BANKY W, WIZKID, SKALES KICK OFF EME US TOUR

Weeks after releasing the first ever EME all star album, Empire Mates State of Mind . Wizkid, Banky W, Skales and other EME acts have kicked off the label's debut US tour.

The long anticipated multi city tour began on American Independence day, Wednesday, July 4 and will end on Sunday September 2, 2012.

According to EME, the tour will cover nine states in North America including New York, Chicago, Texas, and Atlanta.

Banky W, Wizkid, Skales, Rotimi, XO and other EME stars will also touchdown in the Canadian city of Toronto. 

On Wednesday July 4, Banky W, Skales, Rotimi and Wizkid kicked off the North-American tour with an amazing performance in Houston. Three days later with the exception of Banky W, the EME boys also hit Dallas. On Thursday July, 20 Wizkid and Skales will perform in Toronto. The tour heads back to America with Banky W, Wizkid, Skales and Rotimi performing in New York City.

EME associate and rapper XO Senavoe joins the train on Saturday August 18 in Atlanta. The EME crew performs in Washington DC, Chicago and New York which wraps up the tour. The North-American involves two of the Empire Mates Entertainment associates; Rotimi and XO Senavoe.

XO Senavoe is a half-Nigerian, half-Ghanaian rapper who has been making a name for himself thanks to his unique and rapid wordplay. The upcoming rapper has gotten huge co-signs from established acts such as Banky W and M.I. Last year he featured in the historic Nigerian BET Awards Cypher which included Mode 9, Sauce Kid, M.I, Ice Prince and Naeto C. This year he was one of the promising acts that featured on M.I Abaga's Illegal Music 2 mixtape.

Rotimi is an American singer with Nigerian heritage. He was born in the city of New Jersey 22 years ago. His love for music started when his father started exposing him to the music of the late great Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Reggae icon Bob Marley. At the age of 15 Rotimi wowed the Apollo Theatre crowd and won the first place position on Amateur Night. Later on he joined a group called NBH made up of two of Jay-Z's cousins. He is presently recognized as one of the brightest up-coming multi talented artistes in the American entertainment industry.

The label is also working on a pan-Nigeria tour, with details to be announced this summer.

 

Full EME Tour Schedule

July 4 - Houston (Banky W/Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi) Presented by EME, Jr 'The Mayor' Martins, Fela of It's On Fashion

July 7 - Dallas (Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi) presented by Big A Ent and Townkrier

July 20 – Toronto, Canada (Wizkid/Skales) presented by Microbell Ent

July 21 – Vancouver, Canada – presented by Microbell Entertainment

July 28 - NYC (Banky W/Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi) presented EME and Audacyti Ent

July 29 – Providence, Rhode Island – A charity event presented by HP Family Entertainment

Aug 10 - Mpls (Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi) presented by AQ2 Ent

Aug 11 - Calgary (Wizkid/Skales) presented by Microbell Ent

Aug 18 - ATL (Banky W/Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi/XO) presented by EME, Konvict, Mr De Ja Vu & Takeover DJs

Aug 25 - DC (Banky W/Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi/XO) presented by EME

Sept 1 - Chicago (Banky W/Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi/XO) presented by EME and Afrobeat Productions

Sept 2 .NYC/NEA  (Banky W/Wizkid/Skales/Rotimi/XO)

 

3 ARTISTS TO EXHIBIT AT LE RUSTIQUE THIS AUGUST

Omosh Kindeh is 31 years old. He lives in Nairobi and works as a sculptor and painter. The work on view at Le Rustique is part of his most recent paintings.His source of inspiration purely comes from the society, his habitat and Nairobi, depicting human variations, their nature and behaviors.

He particularly like the sense of aesthetics that comes from particular buildings, their lines and angles which are very often broken by the curves of human bodies in an attempt to express the thin line between our habitat and our identity.

Wilson Mwangi was born in Nairobi in 1976 and attended Muhoro Sec School for the Deaf (NYERI) in which he passed his national examination. His sense of composition made of clear cut lines combined with contrasted colors make each of Wilson's painting look like a jigsaw puzzle where the imbrications of animals, landscapes, symbols play a special role to make each work coherent despite the number of elements.

John Silver is a self taught artist. His woodcuts prints have found their way to several institutions, among others the Victoria and Albert Collection in London. John's prints have a dream-like quality, full of colour, texture and fantasy.

ZIFF KICKS OFF IN GRAND STYLE

LAST night the 15th edition of Zanzibar International Film Festival was inaugurated. Opening film was the animated film from Kenya,  Wageuzi.The audience can now look forward to nine days full of film screenings, seminars and parties.

Director of Tourism in Zanzibar, Ali Khalid Mirza held an opening speech before the curtain went up, as did the Festival's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ikaweba Bunting.

The showpiece took place at Old Fort where many people were prepared to endure for an experience that would last them a life time.

Dubbed the festival of festivals, the nine day celebration was accompanied by entertainment from groups like Dossar, Mwanandege and Tausi Women Taarab which turned a flame to a blast.

Opening the ceremony, Dr Ikaweba Bunting said ZIFF is to be a cornerstone building block of an infrastructure that will generate employment and economic activities for livelihood in the entertainment and creative content industry.

"It is not a secret that it is extremely difficult for African artist to, especial film makers to access markets and venues to exhibit their works, ZIFF has done that and we expect to achieve more", says Bunting.

Nokia Announced as Platinum Sponsor of Inaugural DEMO Africa

Nokia today confirmed their participation and support as the platinum sponsor for the first ever DEMO Africa to be hosted in Nairobi, Kenya in October this year.

The newest addition to DEMO's Global Launch Program, DEMO Africa 2012 will provide the most innovative new and established companies from across Africa the opportunity to launch their products on stage at this high profile event. It is also a platform for companies from outside the region to launch into the African marketplace.

"Nokia has a long and rich history on the African continent," says Gerard Brandjes, Vice President for Nokia South and East Africa. "Our core strength comes from our local presence, deep consumer understanding and the ability to ignite and enable the local innovation ecosystem. DEMO Africa is the perfect showcase for this innovation, and we are extremely proud of our association with this flagship event".

Forty of Africa's most innovative technology products will be launched at Demo Africa. The product categories include consumer electronics, web applications, mobile technology, social media, life sciences, sustainable and renewable energy. Only companies that exhibit innovation, impact and the ability to scale their ideas will be considered for this prestigious launch platform.

"We are excited that Nokia has joined us in this search for the next big thing out of Africa. They have been a major player in this space and they will bring unprecedented value to the entire exercise," said Harry Hare, the Executive Producer for DEMO Africa.

Nokia and DEMO are also members of Liberalizing Innovation Opportunity Nations ( LIONS@FRICA ) Partnership with the U.S. Department of State, Microsoft, African Development Bank and USAID. This is a new public-private alliance aimed at enhancing Africa's startup and innovation ecosystems.

"DEMO Africa is an opportunity for Nokia to showcase our commitment to the LIONS@AFRICA partnership , as well as our continued focus on enabling the local ecosystem and adding value to our consumers," concluded Brandjes.

About Nokia

Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia .

Kofi Annan's Condolences Message to Families of the Helicopter Crash

The Panel is shocked and saddened to hear of this morning's (June 10) helicopter crash which has claimed the lives of Internal Security Minister Prof. George Saitoti, Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode and five others.

Prof. Saitoti was a dedicated public servant. As the Minister responsible for spearheading police reform his demise at such a crucial time in Kenya's political history is a great loss to the nation.

On behalf of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, I wish to express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families, the Government and people of Kenya at this very sad time.

MTV NETWORKS AFRICA TO LAUNCH COMEDY CENTRAL IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

MTV Networks Africa (MTVNA), a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), will expand its portfolio of brands in sub-Saharan Africa with the launch of Comedy Central via MultiChoice's DStv platform. The deal was announced today by Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa and Collins Khumalo, President of MultiChoice Africa.

 

Launching on 6 December 2011, Comedy Central will be a bespoke 24-hour English language comedy channel reaching viewers in 47 territories in sub-Saharan Africa.  Offering groundbreaking comedy from Comedy Central's award-winning programming slate, the channel will include global hit franchises such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report and brand new episodes of South Park.

 

Funny, innovative, surprising and smart, Comedy Central will be overflowing with non-stop, provocative comedy content including stand-up and sketch comedy, satire, offbeat comedy TV series, classic comedy sitcoms and comedy specials.  

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Commented Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa, "We are delighted to bring humour, smiles and laughter to viewers by adding Comedy Central to our existing portfolio of brands targeting kids and youth.  Comedy Central enables us to deliver innovative content to adults while also offering a one-stop shop for clients targeting viewers from 4 to 40-plus. There is a huge appetite for quality comedy content on the continent and Comedy Central is set to serve a menu of side-splitting entertainment that will help viewers to see the funny side of life."

 

"DStv is all about great entertainment and Comedy Central is a super addition to the already compelling line-up of channels available on DStv Premium, offering subscribers even more choice," said Collins Khumalo.

 

Comedy Central will be available to DStv Premium subscribers on DStv channel 122. The channel will kick off on 6 December 2011 at 19:30 CAT, commencing with a one-hour special from US stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham, followed by Comedy Central's global hit The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen and two brand new episodes of South Park.

FLOODLIGHTS WITH ZUKU

THE RETURN OF LAZARUS

JITU FILMS are proud to announce that after the success of the highly acclaimed Kenyan Comedy "ME, MY WIFE AND HER GURU" in the Kalasha Awards (got 9 nominations and collected 2 awards – Best Short Film and Best Supporting Actress for Millicent Mugadi) 3 of our films were screened in international film festivals during October.

 

"Chasing Moses" and "Haunted" (got 6 Kalasha nominations) traveled to California and in particular to Silicon Valley African Film Festival that took place on the 15-16/10/2011 while the notorious horror movie "OTTO, the bloodbath" was screened earlier this month to Africa In The Picture Film Festival in Amsterdam, Holland.

 

In the same time one of our directors, Alexandros Konstantaras, just resume filming his new movie "The Return of Lazarus" in Greece. The film is a Greek road movie with a Kenyan touch. In particular our actress Lizz Njagah took a short break from the production of "Tinsel" in Lagos and traveled to Greece in order to act as King'ora, the main female character of the movie. King'ora is the Kenyan housekeeper who works in a local hotel and is the love interest of one of the two main characters.

 

SYNOPSIS

Two brothers, Lazarus (Alexandros Koch) and Kiriakos (Nelson Lucas), set for a road trip in Maronia, Northern Greece, in order to find the mythical cave of the Cyclops where King Maron used to hide his wine. According to the myth if you drink from this wine you gain the eternal youth. Kiriakos wants to become young again in order to rejoin the Boy Scouts after they expelled him recently for life. Lazarus is trying to find himself after losing his job, his house while he still hopes to bring back his divorced wife, whom he still loves. On their journey they meet different people including King'ora (Lizz NJagah), a Kenyan woman who works in a local hotel. Very soon sparks begin to fly between her and Kiriakos.

 

The Return of Lazarus is the first feature film Alexandros shot in Greece. The edit of the movie will start in November and the aim is to premier it next year both in Greece and Kenya.

SOSSI brings affordable, healthy meals to Kenyans

SOSSI, an easy to cook, highly nutritious and super affordable product is now available to all Kenyan consumers. A 90g packet of SOSSI, which is enough to feed 3 adults, retails for just Ksh 35/= and is ideal for both adults and growing children, providing a meal that is not only healthy and packed with protein, but is also very tasty.

Every 90g packet of SOSSI contains both textured soya and delicious seasoning powder providing a subtle and tasty flavour that will complement any meal. "Quick and easy to prepare, SOSSI can be added to a variety of traditional and new recipes and makes the perfect accompaniment to many staple foods such as Ugali, rice, chapatti, potatoes or spaghetti. All the goodness is in the packet, and because it comes pre-cooked it is fast and simple to prepare – making mealtime easy and healthy all at the same time," says Mr. Robert Clarke, Managing Director of Promasidor Kenya.

At just Ksh35/= for a packet that feeds 3 people, SOSSI certainly makes economic sense at a time when all families are looking for ways to make their money go further without compromising on nutrition and on taste. Additionally, because it is so easy and quick to prepare, SOSSI also helps to save on fuel costs as there is no need to burn kerosene or use electric cookers for long periods of time.

Protein is very important to the body, providing a source of energy and the building blocks that are required for muscle and bone growth. SOSSI is a textured soy protein and provides a very economical source of protein for the whole family as well as providing significantly more carbohydrate and dietary fibre per portion than either eggs or beef will.

Soya is truly a super-food, well known for it's numerous health benefits that include it's ability to fight cancer, lower cholesterol and promote the growth of healthy bones and muscles.

The local Promasidor team has been working tirelessly for the last few months to set up strong distribution channels around the country and to grow awareness amongst consumers for SOSSI. "We are very encouraged by the public's initial reception of SOSSI, and we believe that that the product has great potential here as Kenyan people continue to look for nutritious and affordable ways to feed their families" said Clarke.

BRITISH PRINCE EDWARD IN KENYA