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As much as we hate to believe it, Africa is still the charity case of choice for celebrities looking to get public sympathy. Time and time again the African brand gives instant credibility and humanizes the privileged and their brand image. With every case in the news I am reminded of how much work we still have to do to get to a point where the African brand means more than charity. As serious as the work may be, humor is always welcome. (via AfricaBeat)
If you’re in New York tonight and looking for something to do, head out to this event featuring Diblo Dibala, one of the hottest African soukous guitarists around, and the National Ballet of Rwanda.
Thanks to YG for the heads up.
On April 12th, the Design Made in Africa exhibit opened in New York at 4 World Financial Center. The exhibit is the first major traveling exhibition of contemporary African design. It presents a selection of 30 designers from 14 African countries featuring both utilitarian and decorative objects, including seating, lamps, tableware, wall hangings, graphic designs and body ornaments. The exhibition will be on display at the Courtyard Gallery. Featured designers are: Algeria: Amira Atallaoui-Deverchere, Abdelaziz Bacha, Mhedi Izemrane, Mohamed Faycal Guenni; Burkina Faso: Vincent Bailou and Vincent Rossin, Anthony Labouriaux, Hamed Ouattara; Cameroon: Sandrine Dole, Jules Bertrand, Wokam; Congo: Frederic Ruyant and Julien Robert; Cote d’Ivoire: Issa Diabate, Vincent Niamen; Ethiopia: Fasil Giorghis; Mali: Cheick Diallo, Marianne Montaut; Uganda: Sanaa Gateja; Rwanda: Laurent Hategekimana; Senegal: Balthazar Faye, Frederic Hardouin, Babacar Niang, Dominique Petot; South Africa: Marisa Fick-Jordaan, Maira Koutsoudakis, Piet Pienaar, Strangelove (Carlo Gibson and Zimek Pater); Togo: Kossi Assou, Ameyovi Homawoo; Zimbabwe: Ralph Gallagher.
The good folks at TED have released this video of former US President Bill Clinton’s acceptance speech as a winner of the 2007 TED prize. In his speech Clinton speaks about his Clinton Foundation‘s pilot health care system in Rwanda which is based on the work of Dr. Paul Farmer in Haiti. In 18 months the Clinton Foundation’s efforts, in partnership with the Rwandan Government, has shown potential as a model for the entire developing world. Clinton’s TED wish was to help him “build this system in Rwanda, to bring world-class health care to a people who have overcome deadly hatred to rebuild their nation”. In a previous interview by the BBC when asked about the one incident that he wishes he could have rewritten or handled differently during his time in office, Clinton responded, “I wish I had moved in Rwanda quickly. I wish I had gone in there quicker, not just waited ’til the camps were set up. We, we might have been able to save, probably not even half those who were lost but still a large number of people. I really regret that. I care a lot about Africa and I don’t think that these … wars are inevitable and these kinds of murders are inevitable. And I’ve spent a good deal of time in the last ten years trying to make it up to Africa in general and the Rwandans in particular – so I regret that deeply.” I guess his current efforts are part of his do over. Watch the video below.
• BBC launches new Africa Beyond website.
• CNN, Niger Delta and Western Media Portrayals of Africa Part III.
• Ghana: Independence? Try ‘aid-dependence’.
• Chinese Minister: African people will never welcome colonialists to plunder their resources.
• Africa and Europe set for tunnel link.
• MySpace and The New York Times sends readers on African reporting trip.
• Fighting the elusive beast: corruption in Africa.
• Will a Tough Government Save or Sink Rwanda?.
• West Africa Emerges as Drug Conduit to Europe.
• Oprah opens second S. African School through Angel Network.
EURweb.com reports that Bill Clinton will join Michael Jackson in Rwanda in June 2007. If you haven’t heard Michael Jackson is looking to tour hospitals and the country’s television station to research ways in which he could best help the African nation.
Bill Clinton continues to be quite the friend of Africa. His Bill Clinton Foundation has reportedly helped Madonna’s Kabbalah effort in Malawi, and he was recently honored by my friends at Africare for his other Africa-based efforts. Can a concert with Michael on vocals and Bill on sax be far behind. It’ll certainly be more interesting than the “We are the World” performance in London.
I received my copy of Business 2.0 magazine last week and was pleasantly surprised to see a number of articles referencing doing business in Africa. But these were not just your basic help the Africans by building water sheds articles. The articles were part of the cover article on the Best business ideas in the world.
One of the articles was about Rwandan entrepreneur Arthur Karuletwa whose company Inzozi Coffee Traders, LLC is tapping into Rwanda’s supply of coffee farms and helping change the image of the war-torn nation. I remember going into Starbucks a while ago (like a true New Yorker I love my coffee) and seeing a promotion on Rwandan coffee. I didn’t pay much attention to the coffee special but I did get a sense of relating Rwanda to coffee. Mr. Karuletwa had partnered with coffee giants Starbucks on their Black Apron Exclusives coffee campaign. According to a Starbucks’ Report the Black Apron Exclusives coffees are a rare honor bestowed upon only the best and most exceptional coffees found in the world, and are produced in limited supply. It turns out coffee is big business in Rwanda, and if you listen to the writer’s suggestions, there is great opportunity for anyone who is willing to bridge the gap between the coffee farmers and the the caffeine starved American public
For further information about where to get into business in Africa check out this excellent video Africa Open for business. Put your money where your mouth is.
On April 22 the Nokia Face of Africa 2006 contest will have its final casting in Johannesburg, South Africa. Having covered 12 cities since February, the contest is in its eighth year of selecting a unique model who will reign as the Face of Africa. In countries such as Ghana, Rwanda, Namibia and Nigeria, a scouting team has already chosen a semi-finalist. The winner of the continent-wide search will be chosen on August 13 in Sun City in Johannesburg.
Though the contest has been long running, with Nokia backing the efforts, the winner of the contest will gain more exposure than the winners of the past. Only one model so far has turned her win into an international modeling career, though others continue to work as models. Since winning the contest in 1998 at the age of seventeen, Nigerian model Oluchi Onweagba was awarded a three-year contract by Elite Models Management. Oluchi (as she’s known in the modeling world) has since graced the covers of Italian Vogue, I-D, Elle, Untold, and Surface and has been featured in Nylon, Marie Claire, Allure, and Vogue while working with the who’s-who of the fashion world.
The Nokia Face of Africa 2006 contest is being filmed by South Africa’s M-Net channel for its African lifestyle program Studio 53 and will dedicate three programs in July to the search for Nokia Face of Africa 2006.