This week sees the second annual Brand Africa Forum, hosted by the International Marketing Council of South Africa (the custodians of Brand South Africa) and Brand Leadership Academy, taking place on Thursday, 29 September 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The one-day platform will tackle key issues affecting Africa's growth, reputation and competitiveness. Coinciding with the forum, the continent's most valued brands will be revealed at the inaugural Brand Africa 100 Awards. An "African Intelligence Unit", aimed at delivering research and information to clients regarding consumer trends and media, is said to be set up following the appointment of Fraser Lamb as the executive chairman of McCann WorldGroup Africa. Umuntu Media, the company that runs the resource portals iNamibia and iZambia, have been granted funding from Netherlands-based eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund) as a step to take the information portals to an additional nine countries on the continent. On Tuesday, 20 September 2011, the Bizcommunity team launched 16 new content channels each containing news, views, research and opinion pieces covering various sectors including:IT & Telecommunications, Science & Technology, Finance, Accounting & Banking, Environment & Conservation and many more. Go ahead and enjoy reading our new portals and newsletters. Have a great week! Evan-Lee Courie (@evan1985)

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