After a week-long process of an exciting time of intense work, the members of the 13-person International Jury for All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA were hosted to a private dinner by AFRIMA Patron, Dr. Bisi Onasanya (Nigeria) tagged Patron’s Dinner with the Jury, in Lagos, Nigeria on Monday, September 6, 2021.

The nominees list is expected to be released on Tuesday, September 14, 2021.

The Patron’s Dinner is an iconic event that recognizes and celebrates un-relenting support and celebrates un-relenting support and service the Jury has given to AFRIMA and the African creative industry (music, arts, culture) at large.

In his elated speech, the AFRIMA Patron, Dr. Bisi Onasanya stated, “AFRIMA has been a gracious movement supporting the creative industry and the huge population of youths in Africa. I have an insatiable and inestimable support to the work of AFRIMA. The importance of my work is to strengthening the commercial ties between AFRIMA and corporate world. I have never been a part of failure and by God’s grace and the support of my wife, I will give my all.”

The private dinner drawn an impressive member of AFRIMA International jury, Hadja Kobele (Guinea); Robert Ekukole (Cameroon); Tabu Osusa (Kenya); Zineb Seyad (Morocco); Olisa Adibua (Nigeria); Charles Tabu (Democratic Republic of Congo); AFRIMA patron, Dr. Bisi Onasanya and his wife, Mrs. Helen Omowunmi Onasanya; Representative of the African Union Commission, Allaa Zain Makky (Egypt) while other members of the Jury joined virtually.

Other guests are the Chief Executive Officer, Kennis Music, Kenny Ogungbe and Exexurive Director,Kennis TV, Idowu Ogungbe ,President and Executive Producer of AFRIMA, Mike Dada; Former Lagos State Commissioner of culture And Tourism, Steve Ayorinde; Managing Director, New Telegraph Newspaper; Mr.Ayodele Aminu, Chief EXecutive officer, Seagle Properties,Otunba Yemi Lawal as well as some of African artistes from Nigeria; Praiz, Joeboy, Aramide, Lami, among others.

In her opening address, the representative of the Head of Culture, Social Affairs Division, African Union Commission, Alaa Zain Makky (Egypt) welcomes the patron on board and AUC and the creative industry in Africa appreciate the contribution and support of the person of Dr. Bisi Onasanya.

The dinner provided the perfect opportunity for meet and greet, bonding, and networking, between the patron and members of AFRIMA International Jury representing the five regions of Africa. AFRIMA Jury’s responsibility which involves screening, categorizing, assessing, grading, and selecting the nominees into the 40 different regional and continental awarding categories from the total of 8,880 works received for 2021 awards edition.

The AFRIMA patron, Dr. Onasanya retired at the apex of the banking industry, after spending over three decades, and almost immediately went straight into his passion of many years, the real estate deveiopment and management industry.

All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, in partnership with the African Union Commission, AUC, is the ultimate recognition of African music globally.

Deputy President William Ruto son, Nick Ruto has finally responded to a video that is doing rounds on social media showing a man putting a necklace on him.

In the video, Nick is seen seated at a dinner table, a man of Asian origin is then seen taking the necklace and putting it around his neck as people who are witnessing cheer them up.

The video sparked alot of debate with some quarters suggesting that Nick is embracing gay activities and that the Man who gifted him the necklace was his lover.

In a Facebook post, Nick responded to the claims, asking Kenyans to understand the value of friendship, saying the necklace was a birthday gift.

"Build your circle and celebrate each other. If you can, gift your friends the best you can on their special occasions like Birthdays, Anniversaries, weddings e.t.c." he posted.

Adding "“This will help you understand the value of friendship and comprehend that gifting a friend of same or opposite gender does not amount to sexual/erotic relationship,”

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday encouraged African youth to take up agriculture saying, the sector holds enormous potential to create jobs and spur the continent's economic transformation.

The President advised the youth to explore opportunities in areas such as agricultural technologies, on and off farm ventures, aggregation, transportation of produce and value addition among others.

“Agriculture in Africa needs these young people, and the young people should begin to see immense opportunities and benefits available in agriculture,” said the President.

The Head of State made the appeal during a virtual youth town hall meeting on the sidelines of this year’s Africa Green Revolution Forum Summit (AGRF) attended by young people from across the continent.

He encouraged players in Africa's agricultural sector to support the youth by creating an enabling environment for them to innovate solutions for identified sectoral challenges without imposing their preferences.

“We are here to listen to you and your ideas, to learn, to engage, and to receive the ideas that will guide the development of policies, programmes, and projects that better suit the aspirations of the sons and daughters of Africa,” the President said.

President Kenyatta encouraged African Governments to listen more to the youth so as to be able to create an enabling environment for young people to enter and thrive in the agricultural sector.

Through the 2018 to 2022 Kenya Youth Agri-business Strategy, the President said the Kenyan Government was progressively addressing the challenges and barriers that prevent the youth from fully participating in the country's agricultural sector.

“Some of these include: negative perception and attitude to agribusiness, limited access to financial services; inadequate skills, knowledge and information; limited access to land for agribusiness; limited access to markets; limited value addition; inadequate policies to support youth in agri-preneurship; climate change and environmental management, and other cross-cutting issues,” the President outlined.

He said his administration was keen on reversing the negative perception held by the country's youth towards agriculture through the revival of the 4-K-Clubs in all primary schools as well as the Young Farmers’ Clubs in secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

“The enthusiasm created by these clubs is encouraging young people to take advantage of agricultural opportunities, allowing them to become agribusiness owners, professionals, trainers, and mentors, along the value chains,” the President said.

The Head of State fielded questions from the youthful participants where he outlined the various initiatives implemented by the Kenyan government in support of youth participation in agriculture such as enhancing ICT connectivity, installation of cold storage and processing facilities as well as the expansion of the National electricity grid and supply of water among other interventions.

Former Ethiopian Prime Minister and current Chairman of AGRF Hailemariam Desalegn and several senior Kenyan Government officials attended the town hall meeting.

Legendary Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge has announced the launch of his foundation, a non-profit organised focused on education and environment.

The World marathon record holder said he is hoping to reach the people in the world with his voice.

“My mission is to give all children in the world access to knowledge and education. I want those children to grow up into healthy adults in a green and breathing world where forests keep our people safe,” Kipchoge said.

Adding "“I hope to contribute and grow the movement in education and environmental protection through my Foundation, to reach the people in the world with my voice,” 

Kipchoge revealed that his focus on education was motivated by his experience as an athlete.

“From my own experience, I saw that most athletes dropped out of school and tried to build a life without education. But with education, it can help you grow and it can help you grow your community alongside you,” he stated.

Under the education program, the foundation will pay school fees for bright and needy students and build libraries in schools across the country.

“My dream is for all schools and kindergartens in the world to have good libraries. From a very young age, learners need to get in contact with books,” Kipchoge stated.

Kipchoge further empahisized the importance of trees revealing that he adopted a forest next to a training camp to help save it.

“Athletes train in the forest. They need the forests, it is good for their health and for good breathing. I want the world to breath well. Without forests, you cannot breath…I believe together we can make dry land green again, which has a huge impact on biodiversity, water availability and healthy food,” Kipchoge asserted.

Donors can access the foundation's website through https://www.eliudkipchogefoundation.org/

African Sun wines, the brand owner for MARA Wines has bagged two medals from the USA Wine Ratings Competition, placing the two winning brands ahead of its peers in terms of quality and class.

Mara Nyeupe won a gold medal from a panel of high-profile wine industry judges. The brand scored highly in three different categories - Quality, Value and Packaging - in order to take home a medal in competition.

Winning a gold medal at the USA Wine Ratings Competition is the ultimate seal of approval, showing that Mara Nyeupe borrowed from the Swahili word for white, is a high-quality wine with broad consumer appeal.

Inspired by Kenya, the Chenin Blanc was selected for its well-balanced acidity and playfulness between floral and ripe tropical fruit flavors. An approachable wine ideally matched to fresh seafood and chicken

At the same time, Mara Nyekundu won a Silver medal from the same competition. This also puts Mara Nyekundu on the global map in terms of quality and broad consumer appeal.

Mara Nyekundu from the Swahili word for red, clinched accolades for its delicious blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with strong aromas of plums, vanilla and blackcurrants. The fruity wine is an approachable wine ideally suited to the traditional Kenyan Nyama Choma, Asian curries and a good old-fashioned steak.

One of the guiding principles of the USA Wine Ratings competition is that all wines that receive medals in competition should be those that consumers actually want to buy, whether it is shopping for a wine at a retail wine store, or ordering a wine off a restaurant wine list.

As a result, the USA Wine Ratings competition has created an entirely new 100-point rating system that takes into account three different criteria (Quality, Value and Packaging) rather than just winemaking technique or overall taste.

African Sun Wines which is a leading exporter of South African wine to growing international markets worldwide were really excited to have the two products, Mara Nyeupe and Mara Nyekundu score so highly on the various factors that determine the drinkability of a wine.

This attesting to the company’s utmost dedication to quality by putting a lot of emphasis on creating a wine with broad consumer appeal, and one that wine drinkers will enjoy for a variety of different occasions. This award is really a validation of its winemaking expertise.

Sid Patel, CEO and Founder of Beverage Trade Network, emphasized the importance of finding wines that score highly across all three categories rather than just one, “We feel that it offers a broad, comprehensive approach to evaluating wines the same way that consumers and trade buyers do.”

“Increasingly, consumers are thinking of wines as brands, just like they would any other product they find in a supermarket,” said Patel. “That’s why it was so important to include Packaging & Presentation as a key judging criterion - it means that the wine is being created with a specific type of customer or demographic in mind.”

The judging panel included wine industry professionals with commercial buying expertise, master sommeliers and masters of wine. The inclusion of so many high-profile judges ensured that wines awarded medals in competition were those with a high degree of commercial appeal.

 About African Sun

 African Sun Wines is the brand owner for MARA Wines and is a leading exporter of South African wine to growing international markets worldwide.

The company was founded in 2006 by the Sahi family. 

A key feature of this product is that the beads that decorate the bottles are a means to provide groups of women with empowerment opportunities to create their own business so that they can produce and sell the beads to us and learn lost artisanal skills.

 About USA Wine Ratings

 The 4^th Annual USA Wine Ratings competition took place in San Francisco this July. Winners were evaluated based on three separate criteria - Quality, Value and Packaging - and assigned a score out of 100 possible points.

The organizer of the event is Beverage Trade Network (BTN), which also hosts industry events around the world and owns media assets and platforms to connect the drinks industry globally.

News of Tanzanian songstress Vanessa Mdee and her actor fiance Rotimi expecting their first child hit social media on Tuesday evening after the two lovebirds shared the news and photos of a baby bump shoot with fans on their respective instagram accounts.

The couple, who have been engaged for almost a year, revealed to American weekly magazine People that they are having a little boy.

“We are super excited to welcome our son. As first-time parents, everything about this experience has been a brand-new challenge,” the pair said in a statement to the outlet. “We love it.” he said.

On her part Vanessa said her pregnancy journey has been smooth. "He's been so good to us. No real pain or symptoms. Some funny cravings and food aversions here and there," she said.

Well, the news reached Vanessa's ex-boyfriend Juma Jux who seems to have responded by releasing a new love song.

Many have interpreted the song titled ' Sina Neno' as a direct message to Vanessa.

"Naona wameremeta ngozi imenawiri una furaha nao, kitanda hakina siri zao la tendo una kitumbo" says Jux in the song.

Vanessa and Rotimi met at an Essence Festival afterparty in New Orleans in 2019 and later got engaged in December last year.

Apple Music on 3^rd September 2021, announced the latest featured artist in its Africa Rising artist development program as 19-year-old Kenyan-born pop singer-songwriter, Nikita Kering’. She is the first Africa Rising artist from East Africa.

As the youngest ever nominee, winner and performer at The All-Africa Music Awards in Lagos, Nikita’s noteworthy accolades include being named Afrima Revelation of the African Continent (2019) and Afrima Best Female Artist in Eastern Africa (2019), as well as being included in Mr. Eazi’s Empawa Africa Top 10 artist program.

"I'm so excited for this new chapter! I’ve always wanted to stand out in Africa and the world as a whole, so being selected as Apple Music’s newest Africa Rising artist is definitely an awesome start. I can't wait to see what's next.” she said.

Having been featured in over 100 TV and radio shows, including a prominent feature on The BBC when she was 16, Nikita’s ultimate dream is to build a Talent Academy in Kenya for disadvantaged African children.

Her debut 7-track EP A Side Of Me (2021), available to stream on Apple Music, was arranged by Nikita herself, as she lyrically broaches universally relatable themes by attempting to put herself in her listeners’ shoes.

Capitalizing on the enormous success of her single “Ex” (2021), A Side Of Me is the songstress revealing a lesser-known part of herself to her audience so they can better identify with her, a theme she’s championed since the release of her debut ballad “Happy With You” (2018).

The latest music from Nikita along with that of Africa’s hottest new artists, is available now on the Apple Music Africa Rising Playlist Africa Rising Playlist.

And she also part of the Soul September Campaign.

Nikita Kering’ Tells Apple Music about performing at such a young age "“It's been cool. It's definitely been a lot of fun and I've been geeking all over of it. I think all I'm doing is just trying to learn as much as possible from the experiences that I have and to just try as much as possible to keep growing as an artist through those experiences.”

Nikita Kering’ Tells Apple Music about what encouraged her to start singing "“My folks did. My mom was a big part of that as I was growing up. My mom didn't get to do what she wanted to do when she was younger. And so, I guess when she got a child who could sing, she was like, "Do it." And yeah, they ended up supporting me through it. There's no one else who's musical in the house, maybe my brother a bit, but no one else sings. So, I think this was also a new thing for them. We were all guessing through it. And we are still guessing through it. And I guess it's working out. So, I just keep praying. That's the why it's working out.”

Legendary Kenyan rapper Nonini, real name Hubert Nakitare has launched his own shoe line.

The singer shared some of the unisex kicks branded 'Mgenge 2Ru Kicks' on his official instagram page.

"Make a product 100 people love rather than 1000 people kinda like! #Mgenge2RU Kicks (Unisex)." he said.

Adding ""I designed the white part on the sneaker so that when I pull up in your city, I come and autograph for you ??Creating and distributing custom shoes is a remarkable achievement, and one that deserves recognition in the footwear industry. I think it's kind of a big deal to be recognized by an international company ama? Humbled."

This comes just months after celebrity couple Nameless and Wahu also launched their own clothing line, N-Zone

N-Zone focuses on bomber and track jackets as well as hoodies.

In the latest episode of Inside Africa, CNN meets a group of trailblazing Kenyan women who are carving their own paths to success. From doctors to content creators, they are using the power of online platforms to amplify their voices and help others flourish.

Gatuiri Irauka is an award-winning Kenyan food blogger and baker. Her brand is known as “Leo Tunapika?”, a Swahili phrase that means “What are we cooking?”.

Irauka did not have any formal baking training and her business began with her making cakes for friends. The transition from word-of-mouth to internet success coincided with the increasing rise of social media.

She tells the program about this growth, “The blog was a hobby, so I didn't think much about how it can make money."

Adding " Because I think even the first paying gig I got as a blogger was maybe 2015, 2016. But over time, and with the growth of social media, it has grown to the point of now scaling in the sense that I even started having to acquire equipment because now I shoot my own content.”

Dr. Amakove Wala works for the Aga Khan Foundation as their global advisor for health and nutrition.

She is also the vice-chair of Kenya Healthcare Federation and sits on the Kenya Private Sector Alliance board, representing the Kenya Healthcare Federation. Wala has now founded many businesses, including one which helps women find jobs through training and placement.

She speaks about her advice to other women, “I have this saying that I love living by, it's called, do you – the world will adjust. This basically translates to, given the things that I've gone through in life, there's a lot that society dictates on a woman on how she should behave, what she should do, and whatnot. And I think that places us in boxes that do not help us live to our potential.”

Adelle Onyango is a Kenyan media personality, podcaster, and founder of the Adelle Onyango Initiative.

She tells CNN about the importance of talking through difficult issues, “I think one way of destigmatizing certain topics that have been deemed taboo is by story-telling because then people are seeing, or in a podcast hearing, people who sound like them, have names like them, talking about places they know, are living this reality, then it becomes not a detached thing.”

Christine Khasinah-Odero is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Supamamas.

She explains what her platform does, “It's a platform that empowers moms to be the best that they can be. We put events together where they come to network, where they come to learn from experts and, of course, connect with each other."

Adding "It provides a wonderful platform where moms can vent, be themselves, have a good laugh, and go back home knowing that they can be whatever they want to be.”

> WATCH NOW ON CNN <

By Ivy Njeru, Account Executive at Infobip Kenya

Digital transformation is well underway in the East Africa region, with Kenya specifically at the forefront of the emerging technology innovation landscape on the continent.

This is largely due to the government’s heavy investment in the country’s broadband sector, with no less than four undersea fibre optic cables now landing off the coast of Kenya.

This, in turn, has driven widespread fixed and mobile internet penetration in the country to a level of 85.2% of the population.

Additionally, Kenya recently became the second country on the continent to launch a 5G network. The initial rollout covers four towns and is expected to grow to nine over the next year.

It is expected that the launch of 5G services will be a boost for technology adoption and innovation among local businesses.

Fundamentally, the adoption of 5G technology will transform the way people live and work, with faster connectivity speeds supporting the rollout of better services and innovative solutions that are likely to span various industries and business sectors.

For example, this technology will enable the establishment of smart cities, smart homes, smart agriculture, as well as connected healthcare and vehicles.

New ways to communicate

There is no doubt that Kenya’s growing internet penetration has also significantly changed the way in which people communicate. The availability of high-speed connectivity has seen an increasing number of people using chat apps to communicate, rather than relying on traditional voice calls.

This has also invariably led to an uptake of social media and messaging platforms as a means of communication between brands and consumers and will require businesses to deliver an enhanced customer experience (CX).

One of the biggest benefits of 5G connectivity is the delivery of high-speed internet, which allows for better quality of video streaming and rich media sharing, enabling an improved CX. It is therefore important that companies continue to invest in technology that drives customer engagement.

However, in order to develop successful communication strategies, organisations must be aware of the fact that customer communication preferences have changed, with people expecting to interact with brands anytime, anywhere, and over any device. To remain relevant, brands must be able to deliver highly personalised and meaningful content over their customers’ preferred channels.

To do this effectively, organisations must know their customers and ensure that they are able to connect with them on whichever channel they may choose to use. For example, if a customer is mostly using WhatsApp as their preferred channel of communication, they will most likely want their bank to also be available on this platform.

Boosting the economy

Robust connectivity and digital technology will also boost the country’s economy by driving competitiveness and eCommerce. It will provide economic growth too by facilitating innovation that will see companies able to introduce new products and services faster than ever before. Most companies in Kenya are increasingly taking advantage of the high connectivity rate across the region to keep up with digital customer expectations. 

This practice is set to gather further momentum and lead not only to increased operational efficiency, but also help brands differentiate, as they leverage smart and connected devices to create new services aligned with brand promises

Digital transformation of this type will positively impact productivity too with more streamlined approaches and automation. Technologies such as Machine Learning (ML), AI, IOT all thrive on 5G and will enable companies to replace costly and cumbersome manual processes.

Many conversations will be able to take place using chatbots for example, which further increase efficiencies for customer facing businesses, while customers will delight in the speed of response and resolution to queries.

Moreover, robust connectivity and digital technology is also key for obtaining Business Intelligence (BI) that will ultimately accelerate and drive revenue growth as more information on customer trends, intent and preferences will be available in the market. Businesses will be able to innovate around the availability of this data and deliver better products and services, thus leading to more growth.

 As digital transformation continues to advance across the African continent, digital platforms are fast becoming the preferred channels to accessing products and services for a growing number of people.  Mobile operators are doing their part in upgrading infrastructure and deploying 5G.

Therefore, investing in the right technology and communication solutions today will form the bedrock for Kenya’s future economic success.