nnenna

Africa's first Twitter War : the good, the bad and the ugly

2013-03-22T17:18:00.000Z

Thursday, March 21st will be a day to remember. No, there was no earthquake, no Tsunami and no extraordinary bomb blast in the "bomb nations" part of the world. But there was huge violence. No, not just violence, it was war. The kind of war that strikes you with a boom. First because you never saw it coming, and second, by the time you realized what is happening.. things have really gone

Les Éléphants à la CAN2013: Quand nos adversaires parlent de nous, tendons l'oreille

2013-02-09T18:31:00.001Z

Je suis arrivée à l'aéroport international Murtala Mohamed de Lagos le dimanche 3 février aux alentours de 15 heures 20, heure du Nigeria. Le match entre le Nigeria et la Côte d'Ivoire allait commencer dans une vingtaine de minutes. Deux semaines plus tôt : J'avais fait une prière au Bon Dieu que j'ai pris le soin de poster sur Facebook. Je confiais mon cœur à Dieu, car je ne

Algeria.. the surge, and no apologies

2013-01-17T19:10:00.000Z

This time last week the war on Mali was only a few hours old. I had already asked my questions concerning it. One of the questions was on where the arms were coming from, or at the very least, where they were being transported from. Today, it is clear that the war is no longer in Mali alone. One of my key questions has also found its answer. There is a terrorist back channel in Algeria..

Mali: How long will the war take?

2013-01-13T16:07:00.001Z

War has started in Mali. It started on Friday January 11, 2013. The French government, responding to a request from the Malian government kicked it off. In his address, the French President, François Hollande said France will give its support to Mali in this war "as long as it takes" And that is the question. HOW LONG WILL THE WAR TAKE? When will it end? For starters, where is Mali?

Madiba.. or when the sparkle begins to fade.

2012-12-17T21:52:00.000Z

Dear Madiba, and through you, to my loved one, my loved ones.. Every time I hear that you have been taken to hospital, I have the same reaction. My chest gets heavy, my throat tightens, my feet drag. I literally have to swallow to be able to lighten my chest and clear my throat. I keep up late at night.. swaying between concern and worry, and praying through all of that. I panic

The Weird, Ironic and Hypocritical WCIT and the new International Telecommunication Regulations

2012-12-15T20:52:00.000Z

I am back home after the WorldConference on International Telecommunications - WCIT, whose main job was to review the International Telecommunication Regulations. Since the official closing and signing by 89 members, I have been reading tons of comments. For me, I no longer engage in lengthy arguments these days. But I can say that Milton was spot on when he typed : "But this incident does

What African women in ICT need

2012-11-29T11:47:00.000Z

This is a feedback from African women software developers and ICT entrepreneurs to whom the question was asked: what are your needs? The 15 priority areas are out: 1. Mentorship - women want to be linked up and mentored. They need "those who have been there" to advise them regularly. This emotional and professional support ranked highest in the responses. 2. Funding - Key to making

Ça n'arrive pas qu'en Afrique

2012-11-23T09:15:00.000Z

La dernière fois que François était venu au pays, c'était il y a deux ans. Novembre/décembre 2010. Son pays, la Côte d'Ivoire était en plein marasme politique, du aux résultats d'un deuxième tour d’élections présidentielles qui entraînait le pays inexorablement vers une guerre civile. François n'arrivait pas à comprendre comment et pourquoi il est toujours difficile pour « les africains »

Nouveau Gouvernement Kablan Duncan de Côte d'Ivoire

2012-11-22T14:02:00.004Z

République de la Côte d'Ivoire Gouvernement du 22 novembre 2012 Premier Ministre, Ministre de l’Économie et des Finances – Daniel Kablan Duncan Ministre d'Etat ministre de l'emploi des affaires sociales et de la formation professionnel - Moussa Dosso Ministre d'Etat, Ministre du plan et du développement - Albert Mabri Toikeuse Ministre d'Etat, Ministre des affaires

Of Muhammad Ali, Kadaffi, Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong [or the danger of 'Idol'atery]

2012-10-19T11:37:00.000Z

I've been following the fall of Lance Armstrong.. and reading all the interesting reactions of his fans, the members of his foundation and the sporting world. Barely one week after a report stating that "The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen" Lance

ECOBANK Côte d'Ivoire: Smart cards, dumb ATMs

2012-10-05T18:21:00.000Z

I was in Tanzania two weeks ago. I go to the ECOBANK to pull cash, and my card is shown as "not activated". I go to the bank itself to ask and I was shown the new card. The one that has a SIM card. I come back to Abidjan and I ask, and I was told "Yes, madam, we are changing the cards, go upstairs and collect yours. I collect a new card and something tells me to keep the old card. The agent

The African Olympics. Les JO africains.

2012-08-13T11:23:00.000Z

Have you been wondering which African countries did what during the just-ended London Olympics? Here is a quick table. Vous vous-êtes demandés comment les pays africains se sont "imposés" lors des Jeux Olympique de Londres? En voici: Rank/Rang Country/Pays GOLD/OR Silver/Argent Bronze Total

Les ivoriens sont doux-amers .. sur les réseaux sociaux

2012-07-28T20:53:00.000Z

Il y avait un chanteur qui avait ce morceau.. "nous les ivoriens on est doux-amer". Ca, c'était sur le 322.462 km2 du territoire nationale. Mais voila que depuis "les événements que nous connaissons tous".. il y'a l'autre Côte d'Ivoire. La Côte d'Ivoire numérique. Cette Côte d'Ivoire là, elle est en ligne, et surtout sur Facebook et Twitter. Si toi, tu viens d'arriver sur Facebook, ou sur

What did you buy for me?

2012-07-25T15:34:00.001Z

You travel to places. You change planes. You rake up miles. You take pictures and put them up online. People get to know your face at the local airport. Sometimes, they get to ask you "where are you off to this time?" Some times you answer, some times you just smile. Every trip is has its specifics. Ups and downs. Long overlays at airports, lack of Internet Connection, luggage that does not

De John Atta Mills à John Dramani Mahama - 6 heures de grands enseignements pour nous

2012-07-25T08:29:00.002Z

La nouvelle est tombée hier après-midi. Le Président de la République du Ghana, Son Excellence Prof. John Evans Atta Mills n'est plus. Voici le résumé en bref: Vers midi, il a eu un malaise. Il est évacué à l'Hôpital Militaire (37 Military Hospital) à Accra. Il tire sa révérence à 14:15. Un peu avant 16H00, le Chief of Staff (càd le SG de la Présidence) publie un communiqué. Le communiqué

Motorola Mobile phones and Me: End of the road.

2012-07-04T01:40:00.001Z

This is the last Motorola phone I bought. It is also the last I will buy. It has been a long story between me and Motorola, but there comes a time when we have to choose. I have chosen to say "Bye" to Motorola phones. My first one was in the Razr days. I still hold on to the Razr V3. That one was a sure Legend. I so loved it that I still cant bring myself to retire it after almost 7

5 "Good Reasons" for which you will not be hired.

2012-06-08T14:26:00.001Z

I have been wanting to put these thoughts down since end of 2011. Quick story, I am running a training for West Africa and also doing some recruitments. For the one post, I was interviewing candidates in the morning, and for the other position, interviews were in the afternoon. So I had a full day of people trying to convince me and the panel I was heading that they were the right persons for

10 Reasons why your Facebook friend request is still queued

2012-05-27T10:28:00.000Z

Okay, so you have sent me a Facebook friend request and since days, weeks or even months you have not heard anything. You might even have tried to send me a private message asking "Did you see my friend request?" And you did not get a reply. Here are the 10 possible reasons your friend request is still in the queue. You do not have a profile photo. By principle, unless I know you, I will

7 Reasons Jean Ping needs to step aside as African Union Commission's Chair

2012-05-23T14:12:00.002Z

In January, the African Union Summit held in its very new headquarters. The one donated by China. One of the items on the agenda was the election of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Since the creation of the original Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which later became AU, the election or re-election of the Commission Chair has never really been a huge issue..... because

L'OBV des JNTIC 2012

2012-05-17T19:54:00.000Z

Les journées internationales des technologies de l'information et de la communication battent leur plein à Abidjan. Après 3 jours, soit on y est allé, soit, on suit sur les réseaux sociaux. Un petit mot de ma part.. pour relever ce que j'appelle l'OBV de ces choses. L'Orange étant pour des signes avant-coureurs des dangers, le blanc étant pour les parties plates.. ou bien mi-figue-mi-raisin

MAG: To be or not to be?

2012-02-16T22:40:00.002Z

I am reading Ginger's "actions call" for MAG self/nominations. And it is so spirited that I have decided to write down my "thoughts" here as a blog. Will be my third blog of the day.. Looks like I'm in a bloggy mood.. if ever such a word exists. In reading the scoring, I see that I actually have a "BIG FAT" chance. Here is the way I see it: 1. I will get a 10% for being in Côte d'Ivoire, a

Les 5 ivoiriens que tu dois croiser au quartier. 1 sur 5: Le titro-socio-politico-psycho-LOGUE

2012-02-16T13:58:00.000Z

Il n'y a pas mal de temps que je comptais écrire ce billet de blog. Il s'agit des gens qui se trouvent dans nos quartiers, en tout cas, ici, à Abidjan. Pour ma part, je suis issue de la belle commune de Cocody. J'en suis à ma 15è année. J'ai eu à faire plusieurs quartiers de la commune. Ces gens là, je le trouve dans chaque quartier. Pour ne pas nous éparpiller dans la conjugaison de il ou

AWUNSEM : Word-Weaving – An almost-extinct profession from the old Ashanti Kingdom

2012-02-05T15:28:00.002Z

I spent a wonderful weekend in Ghana recently. I met Selina Amanquanor., who captivated me. Rarely do I fall head over heels in love with anybody.. but this time, I was really star-struck.. No, I did not fall in love with the Amanquanor woman herself, but with her work. She practices a profession that I know from the first minute I heard that “Hey! This is what I should have been doing for

The Nigerian Strike: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2012-01-16T18:54:00.000Z

I came back from Nigeria yesterday evening, after some 8 days of stay. I arrived on Saturday the 7th.. in the heat of "there may be a strike next week" talk. And strike there was.. the whole week. By Saturday 14th, someone had named it "the mother of all strikes" in Nigeria. He is correct. For me, the protests were on three levels. First, I was a complete stranger to the whole of it.

Il Zont lumé 'Bidjan!

2011-12-23T08:52:00.001Z

Mamoudou: Eh! Bou-ari, sh'est comment? On ti voit plus là? Tu s'en fous de nous ishi maintenant ou bien ti gagné PMU? Boukary: Mais vous quartier là oo, c'est campement. Moi, yé travaille au Paris maintenant! MM: Puatate! Regarde moi, un gnamogodé comme ça là! C'est qui, qui va t'envoyer derrier l'eau? BK: Voilà! Toi, avec ton vié vélo, vous deux vous tournez dans campement ici seulement..