BLACK empowerment consortium AfricaSpeaks — formerly Telecommunications Empowerment Corporation — announced on Thursday it is applying for the third cellular licence. The organisation describes itself as a broad consortium comprising some 100 groups — including the National Empowerment Corporation and the National Sports Council — drawn from all nine provinces. The group, chaired by businessman Mashudu Ramano, said he cannot make public strategic information on its technology solution at this stage. But it added:”Suffice it to say that our business approach is eminently African.”