Bharti Airtel heads to Sri Lanka

Bharti Airtel Lanka, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, a global telco with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, has expanded into Sri Lanka, reports The daily Mirror.

Having surpassed its five-year investment pledge of $ 200 million in two years, the company has commissioned the fastest network roll out of its kind by any mobile operator in the country.

Amali Nanayakkara, MD of Bharti Airtel Lanka says: "We are honoured to serve the people of Northern Sri Lanka and connect customers deep from every nook and corner of the province to the rest of Sri Lanka and the world.”

Synchronica has signed a framework agreement with a pan-African operator group, states IT News Africa.

This is Synchronica's tenth agreement with an African carrier, this time a mobile operator group with subsidiaries across the continent.

Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, says: “We look forward to a successful product roll-out in Africa and we also have the opportunity to introduce our sought after push e-mail, instant messaging and social networking services across the enlarged group.”

A panel set up by Kenya's Capital Markets Authority plans to link technology entrepreneurs with mutual funds, venture capital companies and high net-worth individuals to support their businesses, says Bloomberg Business Week.

The East Africa ICT Impact Investing Taskforce funds managers, donors and regulators from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, will hold its last meeting in November before publishing its final recommendations in January next year.

“The problem was a lack of intermediation,” says Richard Bell, who heads the taskforce. “Local capital was not finding its way into the technology sector.”