Category: Business

Whitaker wins one for African film industry

By now you’ve all heard that Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. While this is another big boost for Black actors in general, it is more of a validation of African film. Before the awards I was speaking to my partner at the film commission about…
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Djimon Housou to model Calvin Klein underwear

I usually don’t blog on weekends (gotta spend time with the family) but it’s Oscar weekend and I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t report this breaking news. In the lead up to tomorrow’s Academy Awards, Calvin Klein Inc. has announced that it will feature Oscar-nominated Djimon Hounsou in its Fall 2007 Calvin…
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This week in African Style 2/17 – 2/23/07

• “Black Gold”, African coffee documentary, to air on PBS. • African countries ready themselves for the roll out of One Laptop Per Child initiative. • Africa tops Mideast as US crude oil source. • Akon teams up with Verizon for TV campaign. • PRODUCT RED – In the black?

Madonna promotes children’s book in Malawi

So it seems that Madonna’s children’s book “The English Roses: Too Good To Be True” was translated into Chichewa, the national language of Malawi. Madonna’s proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Raising Malawi, an orphan-care initiative. Here’s some video of Madonna presenting the book to her adopted son’s countrymen. I…
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Jay-Z’s Rocawear South Africa ads

Whatever happened to Jay-Z’s Water For Life campaign? I thought there was supposed to be a documentary airing on MTV. Always the business-MAN, Jay seemed to have squeezed in a new ad campaign for Rocawear while he was in South Africa. You can’t miss the campaign which is splashed all over the first 20 or…
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Reuters and Africa 2.0

The recent news of Reuters’ new Africa website which includes African bloggers is BIG. Not only because of the idea that there’s more than enough news coming out of Africa to fuel a separate site, but also because it’s a major boost for African voices. With the incorporation of Global Voices blog posts, Reuters dares…
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Malian director puts globalization on trial

I made note earlier of the movie Bamako, but it certainly deserves more than a side-note. Co-produced by Danny Glover, the movie Bamako has been taking the film critics by storm. Directed by Mauritanian-Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako Bamako is a fictional story of a trial where ordinary Malians hold international financial institutions (World Bank, IMF)…
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This week in African Style 2/10 – 2/16/07

• Cell phones fight AIDS in Africa • Sophis Okonedo plays in Skin • Africans challenge global corruption in ‘Bamako’ courtroom • Africa: 48 African countries expected in Cannes • Warner Music announces strategic initiatives in North Africa • Global Film Community invited to Oscars • Africa/America—a beauty that could be • Joburg Fashion Week’s…
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Africa’s Inconvenient Truth

When I heard Al Gore’s announcement that he will be producing Live Earth, a 24-hour concert held simultaneously across all 7 continents, I got to thinking about what part if any Africa(ns) play in the enormous eco-conscious global trend. With “An Inconvenient Truh” nominated for an Oscar, eco-trend features in both business and fashion magazines,…
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Refugee entrepreneurs

Fortune Magazine has a great feature on African refugees who have fled their homeland and have started businesses in America. This feature highlights one of the undeniable strengths of the USA. While the country has enough problems to put it on many people’s hate lists, I doubt anyone can deny that this country is at…
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