Cape Town, South Africa, 11 November 2009

Africa’s leading service providers and vendors descended on the grand Ballroom at the CTICC for the 2nd annual AfricaCom Awards (www.africacomawards.com) - collocated with the record breaking AfricaCom conference and exhibition. The night started with relaxed cocktails and networking before an official welcome from the representative of UNICEF – the awards’ official charity - “Princess of Africa” & UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Yvonne Chaka Chaka. The meal and ceremony was a resounding success, especially thanks to the evening’s sponsors MTN, Comviva and Gateway Communications.


The most innovative of the continent’s companies were shortlisted for the 10 categories, and global powers rubbed shoulders with home-grown African talent in the list of winners:

• New Entrant of the Year: Dark Fibre Africa for their Optical Fibre Ducting Infrastructure
• Best Network Improvement: Microcom DRC & the WiMAX Network in Democratic Rep. of Congo
• Best New Services: Comviva with Virtual Phone
• Best Cost Efficiency Solution for Africa: Helios Towers and their Co-Location/Infrastructure Sharing product
• Green Telecoms Award: Win Afrique for their use of solar, wind & green energy solutions
• Best Solution for Rural Services: MTN Uganda for the GOOGLE SMS/Application Labaratory
• Best Marketing Campaign: Vodacom Mozambique with the Tudobom brand campaign
• Telecoms Innovation of the Year: Comviva with Virtual Phone
• Best Pan African Initiative: Seacom with the East African submarine cables
• Changing Lives Award: Emtel Mauritius for connecting the people of Agalega Islands to the world
  

The winning entries covered an impressively broad spectrum of networks, services and solutions, offering a true cross-section of the African telecommunications industry. The independent panel of Judges, who dealt with even more entries than last year, decided on the winners as the most inspiring examples of telecoms innovation and progress on the continent.

The AfricaCom Awards (Africa’s only dedicated awards for the telecoms industry) have grown since the inaugural ceremony in 2008 thanks to the drive and ambition of operators, service providers, Ministries, Regulators and equipment & solutions providers across the continent. And with mobile subscriptions set to grow by another 300 million by 2012, there is still a wealth of potential for investors in Africa.

Recognition and acclaim in front of their peers were the real prizes for each of the award winners, but the real beneficiaries this year were the growing number of Africans with access to communication services. The telecoms industry in Africa is changing lives, and the future holds yet more promise.

Congratulations to the winners, and here’s looking to the AfricaCom Awards 2010!

For press information and photos please contact caroline.wiezien@informa.com

For information on how to sponsor the 2010 awards visit the website
http://www.africacomawards.com/

or contact Corrie.Thompson@informa.com


Sponsored by: Gateway - MTN - Comviva

Contact: Caroline Wiezien

Phone: 0044 207 017 5605