The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

Recapping Mighty African's 2011! @mightyafrican

2011-12-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a year it's been! 2011 has been pretty good to me. I haven't asked for much all my life and I sure did get a lot this year. Let's recap what happened, the highlights and lowlights.

- After loving the word vim during the Mzansi Mundial in which Ghana's Black Stars made a mark, I latched unto the word "more vim" for 2011. I even renamed my blog as a result. I shared the importance of the word vim in this post.

- I attended multiple Ghanaian churches in the Oakland/Bay Area. I wrote about my Lighthouse experience here. In fact, I attended the Ghanaian Church of Pentecost in Oakland more than the Stanford Catholic church or my California church -Abundant Life. I love my people.

- I had malaria again for the first time in 10 years and in the worst place possible, America. I had to break my promise never go to any American emergency room and it run up my medical insurance bill. And then I missed an interview because of it. Sigh.

- I had a spectacular 6th March weekend. I even crashed a Sierra Leonian outdooring party. Tutu pati! But then again, there's never a dull moment in my life. You can read about that weekend here and here. People mistook me for a Liverpool fan after they beat Manchester United and earned me my first top tweet. Yeah, I never walk alone.

- I had my first chance to address a Ghanaian crowd during the Bay Area Ghanaian independence party. I count it as maybe my first real public speaking engagement. Did I talk about me? No, I talked about other awesome Ghanaians to inspire the audience and give it more vim. I want to make sure I have more success stories to talk about in 2012. I didn't even have to talk about Kwame Nkrumah.

- With Museke and Barcamp Ghana earning me a job at Google, I could finally tell my parents all about them. So I dedicated many African songs to them and all inspirational African parents on Mothers' and Fathers' Day.

- After a long drawn out recruitment process, I landed my dream job - to work at Google. I was returning to the source of my vim to work for Google in Africa, based in Ghana. Ever since I heard it's the best company to work for in 2007, I've fancied working there. And it happened in the best way possible. Read it about that here. Before I even joined Google, I said they and Ghana were a match-made in vim-heaven ;-)

- I finally left Stanford. I never imagined spending almost 5 years there when I went to the Bay Area for my Masters in 2006, but the time I spent there helped me figure out which direction I wanted my career to go - entrepreneurship - while gaining valuable experiences.

- After 10 years in the USA, I returned home to Ghana. I abandoned my dream of going home with the US' money, the lure of creating impact in Ghana was too large. And I could make money doing it. The time had come.

- When I wrote this post praising Farida Bedwei, little did I know I will be honoured with her and the awesome Bright Simons on the same stage later in the year. I was honoured as one of 3 Ghanaians under 40 who had contributed greatly to Ghana. This really satisfied me, I felt it was apt recognition of little and big things I'd passionately done. Read about the Legacy & legacy IDEAs awards here.

- I had my heart broken twice. Well, my heart didn't really break, cos I didn't mourn or cry. But two ladies said no to my advances. Because I am extra positive, I keep on believing the time where I find a woman I adore who will say 'yes' to me will come. And I healed my regrets and relationship with my last girlfriend. Now, I have no worries in my life.

- I finally visited another African country for the first time. It was Uganda! It will always hold a special place in my heart. I didn't go there to see tourist sites, I went there to work and meet the people who live there. I left Kampala with 25 new contacts. Richard Nshuti Mayanja was home! I was even on a RadioCity program as the celebrity of the day :-) Thank you Museke.

- Kenya is not quite the home of Swahili (Tanzania is) and I 'safiried' to the Harambe home for a cultural safari. Yes, I went on a safari there too but only because Google paid for it. Better still, I met many friends of mine who were living in Nairobi. I went on two radio shows on Homeboyz Radio. :-). Museke at it again.

- I started building Museke.com right after MIT and launched it in early 2007. I knew I wanted to build the biggest African music website. Many people agree it is. And then we organized anAfrican music awards in New York (the first in North America), partnering with a US-based TV station to broadcast and web-stream it live . Yea, the Afrotainment MOAMAs.

- I visited South Africa for the first time as well, a year after I missed attending the Mzansi Mundial. No, I couldn't enter Soccer City Stadium and exorcise Ghana's demons. But, I did visit Cape Town, Hillbrow, and Soweto and saw Nelson Mandela's house. Next time, I would hopefully get to meet Madiba and sing in Soweto's streets. Yea, I was on radio again - UJ FM for the Museke Minute. I've been working on my radio voice. I attended a stand-up comedy show with various African comedians, including Basketmouth. I met Kabelo, singer of one my fave songs, High I go, after it.

- My alter-ego Ayooluwaato Eze returned to Nigeria. I visited Nigeria for the first time as well. I rode an okada for more than 20 minutes, saw many places I had heard about from Nigerian friends and music, and met many celebrities, including the Naija Boyz, Basketmouth, Genevieve Nnaji, Darey, Don Jazzy and Naeto C. Didn't get onto radio this time but might have my face on Studio 53 Extra somewhere.

- The best part about these visits is that I ate the local food everywhere! Matooke, kachumbari, ugali, nyama choma, pap and stew, borewors, eba, egusi stew, suya; yea, the life of a foodian! Edziban a? Dzidzi! Good belly news.

- I met one of my role models Ory Okolloh, the founder of Ushahidi. It was mostly because she worked for the same company as me, Google. If you watch her TED video and listen to Patrick Awuah, you'll see how they think about Africa. That's why I admire them greatly.

- I visited Tamale and Ho for the first time in my life. Yes, Barcamps took me there. Ghanaians should see Ghana more. Accra is choking. We should do all we can to ensure Ghanaians can be successful everywhere in Ghana.

- I visited Cape Coast again, for the very first Barcamp there, my first in Ghana outside Accra. The passion and interest there inspired me. I visited Takoradi again to see how my blog post about its growth compared with what was happening on the ground.

- We ended up organizing five Barcamps, starting with Kumasi and ending in Accra on December 17. Since we started 2008, we've had 11. Yea, building a movement of Ghanaian change makers, doers and entrepreneurs. Major shoutout to CITI FM for hosting us on radio again. I even read two of my poems on its Writers' Project show.

2011 saw a lot of successes on many fronts. I believe 2012 will be even better. I want to chalk these successes with you. When we do so, Africa will be a much better place and so will the world.

Happy New Year from the MIghTy African!

Rounding up the year with Barcamp Ghana 2011 #bcghana

2011-12-14T01:55:00.000-08:00

Why do we have Barcamps in Ghana? Because we know we can do it and we want to support each other to do it.

What is it? Build the Ghana we want. More vim. Participate in Barcamp Ghana on Saturday at our venue - Kofi Annan ICT Center or online through the hashtag #bcghana.

BarCamp Ghana 2011 is a free networking forum to bring people together for a day of discussion, demonstrations and dialogue about Ghana, and beyond. BarCamp Ghana 2011 will take place on December 17, 2011 at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre. The theme is “Establishing Partnerships to transform dreams into action-based projects: Lessons from Mentors”. This Barcamp will concentrate on sharing, inspiring and creating stories about building partnership with attendeant mentorship to create successful Ghanaian made projects and businesses.

The BarCamp Ghana team has successfully organized 10 BarCamps in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Cape Coast, Tamale and Ho, resulting in a network of Ghanaian doers, entrepreneurs and change makers. Barcamp Ghana 2011 will be organized by the GhanaThink Foundation, a youth-led Ghana and US-based NGO. Like all Barcamps, there will be user-generated sessions and discussions where attendees get to set the agenda and topics for the day. BarCamp Ghana 2011 will feature a speed mentoring session with mentors like Bernard Avle, Samuel Jonathan, Albert Ocran, Sheila Bartels-Sam, Lionel Dosoo, Leila Djansi, Carl Ashie, Kofi Dadzie, Alex Adjei-Bram, Nana Awere Damoah, Sefakor Gbewonyo, Alfred Cran-Mensah, amongst others.

Through this event, we seek to highlight the importance of appropriate partnerships and corporate engagements in ensuring the success of projects, spurring wealth creation and economic growth. Most prospective project managers and social innovators lack the know-how to establish partnerships with pivotal stakeholders such as public regulation bodies, state revenue authorities, financial institutions, and the media. Without these crucial linkages, many promising projects meet their early demise to the detriment of our nation as a whole. BarCamp Ghana 2011 is geared towards helping to reverse this trend.

Register/RSVP today at the BarCamp Ghana eventbrite website. You may also contact the BarCamp Ghana team for sponsorship opportunities. If you are interested in organizing a breakout session, let us know, especially if you have special needs.

BarCamp Ghana 2011 is sponsored by the Kofi Annan ICT Center, Mobile Web Ghana, GhanaThink Foundation, Fienipa Group, Spot One Global, and Nandimobile. Our media partners are ModernGhana.com, Citi 97.3 FM, and Radio Univers.

BarCamp Ghana -www.barcampghana.org – info at barcampghana.org

Blog Action Day 2011 - How to prepare "#Waakye"

2011-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

#BAD11 @blogactionday11

So folks are blogging with respect to Blog Action Day and the theme is food. How perfect! I am such a foodian, I love to eat. I am especially carnivorous too. But above all, I really love my Ghanaian food, especially waakye. I have used three levels of especially to introduce waakye so you can tell how special Waakye is to me. In my estimation, it's the best food in the whole wide world. It doesn't matter that if it's not gotten to Afghanistan or the North Pole yet, it's the best. You know why? Because it sells out faster than any other meal in the world. Ask a Ghanaian or a waakye lover and they will tell you.

So in honour of Blog Action Day about food - I want to help spread waakye all around the globe. Thanks to the great folks at Nududu.com and Fienipa.com, I am giving you three ways in which you can make waakye. Thank me later and say "na gode" while you are at it for introducing you to "waakye and kyinkaafa".

All 3 versions use the same basic ingredients: rice, salt, black-eyed peas, water, oil, onion, baking soda, with a couple of variations.

METHODS
1) Waakye in a rice cooker
For this version put into a rice cooker: a 15.5 oz can of black-eyed peas, drained and lightly rinsed (this is about 1 and 1/2 cups), a cup of white rice (wash first if necessary), 1/2 to 1 of teaspoon baking soda (a full teaspoon will make it a little darker), a half teaspoon of salt (or to taste), a tablespoon of vegetable oil (like peanut or canola), a half cup of chopped onion, and 2 cups of water. Stir, cover, and cook. That's all there is to it! It cooks in about 30 minutes without burning.

2) Every day waakye
Rinse and pick over a cup of black-eyed peas, then soak them for about 4 hours covered with water (or, if you're in a rush like I always seem to be, just bring them to a boil in a saucepan, let them boil for a couple of minutes, sit for an hour, drain off the water and add 2 1/2 fresh cups of water to the sauce pan, along with a teaspoon of baking soda, a cup of rice, the 1/2 cup chopped onion, a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and let it cook, covered, until the rice and beans are cooked. Watch out that it doesn't burn. It may need a little more water and stirring while it cooks.

3) Special Waakye
Rinse well and pick over a cup of black-eyed peas, then put them into a saucepan with 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, bring it to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the cup of rice, teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup chopped onion, and either another cup of water or a cup of coconut milk. In place of the vegetable oil, use a couple of tablespoons of coconut cream (from the top of a can of unsweetened coconut milk), and a sprinkling of a spice of your choice (e.g., thyme, oregano). Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook, covered, until the rice and beans are tender, about half an hour. Check a few times to make sure it is not burning, and add more water if necessary.

Notes
3 different versions of waakye (pronounced "waatchy") the classic rice and "beans" dish from Northern Ghana:
1) a quick and easy version to make in an electric rice cooker,
2) an "every day" version, and
3) one that's a little fancier.
Culled from Fienipa.com via Betumi Blog

My Ugandan alter-ego

2011-10-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ever since I went to Uganda for the first time, I have been imagining what my Ugandan alter-ego would be like. You might already know about my Nigerian alter-ego, Ayooluwaato Eze. No one has really told me I look like a Ugandan but given the similarities between Ghanaians and Ugandans, I could really pass for one. But then again, all Africans aren't the same so let me introduce you to Richard Nshuti Mayanja.

My father is from the famous Buganda kingdom. We speak Luganda and we are part of the proud Mayanja family. Yes, the same one the famous Ugandan musician Chameleon aka Joseph Mayanja is from. The name 'Mayanja' is as Ugandan as you can get. Unless you have a name that starts with two s's like Sserugo. My middle name is Nshuti because my mother is from Rwanda. Uganda and Rwanda have some really good relations as there are Kinyarwandas living in Uganda.

Now why am I called Richard? Because there are 256 Richards in Kampala alone. I must have met 10 of them while in Kampala. I think I only met 4 Ugandans who didn't have English/Christian first names. That was pretty crazy to me. Then again, Richard signifies riches. You know my friend Chameleon has renamed himself Chamillion or Cha100000? Million, mulitple zeros, riches. Mayanjas don't play and my family blessed me with a rich name like Richard so I could take care of my huge family in the future. Uganda is a very religious and conservative country. Hence, the Richard. If you visited Uganda and moved around a bit, you'll see how much Christianity is part of the Ugandan lifestyle.

I can't speak Luganda that well because my father is a diplomat and I didn't stay in Uganda too long to learn the language. My father is well travelled as per his job and he married a Rwandan too. My Kinyarwanda command is very bad as well but I can say a lot of words in Zulu, Shona, Hausa and I could make you think I was Tanzanian by my Swahili. We spent a lot of time in Kenya like most Ugandans because of the Last King of Scotland, Idi Amin. If all you know about Uganda is Idi Amin, you can stop reading here. Shame on you! So I grew up a bit in Kenya, but don't get it twisted, Uganda is the pearl of Africa and we carry East Africa. We are older than Kenya too.

Now, you must also know that the World Health Organization claims that Ugandans outdrink all other nations. 19.47 liters per year for per capita consumption in liters of pure alcohol. Like Juliana sang, "I am Ugandan", I am really Ugandan. Richard Mayanja loves to drink but he is not drunkard, he's in complete control of his alcohol consumption. I have been away from Uganda too long so I cannot even compete with the Mbabazis, Okellos and Sserugos who live there. But you see, us Ugandans, we channel our beer drinking skills into merrymaking and partying. If you visited Kampala, you would realize we can party with the best of them. Especially in Kabalagala, which our visitors leave without forgetting. Our party nature is reflected in our music, dancehall music reigns. Unlike Kenyans, we don't drink and then sit down, we drink and then dance. "Kyaba too much like that".

Like most Ugandans, I don't play with Matooke or my Kachumbari. I love to eat. For breakfast, I like to have watermelon, pineapple, and orange melon. You guessed right, these colours go well with the Ugandan flag. Matooke is made from plantain and we don't joke with our plantains. As such plantain chips are very popular with us too. When the whole world was infatuated with Barack Obama, we named some chapati after him. We made two worldwide phenonemons - chapati and Barack Obama - our own. Check out "Obama Chapati" Take-away. I am also a huge carnivore. I cannot eat a meal without some kind of meat. Like our elders say, "when the meat is gone, the meal is finished, eating is allowed to stop".

Kampala is built on 7 hills and the landscape is breathtaking. We have nice safaris and parks and all but our people are the best reason to tour Uganda. Ugandans are very friendly and happy people. It's not just a place to visit, it's a place to settle. That's why we are the best people to party with. If you are a social animal like me, you need to make it down to Kampala. And this maps onto the rest of Uganda. You must really visit Uganda because you haven't met a real Richard until you've been there.

So next time you meet Richard Nshuti Mayanja, that will be me. And I'm not on Facebook. I normally check some other guy's facebook to stalk all the pretty Ugandan girls from time to time. Ugandan girls are well endowed. Don't let what you saw in that Jangu music video fool you. You can catch always me here on this blog. Because kyaba too much. Richard Nshuti Mayanja says "I am Ugandan".

Mighty African goes to Uganda! #tugende!

2011-10-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

I never imagined that the first ever African country I would spend a night in would be Uganda. Yes, the Mighty African had never even been to Togo or Burkina Faso or found himself in Nigeria. Thanks to my job, I was able to finally show off the few Luganda words I had learnt from Ugandan friends while stationed in the USA. I visited Kampala for four days in September. Before I went to Kampala, I didn't know anyone there that I had met. All the folks I had been in touch with were musicians and a couple of journalists. I left Kampala with 25 new phone numbers! I asked my Ugandan friends et al on Facebook what I should do before I left Uganda (Kampala) and I tried to go through with some of their suggestions. I had every intention of getting stories to tell so let's recount the Mighty African experiences.

I must preface the Ugandan debut by saying I had a little stop over at the Nairobi airport. I arrived at the Entebbe airport September 6th and we were driven to Kampala. The airport looked about Kotoka's size and the road from Entebbe to Kampala looked like quite the busy street. I hadn't imagined Uganda's major airport will be that far from Kampala. I realized quickly that Ugandans drove on the wrong side of the road. Erm, I mean the left side of the road, not the right. British colony. Not that Ghana is an American colony but you get the point. Apart from having the steering wheel on the right hand side, cars in Uganda aren't very different from Ghana. Except you couldn't tell taxicabs as easily. And then they call urvans or trotros 'taxis' and call taxis 'cabs'.

One thing I realised was the heavy presence of soldiers and policemen on the roads idling. Turns out Ugandans had been rioting (against Yoweri Museveni) so the security forces were on alert. You might remember the famous 'Walk to Work' protests. We had to be checked (airport style) before we entered the Sheraton Hotel, as well as other buildings. I didn't enjoy that but I hope Ugandans don't get used to this at all. Mr. Museveni must stop asking if Ugandans want "another rap" and focus on serving the Ugandan people so as to stop the rioting. I was joking Ugandan food is quite light compared to Ghanaian food so after eating, they still have energy to hit the streets and demonstrate. Give Ghanaians fufu, kenkey and tuo zaafi and you are sure to keep them chillaxing after such heavy meals. It's the secret to Ghana's safety and relative peace.

I can count the number of hours I slept in Kampala over those 4 nights. Kampala is apparently the party capital of Africa. As I saw in the September 9 Daily Monitor edition, "Kampalans make up silly reasons to party". There's a strong case there from what I saw. I hit up places like Boda Boda, Rouge, Cayenne, etc. I was invited to Cayenne by Rachel K, a musician. There, I run into Cindy Sanyu (a popular Ugandan singer) who I had been trying to get in touch with. I loved the Centenary Park area which houses multiple bars that churn great music, and fits the beer-drinking and merry-making Kampala public. I was invited to the Heights to a journalists meet-up by a Ugandan blogger I had met on Twitter @RosebellK. Before that I had met up with another young female Ugandan changemaker who I also met on Twitter @mbabazi_AN. She happened to run YoungAchieversUg which I have kept tabs on for a while ever since I accepted its Facebook Friend request.

I was invited by Cindy's former Blu3 mate Lilian Mbabazi to be on a radio show in Kampala - RadioCity 97FM. The show was called 'Celeb of the Day'. But you know I am no celebrity. I don't want the popularity, I want to be as anonymous as they come. What another name can be as anonymous as "Mighty African"? Lilian interviewed me about various things while she played my selection of 10 top songs (all African). I love how Ugandan bars and clubs played music from all over Africa. I didn't hear any Ghanaian music but I heard a lot of Cabo Snoop's Windeck and Prakatatumba. That made Angola's Roberto Saudades very happy (more to come on Roberto). Hey, some Ugandan friends said Windeck was the most popular African song of 2010. Ugandans did seem to know a lot of Ghanaian movie stars. I got asked many times if Jackie Appiah was my wife (humph!) or sister. A couple of people asked me about Stephen Appiah, which is lovely, because the Black Stars of Ghana are beloved.

One person I really wanted to meet in Kampala was Afrotainment Museke Awards winner Maurice Kirya. He's so awesome that he even attended G-Uganda which is Google's flagship event in Uganda. That's how forward thinking he is. One of my biggest regrets from leaving Kampala was not taking a picture with him alongside not eating 'Rolex' aka rolled eggs. I did speak to Maurice at the Google event though. G-Uganda was awesome! It brought together many Ugandan developers, entrepreneurs, business people, etc. More importantly, it networked many young Ugandan entrepreneurs and change makers and I got the chance to meet most of them. I loved how attendees latched onto an Android game app built by these guys called 'Matatu' which is a very popular Ugandan game.

I knew about the motorbike phenomenon in Uganda mostly due to Maurice Kirya's award winning Boda Boda song. These 'motors' are locally called 'Boda Bodas'. One night, some of my new friends and I visited a bar called 'Boda Boda' where an awesome live band was playing. The band sang many African classics and I regretted going there late. Afterwards, we packed ourselves into a cab, it was me, 4 other ladies and the taxi driver. You can guess what happened next. The car broke down about 70% of the way towards our destination and the ladies decided we will not be paying the taxi driver. I didn't say a word and saved my money. That's where we saw some boda bodas close by and then I got onto one. I switched places with the driver and had a Kodak moment.

One another particular night, I rode a Boda Boda past the Boda Boda club while singing a song called Boda Boda. No bother. The motorbiker transported the helmetless me and my friend George to Kabalagala and the whole time I was scared of what might happen when he tried to swerve multiple pot-holes. Kabalagala apparently is a tourist attraction in Kampala for partying but it also has a lot of prostitutes etc. Every friend who had some knowledge of Kampala told me to visit the place. It rained a bit while I was there but it was surely jumping. Word on the street is Ugandans drink more than Kenyans, and though I find that hard to believe, they do love drinking.

Kampala is known to be the pothole capital of Africa (also up for debate). Kampala didn't look more advanced than Accra but it did have some bigger malls or supermarkets. This is apparently due to the influence of Kenya. I did spot a mall that had South Africa's Shoprite and Game Stores too. These developments could also answer why Kampala has a more bustling nightlife than Accra. Accra has worse traffic though. I didn't get to see too much of Kampala, especially the living spaces. I went to a party at Makerere University so didn't see much there and didn't visit any other houses. I wish I had seen more neighbourhoods.

Just like in Ghana, the mobile telecommunication companies rule Uganda. Their billboards are all over. I decided to get an Airtel chip and local phone number to show I was really in Uganda and not just passing by. I did pass by but I tried to act like I was not a guest. I took an active interest in practicing my little Luganda and learning more. Lilian Mbabazi was impressed and told me "Kyaba too much". This is a local term that means "you are too much". I also learnt "tugende" which means "let's go!". This is a time where we are encouraging African youth to take charge everywhere and I needed a Ugandan rallying cry. #Tugende! It's always the "vim" that is speaking. I think within the 4 days I was in Kampala, I said "tugende" 256 times.

Ugandans and Ghanaians have a lot in common. We are all happy and friendly people. When a lady wouldn't give in to my friend's advances at some club we went to, I started a long conversation with the words "I heard Ugandan women are very friendly". We ended up leaving this bar with she and her friend and we have some business plans together. Jolly good news I tell you! Africa is diverse but some things are quite similar amongst us. I felt at home in Kampala. The people there made me feel that way when I allowed them. Akwagala! Bulungi! Mukwano! These terms may not be right but I am just expressing my Ugandan love. Though my time in Uganda was limited in Kampala, I didn't regret that. I didn't go to the Pearl of Africa to see tourist sites, I went there to meet and live with the people. That's the way to African unity. That's the MightyAfrican way.

Afrotainment Museke Online Africa Music Awards Winners ceremony!

2011-10-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

One of Museke's proudest moments!

DR Congo crooner Fally Ipupa, Senegal’s Viviane Ndour and Didier Awadi were the top winners at the 2011 Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards that took place on September 24 in New York City. The ceremony happened amidst cheers and proud celebrations from fans of African music and African musicians alike. Afrotainment’s studios were given a makeover in preparation for the event that will certainly have left a great impression on all involved. Benin’s very own Angelique Kidjo, gave an impromptu acapella performance following her acceptance of her award. Kidjo was recipient of the Afrotainment MOAMA 2011’s Lifetime Achievement Award - her first ever, which she said she was glad that it was an award bestowed upon her by fellow Africans.

The show was hosted by Afrotainment presenters, Zimbabwe’s Farai Gundan - who was dressed by Nigerian haute couture designer Alphadi - and Zambia’s Tivo Shikapwashya. The red carpet ceremony was hosted by Sophy Aiida where she interviewed various African musicians and other dignitaries. She also interviewed various sponsors and guests during the awards ceremony. All of this was broadcasted live on Afrotainment Channels 667 and 751 on Dish Networrk in North America and also streamed live on awards.afrotainment.us, moamas.com and museke.com.

The evening’s performances were by award winners Viviane Ndour and Fally Ipupa, as well as by Ghana’s Blitz the Ambassador, Rwanda’s Iyadede, Cameroun’s Les Nubians, and the Washington DC-based Les Belles d’Afrique. Performances of the evening were highly collaborative in spirit: Fally Ipupa was joined by Iyadede on stage as he sang his hit song Chaise Electrique and then by Les Belles d’Afrique as he performed his club banger, Sexy Dance. Blitz the Ambassador also joined Les Nubians on stage while they were performing their set.

Senegal dominated the award winners, led by the gorgeous Viviane Ndour, who finished with three awards - Female Artist of the Year, best music video for Sama Champion and Afro- rhythms song of the year for Fima Tollu. Fally Ipupa emerged as Artist of the year, as well as sharing the Best African collaboration award with Nigeria’s J. Martins for the still highly popular remix to the latter’s Jukpa banger, as well as Popular Song of the Year for his dance floor special, Sexy Dance. Nigeria also had a lot of winners, including 2Face Idibia for Male Artist of the year and P-Square as Group of the year. There were winners from every African sub-region, as well as the Diaspora, which fully celebrates African music. The full list of winners can be found at moamas.com.

Ato Ulzen-Appiah, CEO of Museke Inc, enthused; “We are all proud to honour the best of African music from last year and this was a big and monumental day in continuing to promote African music to music fans everywhere. We particularly enjoyed the collaborations and seeing various stakeholders in the African music industry network”.

Afrotainment’s Eric Noue spoke further on the success of the show; “We are excited about the fact that we were able to translate a vision into reality through an unprecedented show that was aired Live on TV nationwide in the US and in streaming worldwide on the internet. We also take this opportunity to thank our key sponsors: Western Union, Arik Air and Dish Network who decided to come along with us on this journey"

All in all, it was an evening enjoyed by all who attended, and it left many believing that the next Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards will only get bigger and better.

For more information regarding the MOAMAs, check out moamas.com and email awards at museke.com.

Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards performers!

2011-09-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

Our favorite African music website, Museke.com is having one of its proudest moments this Saturday on the occasion of the Afrotainment Museke Online Africa Music Awards. Read the press release announcing the performers, etc below

Fally Ipupa and Viviane Ndour headline 2011 Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards performers!
…. Angelique Kidjo to win Lifetime Achievement Award

Afrotainment Family of Channels and Museke Inc have gone all out in ensuring that the first ever broadcasted Afrotainment Museke Online Africa Music Awards will be a mélange of African creativity. The event will fuse elements of dance, fashion and music in celebrating the best in African music, as chosen by the fans.

A Celebration of African Creativity
Rwandan-born Iyadede will join melodic Viviane Ndour of Senegal, Ghana’s own highly acclaimed wordsmith Blitz the Ambassador, Afropean sisters Les Nubians and the increasingly popular Congolese star Fally Ipupa will all be providing a soundtrack to the evening of Afroglam, which is guaranteed to leave an indelible mark on The Big Apple. African music superstar from Benin, Angelique Kidjo, will receive a Lifetime Achievement award for being a role model and inspiration for African musicians everywhere.
Recognising other elements of African creativity, Afrotainement and Museke are excited to announce that Washington DC-based dance group Les Belles D’Afrique’s choreography will be ensuring that the audience will be transported back to the African continent through dance. African creativity is incomplete without fashion, and as such, Niger-born haute couture designer Alphadi will be dressing the hostesses of the evening.

Museke Inc’s Tumi Diseko is thrilled: “We’ve put in a lot of work to make sure this dream becomes a reality. Museke Inc is run by the African Music Fan for the African Music Fan. Together with Afrotainment, we’ve put together a show featuring some of the best talents to come out of the continent over the last two or three years. This awards platform has been used to acknowledge and publicly appreciate the talent nurtured on our continent”.

Eric Noue from Afrotainment said: "The entire Afrotainment team are excited about this opportunity to showcase some of the the Best in African Music which they are used to seeing on the Afrotainment Music channel on a daily basis and now the rest of the country can experience it in a Live Televised and streamed performance that is a premiere in North America."

The 2011Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards will be hosted at Afrotainment’s New York studios on September 24 and they will broadcast live to on the Afrotainment channels 751 and 667 on the Dish Network in the US and online from the http://awards.afrotainment.us and www.moamas.com websites. Fans of African music voted for their favourite artists at www.moamas.com, with a close on 18th September 2011.

For more information or interview requests contact awards at museke.com or enoue at afrotainment.us

Afrotainment-Museke Online Africa Music Awards Nominees 2011

2011-09-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

Below are the list of nominees for the Afrotainment-Museke Online Africa Music Awards Nominees 2011! The awards show will be held September 24 at the Afrotainment TV Studios in New York City. Vote today at www.moamas.com

General categories

Genre Categories

Artiste of the year -
2Face Idibia -Nigeria
Fally Ipupa - DRC
Asa - Nigeria
Maurice Kirya - Uganda
Viviane Ndour - Senegal
Kidumu - Burundi
Professor - South Africa

Male artiste of the year -
2Face Idibia -Nigeria
Fally Ipupa - DRC
Maurice Kirya - Uganda
D’Banj - Nigeria
Professor - South Africa
DJ Arafat - Cote d’Ivoire
Kidumu - Burundi

Female artiste of the year -
Nneka - Nigeria
Asa - Nigeria
Viviane Ndour - Senegal
Juliana Kanyomozi - Uganda
Patience Dabany - Gabon
Angelique Kidjo - Benin
Neyma - Mozambique

Group of the year
Liquideep - South Africa
Freshlyground - South Africa
P-Square - Nigeria
Goodlyfe - Uganda
TearGas - South Africa
Toofan - Togo
P-Unit - Kenya

New Artiste
Cabo Snoop - Angola
Diamond - Tanzania
Ice Prince - Nigeria
Jay Ghartey - Ghana
Mo’Cheddah - Nigeria
L-Tido - South Africa
Wizkid - Nigeria

Best album -
Fabrics of the heart - Liquideep - South Africa
Beautiful Imperfection - Asa - Nigeria
Radio Africa - Freshlyground - South Africa
Progress - VIP - Ghana
African Revolution - Tiken Jah Fakoly - Cote d’Ivoire
MI2 - MI - Nigeria
Presidents d’Afrique - Didier Awadi - Senegal

Most popular song -
Jukpa remix - J Martins/Fally Ipupa - Nigeria
Oleku - Ice Prince - Nigeria
Sexy Dance - Fally Ipupa - DRC
E no easy - P-Square - Nigeria
African Girls - Castro/Asamoah Gyan - Ghana
Ce magik - Toofan - Togo
Windeck - Cabo Snoop - Angola

Best music video
Bang it all - Paul G - Angola
Moza girl - Dama do Bling - Mozambique
Sama champion - Viviane Ndour - Senegal
Only Me - 2Face - Nigeria
Chicken to Change - Freshlyground - South Africa
My lady - Jay Ghartey - Ghana
Stars fall Down - Parlotones - South Africa

Best African Collabo
Jukpa remix - J Martins/Fally Ipupa - Nigeria/DRC
Toi et ta vie - Yvonne/Dama Do Bling - Kenya/Mozambique
12500 Volts - Dibi Dobo/DJ Arafat/Kamnouze - Benin/Cote d’Ivoire
Bang it all - Paul G/Akon - Angola/Senegal
Kiss your hand remix - R2Bees/Wande Coal - Ghana/Nigeria
Songa mbele - Alpha/AY - Rwanda/Tanzania
Nwa Baby remix - Flavour Nabania/Asem/Stone - Nigeria/Ghana

Record of the year -
Only Me - 2Face - Nigeria
One day - Eldee - Nigeria
Ayamaah - Morale - South Africa
Dans mon rêve - Didier Awadi - Senegal

I will sing - Maurice Kirya - Uganda
7 wonders - Bkay & Kazz - Zimbabwe
Bayi yoon - Daara J Family - Senegal

Voter’s choice
Ma preferee - Omar B - Togo
Landale beat - Kibistone - DRC
So Pwaa - CPWaa - Tanzania
Dancehall Attitude - Lord Kemy - Guinea
Feel me - Rachel K - Uganda
In my head - Jon Germain - Ghana
So in Love - Moh Dediouf - Senegal

Audio producer -
Don Jazzy - Nigeria
Bebe Philip - Cote d’Ivoire
Hermy B - Tanzania
Ulopa - Kenya
RKay - Kenya
37mph - South Africa
Killbeatz - Ghana

Video director -
Clarence Peters - Nigeria
Adam Juma - Tanzania
Ogopa Video - Kenya
Gorilla Films - South Africa
Gelongal - Senegal
DJ Marcel - Mozambique
Jeff Attiogbe - Togo

DJ of the year -
DJ Edu - Nigeria
DJ Black - Ghana
DJ MixmasterBrown - Nigeria
DJ Fully Focus - Kenya
DJ Waxxy - Nigeria
Eric Soul - Rwanda
DJ Fresh - South Africa

West Africa song
Oleku - Ice Prince - Nigeria
Ce Magik - Toofan - Togo
Kiss your hand - R2Bees - Ghana
E no easy - P-Square - Nigeria
Fima tollu - Viviane Ndour - Senegal
Jukpa remix - J Martins - Nigeria
African girls - Castro - Ghana

North Africa
Ya Ana ya ya Mefish - Tamer Hosny - Egypt
Nzour Nabra - Jalal El Hamdaoui - Algeria
Jokko - Ahmed Soultan - Morocco
Be winner - Fnaire ft Samira Said - Morocco
Whowa - Oum - Morocco
Laayoune Ayniya - Douzi - Morocco
Sahbi - Cheb Bilal - Algeria

Central Africa -
Sexy dance - Fally Ipupa - DRC
Ça La - Lady Ponce - Cameroun
Six millions y’a ba souci - Papa Wemba - DRC
Zazou - Ferre Gola - DRC
On vous connais - Patience Dabany - Gabon
Sango - Idylle Mamba - Central African Republic
Nakozanga - Lokua Kanza - DRC

East Africa
Nitafanya - Kidumu - Burundi
Kare - P-Unit - Kenya
Songa mbele - Alpha - Rwanda
Mbagala - Diamond - Tanzania
Gaarsiiya - Ikraan Caraale - Somalia
Haturudi nyuma - Juliana K - Uganda
Kasepiki - Bebe Cool - Uganda

Southern Africa -
Windeck - Cabo Snoop - Angola
Kapiiripiiri - JK - Zambia
Fire is low - Freshlyground - South Africa
Mhlomo Wami - TearGas - South Africa
Jezebel - Professor - South Africa
Ilusao - Neyma - Mozambique
Happy song - Fisherman - South Africa

Diaspora song
Zambezi - Tinashe - Zimbabwe
Voce me da - Clarisse Albrecht - Cameroun
Rebound Chick - Nelson Freitas - Cape Verde
Bien plus fort que mes mots - Kaysha - DRC
Kilimanjaro - Shingai Shoniwa (Noisettes) - Zimbabwe
My love - Tolumide - Nigeria
Zamounda - La Selesao - DRC

Hip hop song -
Oleku - Ice Prince - Nigeria
Show dem - Jr - South Africa
Ten over ten - Naeto C - Nigeria
Get on the dancefloor - D-Black
Karaboss - GPro - Mozambique
Dans mon rêve - Didier Awadi - Senegal
We rollin - L-Tido - South Africa

R&B/Soul -
Holla at ya boy - Wizkid - Nigeria
Kele Kele Love - Tiwa Savage - Nigeria
Haturudi Nyuma - Juliana K - Uganda
Mbagala - Diamond - Tanzania
Wrong for you - Loyiso - South Africa
Remember - Bracket - Nigeria
Je la veux - Singuila - Central African Republic

Zouk/Kizomba song -
Bien plus fort que mes mots - Kaysha - DRC
Ilusao - Neyma ft Grace Evora - Mozambique
Rebound Chick - Nelson Freitas - Cape Verde
Vai dar bum - Ary - Angola
Proibido - Djodje - Cape Verde
Injusta - Yola Semedo - Angola
Amour a 2, amour a vie - Sergeo Polo - Cameroun

Religious/Gospel song -
Kupe De Kalle - Daddy Owen - Kenya
Baba - Sonnie Badu - Ghana
Papa God Ooh - MOG - Kenya
A e phetehe thato ya hao - Kabelo Eric - Botswana
Kiatu Kivue - Rose Muhando/Anastasia Mukabwa - Tanzania
Covenant song - Rebecca & Uche - Nigeria
Uyahalalela - Benjamin Dube - South Africa

Dancehall song -
Heart attack (Vuvuzela) - Goodlyfe - Uganda
Plantain boy - Timaya - Nigeria
Kasepiki - Bebe Cool - Uganda
Musarova Bigman - Winky D - Zimbabwe
Data - Proff - Kenya
Potential remix - General Ozzy - Zambia
Sweet mistake - Samini - Ghana

Reggae song -
African reggae fever - Rocky Dawuni - Ghana
Marley - Youssou Ndour - Senegal
Je dis non - Tiken Jah Fakoly - Ivory Coast
Jokko - Ahmed Soultan - Morocco
Clueless - Jah Seed - Zimbabwe
Sex message - Jay Arr - Sierra Leone
Viva Africa - Nneka - Nigeria

Alternative song -
Mikono kwenye hewa - Muthoni - Kenya
Something about you - Liquideep - South Africa
Zambezi - Tinashe - Zimbabwe
Ha- He (Makmende) - Just A Band - Kenya
Jezebel - Professor - South Africa
Let’s fall in love again - DJ Kent - South Africa
Black Girl White Boy - Ludik - Namibia

Afro-pop -
Songa mbele - Alpha - Rwanda
E no easy - P-Square - Nigeria
African girls - Castro - Ghana
Mr. Endowed - D’Banj - Nigeria
Implication - 2Face Idibia - Nigeria
Shoga - Shaa - Tanzania
Chokoza - Avril & Marya - Kenya

Afro hip-hop song -
Kare - P-Unit - Kenya
Aha ye de - Nana Boroo - Ghana
Mhlobo Wami - TearGas - South Africa
Independence Cha cha - Baloji - DRC
Kama si sisi - Juliani - Kenya
Mkono mmoja - Chege & Temba - Tanzania
Away - VIP - Ghana

Acoustic song -
Mnine da rua ma mim - Cordas do Sol - Cape Verde
Boda boda - Maurice Kirya - Uganda
Samahani - Dobet Gnahore - Cote d’Ivoire
Prayer to the Saint of the Broken Hearted - Somi - Rwanda
Nhi Ngugu Haladza - Tania Tome - Mozambique
Deeqa - Aar Maanta - Somalia
Nakozanga - Lokua Kanza - DRC

Afro-fusion -
Be my man - Asa - Nigeria
Move on up - Angelique Kidjo - Benin
Fire is low - Freshlyground - South Africa
Voce me da - Clarisse Albrecht - Cameroun
Ma Jolie - Abd Al Malik - DRC
Did I? - Lagbaja - Nigeria
Saka Manje - Audius - Zimbabwe

Afro-rhyhtms song -
Ta sair male - Puto Portugues - Angola
Sexy Dance - Fally Ipupa - DRC
Six Million ya ba souci - Papa Wemba - DRC
Ça La - Lady Ponce - Cameroon
Fima Tollu - Viviane Ndour - Senegal
Magnaraha zah - Tence Mena - Madagascar
Xitchuketa Marrabenta - Stewart Sukuma - Mozambique

Tribal House song -
Windeck - Cabo Snoop - Angola
Ce Magik - Toofan - Togo
Djéssimidjéka - DJ Arafat - Ivory Coast
Zamounda - La Selesao - DRC
Kupe De Kalle - Daddy Owen - Kenya
Happy song - DJ Fisherman - South Africa
Zekete Zekete - Anges d’Afrik - DRC

Vote for your favorite 2011 Afrotainment-Museke Online Africa Music Awards Nominees today!

2011-09-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

A publicity push as this nears the end :-)

ACCRA – JOHANNESBURG – NAIROBI – NEW YORK

8 AUGUST 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AFROTAINMENT MUSEKE ONLINE AFRICAN MUSIC AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Following a month of exhaustive deliberation with an esteemed Voters’ Academy made up of African DJ’s, bloggers, VJs and entertainment industry figures, the Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards are happy to announce the nominees for the second annual groundbreaking awards. The awards are aimed at giving fans across the continent and in the Diaspora a voice and a chance to contribute to the acknowledgement of some of the finest in African musical talent.

Top Nominees
Submissions were received from fans, artists, record labels and management representing the best and a lot of up-and-coming artists from around the continent and the Diaspora. Artists dominating nominations include South Africa’s Freshlyground, Nigeria’s 2Face Idibia, DRC’s Fally Ipupa and Senegal’s Viviane N’dour both all 5 nominations each. As with the inaugural Awards, the submission and nomination process was open to all artists representing the numerous music genres across the continent. See www.moamas.com/nominees2011 for the list of nominees.

Exciting Categories
The second annual Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards have come with the introduction of new categories which acknowledge the numerous genres that make up the African music scene. As previously announced, the Voters’ Choice category has been included in order to further engage with the African music fan in acknowledging artists who may not have enjoyed a lot of television airplay due to video submission restrictions, but went on to have an impact on the ground nonetheless. Dance is an integral part of African culture on various levels. The Tribal House category shows love to African-influenced dance genres including Kwaito, Kuduro and Coupe Decale.

The Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards are built on the belief in bringing together Africans through music exchange, and as such, the African Collaboration category is aimed at recognising efforts made by artists to collaborate with other artists outside of their own country borders. Now more than ever, African artists are making more and more efforts to collaborate cross-borders and cross-genres, with amazing and increasingly popular results, and Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards strongly believe in being proactive about acknowledging and rewarding such efforts.

With the Record of the Year, the Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards have taken the lead in paying homage to artists who include in their music themes and lyrics that portray a positive picture of the African continent and exude African pride. Finally, Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards know that DJs are an integral part in promoting, dispersing, fusing and creating music. The DJ of the Year category shows respect to DJs across the continent that have played a part in developing their respective genres and also command respect locally and cross-borders.

Voting Process and Awards Show
Fans of African music are invited to take part in the Afrotainment Museke Online African Music Awards by voting for their favourite and artists they feel are most deserving of honours in the various categories from 10 August 2011 until 18 September 2011, when voting will close. Voting will take place on the awards’ website, www.moamas.com. The awards’ show will be hosted and broadcast from Afrotainment’s New York studios on September 24 2011, where African music fans will gather and get down to the beats of some of the most popular African artists as they provide the soundtrack to the celebration of the finest talent that the African continent has to offer.

For more information and interview requests, contact awards@museke.com. For information on how to attend the awards’ show, refer to www.awards.afrotainment.us.

Returning to the source of all my vim - Ghana

2011-07-01T03:30:00.000-07:00

What is vim? Learn about it here.

Today is Ghana's Republic Day. Happy Republic Day to all Ghanaians. I took the opportunity to announce a piece of news I have been holding back a while. Besides, I've been meaning to blog (about something) but for some reason, the vim to do so hasn't been there. This blog post was coming though. July 1 is just a nice date lol.

I have become a very "online" person, so it made some sense to use online media to make this announcement. Obviously, I had told my family, close friends, neighbours and others who I just had to tell the news already. So, this is how it all went down, with the following info filtering in through tweets, facebook and google buzz posts.

For the past 10 years, my address has always been a US one. First Syracuse, then to Cambridge (MIT) and then to Stanford. It's time to change that. In fact, I bought a one-way to come to the US after high school in Presec with the goal of going to MIT, the "best engineering institution" in the world. God answered my prayers and I had 4 great years there. I hadn't thought much about Stanford but it seemed like a good move to pursue. So I bought another one-way ticket to Stanford for Masters. I came to Stanford and though I've been here longer than everyone (including myself) expected, it made me learn what I really wanted to do with my life and helped me build skills, a network and things that I will forever appreciate.

I've been in the US too long. Though I go to Gh every year, It's not enough. One foot of mine has always been in Ghana. I've always wanted to know what's going on in Ghana. I never lost my network there and I've even built it bigger and bigger. You cannot underestimate the value of this network. I may have great ideas, good intentions, but no one changed things in a vacuum. It always takes a committed few to make things happen. GhanaThink, Barcamp Ghana, Museke, Fienipa, etc, etc. Hey, folks sometimes think I am in Ghana sometimes cos of things I do. It does not matter where we are - if we stay connected and encouraged, we believe and we will achieve.

I'm moving to Ghana. For good. At the end of July. I have always thought of the day I would return to Ghana since I came here in September 2001. In August 2011, I will be back. Back where my family is. Back where my heart is. Back where my home is. After going to Ghana for Christmas for the umpteenth time last December, I felt really home sick and wanted to move back. I wanted to be by my brother, sisters, parents and the generators and change makers in GH. It's gonna happen.

I'll be working for Google in Ghana. Dream job has come true. Praise God. Many people want to move back home. Finding an opportunity makes it easier. I'll be working for my dream company, the best company to work for in the whole wide world in the best place to work, Ghana. I'm blessed. God is too wonderful. In fact, I might just cry right now. Once I got to Stanford and visited the Google headquarters for the first time, I told myself if I only work for one company in my lifetime (that's not mine), it should be Google. I'm not making this up.

I will be working for Google as Developer Relations Program Manager in the Ghana office. We will be developing & building awesome things for Ghana & beyond. #Ghanamade. #morevim! "But you studied Civil Engineering?" Well, Construction, Engineering Management. I want to be an entrepreneur, I studied this program for the management expertise. I will still do some things in civil engineering, but so will I in many sectors and disciplines. The other things I've done, building Museke together with my teammates into one of the best African music websites, growing the GhanaThink Foundation with my partners and developing the Barcamp Ghana movement with my colleagues have made me versatile.

In my Google role, I will continue building, with a bigger focus on developing and building things using Google technology in Ghana, for Ghana and beyond. I mentioned the notion of teammates in the things above and that's the way it's going to be. It's never about me, it's about us making things happen. And that's the way it's going to continue.

This was gonna be a short blog post but I guess try as hard as I could, I don't really do short blog posts well. Sigh. Either way, more vim!

Museke Ɔnlaen Abɔdin ma Afrika Adwontofo 2011 - Wɔnnfa wɔn ndwom mbɛdi akan

2011-06-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I told you I was go ing to blog in Twi. Here is the first post. I translated the Museke Online Africa Music Awards (MOAMA s) press release into Twi. More coming. Check out MOAMAs.com today.

Mo nsɛm pa!

1 Obirade 2011
ACCRA-JOHANNESBURG-NAIROBI

"Museke Ɔnlaen Abɔdin ma Afrika Adwontofo" 2011
Wɔnnfa wɔn ndwom mbɛdi akan -

Ɛyɛ Museke, Inc. anigye paa sɛ wɔbɛbɔ Museke Ɔnlaen Abɔdin ma Afrika Adwontofo (MOAMAs) a ɛtɔ so mmienu ho dawuro. Abɔdin yi bɛwie Ɔbese wɔ 2011 afe yi mu. Wɔresrɛ Adwontoni, ne wɔn nnansimufoɔ sɛ wɔnfa wɔn ndwom a wɔpɛsɛ wɔdebɛsi akan wɔ abɔdin yi mu.

Ndwom a wɔdebaa adwa mu na wɔbɔɔ wɔ efidie nyinaa so firi da kan wɔ afe 2010 mu kɔ si da kan wɔ afe 2011 no na ɛbɛtumi asi akan. Te sɛ abɔdin kan a wɔyɛɛ no afe 2010 no, abato ho ekuo no bɛyɛ wɔn a wɔn aben wɔ Afrika ndwom mu, wɔn a wɔyɛ Afrika ndwom ho adwuma, ɛne wɔn a wɔbɔ ndwom wɔ efidie so ɛne nhyiamu. MOAMAs nhyehyɛmu nyinaa wɔ hɔ ma Afrika adwontofo a wɔwɔ Afrika mman nyinaa ɛne wɔn a wɔwɔ amanɔne nyinaa. Sɛ adwontofoɔ bi pɛ sɛ wɔbɛnya abɔdin yi a, ɛwɔ sɛ wɔde wɔn ho asɛm ɛkɔ http://awards.museke.comwɛbsaet no “nominate” .

Museke Ɔnlaen Abɔdin ma Afrika Adwontofo (MOAMAs) wɔ hɔ ma Afrika Adwontofo nyinaa sɛ wɔbɛhyerɛn wɔ Afrika ne aman nyinaa, na wɔanya adɔfo bebree. Museke fo panin baako, Tumi Diseko se, “Abɔdin yi hyɛ nso sɛ adwontofo ne wɔn kyigyinafo wɔ sɛ nea Afrika ndwom ho nsɛm nyinaa rekɔ sesa na ɛrekɔ n’anim”

Museke.com gu so regye din no, akwanya afoforo pue mu: Museke.com de dwumakuw bi redi nkɔmbɔ fa dwuma a daakye bi wɔbɛtumi ɛdi abɔ mu. Bere pa mu no, yɛ bɛma obiara aso ate.

Voter’s Choice
Ekyiri koraa no, ɛyɛ abato na ɛbɛkyerɛ abɔdin no nkunimdifo - wɔn a wɔ dɔ adwom na wɔ yɛ Museke Online Africa Music Awards atɛmbuafo. Esan sɛ wɔ pɛ sɛ wɔ de tumi ma Afrika ndwom adɔfo nti, Museke de Abatofo Apɛde Abɔdin aba. Abɔdin yi bɛma yɛn abɔ Afrika adwontofo a wɔ resi akan wɔ MOAMAs no a yɛnnim wɔn yie aba so.

Diseko san ka sɛ, “Wɔn a wɔ dɔ Afrika ndwom na wɔ hyɛɛ Museke.com ase na wɔ san hwɛ so seisei ara, na wɔ pɛ sɛ wɔ hu Afrika ndwom ahorow na wɔ san hu adadawmu nso. Ɛyɛ yɛn anigye sɛ adwuma a yɛyɛ wɔ Museke no ama Afrika ndwom adɔfo bebree ahwɛ aman foforo ne ndwom foforo, na Voter’s Choice Abɔdin yi wɔ hɔ ma Afrika ndwom adɔfo.

Ɛfa Museke.com ho
Afrika ndwom adɔfo a wɔ firi Afrika aman ahorow ho kuw bi hyɛɛ Museke.com ase wɔ afe 2006 mu. Nna wɔn adehunu ne sɛ Museke.com bɛyɛ beebi a Afrika ndwom ho nsɛm nyinara wɔ. Wɛbsaet no enyini wɔ ahoɔden mu, na ɛwɔ nsɛm ne ndwom ho nsɛm pii firi adwontofo apem a wɔfiri Afrika ne amanɔne. MOAMAs ba so afe biara nti no, Museke.com de fahodi de Afrika Abɔdin a edi kan wɔ ɔnlaen aba na ɛno nti no, ate ase sɛ Afrikafo a wɔ de Intanɛt ne abaefo akasahoma fidie anaaso mobael yɛ adwuma.

Sɛ wo pɛ nsɛm ɛka ho ne ebisae a, kɔntakt AWARDS@MUSEKE.COM
---EWIEI---

Happy Father's Day! Dedicate these African songs to your Papa (Museke)

2011-06-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Culled from Museke.com's Father's Day Post

#happyfathersday! We asked our Facebook fans and Twitter followers - "What are your favorite African songs about fathers?" Based on their responses and our own collection on Museke.com, here are some African Fathers' Day songs for you. We did the same for #happymothersday - Check out our Mother's Day post.

Bread Winners is definitely our favorite. The song by ProVerb, featuring Hip Hop Pantsulawhich celebrates great fathers.Both are South African rappers. Some of the lyrics are

"A lil something for the Fathers/
That know how to be a man and work harder/
To give something to the Fam/
And would rather make sure the kids are fed dinner/
I'm talking to the real bread winners/ yeah you.."

The official song for today was Jayso's single called My Daddy Is A Champ. This song was recorded, produced & written by Jayso and features his 6 year old daughter, Vanessa. This is a gift from Jayso to his numerous fans who have continuously requested he releases a song. Listen below

http://soundcloud.com/museke/jayso-my-daddy-is-a-champ
Jayso - My Daddy Is A Champ by Museke

On a Sunday like this, we cannot forget our Father in heaven. Nigeria's Obiwon composed the gospel track My F.A.T.H.E.R, singing "You are my F.a.t.h.e.r, You are my Fearful. Affectionate Tender-Hearted. Eternal.Restorer".

South Africa's Freshlyground contributes two songs to our collection. The first is Nomvula, title track from their second album. The second is Father please, also from the same album released in 2004. In Nomvula, Zolani Mahola sings "I was raised by my father; Who was bereaved at a young age by his true darling, my mother". She continues "Never have they seen such a girl raised by a man".

Still in South Africa, we revisit Father of my children by the legendary 'Queen of Maskanda' Busi Mhlongo. We return to Ghana to check out Like father like son, a popular hiplife tune by the group Konfi. Konfi brag about their father and how they took kindly after him. We salute all the great fathers out there and pray that we can all take after them.

Why I love Africa (poem for #AfricaDay)

2011-05-25T04:00:00.001-07:00

In honour of Africa Liberation Day which is today may 25, I want to post this poem to pay tribute to where my heart calls home - Africa. #tobeAfrican is to love Africa, and love our sweet motherland. Happy #AfricaDay

It takes a village to raise a child

It takes a male child to start a village

It takes a female child to educate them all

In Africa

One man’s inactive car

Is many other men’s community service

Because you will need others

When your own car breaks down in Africa

It doesn’t fall into winter

And then spring into summer

People may be raining away

But life and warmth never run dry in Africa

Tangerine tree, football field, sugarcane seller

Very different but similar

Who needs Mapquest? In directing and navigating

All landmarks are on deck, in Africa

What if the peanut seller is sick with malaria?

There are a hundred and one people

Minding and carrying their own business on the streets

Of Africa who would give you some help

Cock-a-doodle-doo, hold up, kokrokoo…

Meat that has been frozen for three weeks is not my kind

This particular bird has exhausted my piece of mind

And I’ll have fresh cooked chicken at half-past two, in Africa

Tough love smoothens rough edges

Polishing an individual in responsibility

The rod has its place in Africa

And insubordination is not spared

Where the generation gap seems to grow

Day in day out, year in year out

An 84 year-old man finds a way

To start school, in Africa

Where else does a song, which talks about ‘down there’?

First get banned for its profanity

Then helps an opposition party

Win an election, in Africa

Chains were broken with the slave trade

But shackles remain within families

Every brother and sister from another mother

Is my sibling in Africa

Let everything that has breath

Smile for the camera

Because laughter triumphs over pain

Which is no stranger to Africa

The old man left me with something

Food that taught me maturity

Thoughts that fed me wisdom

To survive in Africa

Diverse yet so much the same

Many but this one name

Several ‘blanks’ but still no shame

Boarder is no bother to Africa

Before corn was popped, it was roasted

Before democracy, there was order

Before makeup, there was beauty

Before you, you can still see Africa

Full of life in the midst of death

Full of strife in the midst of despair

Full of giving in the midst of nothing

The beauty of Africa will fill and fool you

Tradition has suffered various additions

Custom has embraced many storms

Culture has welcomed several mixtures

Africa has still lived Africa

Can you trust respect?

Can you judge hospitality?

Can you explain happiness?

Can you understand strength?

Africa lives in me and I can

That’s why I love Africa

54 African songs to dedicate to your Mama! Happy Mother's Day! #happymothersday!

2011-05-08T02:57:00.000-07:00

I am posting this through Museke.com. From their Mother's Day post, here are some African Mothers' Day songs for you.

Mama was sang by BrendaFassie, which remembers her mother, sang in the early 90's. She asks her to rest in peace and that she will always be in her heart and asks God to bless her soul. Given that Brenda passed away in 2004, I am sure her son, Bongani, will sing this for her too. The following song was suggested. Too late for Mama is by BrendaFassie. The song is very popular and was also sang by Alicia Keys at the opening kickoff concert at the Mzansi Mundial - World Cup held in South Africa in June 2010.

Mama is by Nigeria's Bantu ft Ayuba. He thanks his Mama - "For all the efforts, For all the sweat, For all the comfort" and how her love is so unconditional. Asa also joins in the fun with So Beautiful from her debut album. She sings "Queen of my life you are so beautiful mama; You’re beautiful". Check out Bantu's track. Bantu feat. Ayuba "Mama" by bantucrew

Mama is by Sala from Ghana featuring Fresh Prince. She joins with this 4x4 member to sing "Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Maa, You are my hero". She also offered through Facebook to choose three lucky mothers to sing for. Mama is by Cwasi Oteng from Ghana. He sings "Mama, I just wanna to take this time; I just wanna take this moment; Say Thank you (2x); Mama, I appreciate all the love, you are to me; I thank you (2x)"

There are many Thula mama songs by but this one by Vusi Mahlasela probably takes the cake though there is another great one by South African group Deep Level. Another super song from South Africa is by Unathi Nkayi called A Mother's Love song, singing "A Mother's Love is irreplaceable". Women is by ProVerb from South Africa. He raps "To all the Women in my life and all the women in the world; Women that are wives and to all the little girls; Still growing up to be women listen to the Verb; I appreciate you and I scribbled a little verse".

Ghanaian hiplife fans will remember the classic Mother's song, Maame by Obrafour. He sang "Sɛ mehwɛ nea woayɛ ama me a; Wosɛ ayɛyi; Nana Nyame nhyira wo o; Maame e". "Maame nyɛ obia anka me ne no bɛdi agorɔ; Ɛsɛ sɛ wo ho Bacteria mentwa wo ntrɔ; Wowerɛafi nea Maame ayɛ ama woɔ; Ɛnnɛ deɛ wose ɔyɛ obayifoɔ". This is another one, hiplfie fans might recognise. Maame is by Bacteria. Mama is by Sugar Ranking. The dancehall star sings a song to his mama, saying "And I will always wanna be a part of you; ama, I will never take myself away from you; I will always be around you".

In Muciari, Kenyan songstress Mimmo knows that though they didn't always see some things eye to eye, she thanks her mother for all she's taught her and adds "Mama, may you be blessed". From Tanzania, we have Mama Kumbena by Banana Zorro. From Namibia, we have Afroshine singing Ti mama. Uganda's Jamal brought us Mothers are heroes. JoseChameleone sang "I am writing this letter to tell you I'm getting better; I tried to call you today, I miss you, I'll try and call you later;
Your sweet love and care can never be compared" in Sweet Mama.

Mama by Khadja Nin is another favorite in Africa. Sang in Kiswahili and Kirundi, the famous singer from Burundi praises mothers. From Sierra Leone, we have Mama loving, which is by Queen da Boss. From Sa Leone as well, Lady Felicia sings a Song for Mama. Baayo (the orphan) and Mariama (the turtle dove) by by BaabaMaal, the famous Senegalese singer also make our cut. Youssou Ndour sings Woman's Day in Shaking the tree. Also check out Maman by Penzy, and Habib Koite from Mali.

Afropolitan pop, reggae, soul, funkadocious group Soulfege took the African Diaspora by storm with their remix of Prince Nico Mbarga's famous African tune, Sweet Mother. Soulfege had Ghana's Derrick Nii Ashong, Kelley Nicole, Jonathan Gramling, and James Shelton at the time. They had three remixes including the Sweet Mother radio jam and then the Sweet Mother Remix. They even launched a whole Sweet Mother Tour!

Ghana's Blitz the Ambassador rides his vim onto the international stage (Museke)

2011-04-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

Of course, there is vim in the subject so it made me VIM too. Culled from Museke.com

"I spoke and the whole world felt it". This is the first line on Blitz the Ambassador's Soul Rebel track. I've known Blitz as far back as the days when he was called Bazaar and was featuring on Deeba's hit "Deeba" rapping in English. When he featured on Obrafour's Who Born You by Mistake, I fell in love with his flow. And then he came to the US, and was reborn as Blitz the Ambassador. I remember when he would come perform in Boston while he was a student at Kent State in Ohio and I would go see him. I would be the only Ghanaian sometimes while he made white people nod their heads to his lyrics. I knew he was going to be special. He had to be. His music and messages were way too important for him not to be relevant.

"Freedom is more than a rap song, you got the facts wrong. My rap is too heavy for backpackers to strap on". We've seen many African artists based in the US struggle. Many (like Wanlov & Mensa of the FOKN Bois) have had to return to their native countries to finally 'make it'. Blitz stayed in the USA and hustled from city to city, on buses and on trains touring and making a name for himself. His music has always been conscious and we know that music doesn't sell like the Jay-Z's and the Kanye's. The ceiling for Blitz looked like that of Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Though his songs will not be out of place in clubs and bars, he made you pay attention to his lyrics. That style doesn't sell but brings you respect and in the right frames, untold success.

"Just ignore my words, my album cover speaks for itself". The album cover for his debut album, "Soul Rebel", showed metaphorically the way Blitz was going to be. He was an African child waging a war of 'good' on a hip-hop industry. He rapped "I will rather be industry's bucket than be another industry puppet". I was very happy to hear his Together song on the soundtrack of Shirley Frimpong-Manso's first movie, "Life and Living it" though I wonder how much airplay the song had on Ghanaian radio. When I heard the song at the end of the movie, I was like, "This is a very good (English) hip-hop song". And I then realised, "I've heard this before. I have this song. It's by Blitz".

"This is not a record, this is an experience". He returned with "Double Consciousness". Like the debut album, you only have to listen to the title track to figure out the album. The chorus goes "There's two sides to every book, there's two sides to every hook, it's double consciousness." He repped Ghana in this album as always, especially with the track Sankofa. Through Blitz, I also learnt about the story of Emmett Till, the boy whose murder sparked the civil rights movement in the US. Every time I hear his name, I think of Blitz. Blitz has a sense of history, whether it is African-American or African, etc. He draws on cultural inspiration everywhere he goes and you can hear it in his music.

I'm tryna find my way... Gotta believe me. You gotta have something to believe in. A couple of years ago, he released Stereotype, a live-instrument-heavy musical exploration, that tests the limits of Hip Hop, according to the Wikipedia article on Blitz. I don't have his album so can't comment much on it. Like every good musician, he knew the importance of live-band music and this led him to form a band, The Embassy Ensemble. He spent a long time trying to be signed by a major label. When that proved futile, he established Embassy MVMT. When he released a tribute to Ghana's Black Stars, I had realised his music had come full circle with the way he was performing and not just rapping.

Been around the world and .... "Just a heart that knows no defeat". Samuel 'Blitz' Bazawule has persevered and the hard work is paying off. His videos have been played on MTV and video channels across the world. He has toured far and wide. Recently, through a link posted on Museke's Facebook page, I found myself looking at a music festival in Portugal where Cheikh Lo, Manou Golla and others were going to play. And then I saw a link for Blitz's video 'Breathe' featuring Rob Murat. I wondered, what is he doing here? But as my friends Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi (director of the Hiplife documentary, Homegrown) and H. Samy Alim (hip-hop instructor at Stanford University) said, "Blitz's craftmanship and music is just top-notch and can succeed in any type of environment". And that has him going places.

"Return of the prodigal son, still second to none. Flashbacks' how it all begun". His latest album, the 12-song "Native Sun", is a deeper, more roots-oriented record with the first single, 'Best I Can' and Les Nubians on the track 'Dear Africa'. The new album provides a vivid soundtrack to the story of a young boy's daunting pilgrimage from the countryside to the capital city of Accra to find his father, who he only knows from a photo given to him from his deceased mother. He wrote, co-directed and shot a short-film also called "Native Sun", set in Ghana, that follows an imaginative young boy as he searches for his father. It features music from the album. It will be released on May 3. Join the Kickstarter campaign to help crowd-fund it. Get the album on iTunes.

"Five fingers in the air means nothing, we clench to a fist then we all mean something. You and I have to get involved". On the occasion of his birthday, I salute Samuel Bazawule on his hard work and how he has progressed in his music career. He has blazed the trail for other African musicians based in the US to follow, especially in hip-hop. He is releasing his album in Ghana, all over the US and the globe. Follow him on Twitter at @BlitztheAmbassador and on Facebook through http://www.facebook.com/BlitzAmbassador. His website is http://blitz.mvmt.com. Catch him live soon, he's a joy to behold.

What is the job of the Ghanaian ambassadors, embassies and consulates? #Ghana

2011-04-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, the Ghanaian Ambassador to the US, His Excellency Daniel Ohene Agyekum, was at Stanford to meet members of this community. It was a 90-minute meeting organized by the Akwaaba (Ghanaian Students Association) here, spearheaded by Kwadwo Osei-Opare. I wasn't sure what to make of the meeting. I have never really encountered politicians or statesmen that close (from Ghana). Either way, let's get into what happened.

I was given the honour of introducing the ambassador. I knew about him as a one-time Ashanti Regional minister during Rawlings' time. I grew up in Kumasi. After the intro, Mr. Agyekum gave a little speech to the audience. Half of us were Ghanaian students, others were Caucasian and Black American. As a historian, Mr. Agyekum saw it to talk about Ghana's history, the might of the Ashanti kingdom and how Ghana is really democratic. The Ghanaians in the room must have been wondering, "erm, we know this already". But it wasn't just Ghanaians in the room. He was there to sell "Ghana" to non-Ghanaians too. Apparently, it's part of his job to sell Ghana and woo investment.

I wonder if he gives this speech everywhere as he woos foreign investors to Ghana. I kept thinking, "why are we talking about democracy so much?" We've been democratic for almost 20 years now, it's nothing to celebrate. Don't give me the other African nations are not enjoying the democracy we have story. Democracy is not putting money in our pockets or creating wealth. I'll pardon the democracy story because it is an important factor in wooing foreign investors. But, Let's start talking human capital too.

I love how he signed off talking about the Black Stars drawing England's football team in Wembley the day before. He managed to lick old wounds by saying Ghana's team dumped Team USA out of the last two World Cups. The proudest moments for Ghanaians are about the recent World Cup exploits of its Black Stars. It's debatable and we probably should find better things to be proud upon discussion.

One of the things I was thinking about before the meeting was - what is the job of Ghana's embassies? Is it only to give visas out to people who want to visit Ghana? From the interaction with the ambassador, it's clear it is also there to woo investors and sell Ghana within the country. Mr. Agyekum mentioned that his jurisdiction includes places like Mexico and the Carribean so he'd been doing a lot of traveling.

To cut this short, I wanna see our Ghanaian embassies do more to support Ghanaian efforts abroad. If Atta Mills has to put more budget, let him do it. We need our best brains everywhere working for Ghana everywhere.

Barcamp #Kumasi, networking event, is on April 16 at Royal Lamerta Hotel #bcksi

2011-04-11T01:20:00.000-07:00

BarCamp Kumasi 2011 is a networking event to bring people together for a day of discussion, demos and dialogue about Kumasi, Ghana and beyond. It will consist of user-generated sessions and discussions. BarCamp Kumasi 2011 will take place on April 16, 2011 at Royal Lamerta Hotel in Kumasi, Ghana. The theme is “Developing a hub for regional integration”. BarCamp Kumasi ’11 is a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, and resources to benefit Kumasi, Ghana and Africa as a whole.

The BarCamp Ghana team has successfully organized six BarCamps in Ghana. Barcamp Ghana is a project being run by the GhanaThink Foundation, an NGO based both in Ghana and the USA. A BarCamp is a user-generated conference (or unconference). Barcamp Kumasi 2010 was organized at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on September 18, 2010 with the theme - ‘Collaboration: The key for opportunity and development’. It brought together about 80 residents with major discussions around “Fostering Entrepreneurship through collaboration and technology”, “Women Issues and the effects it has on Ghana's development”, and “Herbal medicine usage and adoption in Ghana: Success and failures” to name a few.
Register/RSVP today at the BarCamp Kumasi eventbrite website. You may also contact the BarCamp Kumasi team through this website for sponsorship opportunities. If you are interested in organizing a breakout session, let us know, especially if you have special needs.

BarCamp Kumasi 2010 is sponsored by Royal Lamerta Hotel, National Service Personnel of Ghana, National Society of Black Engineers (KNUST chapter), GhanaThink Foundation, Fienipa Group, etc. Our media partners are Kapital 97.1 FM, Focus 94.3 FM and ModernGhana.com.

Register at http://barcampkumasi11.eventbrite.com/

See you there! Contact us at barcampkumasi at gmail dot com

Shirley Frimpong-Manso returns with a cinema series called Adams Apple

2011-04-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

I love Shirley Frimpong-Manso's movies and I think she made the Ghanaian movie industry better during her entry in 2008. She brought the movie-going experience back with her premieres and she's been awarded for her work. Perfect Picture will always be in the conversation for the best Ghanaian movie ever. She just released the trailer for her 7th movie - Adams Apple. Adams Apple makes you think of Eve, doesn't it? Well yeah, there are 4 Eves on adorned on the website of her new movie - . Is this another girl talk movie? We'll see.

I was alerted to this movie when I saw a post about it on Miss T-i-i-i-i's blog - http://myafricanmoviereviews.blogspot.com/. Apparently, Adams Apple is going to be a ten chapter cinema movie series. Yes, I will give Shirley and Sparrow a pass on the many parts. Because we know there will be 10 parts. You can't say the same for other Nollywood and Ghanaian movies. How Sparrow will keep the story and interest going is to be seen. ”Adams Apple” features Josselyn Dumas, Naa Ashorkor, Yvonne Okoro, John Dumelo, Adjetey Anang, etc. I love the fact that KSM's sister who was in his movie 'Double' - Anima Misa Amoah is in Adams Apple.

One of the first thoughts I had when I saw the movie website was 'Girlfriends'. People have called Shirley Ghana's Tyler Perry and likened her to those who made Hollywood movies like Love and Basketball, Love Jones, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Best Man, Brown Sugar, etc. Now these are great movies, but they never won Oscars. I feel Shirley's ceiling would be making a series of movies that will be popular but not great. Leila Djansi on the other hand, has made Sinking Sands and I Sing Of A Well, both of which have won many awards and gained her international recognition, outside Ghana, Nigeria and the Nollywood watching populace. Leila has a bigger ceiling. I'll tell you about her third movie soon, but before that blog post arrives, check out Ties That Bind.

While Leila's movies are getting better, Shirley's movies have been getting worse. Not a good look. And now we are going to be subjected to a 10-part series. I'll be watching but I hope Shirley has some new stories up her sleeve. Surprise me.

Check out my reviews of Shirley's Checkmate, Life and Living it, Scorned, The Perfect Picture, and A Sting in a Tale (ASIAT). I didn't review 6 hours to Christmas and it's a little late but I kinda liked the movie simply because it was set around Christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_C3n9q343M

Adams Apple premieres on 21st April at the National Theatre. ADAMS APPLES is set in the hustle and bustle of Accra and its surburbs with glimpses of the exciting metropolis of London. It tells the story of four "Adams" ghanaian women; a widowed wife of an ex-diplomat and her three daughters in their early and mid-thirties. Each chapter of Adams Apples will open at the cinema every month over a 12 months period. The first chapter will begin with the grand premiere on the 21st April at the National Theatre and subsequent chapters released consecutively at Silverbird Cinema till February 2012.

Ty Bello arrives just in time with The Future (We are #Nigeria) music video

2011-04-04T02:40:00.000-07:00

My favorite song from Nigeria this year finally has a music video! Oh, you don't know the song? It's simple, artistic and straight to the point. It is no short of vim. It makes you pay attention to the lyrics because you have to. The song sounds as good as the first time I heard it. How can't I fall in love with a song with lyrics like "The future is here, the future is here." You know the song now? It's called 'The Future' by Ty Bello. Nigerian youth, the future is here. Show you know this by voting this month. Invest yourself in the decision-making of Nigeria.

Toyin Shokefun Bello made a huge splash on the Nigerian music scene in 2007 with her song Green land. "The land is green". It was patriotic and Nigerian. And then I heard Freedom, which I also loved. She's a celebrated photographer and award winning artiste. Creativity should be her middle name. So when Nigerian musicians started making inspirational songs in the run-up to the elections happening later this month, Toyin had to end her musical silence and get in the act. And her single outshines every single one in that line in my opinion. "The Future", is a 'Call To War', charging all Nigerians to take back the Glory of their Country. The music video is directed by 'Kemi Adetiba and was shot in Lagos, Nigeria.

The video begins with this message from different Nigerians.

Nigeria hasn't always justified the faith of its people, but it comes a time when you're pushed to the wall and there's no way to go but up;
If we just decide in our hearts that we want to believe in Nigeria and we want to take steps every day to make this country a better place;
This is our dream, and a new Nigeria is that dream that we so much seek and desire;
The destiny of Nigeria is in our hands, we are the country, the country is us;
We are Nigeria;
We are that turning point generation;
We are Nigeria, we are the Future;

Watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBOFGDFyz1I

The music video ends with this message

The future is not a timezone that is yet to come;
The future is everything that we can be but have not yet become;
The future is everything that we can do but have not yet done;
The future is here, the future is now;
So go ahead and deliver the future;
Because you can, because you must;
Together we build

Much props to our friends at @cpafrica for letting us know about the latest from the Nigerian musician/photographer. Check out the article about the video release.

African musicians sing about BBM and the Blackberry craze (Museke)

2011-04-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

I am sure you have all heard about the Blackberry Craze sweeping Africa. Blackberry Messenger (BBM) is all the rage. Nollywood has already documented this. Learn about it here and watch the movie BlackBerry babes there. African musicians are doing the same too. Museke.com already gave you lyrics and introduced you to Liquideep's popular song called BBM. The South African group won the song of the year at the MTV Africa Music Awards with Fairytale.

Well, thanks to my friend Ade, there are other Blackberry songs I want to introduce you to.

BB PIN (all star remix) - Misturr Montana ft Eva, Dee Splash, Reminisce, Cartiar & Cee Jay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDAX70QLO0A&feature=related

JAHBORNE - Let's Make a Video Ft Muno (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESq3R0IQxkw&feature=related

Riz - PING!!! Me Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12QpZP0qtOg

BBM by Liquideep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2x4R91IVFA

What's your BB Pin? :-)
I don't have one. I use an Android phone - Whatsapp people!

Info Culled from Museke.com

Nollywood's Blackberry Babes documents the Sub-Saharan African BBM craze

2011-03-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

By now you should have heard there is a Blackberry Craze sweeping West Africa. Blackberry Messenger (BBM) is all the rage. BBM is the new sms and guess what, if you have a Blackberry, it's free. BBM and smart phones may spell the death of sms messaging in Africa. Just watch. What better way to document the Blackberry craze than to do a Nollywood movie about it? Yup, get ready for some cultural education. With many laughs to boot. If dull moments do not exist in Ghana, the word dull is a Tagalog word to Nigerians.

I just got a Blackberry for my brother last weekend. With it, he can communicate with his friends for free, at anytime. All he needs is 'data' and BBM. After getting to Ghana last December, I realised I may have faulted in buying an Android phone instead of a Blackberry. I thought hard and long about it, but really went for the Android cos the phone was cooler and it runs on Google technology. Uh huh. Another friend of mine who lives in Boston has been encouraging all her Ghana-based friends to get Blackberries so they can BBM because Stanacard and Kasamore have chopped so much of her money on international phone calls.

You know the biggest and most important reason why you should get a Blackberry if you are in Africa and have many African friends? BBM is the new email. Yes. These days, folks list their emails, phone numbers, Twitter & Facebook info and then their BBM pin. If trends are anything to go by, coupled with news BBM will be opened up to other smart phones, BBM will overtake all these communication modes. Hey, even musicians, brands and companies are listing their BBM pins publicly.

So that's why the movie Blackberry Babes is so important. From the title, you could tell that the movie is about a clique of babes who have Blackberries. If you ain't a part, you are a non-entity. If you can't get your girlfriend a Blackberry, you are useless. If you own a Blackberry, you are more eligible as a bachelor than if you had a 12-pack or a Mercedes Benz or a great education. You think I lie? Watch the movie. Like all mainstream Nollywood movies, they have Part 1 and 2. Note to movie directors, African movies with Parts 1, 2, etc, hardly win awards or get into film festivals.

You can watch the whole thing for free on Youtube. Actually, you watch the whole Blackberry movie series right here on MightyAfrican.blogspot.com. Say Thank you to Google, Youtube and Nollywood Love.

BlackBerry Babes Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3rAItM0lMw

BlackBerry Babes Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO78bTNScCY

DR Congo's Viva Riva and Ghana's Sinking Sands win big at Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA)

2011-03-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

It's an open secret that I pay more attention to African movies that are gunning for awards and film festivals. I did watch Blackberry Babes 1 & 2 recently because I was in an email conversation about the movie and decided to pique my interest. Blackberry Babes probably can't hold a candle to the movies I will be talking about in this blog post. However, if you know about the Blackberry craze sweeping Sub-Saharan Africa, then you should watch it. It's there on Youtube. But this post is really about the 2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), fast becoming Africa's Oscars as FESPACO goes through some soul searching.

Viva Riva, a film from the Democratic Republic of Congo (yes, they make films there too and they ain't always about rape) was the big winner at the Africa Movie Academy Awards held last weekend in Bayelsa State. It was directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga. Set in Congo (DRC) and Angola, it tells the story of Riva (played by Patsha Bay) who has ruthless criminals pursuing him in Kinshasa because he has stolen from then. This film brings a new cinematic verve as it illuminates the contradictions, pain, loss, heroism, and hopes of 21st Century Africa. It won 6 awards - Best Supporting Actress (Marlene Longage), Best Supporting Actor (Hoji Fortuna), Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, & Best Film.

My friend Leila Djansi was not left out. Sinking Sands picked up awards for Best Actress for her role in the movie. This was a first major acting role. What a way to join the movie industry! Sinking Sands is a movie about a marriage gone sour and touches on domestic abuse. The South African movie, Hopeville, which features my future wife, Terry Pheto, also won. Her cast mate, Themba Ndaba, won Best Actor. Hopeville tells the story of Amos, who ends up restoring the swimming pool in the dusty town of Hopeville, inspiring others to take action and to do what they know is right.

Full list of nominees

FULL LIST OF THE AMAA 2011 WINNERS - Info from GhanaCelebrities
Best Short Film: Dina – Mickey Fonseca (Mozambique)

Best Short Documentary: After The Mine – Diendo Hamadi & Dinta Wa Lusula (DRC)

Best Documentary: Kondi Et Le Jeudi Nationale – Ariana Astrid Atodji (Cameroun)

Best Diaspora Feature: Suicide Dolls – Keith Shaw (USA)

Best Diaspora Documentary: Stubborn As A Mule – Miller Bargeron Jr & Arcelous Deiels (USA)

Best Diaspora Short Film: Precipice – Julius Amedume (UK)

Best Film For African Abroad: In America: The Story Of The Soul Sisters- Rahman Oladigbolu (Nigeria/USA)

Best Achievement In Sound: Shirley Adams (South Africa)

Best Achievement In Editing: Soul Boy (Kenya)

Best Production Design: Viva Riva (Congo)

Best Achievement In Makeup: Sinking Sands (Ghana)

Best Costume Design: Aramotu (Nigeria)

Best Nigeria Film: Aramotu by Niji Akanni

Best Child Actor: Sobahle Mkhabase (Thembi), Tschepang Mohlomi (Chili-Bite) And Sibonelo Malinga (Khwezi) – Izulu Lami (South Africa)

Best Soundtrack: Inale (Nigeria)

Best Actor In Supporting Role: Hoji Fortuna from Viva Riva (Congo)

Best Actress In Supporting Role: Marlene Longage- Viva Riva (Congo)

Best Visual Effects: A Small Town Called Descent (South Africa)

Best Young Actor: Edward Kagutuzi – Mirror Boy

Best Actress In Leading Role: Ama K. Abebrese In Sinking Sands (Ghana)

Best Actor In Leading Role: Themba Ndaba – Hopeville (South Africa)

Best Cinematography: Viva Riva (Congo)

Best Screenplay: Sinking Sands (Ghana)

Best Film In African Language: Izulu Lami – Madoda Ncayiyana (South Africa)

Jury Special Award: Shirley Adams (South Africa)

Best Director: Viva Riva – Djo Tunda Wa Munga (Congo)

Best Film: Viva Riva – Djo Tunda Wa Munga (Congo)

Just a regular newsletter from the African Leadership Academy @ALAcademy

2011-03-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Received the latest newsletter from the African Leadership Academy and it was full of news that made me shout #vim!. I started tweeting some of them and then I was like ermm, I need a link to share all of it. Was finding trouble finding some so decided to create a link. Going to find a link for you to subscribe to their newsletter so you hear the next round of news at the same time I do. :-)

Preparing Leaders for Changing Times ~ March 2011

In This Issue

Announcing the Anzisha Prize

ALA Students Learn from Global Luminaries

ALA Alumni Invited to World Economic and Skoll Forums

ALA Students Give Bono Hope

Record Number of Applications for Admission

Global Scholars Program Launches in July

Support Africa's Future

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LETTER FROM THE FOUNDERS

Dear Friend,

The past several months have served as a powerful reminder of the importance of leadership on the African continent. The year began with a crisis of leadership in Ivory Coast that remains unresolved, and a referendum that will soon create a newly independent state in South Sudan. In the weeks since, the world has watched Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya struggle to define their future.

Our mission at ALA is as urgent as ever. The 21st century will be won by ethical and entrepreneurial leaders who work together - across ethnic groups, nations, and sectors - to power Africa's prosperity. Witnessing the conversations among young leaders on our campus about the events unfolding in their home countries gives us hope and confidence that the future will be bright indeed.

The events of the past few months have reminded us of the importance of developing leaders who are able to collaborate and operate on the global stage. This week, ALA students and alumni are joining other groups of young leaders from around the world to discuss environmental issues in the Bahamas and health care in the USA. Others are on student exchanges in Boston and San Francisco, or preparing for the TiltShift Symposium in Singapore. Our alumni are being brought to events like the World Economic Forum on Africa and the Skoll Forum. And in the articles below, you will learn about some of the global leaders who have shared their experiences on our campus this term - from a preeminent scientist, to an award-winning central banker, to a leading human rights activist.

And as we grow and develop, we must also find avenues that extend our impact beyond those few young leaders who find a place on our campus. This year, for example, almost 3,000 worthy applicants are competing for only about 100 slots in our fourth class. To help recognize, promote, and encourage positive change throughout the continent, we are thrilled to announce, in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, the Anzisha Prize: a new award that will celebrate young entrepreneurial leaders who are creating change in their African communities and the continent at large. We hope you will read more about this exciting initiative below, and spread the word!

With gratitude and enthusiasm for the future,

Fred Swaniker, Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur, and Acha Leke
Founders, African Leadership Academy

Announcing the Anzisha Prize

African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation are proud to announce the Anzisha Prize, the premier award for Africa's young entrepreneurial leaders.

This annual Prize - the first of its kind for youth in Africa - seeks to celebrate young innovators, ages 15-20, who have developed and implemented innovative solutions to challenges facing their communities. $70,000 USD in Prize money will be awarded to Prize winners from across Africa, and ALA will collaborate with its vast network of partners across Africa to help identify young leaders whose passion for Africa drives them to design and develop innovative projects that transform their communities and continent.

Anzisha Prize applications are available at www.anzishaprize.org. Both for-profit and non-profit efforts are eligible for the Anzisha Prize, and applicants will be judged on the impact, ingenuity, and scalability of their entrepreneurial efforts. Click here to download the complete press release from African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation announcing this exciting initiative!

ALA Students Learn from Global Luminaries

The past term saw global leaders in a wide range of fields share their wisdom with the young leaders on our campus:

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, dropped in on the Academy. Sanusi, who was on his way to London to receive the 'Global Central Bank Governor of the Year 2011' award
from The Banker magazine, came to ALA to discuss ethical leadership and the responsibility of making hard choices in difficult times. Mr Sanusi has been widely lauded for following through on tough decisions - including jailing corrupt bankers - despite threats to his life. (Read more here)

Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa, spent an afternoon at ALA with his Foundation. Five ALA students worked with the Foundation's members on various plans, strategies, and objectives. (Read more here)

Dr Francis Collins, former director of the Human Genome Project, and current head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) spoke to our students on issues ranging from ethical science to privacy, scientific rivalries and the need to reach for things just outside your grasp. (Read more here)

Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, spoke at our weekly assembly about the hurdles of a start-up, and about the commitment and expectations needed to make your venture come to life. A powerful role model for our social entrepreneurs, Ms. Kopp reminded us that the 'idea' is the easiest part of bringing a dream to life - it is execution and commitment that make a dream become reality.

Wu Qing, a widely regarded champion of human rights in the People's Democratic Republic of China, paid multiple visits to ALA over the course of a week, leading seminars and workshops. Wu's advocacy of government transparency and citizen involvement found a receptive audience at the Academy.

ALA Alumni Invited to World Economic
Forum and Skoll Forum

ALA alumni are already having a powerful impact across the continent, and their contributions have not gone unrecognized. Three ALA alumni who chose to spend a year hard at work between ALA and university have been invited to share their perspectives at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town and the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford.

Joseph Munyambanza founded COBURWAS, an organization dedicated to improving life in the Kyangwali Refugee Camp in Uganda, as a youth. During his time at ALA, Joseph led an effort to finance construction of a primary school to serve the young people in the camp and a secondary school scholarship program. He has since added other social services aimed at bettering the lives of his refugee community. Joseph has been invited to the World Economic Forum on Africa, to be held in early May in Cape Town.

Julius Shirima founded DARECHA during the summer between his first and second years at ALA, with the goal of stimulating entrepreneurship in his native Tanzania. Julius has taken his summer project and turned it into a full-time venture, helping locals create businesses and jobs at what could be considered the micro-finance level. Julius will also attend the World Economic Forum on Africa.

Tabitha Tongoi has spent the year working for TEDxKibera, and has been invited to the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, at Oxford University, where she will participate in a panel discussion entitled "From Poverty to Prosperity: Engaging the Next Generation." Before ALA, Tabitha started a program that saw over 6,000 textbooks distributed to some of the poorest schools in Kenya. With TEDxKibera she has helped bring a TED conference, with all of its educational benefits and public awareness, to the largest informal settlement in her home country.

ALA Students Give Bono Hope

ONE, an organization created by U2 front man Bono, invited ALA to participate in their inaugural African symposium in February. Two ALA students, Edwin Warsanga and Hind Ourahou, spoke at the event and impressed organizers and media alike. Bono singled out Hind's speech in his closing remarks, and the next day, he referred to our students again on local radio, saying, "I think these next generations have big challenges but I think they are up to it. They are taking it (a leading role in defining Africa's future) ... I've never felt so good to feel so useless." The Mail & Guardian called the ALA students the highlight of the event. (Read more here, including full transcripts of Edwin and Hind's speeches)

Record Number of Applications for Admission

With only the South Africa and Zimbabwe application deadlines still pending, ALA has already seen a record number of applications this year. Almost 3,000 young leaders have applied to ALA, including first-time applicants from Madagascar, Sao Tome & Principe, and Libya. Compare this to last year's 2,200 applications, and the inaugural year's 1,700 applications. The deadline for applications from South Africa is May 31, and from Zimbabwe is April 30, 2011. Applications can be downloaded here.

ALA Launches Summer Global Scholars Program

In its effort to offer life-changing leadership development opportunities to more young leaders, ALA is launching the Global Scholars Program this July and August. The Global Scholars Program is a 3-week intensive "summer program" that will bring together a select group of ALA students and other young leaders from across Africa and around the world. Global Scholars will experience ALA's unique programs in leadership and entrepreneurship: they will discover how to transform passion and vision into deliberate action; explore leadership in practice at some of Africa's most impactful social ventures; and lead an initiative designed to help a community in need.

The inaugural session of the GSP will run from July 17 to August 5, 2011. More information, including application forms, can be found here. If you have a child or know of a young leader between the ages of 14 and 18 who would benefit from this leadership development opportunity during their term break, please refer them to this exciting new program!

And should you know someone interested in spending a longer period of time at ALA, we are now accepting applications for our next cohort of gap year and term abroad students! Interested students and parents may learn more at www.alagapyear.org.

Support Africa's Future

With your help, African Leadership Academy will continue to develop thousands of leaders for Africa over the next 50 years - and in the process, will change the face of the continent.

As always, there are many ways that you can get involved with our work:
· donate
· refer a guest speaker
· offer a young leader an internship
· join or help launch an ALA chapter
· or nominate a student

In any and every way, your support can - and does - make a difference for ALA and the future of Africa.

...developing the next generation of African leaders

http://www.africanleadershipacademy.org

The future is here! More vim to the young African leaders and change makers out there!

2011-03-26T02:19:00.001-07:00

After a recent discussion with @MacJordan and Henry of @disterics, I started thinking about Africa's shining stars and the young African change makers and real leaders. I have featured some on my blog and in due time, more shall be blogged about. I can say a whole lot in this blog post but I'll allow Nigeria's Ty Bello to sing my thoughts to you.

Listen to 'The Future' by Ty Bello. Props to CPAfrica.com and Museke.com for the info.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUtSmvldkZ4

Lyrics below

We are the Future, we are the dream
We are the nation, we are part of this
Yes we are so amazing, that’s the least we shall be
At the heart of the nation changing history

How can they say that we are finished, we have just begun
When we have nowhere else to run to, when we have nowhere else to go
So get out of the way, out of the way of the land of our dreams
We are the nation, we are part of this
We are the nation, we are part of this

(Chorus) Carry the song, carry the sound
The future is here, the future is here
Goodbye yesterday, tomorrow is now for the taking
The future is here, the future is here

I am the future, I am the dream
I am the nation, I am part of this
Yes I am so amazing, that is the least I shall be
At the heart of the nation, changing history
How can they say that we are finished, we have just begun
When we have nowhere else to run to, when we have nowhere else to go
So get out of the way, out of the way of the land of my dreams
I am the nation, I am part of this
So get out of the way, out of the way of the land of my dreams
I am the nation, I am part of this

(Chorus) Carry the song, carry the sound
The future is here, the future is here
Goodbye yesterday, tomorrow is now for the taking
The future is here, the future is here

Raise your hand in the air if you believe the future has come now
The future is here, the future is here
This is our, this is our…
This is our country
The future is here, the future is here

The future, the future has…
The future has come…

© Ty Bello

Now, I can go to bed happy! More #vim!

Disability is not inability - the inspiration that is Farida Bedwei

2011-03-24T14:30:00.001-07:00

I first heard about Farida Bedwei when Edward Tagoe emailed our Barcamp team asking for her contacts and encouraging us to bring her to Barcamp Ghana 2010 at Ashesi. This is the news story he read. It was about the inspiring story of Farida Bedwei, overcoming the challenges of having cerebral palsy to become one of the top software engineers in Ghana and writing her own book 'Definition of a Miracle'. Cerebral palsy refers to a family of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement, posture and muscle coordination.

Speaking on Joy FM’s religious programme A Walk with Jesus, Farida said she has never allowed her disability to limit her ability. “All my life I’ve been told by my mom to remove the word ‘I can’t’ from my vocabulary and replace it with ‘I’ll try’ and so whatever I’ve done my entire life, I’ve tried and by the grace of God everything that I’ve tried, I’ve been successful at,” she said.

Farida entered mainstream school for the first time when she was 12 years old. While at Barcamp Ghana during a breakout session organized by Charles Odonkor who's at Yale Medical School, I was able to learn more about Farida. She was a participant in the session on brain power called “Declaring the decade of the brain”. She talked about how her mother did not let her condition become a limiting factor and took the time and pains to research how she could get her daughter to achieve every single dream she had. Who knows how Farida would have turned out if her mother hadn't pushed her to be special? If she hadn't forced ideas of "vim" into her head when she may not have had the "capa"?

We see a lot of disabled people in Ghana, as well as folks with mental problems. Too often, we write them off as 'mad' and don't give them the necessary care so that they can still make the best out of their situations. Disability is not inability. Farida's mother knew that. In the breakout session, we discussed how we tend to think that 'mad' people or folks with mental disorders should be prayed for so demons will cast out. These people need medical help and emotional support. Look at the stigma attached to Pantang and other psychiatric hospitals. I am so happy we have people like Farida Bedwei who can help us destroy some of these stereotypes we have of disabled people and how they can also be great achievers.

Farida recently launched her first book 'Definition of a Miracle'. She obviously is a big believer like we are in Africans telling our own stories by saying "most books about Africa are written by people who are not Africans and they give a wrong perception of this part of the world". Edward interviewed her about the book on his blog, honouring her on International Women's Day.

Edward: What is your book about and what motivated you to write it?
Farida: The book is about contemporary Ghanaian society through the eyes of a disabled little girl. I wrote this book to change perceptions; perceptions about those of us in Ghana, Africa and other third world developing countries and, perceptions about persons with disabilities. We are much more than AIDS, Child-Soldiers, Hunger and Corruption and it is about time we made this known to all. It is time we told our own stories and changed the image the rest of the world has of our beautiful continent.

There are many who equate physical disabilities with mental disabilities, and mental disabilities with lack of intelligence. Both perceptions are wrong and must be erased from the mindset of society. I always say the reason people with physical disabilities are treated differently is because majority rules. If we were the majority, the able-bodied folks would be the ‘disabled’ ones because the world would be engineered to fit our needs instead of yours.

Farida works with G-Life Financial Services. Read a review of the book on Myweku.com. Buy the book on Amazon. Stay up to date on the book and all things Farida Bedwei through her Facebook page. She is well on her way to be honoured like the many great Ghanaian women who were honoured recently as well.

Google launches tech incubator called Umbono in South Africa

2011-03-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

I love incubators and the many other programs out there geared towards launching small to medium scale enterprises. There are bunch in Africa, including the MEST incubator I've blogged about and the BusyLabs one I will blog about at some point. They are both in Accra. Saw info about Google launching a Tech incubator in South Africa called Umbono. Learn more about at this website.

Their website says ---

Have a great tech idea?

The Umbono program will help transform your vision into a business. Your idea – probably web or mobile deployed – is exciting on many levels: for your future users, potential investors, and for the people on your team building it.

Some African movies I still want to see

2011-03-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

I have become a big fan of African cinema - well, not all the movies, but the really good ones. I have bought a bunch of Ghanaian and South African movies in the last couple of years. You can also search for many African movies at the Fienipa site.

Here are some others I wanna buy and watch.

Movie: Africa United

Country: Rwanda

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1429313/

Movie: Figurine

Country: South Africa

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542960/

Movie: From a Whisper

Country: Kenya

http://indieflix.com/film/from-a-whisper-31066/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517185/

Togetherness Supreme

Country: Kenya

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1601235/

Seasons of a Life

Country: Malawi

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1594537/

Teza

Country: Ethiopia

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1284592/

Movie: Rwanda, Le Jour Où Dieu est Parti en Voyage (Rwanda, the Day God Went on a Trip)

Country: Rwanda

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235848/

Movie: Beat the drum

Country: South Africa

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387057/

Movie: Mafrika

Country: South Africa/Netherlands

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1101045/

Movie: Relentless

Country: Nigeria

http://www.clammag.com/clamfilms//relentless/html/index.html

African films I 've talked about already.

Vodafone Ghana says "Power to you"

2011-03-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

So the last time I was in Ghana, I succeeded in not using an MTN chip. Good riddance. With number portability coming to GH this summer, perfect timing. I switched to Vodafone. I won't lie. I chose Vodafone for two reasons. 1: They sponsored Barcamp Ghana. 2: They bought Ghana Telecom and my mother used Vodafone too. I enjoyed their services for the most part and moving forward, I think I'll be sticking with them. Besides, their marketing tagline is 'Power to You'. Doesn't that shout VIM to you?

I was encouraged by how Vodafone was marketing itself while I was in Ghana. It seemed they had realised they needed to push the envelope with reaching the Blackberry and texting-crazy Ghanaian youth in order to increase their market share. I saw a friend get a Vodafone Blackberry phone locally for an affordable price. By the way, have you seen their new ultra modern headquarters located in Airport City?

See some ads - Power to You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g-ZgmJxDbY

Whispers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEVSSeULww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DY1clgXqBE

For some weird reason, my Dell computer would not turn on when I got to Accra last December, and neither would it work in Kumasi either. Since I had gotten an Android phone, seemed like I was going to stuck on the mobile web. Stuck on it I was. A lot of my expenditure while I'm in Ghana goes towards communication and transportation. Thank heavens. Nah, I ain't spending my money at Citizen Kofi, Rhapsody's and Frankie's. I routinely spent over 40 GhC, approx $26 on phone card units each week. I browsed a whole lot and made many calls on this amount and felt I was getting my money's worth. The internet speed was bearable and I wasn't worried about the 'units' getting finished. Now this is a marked departure from my experience with AT&T's internet. In fact, I hardly use AT&T wi-fi on my phone, thank goodness I have free wireless in most places I find myself.

This is no promotion for Vodafone's service. But "power to you" does sound like "vim" to me. So, go Vodafone, go.

Google and Ghana is a match-made in vim-heaven

2011-03-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, you know this already, but Google is doing stuff in Ghana. Last year, they organized their first conference there called G-Ghana. If you missed it, not to worry, I blogged about it. Click here. I wasn't even there, but with Twitter and hashtags like #gghana, who said I needed to be? 2011's G-Ghana is coming up soon. Before I give you details, let me give you a few reasons why you should attend it.

At least you know that there is www.google.com.gh. Yeap, Google's Ghana version. Tired of Ghanaweb? Try out http://news.google.com.gh. Google's Ghana homepage also offers search in Twi, Ewe, Ga and Hausa. And on March 6th, it celebrated Ghana's 54th by adorning the google.com doodle in Kente

Looking for directions from Auntie Muni Waakye in Labone to Katawodieso in Osu because the former run out of waakye? Map it in Google. I be fienipa like that, I dey love nududu.

For those in Ghana who use GMAIL, you can use it to text messages to local phone numbers in Ghana. A friend who lives in Accra told me he hardly sends text messages anymore because he can just gchat with all those in Ghana he wants to text. Yes boss! 233Tech, one of the best Tech sites in Ghana, will tell you all about this awesome move by Google Ghana.

Baraza, which means ‘taskforce’ or ‘council’ in Swahili, is a question and answer service that will also be integrated into search results on Google Search. If you have any questions about Africa, go and ask it through Baraza. If you've been wondering something go find the answer there as well. Access it through www.google.com.gh/baraza. More info here

Google Trader launched in Ghana on Thursday December 2nd, 2010 with 5 flash mobs of 100 dancers performing across Accra. Google Trader is a classifieds service that allows people to buy and sell products and services, on Web, Mobile Web and SMS. Have you seen the flash mobs video? One of the best made-in-Ghana videos on Youtube. Google goes hard and local.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUtsguaGjbY

Read this post about it by one of Ghana's best bloggers, Maameous.
Sebi you want buy, abi you want sell eh? Google Trader!

And then of course, they've been sponsorsing Barcamps and many forward-thinking events in Ghana. Google, we salute you. More VIM!

Oh wait, yea, G-Ghana. Them say Edey happen April 28-29 at Alisa Hotel. Them say register for http://sitescontent.google.com/gghana2011/. Them also say

We at Google are excited to meet with Ghana's software developers, tech businesses and digital marketeers. With a successful G-Ghana 2010, we look forward to demonstrating the Google web and mobile tools that are driving technological and business innovation here in Africa and across the globe.

TransTales animates African characters and tales

2011-03-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

Info about this arrived in my Facebook inbox and I said 'vim!'. TransTales Entertainment is a company devoted to telling great and interesting stories using inspiring visuals. Check them out at http://transtales.com/ Think of them as bringing African tales, or tales with African characters to life with animation.

Read a press release about Trans Tales from where else "Africagoodnews.com"

An African film company is gaining global attention by producing award-winning 3D animation titles made from an African perspective. TransTales Entertainment was started in 2005 on a budget of less than 5 000 dollars by Segun Williams and Obinna Onwuekwe, and is the first film company to produce African themed 3D animation films to fill the void in animation with myriads of authentic African stories.

The titles produced by TransTales are widely acclaimed by industry experts and the animated series "Mark of Uru" recently won the United Nations World Summit Award for the use of technology to promote African culture. According to the UN World Summit Awards website, "Mark of Uru" is an exciting web-based animation series combining digital expertise with local folk story, imagery and culture.

"Mark of Uru" is written and directed by Obinna Owuekwe and produced by Segun Williams. Owuekwe also lends his voice to two of the characters: The Warrior and Isi Agu. The costumes and makeup are authentically African and the series has a woman empowerment theme embedded in it. The voices also feature varied accents, mostly Igbo and Efik from West Africa.

Teaser for Mark of Uru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdNAJvQSyTc

Business and Pleasure Teaser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7BdXeiOJiY

Enemy of Rising Sun Teaser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e-J8px0htc

Buy African Tales at Amazon.com

First ever Ghana Women of Excellence Awards 2011

2011-03-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

While busily following proceedings of a Champions League match in which Barcelona ended Arsenal's interest, a friend on Twitter @nnenna was at the Accra International Conference Center for Ghana Women of Excellence Awards on the occasion of the International Women's day. This first edition was a major success. Through her tweets, several of them which I retweeted @Abocco - I present you the awardees of the First ever Ghana Women of ExcellenceAwards.

From the Facebook event - In Ghana, the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs has mandated that the Day should be commemorated with the Ghana Women of Excellence Awards Scheme. The theme for the Awards Scheme is “Empowering the Ghanaian Woman for National Development”, the primary objective of the Scheme is “to motivate Ghanaian women to strive for excellence in their various walks of life ...and to take their rightful places in the national development process”. The Awards Scheme will form part of the celebration in Ghana of International Women's Day.

Mrs Sohne, the mother of late Guido Sohne, attended the event along with the High Commissioner of Zimbabwe (a lady), and Indian Ambassador. It is in her honour that FOSSFA awards the Guido Sohne Fellowship. Nnenna is a FOSSFA member. The ceremony started with a prayer by a Lady reverend at 8pm. She began with "This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it". Nnenna commented "Ghana begins everything with prayer". Reverend Amah Blay didn't mince words, sticking with the issue at hand by saying "Christ first liberated the woman". The Chair of the occasion was a man though - Hon Sampson Ahi, Chair of Parliament Committee on Gender and Children's Affairs. Top Brass Ghana (Isaac Darkwah & co) organised this for the Ministry of Women and Children's affairs. As per many of these events, a African traditional group performed wonderful traditional drumming and dancing- they're based at the Arts Centre. The event was graced by the First lady, Her Excellency Ernestina Naadu Mills.

As the first awardee was unable to come in person, the Minister of Women's and Children's Affairs, Honourable Juliana Azumah-Mensah proceeded to give her official speech. In Ghana, the Attorney General and the Minister of Justice, and the Speaker of the House are all women. The First Lady paid homage to great women who have contributed in nation building. On behalf of members of FOSSFA, Nnenna cngratulated Dorothy Gordon, the first and only Ghanaian lady to be honored in ICT and added "Open Source tops is all". She added Trail blazing is not easy. Congratulations. See Dorothy below holding her award.

Elizabeth Adjei is the first Ghana Immigration Service chief. A group of Ghana Immigration Service accompanied their boss. Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie was the first lady President of the Ghana Journalists Association. Lady journalists are upstanding while her citation was read. Professor Ama Atta-Aidoo is one of the earliest playwrights in Ghana and was honoured for culture and Literature. She is a playwright, dramaturge, poet, and professor. She wrote "The Girl who Can", amongst other books.

Josephine Amoah and Dr Mrs Stephanie Ansah were honoured in Insurance & Banking respectively. Grace Aryee is the only woman to be on the board of the Chamber of Mines in Africa. She is also very involved in ministry, routinely writing articles and pieces about it in Ghana's newspapers. Many of the women honored have strong society engagements and most have some form of Christian Ministry. Dr Joyce Asibey was the first female to sit for Cambridge Higher School Certificate Exam in West Africa and was honoured in Education. Dinah Ameley Ayensu, who also attended Wesley Girls High School, was honoured in Tourism. Wey Gey Hey, like it's affectionately called, has produced many important women in Ghana. Dinah started Fredina Tours, wrote an African cookbook and put Ghana tourism on the world map.

Charlotte Erekaar Azurago, the youngest awardee, is one of the best teachers in Ghana. Dr Grace Bediako is Ghana's Chief Statistician. Very Reverend Ama Afo Blay was the first female to be appointed Director General of the Ghana Education Service and doubles as Chair of Ghana Women for Peace. Anna Bossman, Deputy Commissioner at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was honoured in Law and Order. Carlien Dorcas Bou-Chedid is one of the finest structural engineers in Ghana, as well as a software developer. Dr Eunice Brookman-Amissah, an Achimota School alum, was honoured in Health.

Mary Chinery-Heese was the first woman to head the UN ILO. Florence Abena Dolphyne, the original face of the National Science and Maths Quiz for secondary schools in Ghana, received an award in Education. She is Ghana's first female to have held almost all positions in university education. Elizabeth Dugble was honoured in Insurance. Efua Frimpomaa, who is still farming at 81!, was honoured in Agriculture. Nnenna added Farmers will never go out of style! Go mama!

Rose Aba Hart is Ghana's greatest all-round female athlete, winning many international medals and can still run at almost 70! The La Mantse, traditional ruler of the La area of Accra, conferred many awards. Nnenna tweeted "The greatest number of awards have been given to women in the domain of education. I am happy about that". Veronica Ayikwei Kofie received an award for contributing to the Labour Union development in Ghana. "Human Rights activist to the bone!". Judge Akua Kuenyehia is being honored for her role in Law and Order. She was represented by her children. Helena Lokko is one of Ghana's most foremost bankers.

From a couple of Nnenna's tweets, it seemed most of the women attended Aburi Girls, Wesley Girls, Achimota Girls, as well as Holy Child School, my mother's Alma Mater. Bepow so hann! Presec's sister/wife school is as great as Presec itself. :-) Gey Hey alum, Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, is Ghana's High Commissioner in Sierra Leone and was honoured in Law and Order. The first Ghanaian Zoologist, Dr Letitia Eva Takyibea Obeng, born in 1925, was honoured too. She is on a postage stamp! "Now, that is tres cool".

The only female Vice Chancellor (University of Cape Coast) in Ghana, Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang was honoured in education. Theresa Oppong-Berko of Manet was honoured. She built the house Nnenna lives in in Ghana. My friend, Sophia Ashiokai Quashie-Sam, the only female University Registrar (KNUST), was honoured for education. A lifelong learner, Augustine Quashigah, has been in business for almost 50 years. She dedicated her award to all grassroots traders. The first Ghanaian woman to qualify as a Computer Programmer and founder of Camelot, Elizabeth Joyce Villars, was honoured too. A foremost Architect, Theresa Afua Yankah, received an award too. That brought the awardees to 33 done. The last but not certainly not the least awardee was ..... "21-gun salute!" ... the first lady to achieve full Colonel rank in the Ghana military - The Rtd Colonel Faustina Cecilia Yeboah!

The full list of awardees were: Elizabeth Adjei - National Security. Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie - Media. Ama Ata Aidoo - Literature. Josephine Jennifer Amoah - Insurance. Stephanie Baeta Ansah - Banking. Rosalind Aryee - Mining. Joyce Assibey - Education. Dinah Naa Ayensu - Tourism. Florence Abena Dolphyne - Education. Elizabeth Dugble - Insurance. Matilda Esi - Land. Eunice Brookman Amissah - Health. Mary Chinery-Heese - Public/International Service. Ama Afo Blay - Education. Anna Bossman - Law and Order. Carlien Chedid - Building. Charlotte Erekaar Azurago - Education. Grace Afua Bediako - Statistics.

Others were: Elizabeth Mills-Robertson - Law and Order. Letitia Takyibea Oben - Science + Tech. Veronica Ayikwei Kofie - Labour. Akua Kuenyehia - Law and Order. Helen Lokko - Banking. Efua Frompomaa - Agriculture. Dorothy Gordon - ICT. Rose Aba Hart - Sports. Melanie Kasise - Tourism. Jane Opoku-Agyemang - Education. Theresa Oppong-Beeko - Estate development. Sophia Ashiokai Quarshie-Sam - Education. Augustine Quashigah - Commerce. Joyce Villars - Manufacturing. Theresa A Yankah - Building. Faustina Cecilia Yeboah - Health.

Nnenna also tweeted during the ceremony :-) OMG, Arsenal is getting a lashing... no wonder I am no longer being personally updated. Aie aie aie. Guess she had an interest in the football game like we did. We didn't need her to be updated, we needed her to share the spectacular news coming out of the Accra International Conference Centre. Now waiting for the Ghanaian and international media to follow Nnenna's lead. Check out pictures from the event

Kudos to all these women and more #VIM to all Ghanaian women excelling everywhere! Major shoutouts to Estelle Sowah (Country Director of Google Ghana), Leila Djansi (movie director), and Farida Bedwei, who my friend @ttaaggooee blogged about today.

Celebrating Internatonal women's day with some African music (Museke) #internationalwomensday

2011-03-08T05:06:00.001-08:00

Today is International Women's Day. Happy Women's Day! Last year, I blogged about this too. Check it out here - I had a lot to say. This year, I am going to do something different. I am going to share some good and great African songs about women. The music says a lot of what I, and hopefully many people want to say to African women and women all over.

Ghana's Becca recently released her newest music video and it celebrates the African woman. Only one word describes the video and song. "And every time I look at my mama, I see that woman". We can't talk about women without mentioning our mothers and how awesome they are. I love how she pays tribute to the late Miriam Makeba.

Watch the music video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FY1N68qPmc

"I am a strong woman (strong woman); Bold woman; I am a wise woman; Ima let everybody get to know that". 3 Black Ladies from Uganda (Blu3) sing about strong women. Mya, Lilian and Jackie are successful women in the music industry and empowered women and this song should empower women too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5N00Wz1Vs8

Zambia's Judy also sings about women in Supernatural. "I'm a super woman; I'm a super natural woman; I'm a super African woman; I'm a super Zambian woman"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldk72v_VHvA

Nigeria's Kefee Obareki celebrates the African woman too. She even thanks the man too :-) "Mama, this song is for you; Papa, this song is for you too; Even though we didn't have much; You still gave my life a special touch; You made me learn how to sing; And now I'm gonna let your praises ring"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b_u3lxZiwo

This song came out a while ago but still rings true today. Ghana's Chemphe asks why you dey treat am bad? There are many cases of domestic violence and Chemphe's song waged a campaign against it. "If you saw your grand daddy doing it; If you saw your daddy doing it; You don’t have to repeat the same".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bxQeMTVSGM

Nigeria's Obiwon sings about a Nigerian girl. "Love the sound of your name; Exotic African gorgeous untamed yeah; And when I look at your frame; So beautiful life’s painting; I respect you from the heart; My treasure, wonderfully made; Heaven’s priceless work of art".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLuvbKiOXEE

Where the Liberian girls @? Jody sings about a girl from Liberia. "I've been thinkin 'bout you; So I wrote this song to let you know; You're my Liberian queen; I've been thinkin 'bout you; So I wrote this song for you my Liberian girl"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6crmyKBrwg

Uganda's Mega Dee sings about a Ugandan woman. "Ugandan woman, you are the African mama; Oh Uganda, oh Uganda, this is the land of beauties in the world; You are the Nile like the Pearl of Africa; Mama, you are so inspirational"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MCzVpF79lE

"And you are my African Queen, the girl of my dreams; You take me where I've never been; You make my heart go ting-a-ling-a-ling, oh ahh; You are my African Queen, the girl of my dreams; And you remind me of a thing; And that is the African beauty yeah;
Yeah, oooh, you are my African queen; Oh Lord, ooh Lord hmm"
Timeless song by Tuface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaSzkq4BlH8

I wasn't a little unsure if I should have added Lady by Fela Kuti. Let's deliberate on these lyrics though. "If you call a woman; African woman no go 'gree; She go say; She go say "I be lady o". The African woman is a lady. So says Fela. I'm sure you can find the song somewhere :-)

I also wrote this blog entry - 10 songs dedicated to African women . Are there any other splendid songs about women by African musicians? Please share them with us.

I will end the same way I ended last year's post.

In fact, when you think about some of the reasons behind IWD, it's a little tough to go around saying Happy Women's Day. We must start doing our little contributions to stop the injustices that women and girls face all around the world and encourage the celebration of more achievements. But when you think about women do well, and how they make our families tick, our communities build, our societies flourish and our world prosper, we must join in a single voice and chorus, "Happy Women's Day".

"Happy Women's Day".

Ghana's 54th birthday weekend - #6thMarch

2011-03-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

Ghana's 54th birthday happened this past weekend. As expected, it didn't have as much fanfare as four years ago. President Atta Mills gave a speech. The nation's teachers threatened to remove any single spines of any celebrations. Ghanaians all over the world found an excuse to party. Folks wore Ghanaian colours when they normally wouldn't. Others learnt how to recite the Ghanaian pledge and sing the national anthem again. Many things happened. How did I spend/celebrate/reflect upon the 54th anniversary of Ghana's independence's weekend? Let's find out.

I woke up late on 6th March, Sunday, to watch my team, Manchester United, versus Liverpool. I was over 30 minutes late and I was greeted with the punishment of a two goal deficit. Ah, if I had woken up early! Like all of Red Devil nation, we all believed MANUtd will make a comeback but it was not meant to be. So I congratulated Liverpool on their win and because the heavens were impressed with my honesty/humility/objectivity, they blessed me with a Top Tweet on Twitter. No lie. Read about the whole story here. Later on, I watched the Miami Heat lose yet another big game to the Chicago Bulls courtesy of our Sudanese friend, Luol Deng. Later in the day, the Lakers arrived at the Alamodome and this time the Spurs watched them play basketball as the latter's 22 game home winning streak was snapped.

A friend texted me asking about Ghanaian churches in Oakland. I had just been to the Lighthouse Chapel International local branch the weekend before and I should have really gone to a Ghanaian church this Independence day. Hadn't thought about it :-( I told these sisters about LCI and the Church of Pentecost in Oakland and how they differed and left them to make a choice. A friend of a friend happened to be stranded at Stanford bcos her move wouldn't start. I tried to get her some help but Sunday morning just wasn't a good time. She ended up getting a tow truck to bail her out.

A friend, Koby Maxwell, was in town premiering a movie he produced called 'Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark'. I interviewed him about it here and publicized it here. I was extremely excited to finally see the movie in San Jose Sunday night. The movie features "Ghanaian actor and fine boy" Van Vicker who was going to make the movie a lot of money and make sure many young 'insert adjective of your pleasing here' African women came to the premieres. I arrived there to see a near-empty screening room, a sullen look on Koby Maxwell's face and Van Vicker marked absent. I convinced Koby Maxwell to wait till 8pm and show the movie bcos I wasn't going to come all the way to San Jose and watch half of a movie I really wanted to watch and was willing/going to pay $20 for.

I realised that there were a lot of Africans next door so I decided to go scope what was going on. Citizen journalism, I tell you. There were many Africans - young and old - dressed in African attires - having a jolly good time, eating, chatting, dancing, taking pictures. It was a party and no one was charging money. Ah, free food, I shouted in my mind. Before I joined the food line, I tried to see if I knew anyone at this event I was not invited to. I couldn't find a single soul I knew. Finally, I saw my friend Dzifa who told me this event was a Sierra Leonian outdooring party. And then I thought, I hardly know any Sierra Leonians in the Bay Area. I know three; Dzifa's wife, one girl I met who I sold a ticket to at the Awilo Longomba concert and my buddy Gordon. Only Dzifa's wife was here tonight. I said to myself, I must make some Sierra Leonian friends tonight. The only person Dzifa introduced me to was one of the ladies serving the food. Good start. I fixed myself a plate of rice, bofrots, chicken and beef stew, plantains, etc. Of course, I wanted to make Sa Leone friends but like they say back home, "Chop time, no friend".

Sierra Leonians aren't very different from West Africans. I could easily have mistaken them for Nigerians. I know enough Ghanaians not to make that mistake. At the party, the DJ played 'Yori Yori', 'Rakia', 'Yesterday betteh pass tiday' and 'Juliana'. "Bottom power, shege, bottom power, shege". "The walkings wey etake come". No, I didn't ask her name or call any of the girls. I wanted Dzifa to introduce me. But, shiee wow! Bottom power paa nie! I spoke to one lady briefly when they were playing Rakia, and told her "that song is from my country". Moments later, she has hitting the dance floor, without me, and singing along to Rakia. A Sierra Leonian woman! She knew the words to the song! Erm, I was going to ask her if she learnt how to sing along through Museke.com but I didn't get the chance. I didn't really see her the rest of the night.

8 knocked and when I was assured I had eaten enough, I proceeded to the movie premiere. A couple more people had arrived and the movie was rolled. I was impressed with the film. When you see a lot of African movies shot in the US, they don't ooze the quality, are low-budget and worse than those made back home. Not this one - Paparazzi: Eye in the Dark. The sound and production quality was on point! I loved the soundtrack too and the story. I will write a full post about my impressions of the movie, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Go catch the premiere soon if it's coming to your city.

After the movie, I happened to get into a discussion with a Sierra Leonian who happened to have purchased a ticket for the premiere but didn't watch the movie. He started talking about Africans don't support each other, how he goes to Ghanaian and Nigerian events, but Ghanaians and Nigerians don't come to Sierra Leonian events. I told him he missed a great movie. And there were Sierra Leonians in the movie too, in fact the producers did a remarkable job in ensuring it has an all-African cast. He told me, he doesn't watch African movies because he can't learn anything from them but he'll rather watch Johnny Depp. Erm, I am getting a beating right now wondering what is to learn by watching movies with Johnny Depp. The last ~~Deep~~, ahem sorry Depp, movie I watched had one female character, Angelina Jolie. Learn something from that lol. I couldn't believe this guy and started smiling and laughing about what he was saying which drove him away.

Hmm, and then I was like, but I haven't made any new Sierra Leonian friends. So I followed "my brother" to the restroom, continued our conversation and ended up taking his number and his fiancee's number too. I wanted to be in touch so he could tell about all the Sierra Leonian events in the Bay Area. No, I didn't do this because of 'bottom power' :-). I like to know what's happening with my African peoples. The name's Mighty African. I spoke to a couple more Sierra Leonian ladies, including one who had added me on Facebook and I recognized. Most of the ladies were busily lining up to pay money to take pictures with Van Vicker. Yea, the crowd that came to take the pictures outnumbered the crowd interested in seeing the movie. No comment. I congratulated Koby Maxwell and his co-producer, Clarice Kulah. I told Van Vicker, "this is the best movie you've been in". And then I returned home.

And then I woke up to Monday and said #VIM!

Ghana's 54th birthday weekend - pre 6th March

2011-03-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

A mwananchi from Kenya, Gabriel Nderitu, builds plane in his front yard

2011-03-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

I once shared a story of Morris Mbetsa - an 18 year old African self-taught electronics genius. Well, another Kenyan makes an appearance here. I saw my friend Henry @disterics share this info - "Kenyan builds plane in front yard" on Google Buzz and I didn't waste any time in killing my curiosity. Mwananchi is a Swahili word meaning the common man.

A Kenyan man has used the internet and some books on engineering to build his own aircraft. Gabriel Nderitu has dreamt of flying since he was a child and has spent a huge amount of money building the plane in his front yard. But his dream may be grounded as the authorities say it is not airworthy.

Click the link to watch the video

I think it is really sad I could not embed the video from the BBC link to this blogpost. I already am not a fan of the BBC Africa site and not allowing folks to embed such a great vimacious video is sad. So I went to Youtube to see if I'd have any luck. And I found these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujU1DjaYfs4

An innovative Kenyan is just about to test the results of his brainchild. Gabriel Nderitu, an I.T specialist is putting final touches to an aeroplane he has been assembling for the last one year ahead of a test run in Kitengela next week. If indeed Nderitu's two seater plane takes off, and more importantly, lands successfully, then it will be a first for Kenya. Sylvia Chebet tells us more about the budding innovator and how close he is to becoming Kenya's pioneer in aircraft manufacturing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRsUT5OisoA

These videos are from Kenya's KenyaCitizenTv and PositiveBlackStories and got onto Youtube 4 months before the story appeared on the BBC. I will give BBC credit for making sure the story got to a bigger audience though, after all, that's how Henry found the story and then myself.

Nderitu says the point is to inspire and build confidence in the youth.

#Twende!

PS: Killing one's curiosity that quickly can be problematic especially when you need the same curiosity to kill the cat ;-)

The bittersweet story of my top tweet on #6thMarch

2011-03-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

Today, 6th March, is Ghana's 54th birthday and independence day for all Ghanaians. So a lot of Ghanaians and lovers of Ghana on Twitter have been hoping for Ghana to trend on the social network and on Google Trends. This hasn't happened and we could sit here and debate why that hasn't happened. Funnily enough, I got something of 'mine' to trend and unfortunately, it's not even about Ghana. It's about the Manchester United game that was played today.

Ghanaians love football (soccer) and many love the English Premier League. So when Manchester United and Liverpool clashed at Anfield, a lot of us were watching. Some of us were tweeting about the game and posting updates on Facebook. My team, Man Utd was 'destroyed' and as a good fan of the game, I congratulated Liverpool, who also happen to our bitterest rivals. Sorry, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. I posted this tweet after the 3-1 defeat.

"Congrats #Liverpool. Well played. While #Manchester United were poor, they were vibrant. #lfc 3- #mufc 1. Dirk Kuyt hat-trick."

A little later, I realised many Twitter users who I didn't know were retweeting me and posting replies to me. Little I did know that this tweet would become so popular. Yes, it was a top tweet for #manchester, #Liverpool, #lfc and #mufc! I was like wow!

Now, it is very unfortunate that though I had the honour of a top tweet, my tweet wasn't even about Ghana. On 6th March. The occasion of Ghana's independence. Shyous. Let's blame Twitter. The interesting here is how Ghana, for all our golden glory, is still not as relevant a country worldwide. This is debatable but the fact is, there are just not that many Ghanaians. I've seen articles saying our population of 24 million is too much because of a drain on resources, etc, but to me, I want there to be more Ghanaians in the world. Let's get overpopulated :-)

Manchester United & Liverpool combined may have more fans than Ghana. How else can we explain this bittersweet story? Or maybe if Google had adorned the google.com doodle in Kente, Ghana may have trended? Instead, they only did it for the google.com.gh homepage. We still love them for doing that though. I have been hoping I could help make #Ghana trend on Twitter or Google and if anyone has any ideas, let us know.

Happy birthday Ghana! Happy independence day! And more #VIM! :-)

Happy 54th birthday #Ghana! Listen and download #KwameNkrumah's Independence speech #6thMarch

2011-03-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite speeches to listen to. It gives me goosebumps every time. The speech Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah delivered at midnight 6th March 1957 as he declared Ghana's independence. It has a lot of soundbites, Kwame Nkrumah was an excellent orator and bits of the speech are repeated till this very day and will be forever more.

Download below the Independence speech delivered by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president on 6th March 1957. The Midnight Speech At the Old Polo grounds in Accra. Enjoy. Provided by the GhanaThink Foundation
File - [6:56 minutes (6.35 MB)]
http://www.4shared.com/audio/TTNSQTXs/Kwame_Nkrumah_-_The_Midnight_s.html

Here is the speech transcribed for you.

"At long last, the battle has ended! And thus Ghana, your beloved country is free forever. And yet again I want to take the opportunity to thank the chiefs and people of this country, the youth, the farmers, the women who have so nobly fought and won this battle. Also I want to thank the valiant ex-service men who have so co-operated with me in this mighty task of freeing our country from foreign rule and imperialism.

And as I pointed out... I made it quite clear that from now on – today – we must change our attitudes, our minds, we must realise that from now on, we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people. But also, as I pointed out, that also entails hard work. That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation. Our own African identity.

As I said in the assembly just minutes ago, I made a point that we are going to create our own African personality and identity. It's the only way that we can show the world that we are ready for own own battles. But today, may I call upon you all - that on this great day, let us all remember that nothing in the world can be done unless it's had the purport and support of God. We have won the battle and we again re-dedicate ourselves ... Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa.

Let us now fellow Ghanaians, let us now ask for God's blessing and for only two seconds in your thousands and millions, I want to ask you to pause only for one minute and give thanks to almighty God for having led us through our difficulties, imprisonments, hardships and suffering to have brought us to the end of our trouble today. One minute silence.

Ghana is free forever and here I will ask the band to play the Ghana national anthem." Reshaping Ghana's destiny I am depending upon the millions of the country, and the chiefs and people, to help me to reshape the destiny of this country. We are prepared to pick it up and make it a nation that will be respected by every nation in the world. We know we are going to have difficult beginnings, but again, I'm relying upon your support, I'm relying upon your hard work.

Seeing you in this… it doesn't matter how far my eye goes, I can see that you are here in your millions and my last warning to you is that you are to stand firm behind us so that we can prove to the world that when the African is given a chance he can show the world that he is somebody! We have awakened. We will not sleep anymore. Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world!

Watch a photo slideshow with the speech in the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joBjzivBKz4

Yet another post about Patrick Awuah - he talks about training our next leaders

2011-03-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

I have blogged about Patrick Awuah countless times. In fact, as I write these words, tears well up in my eyes. Tears of joy. How is getting you to hear and watch Patrick Awuah speak not a joyous moment?

At the recent Barcamp Ghana event at the university he founded - Ashesi University - Patrick Awuah said “There should come a time that citizens in Africa will not desire to migrate to Europe or the USA”.

Watch this video - Training our next leaders: Patrick Awuah on TED.com video

Is Patrick Awuah on Twitter? Erm, not to the best of my knowledge. The man is so unassuming and humble, I doubt he even wants a Twitter. So far as he will continue to honour speaking arrangements, like at Barcamp Ghana events, we won't need him to have a Twitter. We will be documenting everything he says.

George Ayittey rallies the "Cheetah Generation", new breed of Africans

2011-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

When we were looking for keynote speakers for the very first Barcamp in Ghana, we thought George Ayittey was a perfect fit. He is a distinguished Economist in Residence at American University in Washington, DC.

From his TED.com profile

His influential book Africa Unchained has helped unleash a new wave of activism and optimism -- especially in the African blogosphere, where his notion of cheetahs-versus-hippos has become a standard shorthand. The "Cheetah Generation," he says, is a "new breed of Africans," taking their futures into their own hands, instead of waiting for politicians to empower them. (He compares them to the previous "Hippo Generation," who are lazily stuck complaining about colonialism, yet doing nothing to change the status quo.)

Since I am on a TED Talks roll, let's watch his TED talk titled "Cheetahs vs. Hippos"
Follow him on Twitter @ayittey

Watch the video

16 minutes that will tell you why I admire Ory Okolloh @kenyanpundit

2011-03-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

This video is old. I haven't listened to the full thing yet. I haven't met Ory Okolloh before. But she's one of my role models. Watch the video below and it will give you every reason why.

Ory Okolloh tells the story of her life and her family -- and how she came to do her heroic work reporting on the doings of Kenya's parliament.

Kwame Som-Pimpong @kwsompimpong shared this on Twitter just some minutes ago and now I am sharing with you. Major props to TED.

What an easy blog post. I should do more like these. Follow Ory on Twitter @kenyanpundit.

She is also the founder of Ushahidi and has just recently left her CEO post there to become the new policy manager in Africa for Google. Read about it here on her website.

Great African movies! Ghana's Sinking Sands leads nominees at 2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA)

2011-03-03T23:18:00.001-08:00

It's great that there are a lot of African movies out there. But frankly, the only ones I really want to see are those gunning for the awards and going to film festivals. I can watch the rest online. Oh damn, did I step on someone's foot? I hope not. My favorite African director, Leila Djansi, is being honoured again. After all the wahala of 'I Sing Of A Well' (won't tell you about it, there are other websites who excel at that), Leila's next film, Sinking Sands is proving to be even more successful. It received 9 nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), which I am taking really seriously because they seem to be open to movies from most of Africa. Well, except the Francophone and Lusophone countries, which I hope is fixed soon. Since most people are losing faith in FESPACO, (will come back to this in another post), the AMAAs are the default African Oscars.

Kate Henshaw, Ini Edo, Rita Dominic & Michael Ezuruonye at the AMAA 2011 Nomination Night in Nairobi, Kenya.The 2011 AMAA awards has been tagged – “‘Experience Bayelsa 2011” and will take place from the 21st of March to the 27th of March 2011 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

There are nominations for Ghana's Elmina, Checkmate, etc. Other big nominees are Hopeville. Hopeville, ayibo! Where is my future wife Terry Pheto? Others are Viva Riva (DR Congo), Izulu Lami & A Small Town called Descent (South Africa), Pumzi & Soul Boy (Kenya), Africa United (Rwanda), and Aramotu (Nigeria). If the movie link is clickable, that means I have blogged about it before.

Check out the complete list of nominees below.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Best Short Film
BOUGFEN – PETRA BANINLA SUNJO (CAMEROUN)
WEAKNESS – WANJIRU KAIRU (KENYA)
NO JERSEY NO MATCH – DANIEL ADEMINOKAN (NIGERIA)
DUTY – MAK KUSARE (NIGERIA)
BONLAMBO – ZWE LESIZWE NTULI (SOUTH AFRICA)
ZEBU AND THE PHOTOFISH – ZIPPORAH NYARORI (KENYA)
DINA – MICKEY FONSECA (MOZAMBIQUE)
ALLAHKABO – BOUNA CHERIF FOFANA (TOGO)

Best Short Documentary
SYMPHONY KINSASHA – DIENDO HAMADI & DINTA WA LUSULA (CONGO)
NAIJA DIAMONDS (Feature on Dr. Rahmat Mohammed) – NFORM LEONARD (NIGERIA)
AFTER THE MINE – DIENDO HAMADI & DINTA WA LUSULA (DRC)
STEPPING INTO THE UNKNOWN – ROWENA ALDOUS & JILL HANAS-HANCOCK (SOUTH AFRICA)
YEABU’S HOMECOMING – JENNY CHU (SIERRA LEONE)

Best Documentary
KONDI ET LE JEUDI NATIONALE – ARIANA ASTRID ATODJI (CAMEROUN)
HEADLINES IN HISTORY – ZOBBY BRESSON (KENYA)
CO-EXIST – ADAM MAZO (RWANDA)
STATE OF MIND – DJO TUNDA WA MUNGA (CONGO)
NAIJA DIAMONDS – NFROM LEONARD (NIGERIA)

Best Diaspora Feature
SUICIDE DOLLS – KEITH SHAW (USA)
TESTED – RUSSELL COSTANZO (USA)
NOTHING LESS -WAYNE SAUNDERS (UK)
THE VILLAGE -WAYNE SAUNDERS (UK)

Best Diaspora Documentary
STUBBORN AS A MULE – MILLER BARGERON JR & ARCELOUS DEIELS (USA)
MOMENTUM- ZEINABU IRENE DAVIS (USA)
IF NOT NOW – LOUIS HAGGART (USA)
MOTHERLAND – OWEN ALIK SHAHADAH (USA)
CHANGEMENT – CHIARA CAVALLAZI (ITALY)

Best Diaspora Short Film
CYCLE- ROY CLOVIS (USA)
UNDER TOW – MILES ORION FELD (USA)
HABITUAL AGGRESSION – TEMI OJO (USA)
LITTLE SOLDIER – DALLAS KING (USA)
THE NEW N WORD – SOWANDE TICHAWONNA (USA)
PRECIPICE – JULIUS AMEDUME (UK)

Best Film for African Abroad
ANCHOR BABY – LONZO NZEKWE (NIGERIA/CANADA)
IN AMERICA: THE STORY OF THE SOUL SISTERS- RAHMAN OLADIGBOLU (NIGERIA/USA)
MIRROR BOY – OBI EMELONYE (NIGERIA/UK)
AFRICA UNITED – DEBS GARDNER-BROOK (RWANDA/UK)

Best Production Design
TANGO WITH ME
VIVA RIVA
HOPEVILLE
6 HOURS TO CHRISTMAS
MAAMI

Best Costume Design
INALE
YEMOJA
SINKING SANDS
ARAMOTU
ELMINA

Best Makeup
INALE
SINKING SANDS
A PRIVATE STORM
VIVA RIVA
A SMALL TOWN CALLED DESCENT

Best Soundtrack
VIVA RIVA
AFRICA UNITED
IZULU LAMI
INALE
A SMALL TOWN CALLED DESCENT

Best Visual Effects
ARAMOTU
NANI
WHO OWNS DA CITY
INALE
A SMALL TOWN CALLED DESCENT

Best Achievement in Sound
SINKING SANDS
SHIRLEY ADAMS
IZULU LAMI
VIVA RIVA
TANGO WITH ME

Best Cinematography
SINKING SANDS
MAAMI
IZULU LAMI
HOPEVILLE
VIVA RIVA

Best Screenplay
SOUL BOY
SINKING SANDS
HOPEVILLE
SHIRLEY ADAMS
IZULU LAMI

Best Nigerian Film
MAAMI – TUNDE KELANI
ARAMOTU – NIJI AKANNI
TANGO WITH ME – MAHMOOD ALI- BALOGUN
INALE – JETA AMATA
A PRIVATE STORM – LANCELOT ODUWA IMASEUN/IKECHUKWU ONYEKA

Best Film in African Language
ARAMOTU – NIJI AKANNI (NIGERIA)
IZULU LAMI – MADODA NCAYIYANA (SOUTH AFRICA)
SOUL BOY- HAWA ESSUMAN (KENYA)
SUWI – MUSOLA CATHERINE KASEKETI (ZAMBIA)
FISHING THE LITTLE STONE – KAZ KASOZI (UGANDA)

Best Child Actor
SOBAHLE MKHABASE (THEMBI), TSCHEPANG MOHLOMI (CHILI-BITE) AND SIBONELO MALINGA(KHWEZI) – IZULU LAMI
ERIYA NDAYAMBAJE- DUDU IN AFRICA UNITED
JORDAN NTUNGA- ANTO IN VIVA RIVA
AYOMIDE ABATTI- YOUNG KASHI IN MAAMI
BENJAMIN ABEMIGISHA- ZEBU IN ZEBU AND THE PHOTOFISH
SHANTEL MWABI- BUPE IN SUWI

Best Young Actor
YVES DUSENGE (CHILD SOLDIER) AND ROGER NSENGIYUMUA (FOOTBALLER) – AFRICA UNITED
SAMSON ODHIAMBO AND LEILA DAYAN OPOU – SOUL BOY
EDWARD KAGUTUZI – MIRROR BOY
DONOVAN ADAMS – SHIRLEY ADAMS
JUNIOR SINGO – HOPEVILLE

Best Actor in Supporting Role
OSITA IHEME – MIRROR BOY
HOJI FORTUNA – VIVA RIVA
MPILO VUSI KUNENE – A SMALL TOWN CALLED DESCENT
JOHN DUMELO – A PRIVATE STORM
DESMOND DUBE- HOPEVILLE

Best Actress in Supporting Role
MARY TWALA – HOPEVILLE
JOYCE NTALABE – THE RIVALING SHADOW
MARLENE LONGAGE- VIVA RIVA
TINA MBA -TANGO WITH ME
YVONNE OKORO – POOL PARTY

Best Actor in Leading Role
THEMBA NDABA – HOPEVILLE
PATSHA BAY -VIVA RIVA
JIMMY JEAN-LOUIS – SINKING SANDS
EKON BLANKSON – CHECKMATE
ANTAR LANIYAN – YEMOJA
MAJID MICHEL – POOL PARTY

Best Actress in Leading Role
IDIAT SHOBANDE -ARAMOTU
OMONI OBOLI- ANCHOR BABY
MANIE MALONE – VIVA RIVA
AMAKE ABEBRESE- SINKING SANDS
DENISE NEWMAN -SHIRLEY ADAMS
GENEVIEVE NNAJI – TANGO WITH ME

Best Director
SOUL BOY – HAWA ESSUMAN
SHIRLEY ADAMS – OLIVER HERMANUS
VIVA RIVA – DJO TUNDA WA MUNGA
ARAMOTU – NIJI AKANNI
A SMALL TOWN CALLED DESCENT – JAHMAIL. X. T QUBEKA
SINKING SANDS – LEILA DJANSI

Best Film
VIVA RIVA – DJO TUNDA WA MUNGA (CONGO)
SINKING SANDS – LEILA DJANSI (GHANA)
ARAMOTU – NIJI AKANNI (NIGERIA)
SOUL BOY – HAWA ESSUMAN (KENYA)
HOPEVILLE – JOHN TRENGOVE (SOUTH AFRICA)
A SMALL TOWN CALLED DESCENT – JAHMIL X.T QUBEKA (SOUTH AFRICA)

Photo Credit: PMO and Info from BellaNaija.com

Attending a Lighthouse chapel in America (Oakland) #Ghana

2011-02-28T23:16:00.001-08:00

This Sunday, I attended yet another Ghanaian church in the Bay Area. Yeap, you guessed right, it's in Oakland too. I had already been to the Church of Pentecost here, twice. A friend invited me to the new Lighthouse Chapel International branch that they had started in September. Her persistence paid off as I attended this weekend. Like I learnt in Ghana last Christmas, there is a Lighthouse chapel in every corner. Seriously. I hope this blog entry helps us all figure out why.

There are 1200 Lighthouse Chapel International (LCI) branches worldwide in 52 nations. Talk about spreading far and wide. It started in Ghana 21 yrs through a medical student called Dag Heward Mills who is now the presiding bishop. Sorry, but I can't help but think of churches as businesses/enterprises/start-ups these days. Dag Heward Mills is every bit an entrepreneur churning out new entrepreneurs every year. There has been the question of should churches pay taxes? I think so, if they don't, they should be made to contribute appropriately in nation building; in education, health, etc. Looking at the senior secondary school system in Ghana, I think religious bodies investing in education is the most appropriate. Just look at Presec, Opoku Ware, St.Louis, Central University, etc.

The new Oakland branch is one of the 59 Lighthouse chapel branches in the USA. There are 6 LCIs in the New York City area alone. There are 9 in Maryland (of course). Others are in Worcester, Virginia, Atlanta, Houston, Sacramento, etc. Pastor Joel Obuobisa didn't mention one in "Columbus Ohio" but I'll be surprised if there weren't any there. Pastor Joel has been in the US for a long while and has helped build the LCI branches in New York, Worcester, Maryland and Chicago. If you called him an entrepreneur just now, I heard it. He moved to California with his family recently and is heading the new Oakland branch with a Kenyan pastor. Yea, the Ghanaian church has some Kenyan pastors. Africa Unite!

Unlike the Church of Pentecost, we didn't sing any Twi or Ghanaian language gospel songs. I wasn't complaining because I was really loving it. I knew most of the songs though which is interesting to me. It's good to know certain songs cut across denominations. Yup, unity in the house of God. Like all new churches (erm, except a few), it was small but it was not a disadvantage at all. Like I discussed with someone in the congregation later, it allowed for a communal feeling, a classroom setting, attention to detail teaching and personal development in a church. It was lovely. Even the kids in the church were actively involved.

I met a friend from Boston I hadn't seen since she moved to the Bay Area. She was shockprised to see me. I also saw another friend I know from Oakland who I didn't know attended the church. He was like the only guy in the church. "Hmmm, mmarima, ɛyɛ a, monko asɔre wae. Daabi, menkaasɛ monko pɛ mmaa o, mese, monko asɔre wae!" I'm speaking to my Ghanaian peoples, ask a Ghanaian who speaks Twi to translate for you. When I went to the Church of Pentecost, I had thought the ladies who went to parties were not the same who went to church. Well, that theory has been debunked since but the best women are really those who are going to church. Best believe. :-)

I loved the sermon too. Pastor Joel shared from Matthew 4:1-4 before the sermon, talking about fighting temptations. "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God'." The sermon was about Daniel's Principles of Prayer. The pastor started us off with Daniel 6:10. During the sermon, I could not help but think about well-versed and awesome of a public speaker Pastor Joel was. There was no 'ermming' or 'like liking' in his delivery. It helps to be doing this for years, but I really admired how he delivered with his well-thought out message. I will leave you with these principles of prayer.

Prayer is very important. No one is ever too busy, too blessed, or too successful to pray. Prayer is the power of our source and protection. Prayer is important in acquiring and sustaining the blessings of God. For prayer to be effective, it must be habitual. Prayer must continue both in troubled times and in times of peace. Every nation needs lots of prayer and prayerful leaders. It is important to pray for long periods of time. It is important to enter your closet for effective prayer. Everyone must develop the ability and the formulae for praying four times a day.

I definitely hope to attend again. But it's close to an hour's drive for me from home and I attend other church services nearer to me. But if you are near Oakland and you are looking for a good church, I highly recommend the Lighthouse Chapel International branch.

A story of an African bash/party in the Bay Area

2011-02-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

It's an understatement for me to say that I had been looking forward to the "I am African" bash that happened in the Bay Area this Saturday. Friends of mine had invited me more than 4 months prior and messages hit my Facebook inbox every now and then. I was so giddy for this African party like I was in Las Gidi. Las Gidi is appropriate because the party was being thrown by mostly Nigerians and mostly Nigerians would be attending. Well, Ayooluwaato Eze would be there live and square too. Even for $20. Hey, most parties cost that, nothing new here. Besides, I wanted to be amongst my African people. Win-win situation. All my reservations about how African parties/clubs, etc were organized were thrown out the window. And then they resurfaced during that moment when we were leaving it. Let's recount. Tori o!

Firstly, this was going to be some bash. Tickets were sold online at http://iamafricanbash.eventbrite.com. Now, did you see that some tickets were being sold at $200? Yes, VIP Bottle Service tickets. Well, I don't drink or need alcohol to have a jolly good time so thank God and more blessings to my pocket. Besides, why the heck will I pay $200 to party? Not in any lifetime. If I am that important, someone else should pay. We arrived at the party and the bouncer asked if we had VIP tickets. I gave him a nice smirk. We saw the folks going through the VIP line, most of them some smartly dressed ladies who wore dresses the price of that ticket. I will bet my last kobo they were attending the party for free and their $200 went towards the dresses they were wearing. If I am wrong, deny it right here. The guys in the line? Oh, they wanted to make it rain. Not like rain rain, because water get enemy for this party. I mean, like "rain money".

Like many Africans, I like to be fashionably late to social events. I don't know why. I had been warned that it would cost me more than $20 if I arrived on Sunday instead of Saturday. Besides, if I was 'late', I was going to have some of my connects ensure me and my friends paid just $20. Yes, I have ~~connections~~, erm, no, I mean 'network'. So we enter the club, barely before 12 midnight. Illusions. I know this joint. In fact, the last party this same crew threw for Naija's 50th birthday was here. One area where folks could sit and hang-out away from the blazing music was blocked off. So I thought, "Hmm, where is the VIP section? let me see if I am missing out". If that whole area was no-go, then where's the VIP exclusivity? Oh, the VIP section must be on the stage. Ah, see boys and girls living life to the fullest! Back to this point in a moment.

So I go around looking for my friends who are attending the Bash and scoping the keles. I keep on wondering to myself if all these ladies are really over 21. But then again, who cares, the more the merrier. I wondered where all these women were from since I hadn't seen a lot of them before. Nice marketing by Eche and crew. Folks came from as far as Tracy to party. I've already spoken about the dresses right? I was impressed with the African-type attires on display, major props to all the ladies and gents who were rocking them. Wear those on Friday too, aight? I am not going to bother talking about the dances I had, because, really, do you want to hear about them and you think I want to share that information? See me in chambers.

The music. Folks who know me know I am a music man. Not Kojo Antwi the maestro, but an African music man. It beats me like an angry Nigerian mother to wonder why African parties don't play next to exclusive African music. Is that not what is setting them apart? No, I didn't come to listen to 'return of the mark' even if I would be macking tonight. I certainly didn't come to listen to 'my way' if I had 'my way'. The DJ played Oleku, MI's Number one, and erm.... I forget. If Mr. Endowed was played, then I truly missed out. If I have to come and ask you to play African music at an African party, then you the DJ is doing something wrong. Unless, you are not from Africa, then you the organizer is doing something wrong. Because, I will really come and ask you. Watch out for me.

The best part of the night was when this drunk dude approached me, telling me about how he is spiritual and we should all help each other. "Let me buy you a drink", he said. Helping each other for rizzle. I really wanted to leave him to go and dance but the guy was looking around to make sure I was still standing there. Thank God it was dark so he couldn't see me having a good laugh. I don't even know what he bought me but it sure did taste good. $20-$7 makes a lucky 13 of a night for me. Oooooooshe!

The Facebook event said the bash will end at 3am while the Eventbrite said 2am. Since I know Illusions, I knew better to figure out it would be 2am, but I hoped for a 3am close. Well, around 1:55am, some jagajaga started and folks were scatter scatter. A fight broke out in the VIP section; erm, wait, these guys paid how much again? What? The bottle service was bad? They served ogogoro and palm wine instead of 'margaritas' and 'adios'. Well, it was 'adios' to the partygoers as the party poopers pooped all over our happiness. As if that wasn't enough, another fight broke out and then another, this time on the dancefloor with the $20 ticket holders. Let me guess. Some guy tried to mack/sweet-talk/dance with some girl, the girl wouldn't budge and the guy flipped, the girl flopped and used her pepper spray on him or her bestest boyfriend came to her defence. Yeap, if you were at the party and you were choking like me, you would go with the pepper spray story. Unless the police came to disperse the fighters and the rest of us with 'teargas'. Sooo not party 101. Turns out none of these fighters were arrested but one soul decided to take a swing at a law enforcer and was taken for a ride in a police car. That's all the police would tell me. Of course, I am a citizen journalist. When people are going home, I am looking for stories. :-) And so you have the story.

The party was thrown by ROYAL ENTERTAINMENT. Look them up. Tell them to come read this. Major props to them for holding down the fort and organizing these bashes. Then again, the October party disappointed me and many folks I knew who had attended so I should have known better. But that won't stop me from attending them. I support African activities and want to see better. African parties must really be better. Or I will enter the party promotion business just to show everyone how it is done. Test me.

Ghana-made @MESTGhana startups grow in stature

2011-02-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

Last week, my good friend Edward Tagoe was in the Bay Area attending the Launch conference along with other Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) graduates. I was looking for opportunities to meet him since he was going to be even busier than me and he was in San Francisco. He sent me an itinerary and I picked the perfect opportunity, The Africa Network (TAN) February 2011 Event: Showcasing Africa Software Entrepreneurs. Edward's Nandi Mobile, alongside Retail Tower and Streemio would be presenting about their business to members of the Bay Area African community and other interested folks at the Plug and Play tech center in Sunnyvale, California. I enjoyed the event and little did I know it was one highlight of a week that would end up with Nandi Mobile's Gripeline winning best business at the Launch conference.

Attending the TAN event gave me the chance to learn more about these start-ups. A lot of this info is being reproduced from my tweets. Samuel Owusu Darko took the stage first, talking about Streemio. #Ghana-made @Streemio is bringing mobile music streaming to the African continent. It is also looking to learn more about streaming services, and collaborate with other companies etc.

Edward Tagoe @ttaaggooee went next, talking abt #Ghana-made @nandimobile- supporting & engaging customers through sms. #Gripeline enables companies to receive complaints, etc & respond. These sms are aggregated and analysed for companies. Nandimobile is looking to be connected to more partners, and has scored a major client in Tigo Ghana (mobile telecommunications company). Tigo cash (mobile money) is being rolled out on a pilot basis, and #Ghana-made @nandimobile will be with them every step of the way. #Vim!

#Ghana-made #RetailTower is enabling online retailers to effectively market their inventory across channels. It is a great value-added service for individuals or entities looking to sell products online. After hearing the story of how Retail Tower was born, I tweeted; "Stories of ghanaian entrepreneurs will make awesome movies. No, not social network controversy style. Aspiration. Innovation. Inspiration."

Late last year, MEST provided start-up capital for 7 Ghana-made businesses, including Nandi Mobile, Retail Tower and Streemio.

Leti Games : Offers a selection of single- and multi-player online role-playing games, primarily for the smartphone market. Blogged about Eyram Akofa Tawia's Leti Games here and here

Tutamee : An online video company, providing TutaFlix, which streams high quality educational films

Esanoya : Assists SMEs in making operations smoother with Slix.tr, a real-time enterprise micro-sharing platform which centralizes companies’ people and data

Arto Connect: Provides Dealeezy, a location-based mobile service, enabling consumers to discover targeted deals from local merchants

There is more to come from all these start-ups as they get ready to launch and become fixtures in Ghana and beyond. They are proving Ghanaians can make world-class products that can serve people in Ghana and elsewhere. They are giving us more vim to support made-in-Ghana goods. Kudos to the Meltwater Group for investing in Ghana and its young people, the fruits are being borne and the best is yet to come.
#Vim!

Ghana-made @Nandimobile's #Gripeline wins best business at Launch Conference

2011-02-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

News broke Friday of NandiMobile, a Ghana-made start-up from the MEST Incubator winning a“Best Business” award at the LAUNCH conference in San Francisco. I was so excited about this, especially from my friends Edward Tagoe Twitter: @ttaaggooee, Anne Amuzu and Kwame Pocho. Edward had told me he was coming for a conference in San Francisco earlier this month, turns out it was a conference aligned with a competition of almost 100 Silicon Valley start-ups! For a Ghanaian-made product to win this international award in the Bay Area of all places, it is a monumental achievement. Mind you, this is not Ghanaians living the US or Ghanaian-Americans, these are Ghanaians who've been schooled in Ghana, worked and learnt in Ghana and built their products/software in Ghana. Like Jorn Lyseggen (CEO of the Meltwater Group) said, "software can be made ANYWHERE!" Congrats to @Nandimobile group.

I have already blogged about the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST). It's a school set up by the Meltwater Group to train software entrepreneurs (for 2 years). Read about the start-ups that have come out of MEST so far. Aside producing capable software entrepreneurs, they have been supporting Barcamp Ghana from the get-go.

Nandimobile won the award for their product Gripeline. From their website,

Gripeline is a customer support service that allows customers of companies to send feedback, comments and questions to companies using their mobile devices. It also provides an avenue for representatives from the companies to respond from an online computer interface in real time with an answer or response. The messages can be sent by end-users via SMS or WAP channels. These messages are aggregated and delivered to the companies’ online accounts which can then be accessed by customer service personnel(s) in charge. The panel enables the company to monitor, analyze and respond to the messages.

See Nandimobile's pitch

Watch the Awards ceremony

The LAUNCH conference is a platform for new start-ups to showcase their products and services to an ‘early adopters’ community. The conference also provides opportunities for already launched companies to showcase new products. This year, from the 23rd – 24th of February 2011, the conference hosted close to 100 start-ups from around the world, showcasing their ideas and products at the San Francisco Design Center.I was nervous myself and felt my heart beat a little faster when they walked on stage, but throughout their presentation they both showed a lot of confidence and made all of us proud!

Congrats to Nandimobile and the whole MEST team!

Have you heard Didier Awadi's tributes to Pan-African African leaders and revolutionaries?

2011-02-19T01:04:00.000-08:00

I've heard a lot of Senegal's DJ Awadi and how he is talked about a lot when it comes to African hip-hop. We've seen a lot of conscious and meaningful hip hop come out of Senegal and Awadi's Positive Black Soul deserves a lot of the credit. Awadi's recent album, Presidents d'Afrique (African presidents) was released in 2010, the same year many African nations celebrated their golden jubilees of independence. Awadi took us back to the 60's and told us those messages of unity, positivity, leadership and revolution still ring true today. So, I had to let you know all about the album :-)

African rap legend, Didier Awadi, is one of the most highly respected African musicians. He spent four years of research, reading, collecting and interviews preparing his most recent album, Presidents d'Afrique. He featured many African rappers and musicians on the album, making a transcendent and monumental African rap album.

L'Esclave opens the album and features a speech from the Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara. Thomas was a Burkinabe revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. He is commonly referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara". On 'Dans Mon Reve', he features Martin Luther King's famous 'I have a dream speech'. It also featured Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" speech. Watch the video and sing along at this Museke.com link.

Comme Nasser features a speech from Egypt's Gamel Abdul Nasser which recently saw one of the greatest civilian revolutions as thousands of people demonstrating in Tahrir Square forced longtime dictator, Hosni Mubarak, to resign. I doubt Didier Awadi saw this one coming. Amandla celebrates beloved South African leader Nelson Mandela and has a chorus of zulu singers with Skwatta Kamp involved.

Awadi also featured a Thomas Sankara speech on Woye. The video was also directed by Lionel Mandeix. Check out the music video at this Museke.com link. Some of the lyrics are "We don't wanna suffer anymore; we just wanna eat some more". On 'The Roots', he features M1 Dead Prez & Bouba Kirikou as well as some soundbites from Malcolm X. "You can't hate Africa and not hate yourself". The video was directed by Lionel Mandeix / A.Wone. Watch the music video at this Museke.com link.

Freedom features the words of Aimé Césaire, an African-Martinican Francophone poet, author and politician. The song features French musicians like Gertrude Senin, Sweety and Tiwony Thaiss. 50 years on, Didier Awadi brings back the message of Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah on the track 'We must unite'. He also mentioned in an interview with RFI

In his speeches about the pan-African ideal, Nkrumah spelt out his ideas very clearly. A united Africa is, technically speaking, perfectly possible. It’s not a Utopia! An African Union, modelled on the EU, would mean our continent would have a single voice on the world stage and we could impose our own prices!

Uhuru samples a Jomo Kenyatta speech and features Kenyan rapper Maji Maji. Babani Koné, Noumoucounda Cissoko and the rappers Tata Pound from Mali feature on 'On a Plus Le Choix' that samples Modibo Keita, the first Malian president. Oser inventer l’avenir samples Thomas Sankara yet again while Awadi features Noumoucounda Cissoko on vocals.

Une seule origine is a track dedicated to Senegal's own Cheikh Anta Diop with Keyti and Naby contributing on the track. Didier Awadi then turns on the Sugu Mister 2, Afande Selle, K-Lynn from Tanzania to join him on the 'We are also praying' track which features Julius Nyerere. Sugu Mister 2 recently became the first ever African rapper to win a position of power, becoming the the member of parliament for downtown Mbeya (Mjini). Check out his Hold on track.

Ensemble samples the legendary Patrice Lumumba from the Democratic Republic Congo with contributing musicians as Kexus Legal, Fredy, Massamba, and Thaiss. Samora featured a speech from Samora Machel, former president of Mozambique. Here, Awadi features Mozambican musicians Deny O. G., Chiquite, and Xixe. La Patrie Ou La Mort is a great collabo by Smockey from Burkina Faso and Awadi. It is a tribute to Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara. This track also sampled a speech from Thomas. Check the song out here.

Watch a video where they pay tribute to him

Non, the Guinea inspired song which refers to the Sékou Touré’s famous refusal to General de Gaulle in 1958, is rich with balafons and Mandinka guitar and Guinean musician Phaduba. From Guinea-Bissau, Balloberos, Daniel Gomes, Paul Oliviera, joined Didier to sample Amilcar Cabral's speech on the song, 'Cabral'. Awadi pays tribute to another Senegalese leader Leopold Sedar Senghor on Ce qui nous lie alongside Yandé Codou Sène. He picks the wisdom of famous philosopher Franz Fanon on Racisme. He closes out the album with 'Le silence des gens bien' with a tribute to Norbert Zongo. He was the was the publisher and editor of the Burkina Faso newspaper l'Indépendant. He was assassinated after his newspaper began investigating the murder of a driver who had worked for the brother of President Blaise Compaoré.

Now, this is meaningful music that will go really far and should become as legendary as the men profiled in it. The wait was worth the while. I hail Didier Awadi for his brilliance and hope that history will remember him favourably as a revolutionary and legendary as well.

Additional info from MondoMix and RFI. Read an interview with RFI France about the album

Now, am sure this will make you say VIM!

Velkom the Vim Views & Versions!

2011-02-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

While I was in Ghana over the Christmas break, I thought of my blog. I had missed blogging. I was browsing mostly on my HTC Aria phone powered by Android using Vodafone's mobile internet. Power to you, Vodafone. My laptop decided not to turn on once I got to Ghana so I was computerless. I couldn't get to use my brother or sister's pcs, because they were on it a lot. It didn't really occur to me to blog using my phone. Too much to type. That brought up another idea. Who said blogs should be 6 paragraphs? No one. If someone did, I'm not buying it. Blogging should be fun. Why so serious? Anyway, Why so serious was the title of my blog when I started it. It was chosen because this blog would be a place for me to speak my mind, promote people and projects, air out opinions, publicize things, etc. And I was going to do it my way, in a witty and funny way cos there is no reason why we can't talk about serious things in an 'unserious' way. But, this Christmas, while in Ghana, surrounded by the people I love the most, another thought clouded my mind. The thought was a word. The thought was with the word. The word was/is/will forever be "Vim".

Where from "Vim" anyway? This has been my favorite word since maybe March 2010. It became popular with me when Nana Boroo's Aha yɛ dɛ song started growing on me. Nana Boroo is another of the Tema rappers who are clouding the spotlight in Ghana today. Aha ye de was his debut single, and it featured S. K. Blinks, a Togolese singer, who gave the song a Coupe Decale flavour. The result was a song that was part-hiplife, part-coupe decale, and one bound to be a hit all over West Africa. I loved the song from the start and I still do. It's going to go down as one of my favorites ever. Ever. Best believe that. In the song, he sings. Click for video

Aha yɛdɛ o, aha yɛdɛ o, beebia awu!
Aha yɛdɛ o, aha nyɛ butubutu ei o, beebia awu!
....
Ka sɛ vim, vim, afei momma me vim

The Aha ye de translation is as follows - "Here is nice, here is nice, everywhere else is dead." "Here is nice, here is not chaotic, everywhere else is dead". You could debate whether beebia is 'everywhere or everywhere else' but the point is - This place where we are right now, is the best place to be. Period. The vim translation is as follows - "Say vim, vim, now, give me vim". Firstly, this place is the place to be and I want you to give me more vim. Now, what is Vim? No, it is not Dettol or Omo. Vim is "lively or energetic spirit; enthusiasm; vitality". Vim is also "strength, force, power, energy". How can you not like this song and then the word?

The stars aligned and it turned out 2010 was also a World Cup year. The first one in Africa, to be held in South Africa. The Mzansi Mundial. 6 African teams, including the glorious and golden Black Stars of Ghana. "Aha ye de" was the top song in Ghana last summer and rightly so, it became the rallying song for Ghana's national football team. I sang "Aha ye de" all the time. When I had to sing the vim part, I pump my fists. If I didn't do it, I pumped my fists in my heart. In my mind. In my body. In my soul. And the Black Stars did not disappoint. They rode the 'vim' all the way to the quarter-finals, a place an African team hadn't been since 1990 (Cameroun's Indomitable Lions). They became the hope of Africa, just the way Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah always dreamt of it. They became BaGhana BaGhana, the sole remaining representative of Africa United. They gave birth to new African shining stars; Asamoah Gyan, Kevin Prince-Boateng and the man I call the 'embodiment of vim' - Andre Dede Ayew. Just watch him play and you'll understand.

"Vim" became the rallying rage. The calling card to action. The enthusiastic encouragement. The forceful fire. The Tsooboi thesaurus. The enduring energizer. The vital vigor. The passionate power. Yes, we get the point. If someone needed encouragement, the word was vim. The someone did something well, we greeted him/her with vim. Goodbye was replaced with vim. Let's go do this made way for vim. Yes we can was weeded out for vim. The sign of approval was now vim. In fact, the real word was "more vim". 1+1=1. So that is why "vim" has become my favorite word. You will hear me say it, write it, type it, do it, forever. Even when the word 'vim' is out of place (I am thinking of how that might even happen), I will bring vim there.

So the new name for my blog is "The Vim Views & Versions". Anything that makes me say "vim" would go up on my blog if I am interested enough to make it happen. This is African. Why so serious? Not so much, it's borrowed from the Dark Knight. There are a lot of dark knights in Africa, but they are driven by vim. The Black Stars' shine in the Mzansi Mundial was the epitome. That was African excellence. We have many Black Stars off the field being excellent in many ways. This blog is a dedication to all the Africans and fans and lovers of Africa who make us say "Vim". There are varying views of how vim can be interpreted and various versions of visualizing vim. The MIghTy African is going to host as many as he can like he always has. Now, give me vim.

#VIM!

Yes, VIM is carrying Africa too

Watching, guiding and aiding Takoradi's growth

2011-02-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

Ghanaians have been giddy about the oil discovery on the Western shores of Ghana. Some are looking to work in the potential oil industry, while others are looking to do business around it. Some of the job expectations are unrealistic, people say. Some are skeptical how much money Ghana will really raise from the oil production and whether we might misuse it. The Western Region's traditional leaders want at least 10% of all oil revenue and many Ghanaians don't like that idea. One thing many Ghanaians agree on is the fact that places like Sekondi and Takoradi are not going to be the same. They are about to be transformed. If you read the news or have asked Takoradi residents, Takoradi is transforming. We should watch, guide and tailor this transformation in the absolute best interest of Ghana's development.

It's tough to talk about Takoradi and not mention Sekondi. They are the Twin-cities. When we were planning the first Barcamp in the Western Region, we battled with naming it Barcamp Twin-city, Barcamp Sekondi, Barcamp Takoradi, etc. We ended up with Barcamp Takoradi. But seriously, other than the two football teams from Sekondi, Eleven Wise and Hasaacas, Takoradi enjoys more prominence in the Ghanaian landscape. People who live there will tell you. Sekondi has the stadium? Well, I just told you two Ghanaian football teams are based there. Takoradi has much more. But this post is not to compare the cities, or towns if you may. I will talk about 'Sekunde' next time. This is Taadi's time :-)

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I've been to Takoradi twice. The first time I was there, my family and I visited some relatives. I saw the famous Takoradi Market Circle, reminiscent of the big markets in Kumasi. It looked like Kumasi, but less. Understandably, it's the third city in Ghana, after Accra and Kumasi. The second time was to visit relatives again but this is recent, and I remember much more. Like many other towns in Ghana, it has a couple of major roads which are aligned by the major buildings and city points. These roads are very long and there aren't many alternatives to get to various locations. We did go to Sekondi to see the new stadium that had been constructed for the 2008 African Cup of Nations. This was welcome news. I wonder how it's affected Sekondi's bustling lifestyle since. This was after the tourney so no I didn't see any Ivorians there. We briefly passed by the harbour. I didn't go see the many big houses in Takoradi where it is claimed house the scenes for many Ghanaian movies today.

A recent news story mentions that The Western Regional Coordinating council has announced a number of measures being initiated to maximize the benefits of Ghana’s oil and contain the influx of persons and the pressure that would be on infrastructure in the region, mainly Takoradi of course. Read the story for more. I will like to know what new infrastructure we'll see in these areas. How much of it is the burden of firms like Tullow?

From speaking to some relatives and friends who live in Takoradi and know the place well, rent rates and housing prices are going up and skyrocketing. It could reach the same land ownership rates in Accra. Apparently, some room owners have started increasing the rent to exorbitant prices or are asking the tenants to move because they can charge 'the new people moving to work in Takoradi' much higher rates and that they can pay. Yes, many international companies are starting to make their marks in Takoradi, especially those involved in the oil industry. Count among them Tullow Oil, and Baker Hughes. They are obviously bringing their expatriate employees who have more buying power and other professionals trained at Tech (KNUST) and Legon or folks who've been living in Accra. This is what folks will call 'gentrification' in other parts of the world. It's troubling for local residents. Where are they going to go? The new houses and apartments that will be built (thanks to the booming real estate business) will be out of the price range. I haven't heard the government talking about low-cost housing in these areas. Private sector? Hehe, they want to make money.

The current population in the region - 2,325,597 - is a lot but it's a safe guess to say more than half of that number is in Sekondi-Takoradi. We've seen a lot of big mining companies operate in Tarkwa and other areas, but we haven't seen the development there. Of course, they provide some amenities for their employees and their families but these areas are the anti-Johnannesburg. Learn how Johannesburg became what it is today. Johannesburg's growth into the top centre of commerce in Africa was due to the gold mining industry in the nearby areas. Takoradi can and should become a similar case. It already houses the Effia Nkwanta hospital, biggest in the region, and it is going to become overstretched, necessitating the need for a bigger health facility. There are plans for a new ultra modern regional hospital, possibly to be sited in the Shama district.

Chief Director of the Council, Mr David Yaro, remarked: “Education, water, our road network need to be expanded because the volume of traffic is going to increase, sanitation, crime - putting pressure on existing facilities. So all these are areas, politically, we are looking at, so the police are being equipped, the navy is being resourced to [protect Ghana’s marine].”

It seems the Western Regional Council, the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly and co understand the potential growth and are taking steps to meet it with the necessary plans and policies. I don't think the onus should fall on them alone. Ghana must want to see Takoradi do well. Accra is choked with too much expectation. We need to divvy the wealth and grow other parts of Ghana. This is a perfect opportunity to develop a metropolis that would not be bedevilled with the problems Accra is facing.

It's why we organized Barcamp Takoradi to help residents there understand what special place Takoradi can hold on Ghana's landscape. I wasn't able to attend but hope to go there soon. The theme was "Leading & Entreprising in an Oil & Technology Fuelled Economy". Also, to check out the Takoradi Technical Institute and its Fabrication Lab. A Fab Lab is a small-scale workshop with an array of flexible computer controlled tools that cover several different length scales and various materials, with the aim to make "almost anything". Little things like this can drive innovation and development in Takoradi. We can't be sleeping on these things.

For the development of any town/city, watching the development of the human resources and the local education are extremely important. I hear of a lot of training programs in and around Takoradi, with people being promised access to new jobs. Some are actually using this promise to pull some sakawa and 419 on unsuspecting individuals. Either way, I hope that the many graduates coming out of the Takoradi Polytechnic and neighbouring educational institutions will find their bearings in the burgeoning local economy. It is extremely important, because these are the folks who will make sure the local development is sustainable. This is also where the small businesses in Takoradi should take advantage of these opportunities to increase their portfolios and find capital to grow.

I hope the many international or big local companies that will be gaining footholds in the twin-cities invest in infrastructure - such as education and health. The local, regional councils and state will take care of the rest with the oil money. It's the way it should work. Let's get this right. We've had Obuasi, Akwatia, Tarkwa, Aboso. Let's make Takoradi 'krabɛhwɛ', a place that will attract people from far and near because of its success story. Erm, and Sekondi too :-)

PS: You should also check out Ghana Oil Watch, a good resource for news surrounding the Oil find, and related news. They are on Twitter and Facebook. I wish there were some kind of Takoradi watch sites too. We'll be watching anyway.

Learning more about the African Leadership Academy at #SAF2011

2011-02-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

While at the Stanford Africa Forum two weekends ago, I asked a question during the education panel. The recipients were to be Chris Bradford, the COO of the African Leadership Academy (ALA) and Zimbabwe's Lennon Chimbumu Adams, one of the first graduates from the ALA. The ALA is a residential secondary institution located on the outskirts of Johannesburg, a two-year program that prepares students for university. You can learn all about ALA on its wikipedia page. I was thinking about a recent new story I heard about Ghana's Ashesi University, where it was reported that out of 90 total graduates last May, 14 percent went on to graduate school abroad. Still, a majority of Ashesi’s graduates stays in Ghana. On the Ashesi website, it also stresses the latter point, saying 95% choose to stay in Africa. Hence, I wanted to know what the total number of graduates from ALA's first ever class, how many graduates were staying in Africa, what universities were they going to or what they were doing.

I had been tweeting the forum but once Lennon and Chris started answering, I wasn't going to be able to type fast enough to tweet the responses. I was particularly interested in this, that's why I asked the question in the first place. Lennon stated: "His ALA classmates started a conference on educating people about entrepreneurship, borrowing an ALA curriculum. Tried googling for some information but couldn't find any. Will update later. Lennon also mentioned that there have been several conferences organized by various ALA students. He stated that some of his mates went to the University of Cape Town (UCT), but most came to the USA for college because that's where the financing is. "There's a better chance of getting high level education".

Chris talked about the graduating class in detail. He mentioned that there were 86 graduates who had come from all over Africa and beyond. He mentioned that community service is a graduation requirement. Basically, if you don't start something, you ain't graduating. Awesome idea. African schools, follow suit. Chris then mentioned that getting a full scholarship to Stanford is cheaper than going to Makerere University in Uganda. Best believe that. I know this from experience. A full-ride to a reputable US college is basically free education. Even if you attend Tech, you might end up having to pay more out of pocket. It's debatable but this case can be argued. There's a little catch about ALA though. Scholarship money given to students is a forgiveable loan. Chris stressed that the ALA was a global institution focused on the African continent. The aim is for 50% to stay in Africa and connect with other young leaders in Africa.

65 out of the 86 graduates came to the US for college. Lennon Chimbumu Adams and Nina Papachristou came to Stanford, and many others were accepted into Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, MIT, Yale University, amongst others. I'm sure you know of the famous William Kamkwamba, the Malawian boy who harnessed the wind. I once asked Fred Swaniker, the ALA founder, where William was going to go for college and if he wasn't coming to Stanford. He told me, William went to Dartmouth and they laid the red carpet for him. So he ended up going to Dartmouth. I blogged about William once, check it out.

Chris mentioned that 5 students from South Africa were accepted into Yale. 4 of them were from ALA, one was an orphan and one was Nigerian. I'm not sure why he needed to mention one was a Nigerian, but your guess is as good as mine. :-) ALA is already the best high school in South Africa. :-) I don't know what it is about South Africans, but during my time schooling in the US, I have realised South Africans hardly ever attend college in the US. So it's no surprise, that 4 out of 5 Mzansi-high schooled students in Yale's class of 2014 are from ALA, an academy whose students are from all over the continent. My South African friend once told me South Africans do not like to travel, they love being in South Africa. Local is lekker, eh?

I'm not sure how many of the 21 students that are left went to university in Europe, etc and how many stayed in Africa. Chris mentioned one of ALA's goals is to create awesome scholarship opportunities in South Africa. We do know some of them went to the University of Cape Town. But this is where this got really interesting. Chris started talking about the 6 ALA graduates who are not or did not enrol in university. What are they doing? Surely, they would have attended Ghana's Ashesi University, Kenya's Strathmore University, Egypt's American University of Cairo, and South Africa's Witwatersrand if they wanted. Let's find out what they are doing.

Chris spoke about three of them. Julius Shirima from Tanzania started an office in Tanzania and adorns it with his ALA graduation certificate. He has taken a year off and founded "Darecha" which is an entrepreneurship contest for students, and now does consulting work for entrepreneurs in Dar Es Salaam. "Twende!". Eddy Oketch, a graduate from Kenya, now runs the WIFI peace initiative in Nairobi, Kenya. It works with youth from across the country to bridge tribal rifts. "Juu!" Now, this guy is the most impressive - Joseph Munyambanza. Joseph works in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He runs a school in his village inspiring older students to teach younger ones and is involved in fundraising to build education facilities. He's also involved in a program which supports abused women and is working to increase publicity around abuse and encourage women to speak out. The village is partly a refugee cam and he provides resources to them, delivering social services. "On y vas!" The differentiation here is that, they are the real doers.

I don't know what the other 3 are doing and I didn't bother to ask Chris Bradford because this is good enough to report. The ALA is doing an excellent job and is truly building and grooming leaders for Africa. We need more schools like this one, following the tenets on which the ALA is built - "vDeveloping the next generation of African leaders". Learn more about the ALA here and support their efforts. To everyone involved in the ALA, I say "More vim!".