We are relaunching AfricaOnline.com, folding our eight national sites and www.africaonline.com into a totally redesigned Africa-wide site. We have conducted extensive market research both on what Web users in Africa actually want and what advertisers and hosting clients need. We are working furiously with our developers on a whole new infrastructure and design to make this a reality. A small but experienced team has been recruited to manage and develop the content, technology, sales and marketing. A realistic analysis of our market and its potential has resulted in a business model that is based on modest expectations and on a vision of Africa Online as a portal contributing news and services to the whole of our multinational organization. The AfricaOnline.com site represents a powerful means to exploit the synergies of our multinational group including Internet access, Web design and hosting and the e-touch franchise.

No single source can claim to be comprehensive on the Web. Our content strategy means that we work in Affiliateship with content providers, bringing our readership the best of African media and online resources and the opportunity to interact with us, our Affiliates and each other. We will not be a "walled garden," an artificially linkless site. Nor will we claim to bring you everything that's out there. But we do hope to offer the best selection from the best sources and have reached content agreements with many top providers on the continent to do that.

We have writers and broadcasters who are using their skills to research, source and convey good original stories based on solid editorial standards and values. But the art of selecting, combining and linking many diverse multimedia sources to provide an information mix requires another key player, an online editor. Think of it as the equivalent of a DJ — the mix becomes an art form and a new sound in itself. So we are also, in that sense, Web Jockeys.

The site will be multilingual (in French and English) and will employ some smart technology on the back end to handle user preferences, content management and dynamic display. We will engage and develop loyalty in our audience with what we believe will be an unbeatable bouquet, not only of content, but also of facilities and services, including e-commerce.

We want the site to have a clear personality as a site for Africa, from Africa. This is not another cheesy "zebras and sunsets" Africa site. I would like people all over Africa — from business people to teenage ravers — to say to each other: "Didn't you see that thing on AfricaOnline.com? Wasn't it interesting/sad/outrageous/cool/funny/useful? Have a look!"

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AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE MEDIA.