both sides time to prepare their submissions relating to charges against Zuma including fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

    The 75-year-old, whose scandal-plagued nine years in office were marked by economic stagnation and credit downgrades, faces 16 charges including fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

    Zuma denies any wrongdoing and is challenging the decision to prosecute the case, a dramatic development on a continent where political leaders are rarely held to account for their actions before the law.

    Wearing a dark suit, a smiling Zuma waved to crowds of supporters and reporters as he climbed the steps of the High Court in Durban shortly before 0700 GMT.

    Zuma, who was forced to resign by the ANC last month, was at the center of a 1990s deal to buy billions of dollars of European military hardware to upgrade South Africa’s post-apartheid armed forces.

    The deal was mired in scandal and controversy from the start, with many inside and outside the ANC questioning the spending given the massive social issues, from health to education, Nelson Mandela’s party had to address after coming to power in 1994.

    Fallout has cast a shadow over South African politics ever since.

    Zuma was deputy president at the time. Schabir Shaikh, his former financial adviser, was found guilty and jailed in 2005 for trying to solicit bribes for Zuma from a subsidiary of French arms company Thales.

    The company is facing charges in the same case.

    Charges against Zuma were filed but then set aside by the National Prosecuting Authority shortly before he successfully ran for president in 2009.

    The charges were re-instated in 2016.

    Since his election nine years ago, his opponents have fought a lengthy legal battle to have the charges reinstated.

    Zuma countered with his own legal challenges.

     

  • Zuma must go, South African protesters insist

    Zuma must go, South African protesters insist

    Tens of thousands of South Africans Friday stormed the streets of Johannesburg,Cape Town,Durban , Pretoria and other major cities  in a national outpouring of anger at scandal-tainted President Jacob Zuma.

    Nobel laureate and anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu, 85 and ailing, made a rare public appearance to support the protests.

    His foundation posted a scathing tweet in his name: “We will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us.”

    In Johannesburg, police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 100 ruling party members who were making their way toward protesters, the African News Agency reported.

    Separately, ruling party members assaulted several protesters participating in a march organized by the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s biggest opposition group.

    DA leader,Mmusi Maimane said in Pretoria that Zuma is a junk president.

    “We are not a junk country we just have a junk president,” Maimane said.

    Other ANC members in military uniforms who had been posted outside their party headquarters helped to escort the protesters to safety.

    Police in Pietermaritzburg city also fired rubber bullets to keep Zuma supporters away from a rally against him.

    The Fitch agency cited political uncertainty as a factor in its decision to downgrade South Africa’s credit rating to below investment grade; days after Standard & Poor’s did the same.

    Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle, in which Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was fired, will further discourage companies from investing in South Africa and could weaken “standards of governance and public finances,” Fitch said.

    The government appealed for calm and said it respected the right to protest peacefully. The country turned to democracy after white minority rule ended in 1994 with the country’s first all-race vote and the election of Nelson Mandela as president.

    In some cities, protesters with banners lined stretches of road or stood on overpasses; passing cars honked their horns. In the capital, Pretoria, they marched to the Union Buildings, which houses the offices of Zuma and other government officials. In Cape Town, motorcyclists with South African flags led a rally. “Fire Zuma,” read some placards.

    South African media outlets posted photos of Tutu and his wife, Leah, standing with residents at a bus shelter outside the retirement home where they are staying in Hermanus, near Cape Town. Tutu was shown smiling and raising a walking stick, apparently to acknowledge passing protesters.

    The retired Anglican archbishop, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his peaceful campaign against apartheid, has criticized the ANC for alleged mismanagement over the years.

    He has been hospitalized several times since 2015 because of infections linked to past treatment for prostate cancer.

     

  • South Africa loses 2022 Commonwealth Games hosting right

    South Africa loses 2022 Commonwealth Games hosting right

    The South African City of Durban has lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the broadcaster eNCA reported on Monday.

    South Africa had too many outstanding tasks to be able to host the Games, South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee president Gideon Sam was quoted as saying Durban was awarded the Games in 2015 as the only city to make a confirmed bid.

    The bid was believed to have been withdrawn because of financial constraints.

    NAN reports that the games were set to open on July 18, 2022, coinciding with the birthday of the late South African President, Nelson Mandela.
    The City of Durban’s Commonwealth Bid Committee, a part of South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, lodged the city’s bid to host the games at Mansion House in London on March 2, 2015, leaving Durban as the only candidate city to host the games after Canada withdrew Edmonton as their bid city.

    At the same time the Durban 2022 brand was launched on social media as Durban2022 on Facebook, @Durban2022 on Twitter and @Durban2022 on Instagram

  • Eight killed in South African orphanage fire

    At least eight people were killed on Thursday in a fire at an orphanage in the South African city of Durban, the local news agency, ANA, reported.

    Many of those killed were children with the youngest being eight years old, a spokesman for the emergency services was quoted as saying.

    It was not immediately known if other people were injured or what caused the fire.

     

  • Omar al-Bashir: Durban to witness another film in exile case

    ONE of the burning political issues in Africa will receive some cinematic review at this year’s edition of Durban International Film Festival which opens on July 16.

    This is the case of Sudan’s current president, Omar al-Bashir, who escaped detention in South Africa last month, following an order by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    Al-Bashir’s case returns to South Africa, and will be evaluated by critical minds and the general public, courtesy of a documentary by Sudanese filmmaker, Hajooj Kuka, who captures the vicious treatment meted on the citizens in Beats of the Antonov.

    Kuka’s documentary, touted as an indictment of President Omar al-Bashir has won The People’s Choice Documentary Award at The Toronto International Film Festival and four other international awards.

    The work which gives a human face to al-Bashir’s victims, tells the story of the people of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan, who fought with the South for independence but now remain trapped in a civil war in the North.

    It is understandable that this film will not show in Sudan. Thus, Beats of the Antonov joins the list of films such as The Dead Sea, Taxi etcetera, which have made waves in exile at different times.

    Indeed, the principle of art in the real sense of the word is not the decorative pictures and crafts that it used to be solely before the renaissance of the 14th and 16th centuries. This has even grown with time and I see it as a revolution of life ignited by activism; I see it as divinely-inspired creativity and in certain cases, an artist’s work became the object or subject of special pilgrimage and reverence.

    Few years back, Indian filmmaker, Leena Manimekelai’s film, The Dead Sea was in exile at DIFF. The flick was a haunting story about the lives of Tamil fishermen and the difficulties they faced in Sri Lanka. That blend of fiction and documentary was a protest against the injustices and ethnic cleansing which is considered a prodigal film by the Indian government and thus was banned.

    One striking line in the movie says; “I have always advocated that the people be armed, but now, I am convinced that not only the people, but the government should be disarmed”.

    It is usually only at film festivals that movies which are denied freedom in their countries of origin get hearing. This way, the filmmaker’s vision of expression is assuaged.

    Recall that Iranian filmmaker; Jafar Panahi, suffered worse fate. Not only were his films banned by the government of his country, he was committed to a six-year prison term and a 20-year ban from filmmaking by the Iranian government for attempting to explore the social situation in his homeland through works that appeal to the Iranian government as state offence. Although convicted, Panahi has been celebrated world over for what he stands for.

    Where are the activist filmmakers in Nollywood? If you remember the story of the first Doyen in Traditional Nigerian Drama, late Hubert Ogunde who had his own share of film activism, you will agree there is need for us to do more.  His play Yoruba Ronu; a satirical account of the strife that plagued Yorubas in the 1960s was banned in western Nigeria for some time but was produced with great success in other parts of the country.

    The political terrain requires filmmakers who should bring to filmic expression, the numerous ills plaguing Nigeria.

  • Durban film festival selects Afrinolly’s Shorts for screening

    Durban film festival selects Afrinolly’s Shorts for screening

    For the first time in the years that Nigerian filmmakers have been attending the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), South Africa, a total of four of the country’s four short films will be screened in one edition of the film event.

    The films; Timothy by Ejiro Onobrakpor, Henna by Ishaya Bako, Once by Jay-Franklyn Jituboh  and  The Dutiful Wife by Soji Ogunaike are courtesy of Afrinolly’s Cinema4Change project, in partnership with Ford Foundation.

    DIFF is considered the biggest film event in Africa, only next to the biennial Pan African Film Festival (FESPACO), Burkina Faso.

    In support of Afrinolly’s drive to reposition the Nigerian motion picture industry, Ford Foundation had provided a grant to train and mentor young filmmakers through the Cinema4Change project. The beneficiaries were engaged in a stiff competition that produced a series of films designed to drive Social Change in West Africa.

    The four which were part of the seven proposed for DIFF, is among a total of 71officially selected by the festival organisers.

    In The dutiful Wife, a 30 minutes drama, Ibidun has what every woman wants: the love of her husband, Francis; the security of his wealth; and the honour of his status as a leader in the Church. This is the very reason she has no choice but to keep quiet about the secret he hid from her before they got married- Francis is impotent.

    In Henna, IshayaBako whose documentary, Fuelling Poverty was banned by the Nigerian government in 2013 for criticising the nation’s economic lapses, tells the story of Reina, a 13-year-old girl with dreams of a better life in a village where girls are married out at a young age. In the 22-minute drama, Reina refuses to stop at being terrified but seeks to turn her dream into a reality. Her voice must be heard.

    Once, 26 minutes, by Jay-Franklyn Jituboh beams the satellite on the relentless Panshak. Panshak is a 10-year-old boy, and his closest friend, Abubakar is an 11-year-old Muslim boy. Panshak and Abubakar do almost everything together but when Abubakar starts to push him away, Panshak tries to find ways to be like him so as to get closer to him again.

    In the fourth film, Timothy, by Ejiro Onobrakpor who is currently on training at the Relativity School, Hollywood, Timothy in the 20-minute film, would run whenever his father tried to inject him against malaria. The night he ran, Obajimi let the candle burn in hope that his son would soon return but something went wrong.

  • Let’s go to Durban

    It was an irony when, Durban, an annual rallying point for African film makers became the off-shoot of the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, recently.

    The Durban International Film Festival has over the years, hosted motion picture practitioners from around the world, and projected African films in a deliberate effort to reposition the narrative of the continent.

    Painfully, the attacks became turbulent for that laudable initiative which in a way set out to unite Africa. But as calm returns to South Africa, the synergy must continue, as this is where you get to see the best collection of the continent’s cinematic expressions at the moment.

    Last week was the official project selection for the 6th Durban FilmMart, an integral part of the festival on film finance and co-production and film screening, providing platform for a series of networking and social sessions with like-minded industry representatives.

    For Nigeria, it is noteworthy that apart from the fact that Afrinolly, a Nigerian company is among the partners of this segment of the festival, a Nigerian film, Laughter is the best Colour, produced by Mohammed Musulumi and directed by Chike Ibekwe, has been listed among the festival’s selection.

    Announcing the selection at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival, France, earlier in the week, the festival promised 19 documentaries and fiction feature film projects from around Africa for this year’s Durban FilmMart. Details of the selection were announced at a networking function held at the South Africa Pavilion in Cannes.

    This year’s Durban FilmMart has selected these projects from 120 submissions by African film makers who wished to participate in the continent’s premier finance and co-production market.

    A joint initiative between the Durban Film Office and the Durban International Film Festival, continue to seek projects from a diverse range of countries on the continent, including Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

    The selected nine documentaries include After Marikana  The End of Democracy (South Africa), Producer Anita Khanna, Director Rehad Desai; Amal (Egypt) Producer Sara Bökemeyer, Director Mohamed Siam; Life and Times of John C (South Africa) Producer Neil Brandt, Director Francois Verster; Truck Mama (Kenya) Producer Zipporah Nyaruri, Director Zipporah Nyaruri, Co-director Peggy Mbiyu; Not in My Neighbourhood (South Africa) Producer and Director Kurt Orderson; Project Delight (South Africa) Producer and Director Karin Slater; Terre Jaune (Togo) Producers Sitou Ayite and Madje Ayite with Elisabeth Guthmann, Director Bouna Cherif Fofana and Sitou Ayite; The Other Half of the African Sky (Zimbabwe) Producer and Director Tapiwa Chipfupa, and The Rainbow: Jazz for the Struggle, and the Struggle for Jazz (South Africa)Producer Antoinette Engel, Director Niren Tolsi

    For the rest of the 10 fiction films, there is Cactus Flower (Egypt) Producer Hossam Elouan, Director Hala Elkoussy; Inkabi (The Hitman) (South Africa) Producer Anco Henning, Director Norman Maake; On the Way to Paradise (South Africa) Producer Imraan Jeeva, Director Sara Blecher; One More Night in Lagos (Cote d’Ivoire) Producer Tosin Coker, Director Marina Niava;Riot Waif (South Africa) Producer Jean Meeran, Director Zinaid Meeran; Selma and Charlize (South Africa) Producer Junaid Ahmed/Helena Spring, Director Robyn Aronstam; Sunflowers Behind a Dirty Fence (Uganda) Producer Nathan Magoola, Director Simon Mukali; The Tall Assassin (South Africa) Producer Carolyn Carew, Director Roy Zetisky and Unbalance (Ghana)Producer Akousa Adoma Owusu, Director P. Sam Kessie.

    The 6th Durban FilmMart takes place in Durban, at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni from 17 to 20 July 2015, during the 36th edition of the Durban International Film Festival (16-26 July 2015). Let’s go see these films.

  • Durban Film Festival calls for registration

    Durban Film Festival calls for registration

    ….Lists Nigeria’s Afrinolly as segment partner

    As calm  returns to Durban, South Africa, where the recent xenophobic attacks were triggered, organisers of Durban Film Festival, have announced readiness for this year’s edition of the film event, which focuses mainly on motion picture works from African countries.

    Calling for delegate registration for the 6th Durban FilmMart (DFM), an integral part of the festival on film finance and co-production, organisers say the event which is scheduled for July 17 to July 20, will cover Finance Forum, Master Classes and Africa in Focus – a programme of workshops, and also offers a series of networking and social sessions with like-minded industry representatives.

    “The overall objective of the FilmMart is to support, facilitate and develop the growth of African film content and create viable opportunities for business within the sector to flourish,” says Durban Film Office’s Toni Monty. “The Mart promises delegates access to influential experts, broadcasters and financiers in the film industry and creates a space for industry professionals to forge strategic relationships.”

    The DFM is a joint project of Durban Film Office, the City’s industry development unit, and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) as an endeavour to raise the visibility of African cinema, stimulate production on the continent, and facilitate project collaboration between African filmmakers.

    Partners and supporters of the Durban FilmMart 2015 that will be represented in Durban, include Afrinolly, a Nigerian company, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) CineMart, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Berlinale Film Festival, HotDocs – Blue Ice Documentary Film Fund, New Cinema Network Rome, Produire au Sud, Restless Talent Management, French Embassy South Africa, NFVF, KZNFC, VideoVision Entertainment , Goethe Institute,  Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie the City of Durban and many others.

    This year’s Master Class in Film Packaging and Finance, is entitled New Film-Making Strategies; from South Africa to Pan-Africa and towards the Global Market. Sponsored by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission (KZNFC), the master class will be presented by leading international film and creative industry specialist and published writer Angus Finney. Finney comes to the Mart having actively been involved as executive producer on many films, including Neil Armfield’s Candy with Heath Ledger, Roger Michell’s The Mother with Anne Reid and Peter Vaughan and Rose Troche’s The Safety of Objects with Glenn Close, and others.

    “We are really pleased to be able to offer the delegates an opportunity to interact with and learn from someone of the caliber of Finney,” says Vuyo Sokupa, NFVF’s Head of production and Development. “Finney comes with years of academic and field experience in film packaging and finance, the cornerstone of developing a film project, and we believe his session will be incredibly valuable to those attending.”

    Finney has spent the past three years working as a risk manager and media advisor for Octopus Media, a division of Octopus Investments, a City of London Fund Manager, and is also Course Director for the Exeter University/London Film School MA in International Film Business. He holds a PHD in Business Strategy from Cass Business School in London, an MA in Film and Journalism from New York University and a BA from Sussex University in International Relations. His training includes working with Creative Skillset, Creative London and the Film Distributors Association, to mention a few. His professional work extends to South Africa, UAE, Ireland and New Zealand in the past five years.

    The DFM’s co-production market, for selected film projects from submissions made, sees roughly ten feature films and ten documentary films selected for mentorship, and presentation to industry experts during this time. Following rigorous meetings and sessions with these experts, projects are awarded a number of relevant grants for further development.