Quite a few videos relating to African technology have been uploaded to YouTube in the past four months. Our favorite (above) is titled, “Knowledge Centers Connect Rural Communities to the World Cisco”. Although it’s essentially an advertisement for Cisco, the video showcases how rural ICT centers are empowering people in Masai Mara, Kenya. The locals can come and meet and let technology better their lives. Plus, the centers can connect with other schools to further exchange knowledge and experiences. Impressive is that these Cisco-sponsored center have already directly reached 168,000 Africans.

Here’s a quick rundown of other African IT-themed features that stood out:

• Samsung’s launch of a solar-powered school in South Africa made headlines last November. A video from ABNDigital shows the technology and explains how the company will reach 2.5 million learners in the next five years.
• Google’s Search Story about Kenyan farmer Zack Matere‘s use of Google.co.ke to solve agricultural problems, help construct a windmill, and translate the technology into something much simpler. The video currently has over 1.5 million views.
• ITU StatShot – Issue 8: January 2012. In the 4 poorest nations of Sub-Saharan Africa broadband costs over 1,000% of average monthly income. 11 out of 15 most unaffordable broadband nations are in Africa. However, the prices are getting better.
• Airtel has many African-market (Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, etc) TV spots on their YouTube page. The company has really added energy to recent campaigns with upbeat electronic music and youth.
• Africa’s Success Stories highlights finalists shortlisted for the 2011 Africa Awards for entrepreneurship. Four such finalists are involved in African IT.
• Unique Solutions of Gambia is an IT company that provides a variety of networking and computer services. They are the first private ISP to develop widespread connectivity to rural customers.
• FASMicro of Nigeria designs and develops integrated circuits, IPs, embedded systems, and mobile applications.
• Expand Technology of Mauritius deploys targeted smartcard payment systems across 14 countries.
• Cellular Systems International of Senegal is the developer of W@ari, a payment system via internet or mobile phone.
• VC4Africa’s Channel has interviews with attendees of the first VC4Africa meetup in Accra. There are also interviews from iceAddis (Ethiopian tech incubator) and pitches from young African entrepreneurs.
• Kenya’s NTV filmed a segment after the Kenya ICT Board took a tour of Silicon Valley in October 2011. HP and Twitter are topics of discussion.
• ITU published an 11-minute interview with Gift Buthelezi, Deputy Director of Communications, South Africa. The topic is broadband and ICT literacy.