Michael Malakata

Rwandan government moves to digitize primary and secondary school curriculums. OLPC will provide laptops.

Work on the plant, to be completed by September, will be worth US$1 million and help computerize the country

Troubled telco Zamtel, which provides fixed, mobile and Internet services, may be split to save it from closing

A project to lay fibre optic cable connecting several southern African nations half-way complete. The second phase will start later this year

Africa's bustling mobile industry will have more players soon. Kuwait's HiTS will build a network in Tanzania and expand from there, while Zain will add to the 15 countries it already provides service

Africa requires 1.3 million networking professionals by 2012 for technology in the region to operate effectively, according to a Cisco official. South Africa-based Cisco Systems area academic manager Elfie Hamid said in Lusaka, Zambia, recently that Africa is facing a massive shortage of ICT, both in industry and training institutions.

Europe is lending a hand to African countries to get science and IT projects off the drawing board, including improving broadband connectivity on the continent

Last year Zambia's Computer Association sent the government proposed legislation to give it power to handle complaints against IT professionals. Although the government created the association, so far, it hasn't responded