Digify Africa in partnership with Facebook celebrated the first Cohort graduates from the award-winning digital marketing bootcamp, Digify Pro in Nairobi, Kenya.  

The students who were on an 8 week training were equipped with skills needed in the digital space i.e Digital Marketing Analytics and Measurement, Content Marketing, Email Marketing and Digital Strategy Development among others.

Speaking at the graduation, Digify CEO and Founder, Gavin Deale said. " We are happy to be in Kenya and proud to have worked with this Cohort at this stage. We are looking at various partnerships with government and other Non Governmental organisations."

Since it’s launch in 2015, Digify Pro has kick started over 250 careers in the digital spaces in South Africa and Nigeria.

The programme offers trainees the opportunities to learn about digital marketing, from paid advertising, analytics to strategy , User Experience, Mobile Marketing/Gamification, Social Media Marketing, Marketing with Facebook Pages, Instagram & Whatsapp, Community Management, Brand Online and Reputation Management.

“As a youth-driven network, our purpose is to support young people learning, working and leading Africa’s digital economy. In the past seven years, Digify Africa has trained over 90 young people in digital skills,” says Digify Africa’s COO Qhakaza Mthembu.

The next Cohort will be kicking of next year for new students and those interested should apply online. Information will be shared on Digify Africa Social Media pages.

Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Nairobi is pleased to announce the achievement of the Premium Certificate Safehotels award, a new level safety and security initiative for the hotel. 

The certification is based on the Global Hotel Security Standard which is recognized by hotel and travel associations, corporate accounts and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction around the world.

The criteria for the certification achieved by the hotel consists of various standard components relating to Hotel Property Safety and Security Walkthrough, Training and Organization, Security Equipment, Fire Equipment, Fire Training and Crisis Management.

Accor is the first hotel company to achieve Premium Certification for all their brands in Nairobi, Kenya.

 “Security for our guests and employees is paramount to us, and we are delighted to announce this achievement,” Says Mehdi Morad; Country General Manager Kenya for Accor and General Manager, Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Nairobi.

"One of the pleasures of working with Safehotels is seeing how a hotel develops its safety and security standards each year to achieve higher levels of Certification. Working with the team at Mövenpick Nairobi is a perfect example of this and I wholeheartedly join them in celebrating their Premium Certificate award" said Andy Williams, VP Quality Assurance Safehotels.

The Ugandan airlines has launched it's direct flight from Entebbe to Mombasa.

Mombasa now becomes Uganda Airline's sixth destination since it resumed it's operations this year.

The first plane a CRJ900 Bombardier, landed at the Moi International Airport Mombasa at 13:05pm with 74 passengers on board yesterday and was received by Uganda Minister of Tourism Professor Ephraim Kamuntu his Transport counterpart Aggrey Bagiile together with Mombasa County Deputy Governor William Kingi and the County Tourism Executive Fawz Rashid.

Others present were Mombasa County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo and Uganda Consul General, Ambassador Katureebe Tayebwa.

The Uganda Airlines will be making three flights to Mombasa every week on Monday, Friday and Sunday. This is expected to boost the tourism industry. Last year alone  arrivals from Uganda increased by 20 percent.

"This route will increase more visitors in search of an inclusive holiday destination, conference centres, cultural experiences and business oriented visits especially the ones tied to the Logistics Sector." said Mombasa County Tourism CEC Fawz Rashid.

According to the airline, the one-hour 50-minute trips will target tourists and Ugandan traders who depend on the port of Mombasa to do business since most of the country’s imports pass through the port.

President Uhuru Kenyatta today  launched a new credit facility for Micro, Small and Medium (MSME's) enterprises dubbed Stawi.

Stawi is a mobile loan product that will allow MSME's to access unsecured credit of between Shs 30,000 and Shs 250,000 at an interest rate of 9 percent per annum.

The Central Bank of Kenya has partnered with NCBA Bank, Cooperative Bank, Diamond Trust Bank and KCB to offer the scheme which is aimed at improving access to credit for MSME'S.

MSME's have for a long time been locked out of the formal credit market because of the informal nature of their transactions and lack of collateral for secured loans.

Speaking when he unveiled the facility, the President expressed optimism that the lending service will help boost enterprise in the country by making access to credit cheaper and faster.

 “Stawi will offer a longer repayment period to small business borrowers, thus making it easier for them to better manage their cash flows; and, therefore, grow their businesses to the next level," President Kenyatta said, noting that MSME's account for over 80 percent of all businesses in the country.

He noted that despite their crucial role as the bloodline of Kenya's economy, the over 7 million MSME's in the country are mostly unlicensed and are therefore unable to access capital from the credit infrastructure as currently set up.

The President said that lack of access to affordable credit is partly to blame for the estimated 90 percent of start-ups that collapse within three years of their set up.

He therefore challenged more financial institutions to innovate new approaches of supporting MSME's instead of categorizing them as highrisk borrowers.

“I thank the banks that heeded my call and offered this solution (Stawi). We have over 7 million SME’s. Let us engage them and provide cheap loans for them to grow. If you say you can’t offer them services because they are high risk, what happens when their businesses collapse?” the President challenged.

President Kenyatta said MSME's have the potential to contribute more than the current 30 percent of the country’s GDP if fully supported adding that failure to support the mostly youth managed entities risks creating social instability.

“It is better to find mechanisms and ways to lend to those young men and women who are interested in making something positive out of their lives, interested in employing their fellow young men and women, because if they are positively engaged, if they are part of our economic prosperity even your businesses are secure,” the President said.

He said the government made a deliberate decision to prioritize the development of MSME's as part of the Big 4 Agenda because it recognizes the potential of the sector to transform the lives of many Kenyans.

The President said the Big 4 Agenda priority areas of agriculture, housing and manufacturing are opening numerous new opportunities for MSME's to thrive.

He however noted that the sector faces a range of challenges that require effective policies to deal with and directed the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives to hasten the review of the current MSME policy framework so as to align it with the Big 4 Agenda.

“I am affording the ministry a bit of time so as to allow it to consult widely and ensure that inputs from relevant stakeholders are taken into account, in accordance with the constitution,” the  President said.

As part of elaborate state efforts to boost MSME's, President Kenyatta announced plans to set up Biashara Centres across the country. The centres, which will be modelled on the current huduma centres, will offer trade facilitation services in a one-stop-shop arrangement.

The President said Biashara Centres will make it easier for small business owners to access services provided by various government agencies under one roof.

“I am happy to note that the first Biashara Centre was launched a week ago at Kariobangi in Nairobi; and is fully functional, providing services related to taxes, standards, technology and finance,” the President said.

Trade CS Peter Munya, Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge and United States Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter also spoke at the launch event.

INNA & VINKA released their new single, “Bebe”, to a global audience and premiere events across Africa, Europe and the USA.

“Bebe” is an instant smash hit, a song composed with French, Swahili, Luganda and English lyrics, written by Inna and Vinka, Marco & Seba, Theea Minculescu, O'mara Nicholas Bonique and Shena Skies.

The track was produced by Marco & Seba, with whom INNA has collaborated with on some of her biggest global mega hits: ”Ruleta”, ”Nirvana”, ”Yalla”, and also ”Hot”, ”Sun is Up” or ”Gimme Gimme” and consulting producer Benon Mugumbya, the super-producer behind Vinka’s previous myriad of chart topping smash hits.

The “Bebe” music video is set in an urban, stylish setting with cool very well-defined characters, and the two artists express their style and strong personalities through their outfits, style and the track’s message.

The music video was directed and shot on location in Bucharest, Romania by NGM Creative (Bogdan Păun and Alexandru Mureșan) and produced by Loops Production.

The styling was done by RDstyling, the make-up artists Andra Manea and Anca Buldur and the hairstylists Adonis Enache and Ana Lăzărescu provided the glamourous sparks to Inna and Vinka’s looks with Gucci, Anna Kiki, Jimmy Choo and r13 the brands behind the clothing, shoes, eyewear and accessories.

Watch "Bebe" music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEWx6H8gZH8

 “I composed ‘Bebe’ in a spontaneous studio session, the melody was ready immediately, the same with the chorus and the entire concept, it all came together very well and then I continued to work on the song with Vinka, Theea and Marco & Seba. I love the result, Vinka fits perfectly into the song’s vibe. Enjoy!”, says INNA.

 “When my Tsunami MGMT team brought me the opportunity to work with the amazingly talented INNA I was excited beyond words! Even more so when Inna and I got together in studio in Bucharest and it was just an instant connection" says Vinka

Adding "The magic then happened naturally with the fusion between EDM Dance Music coming together with influences from the African continent and then merging French, English, Swahili and Luganda. INNA was really interested to work Swahili and Luganda lyrics into the song and the magic between Inna and me was instantaneous, she’s is such an amazing talent.”

Vinka spent her time in Romania not only to shoot the music video for “Bebe”, but also to participate at ‘The Artist Awards’ alongside Inna, hosted in Piața Mihai Viteazu in Romania, the first edition of the awards celebrating talent, the most relevant artists and content creators.

Vinka was one of the standout stars on the red carpet over the two says of awards with her amazing style and completely African designed wardrobe. Vinka was thrilled to take part in the two-day event and is looking forward to returning to Romania.

Vinka is a multi-talented Ugandan-born star singer-songwriter and dancer. Within a very short period Vinka exploded onto the music scene with her Uganda label Swangz Avenue, topped all the major charts and became the leading female artist in Uganda with a string of chart-topping hits behind her. In 2019 to date Vinka released ten smash hit singles that went straight to number one on a myriad of charts across the African continent.

With another historic campaign Vinka released a new chart topping single on the 1st Friday of every month to date in 2019 and released 11 number 1 singles to date in 2019 with one single set for release still in December 2019.

Some of her chart-topping hits in 2019 include ‘Chips na Ketchup’, ‘Overdose’, ‘Love Doctor’, ‘Sweet Love’, ‘Mpoozi’, ‘Amaaso Remix’, ‘By the Way’, ‘Sure’, ‘Koona’ and ‘Only for You’.

To top 2019 off Vinka signed a worldwide exclusive multi-year global management deal with leading Pan African Talent Management Company Tsunami MGMT, inclusive of a major content deal with the leading Pan African content team Rockstar Television and The Rockstar Group and a major multi album record deal with one of the biggest record labels on the planet, Sony Music Entertainment, as the 4th major Pan African signing for Sony Music to date in this kind of deal alongside other Pan African megastars such as Wizkid, Davido and Alikiba.

Vinka is now part of a larger stellar family that includes African stars such as Lira, Amanda Black, C4 Pedro, D’banj, Kwesta, AKA, DJ Maphoriza and the global family of megastars such as Beyonce, Adele, Usher, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Christine Aguilera, P!nk, John Legend, Khalid, Mark Ronson, Nicki Minaj, Stevie Wonder, SZA, Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, Calvin Harris, Future, Travis Scott, Camilla Cabello to name only a few and Vinka is the 1st Pan African female artist signed to this type of deal.

With an impressive string of hits, numerous awards under her trendy belt and the clubs of Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East already at her feet, INNA is a fierce musical phenomenon.

The most exciting new voice in the dance world, the Romanian has blazed through the global charts with hits like “Hot,” “Sun Is Up” and “Déjà vu,” collaborating with the likes of Pitbull, Flo-Rida, Daddy Yankee, Juan Magán, JBalvin, Yandel and reaching the top slots in dozens of countries, from her native Romania to Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Argentina, Spain, Finland, Poland and the U.S.

With looks and dance moves that match her musical talent, INNA has won multiple MTV Europe Awards, Romanian Music Awards and RRA Awards and in 2012 became the first and only European female artist to reach 1 billion YouTube views, in addition to boasting 12 million Facebook fans and over 600,000 Twitter followers.

 INNA is a brand ambassador to many top brands such as Coca-Cola Romania, Clear Turkey, Huawei Romania, AVON Romania, LIDL Romania and Jaguar Romania. Currently #78 on YouTube’s Artist Chart, INNA has more than 3.7 billion views on YouTube, more than Wisin, Akon, Sean Paul, Madonna, Lana del Rey, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Will.I.Am.

Recently, at Milan Fashion Week, Romania was represented at the event through INNA’s track, “Iguana”, the theme song for the Versace spring/summer 2020 show, and became a viral moment, when Jennifer Lopez came out on the catwalk wearing an iconic dress.

Fast rising Kenyan rapper, singer and producer and one third of AD Family Boutross  is gearing up to release his new double CD mixtape titled "6ixviewsii8k”(8^th Nov 2019).

Popularly known as the “Shrap God”, Boutross is known for hit singles including “Wrong”, “Bank” and “Tergat Gang”, the acclaimed collaboration with Octopizzo and Barak Jacuzzi.

Boutross mixtape launch concert will be held Saturday 9^th Nov 2019 at the Deepwest Lounge, featuring special performances from Karun, Nvirri The Storyteller, Kristoff, Nameless, TNT, EA Wave, Wakadinali, Xenia Manasseh, Barak Jacuzzi and DJs including Coco EM & Mawinch, plus many more!.

Ahead of the concert, Boutross says, “I am bringing together my friends in music and some of your favorite Kenyan artists who I have also collaborated with on the mixtape for the event. I can’t wait to see all my fans at the launch, we have prepared a musical performance like no other.” 

He adds, “This project is special to me and am excited to drop it after working on it for two years now. Hope you all love it. Shrap to the world!”

The mixtape titled "6ixviewsii8k” is a grand project that features over 19 collaborations with Nameless, Barak Jacuzzi, Wakadinali, Karun, Groove, TNT, Mastar VK, Kristoff, Monski, Kay Green, Dope-I-Mean, Maandy, Zikii, Nviiri The Storyteller, Ex Ray (Boondocks Gang), Asum Garvey, Shappa Man, Raj and Javan. 

Mixed and Mastered by ABH Sound. It will be exclusively available on Boomplay Music for one week after its release and live on Apple Music and Spotify a week after. So far, Boutross has released 7 singles off the EP and some videos including “Wasoro”, “Wrong”, “Bank” featuring Barak Jacuzzi and “Omoka” with Wakadinali and Mastar VK.

Boutross is one of the pioneers of the Shrap sound in Kenya – a fusion of Sheng’, rap and popular music. In 2018, he was among the 100 artists and top 10 selected on Mr. Eazi’s Empawa Artists program. Under the project, he released the hit single “Wrong”.

As he prepares to release the new project, he has been on a campus activation tour over the past few weeks which has seen him perform at Riara University, JKUAT Karen, Catholic University and Daystar University. Currently, he is also working on a new EP which will feature collaborations with artists from across the continent.