Money. Now that’s a subject close to everyone’s heart. Making it, spending it, saving it. For many Africans, especially in the rural areas where banks are few and far between, the developments in money transfer technology have been a godsend. All it now usually takes is a mobile phone to move funds safely and quickly. Some East African companies in particular have been incredibly innovative on this front. Read Gavin Barfield’s article on page 28 as he explores some of the systems on offer and investigates questions such as security concerns.

On the subject of phones … the ubiquitous GPS has moved from the realm of military-only hardware tonow being almost standard in every phone and car. Its uses are not only restricted to the tourist navigating a hired vehicle along the African highways and byways (although obviously it has great benefits in that application), but also in a host of other uses. Read our feature on page 38 for an update.

Kenya is regarded as one of the most technologically developed countries on the continent. On page 54 Christo Valentyn investigates why. He shows that the government there has identified education as the sector ripe for attention. Their plans are advanced but not without problems. How the country is going about its ICT evolution makes for salutary lessons for the rest of Africa. Lessons also are to be learnt in the WiMAX roll-out across the continent. Licences, regulations and the cost implications are all probed in our article on page 58.

Not quite finally, as there’s a lot more in African Communications, we look at agriculture. This extremely important aspect of Africa is sometimes overlooked when the subject of ICT comes up. However, we’re pleased to report on page 67 how new technologies are helping farmers in almost every aspect of their businesses, from tracking herds of animals to monitoring soil erosion and dam levels and, of course, enabling produce to get to consumers with the minimum of hassle and spoilage. Now if we can just control the weather…

Patrick Farrell

Gizmos & gadgets - The latest hot technology

Sound bytes - News and developments from the industry

Radar - Arthur Goldstuck on a new era of connectivity

Chopra’s nirvana - Technotree COO Atul Chopra

Easy money – Secure mobile money transfers

Where in the world are you? – Africa’s GPS potential

Lighting up communications – Update on optical fibre technology

Break on through – Kenya strives for ICT development

The longest mile – WiMAX rollout

One small seed – IT and agriculture

Moving on up – The migration to LTE

What’s on – Conferences and exhibitions