Afriurban sounds presents:Fally Ipupa

It looks like Kaysha is going to have some competition or that "la releve est assure" however you are looking at it, Fally Ipupa the Afriurban new sensation is convincing the most hardened unbelievers. An observer of the Congolese music pointed him out to Afriurban sounds and he said of him"he is a protege of the great Koffi Olomide. He started out as a member of the Grand Mopao's Quartier Latin orchestra but later branched out to pursue a solo career. He is being described in some circles as the "African Usher". His music is basically a blend of RnBCongolese music".

You can see for yourself what he is talking about:




Visit his Fally's blog
Thanks to Brian

In the media: 9th Harvard African business conference

This February 16 Th the Harvard business school is having its 9 Th conference on Africa and the global economy.
The focus of the conference will be on how to further integrate Africa in the global economy. The sectors of interest are going to be :Telecommunications-Natural resources-Health care-Real estate-Tourism in Africa - Media and entertainment-International trade.

Africaincorp media would be blogging from the conference ,so we should have a live update of the discussions as they develop.

Here is the link to the conference website.....

Afriupdate: Noella coursasis on the cover of Jambo Magazine

Noella Coursaris is featured on the cover of Jambo magazine. Jambo magazine is a glamour magazine which founder and editor in Chief is Kenyan. We are going to have some more on Jambo and the growing list of online and offline Afriurban lifestyle magazine.

Africaincorp: The wisdom not the folly of crowds in Africa

If Africa is to accelerate the coming of the Kingdom, we must rely on what is dubbed the wisdom of crowds.There are some pre-requisites for the wisdom of crowds to be a reality in our cultures:

Diversity of opinion

Each person should have private information even if it's just an eccentric interpretation of the known facts.

Independence

People's opinions aren't determined by the opinions of those around them.

Decentralization

People are able to specialize and draw on local knowledge.

Aggregation

Some mechanism exists for turning private judgments into a collective decision.

You can listen to the interview by the Author of the book The wisdom of crowds.

This is a must read.

Afribusiness: Sierra leonese investment bank

"Tiwai Capital Partners is a Sierra Leonean Investment Bank which focuses on providing its client base with the tailor-made innovative, unique and cost effective services and solutions. Tiwai Capital Partners considers Sierra Leone to be one of the world’s greatest untold investment opportunities and that with informed and intelligent effort can be transformed into a country of great prosperity."

Main services offered are:
Corporate finance
Asset and wealth management
Securities

Their sectors of interests are:
Mining
Energy production and distribution
IT and telecommunication
Agriculture
Construction
Food and drinks
Hotels and tourism

Afriurban sounds presents: new artists Les Deesses.

This girl group is an act introduced by Kaysha's Sushiraw music label. Kaysha who has his own of artists such as Anofela,Elizio,Loony Johnson and Soumia collaborated with this talented group. The deesses are signed to WUMB label which is under Nouvelle Donne music one of France premier urban music label. Nouvelle Donne produced artists such as Nessbeal,Facteur X,Daddy Mory and Disiz la Peste
For more info on the Deesses

http://deesses-offishal.skyblog.com

In the media:African Dechante

Fouka Riddim is the brain child of a 17 years old Ivorian man by the name of Nader.He resides in Bordeaux France where he attends high school. we are going to propose you his interview in the following days. I can assure you that this very bright young man has the potential to shake the dormant fashion/manufacturing industry in the Ivory Coast, but that just my personal assessment.

Afriurban sounds presents: Kwaito artist-Mzekekzke

In the media:African nominees for American movies awards

Our fellow bloggers at Anansi chronicles posted a list of the African actors nominated for the upcoming American movie awards. Africa through the talented flock of actors and/or the stories having Africa as the main stage.

Here is the list


You must have noticed that there is notable influx of storylines and actors from the continent into Hollywood.In business as in sports ,people are aware of momentum and convergences of forces,The African movie industry has come a long way from the lack of professionalism when it comes to distribution,copyrights and licensing issues,promotion and marketing.The building and nurturing of talent is still left to luck or amateur channels.It is probably wise to redirect the interests,influences and financial means now available into the most promising African movie making nations such as the Ivory coast,South Africa,Nigeria,Tunisia ,Angola or Senegal.

Afrimedia presents: Noella Coursaris- The interview

Her name is Noella Coursaris; her story begins on the blessed and
cursed soil of the Congo where she was brought to this world. Daughter
of a Congolese mother and Cyprus father, this attractive young
lady is making her way in the world of fashion/modeling/photography.
This breathing "burst of energy" also embodies the psychological
qualities that make any human truly beautiful, she is known to be
humble, down to earth, hard working and grateful.
Now those are the qualities of a lady, physical and psychological
attributes must go hand in hand, we all know a bright spirit to
accentuate any external beauty one may have.

Here is some excerpts of the interview that was conducted with her,



Africaincorp: What understanding must we have in order to have a
successful fashion/modeling industry in Africa?
Noella Coursaris: The industry leaders/players must establish a
connection between the masses and the industry, in other words the
fashion industry which help recall, define and direct our sense of
beauty and the aesthetic world we live in.

Africaincorp: How do you prepare for success in the industry?

N.C: Modeling is about hard work; it calls for full time commitment on
the part of the models. The average model must be ready to, wake up
early, do her/his casting chores, and accept rejection and love
traveling.

Africaincorp: do you make use of new technologies such as the internet,social networks and such to benefit your career ?
N.C: I try to make good use of the internet and other web applications, It is important to have a web presence, I have a official website with everything pertaining to my career, in addition to my portfolios and information being available on my agencies websites. I also use extensively E-mails to communicate and find out about present and future projects.
Africaincorp: Iman, one of the first African models to go mainstream,
conquered and left the scene exhibiting positive femineity and grace.
She then ventured in cosmetics and publishing. Did she serve as a
model for you and what are your plans once your modeling years are
over?

N.C: I would say that she was defiantly a source of inspiration; I
will also add Naomi Campbell and Grace Jones to my list. These three
women each impacted the industry and the culture in their own way.
Personally I see modeling as a platform to other culture related
activities such as, TV shows, cultural events. My long-term projects
are both humanitarian and business, I would like to establish
businesses in Congo and Africa. The other project that is very close
to my heart is the building of an orphanage in the Congo.

Africaincorp: Any last word

N.C: yeah!! I would like to Thank my mother, my friends, my late
father (thanks for everything) my management and all that impacted in
the slightest way my career and life. I would like to extend a special
thank you to the Father in heaven for looking down on me, I feel (and
know I am) truly blessed and I am forever grateful.

Would like to know more:
www.http://noellacoursaris.co.uk ( official website)
http://idmodels.com ( UK Agency)

http://mandpmodels.com ( UK Agency)

Photos credits:
1 st picture by photographer Paul Krokos
2nd picture by photographer Louis Fernandes
3rd picture by photographer Tat Leong
4th by photographer Malgorzata

Afrimage of the day: Noella Coursaris

Noella Coursaris is........ Find out in the upcoming interview

Afrimage of the day

Kingdom come

Afriurban sounds presents: Dj Mokomzi

Afrimedia presents: Africa open for business part 2

This is the second part of our series on Africa open for business's webcasts, they are provided by the National Black Programming Consortium. Previously we discussed, a coffee house in Uganda, an animation firm in Senegal, a clothing/retail company in Nigeria.
Today let's watch:

Home Financing Corporation Bank ( Banking) Ghana

Shining century ( Manufacturing) Lesotho

Touch Adventure ( Tourism) Zambia

These stories are actually only the tip of the iceberg, what lies in the belly of Africa is a roster of innovative,daring and driven entrepreneurs waiting to unleash their creative energies.Will they be able to do so, only they can answer this question.

Afribusiness: iNollywood-Nigerian movie industry goes streaming

Emeka Okafor's Timbuktu Chronicles discusses the convenience of watching your favorite Nollywood movie production from the comfort of your computing device.
iNollywood opens the door for a more efficient distribution mode and a quicker way to collect revenues from the consumption of movies by Nollywood large fan base.
Coming short of their potential, since it seems as the product is only targeting Nollywood fans leaving abroad.For now they are probably the one with a fast enough connection plus access to laptops/PCs to enjoy such convenience.
They also offer online purchase of the VCD's and deliver it to your doorsteps,again such convenience can(for now) only be enjoyed outside of Africa where mail services and good urban planning facilitate delivery of goods.
What could be the market size for this service ? how many Africans leave abroad and how many of those watch Nollywood production ? How many of the latter have access to the Internet and how many would be willing to access movies through that manner?
iNollywood must have the answers to those questions,I hope they also able to answer distribution and revenue collection issues present in the African market.

The package deal of $10 dollars a month for unlimited movies should serve as a good incentive.
Let's leave the discussion open and think about how discussion could be made possible partnering with mail services(public/private) in Africa and also streaming of movies on your (African) cellphones.

"Soon in a mobile device on you" could be heard in commercial in the near future if this was to happen.

In the media: best African performers on the index of economic freedom

The PSD world bank blog just posted the 2007 's index of economic freedom, for the region of Africa the top performers are in order: Mauritius-Botswana-South Africa -Namibia-Uganda-Swaziland-Madagascar-Kenya-Senegal-Cape Verde.
If you notice 8 out of the top 10 performers are from southern and eastern Africa, What could there administrations be doing right over there. It is about time to learn from one another administrations, of course keeping in mind national characteristics.
The parameters for the ranking are the following: Business freedom-Trade freedom-Fiscal freedom-Freedom from government-Monetary freedom-Investment freedom-Financial freedom-Property rights-Freedom from corruption-Labor freedom.

We must point that being a top performer in Africa does not translate to being a efficient performer on the world stage, here is an excerpt of the data analysis:
"

Sub-Saharan Africa is also ranked last in seven of the 10 economic freedom categories and performs especially poorly in terms of property rights, freedom from corruption, and business freedom. Chart E4 shows regional scores in each of the 10 economic freedom categories. Some of the gaps between sub-Saharan Africa's score and the world average score are especially striking: almost 10 points for business freedom, 10 for freedom from corruption, and six for property rights. The single factor on which the region rates higher than the world average is in terms of government expenditure. Ironically, however, it is worse in terms of taxation. Labor freedom is perversely restricted in the region, which is odd because heavy labor regulations are much more common among higher-income nations. It appears that the countries of sub-Saharan Africa have been saddled with the worst policies of their former European colonizers but none of the prosperity.

The signs of government failure are overwhelming in the heart of Africa and in some cases are so severe that the next few years will be inevitably bleak. Zimbabwe's rate of inflation, for example, is 350 percent, and unemployment runs at 80 percent. With political instability rampant in the region, it is unlikely that even the liberalizing tendencies of Mauritius or Botswana can have a significant enough statistical impact to lift Africa out of its last-place status.

Within the region, Botswana is freest in the most absolute categories, although Mauritius is freest over-all. Namibia scores highest in business and trade freedom, showing a strong commitment to free trade and pro-business regulations. Angola, as an oil-exporting nation, scores highest in fiscal freedom because of its low tax burden. Cape Verde has the lowest absolute inflation, giving it the highest score in monetary freedom, and Uganda has the highest labor freedom "

source: http://heritage.org
http://sadc.int
http://comesa.int

Afrimage of the day

Afrimedia presents: Africa open for business

The National Black programming Consortium is running a webcast serie on Business opportunities in Africa. The footage is taken from the highly acclaimed documentary " Africa open for business"made by Carol pineau.

Here are three links to the webcasts,they are three episodes:

1000cupsofcoffee (Coffee house )Uganda

Pictoons ( animation) Senegal

Ruff and Tumble (Clothing) Nigeria

We will have the second part of this post next week.We like the fact that this documentary is makin the rounds, it would be interesting to see the long term effects of it on the perception consumers,financers,bankers and traders have of Africa. Moreover would the effect vary by region or cultures ? Is Africa beeing stereotyped the same way in Asia,Europe,Brazil ,Africa and the USA ?

Afriurban sounds presents: Mary J blige- I see the future

Alway like to hear the chanting heart of a woman.It takes a great man to render blissful a woman ( vice versa)
Go Mary, go Mary.( Staff LOL)

Afriupdate: Virtual museum

Here are some screenshoots of the Gabonese Virtual museum where you can learn about the culture,customs and civilizasation of the Bantu,Batounou ,Fang and other ethnic groups.

Afriurban sounds presents: Kwaito Group

Kwaito which is South African Afriurban sound has a very particular sound which probably found its origin in the energetic people of South Africa.
This sound is from the company T.S records which is based in Joburg, it is one of the quickest company to reach multimillion Rand status in the South African music industry.

African destinations

Tunisia ranks second in Africa, followed by Uganda in third. Egypt takes the fourth slot with Morocco coming in fifth, Kenya (sixth), Tanzania (seventh) and Mauritius (eight).

On infrastructure, which looks at the whole transport and communications sector, Kenya ranks sixth, behind its neighbour, Tanzania.

Read previous post and do not forget to check
some PDF files to further your understanding on the African tourism industry:

Vamizi

• Accommodation in luxury beach houses
• All meals, soft drinks, local beer, house wine and bottled water
• Daily laundry service
• Guided activities – Shore based Snorkeling, shore based fishing, sea kayaking, birding, walking trails, beach picnics, dhow sailing, turtle & whale watching / monitoring (seasonal)
• US$10 per person per stay conservation levy

You can see above the list of items included in the package offered by the Vamizi resort island off the coast of Mozambique. It is a 24 bed lodge built on the island of Vamizi.











Some interesting facts :

Climate Sub-equatorial
Temperature warmest months October - April (monthly average 27 - 30 º + C)
coldest months June - Aug

Weddings can be arranged on the island with a minimum of 8 weeks notice

Contemporary international cuisine

The cuisine has an emphasis on fresh seafood including lobster, prawns, calamari, crab and assorted fish

Vamizi is rated as one of the world’s top 10 dive sites

In the media: Mobile business

Rajesh Jain's weblog points out the changes we could expect in the mobile phone industry:
* Advanced feature-and-media-rich handsets and APIs, including the next generation of Java on handsets: MIDP3 and MSA
* Fast and robust wireless networks everywhere
* Personal or near field networks
* Services, services: Services on the web, location-based services, open methods for service publish and consumption, collaboration
* Open tools, platforms, protocols and APIs, services, Internet, Web and Mobile Web, including W3C standards for Widgets and W3C WICD Mobile
* Messaging, and next generation messaging
* The mobility community continues to grow: from developers to investors
* People are getting it! User participation, user-generated content, collaboration, mass messaging/texting, high penetration of mobile handsets, the mobile lifestyle is happening.

We just hope that the amelioration observed at the infrastructural level in the telecommunication industry, could be transferred to the software level.
There is great need for Mobile application beyond mobile banking and Mobile Rss feed reader.

Afribusiness: Moriba

Moriba is a company evolving in the Agri-business industry. The transformation and distribution of ready-cooked African food has been a slow process. There are more examples of capable companies rendering the same service. The advantage, one might see in Moriba is the engineered quality that transpires throughout the flossy website and packaging to the tasteful drinks and recipes they offer.The product is distributed through ,Europe by retailers such as Auchan,Carrefour,Intermarche, The United States,Australia And Africa.


Their line of products goes from:
-Distilled beverages
-Fruit juices
-Ready-cooked meals
-Teas








Ressources: Fancy food show
Moriba blog

Afrimedia presents: Noella Coursaris- Congolese model

She has been Featured on the covers of ,Black hair, Girl about town magazine,Black beauty. She also graced the glossy pages of diverse fashion magazines , this Congolese model by the name of Noella Coursaris is slowly but effectively making her way in the fashion industry.
What is her background ? what is her view of the fashion industry here and in Afriurbania ? what is her opinion about the image of beauty in Africa?








Those and many are answered in this conversation between MiMi magazine and the intriguing beauty.Also enjoy her on-the-fly interview by Kaysha who just released a album " Legendary".

In the media: CNBC Africa

My Africa site reported on the launching of another African TV network. Previous times saw the launch of Al Jazeira Africa, MTV Africa, that were joining long time players, TV5 Africa and Canal Horizon. More so for the increasing number of media companies taking interest in the coverage of African affairs, the concern for consumers has to do with access to the market supply by ( skilled African)media production companies that will certainly know what to deliver the audience. One Jeff Koinange is enough , His dedication and craftmanshift are commendable, but fresh new faces and approaches to the news are greatly needed.
This is addressed to all the listed networks, a new and accurate portrayal of Afriurban Africa would do wonders for our psyche and understanding of one another.

Tips: The long term goal is to have a effective African union right ? Clear communication is key

Virtual museum

The republic of Gabon successfully launched a virtual national museum that allows you to discovery the rich history of this central African nation of less than 3 million inhabitants.

The site is masterfully done and should be a enjoyable experience for adults and children alike. Having visited a couple of online museum such the Museum of sex ,the Smithsonian museum , the Adachi museum of arts , or the Henam museum, we must that the spectacular imagery ,sounds and navigation of the site leave you with a very favorable impressional on Gabon's culture,history and people.

Other : Le Louvre

Afriurban sounds presents: Coupe decale Comorien

This is wonderful for the coupe decale movement and for the Afriurban culture in general.A milestone has just been passed, whenever a genre of music has been able to implant itself in other cultures the business of music and cultural bias respectively improved and decreased.
you can think of jazz,hip hop,rock and their many regional spins. A group from the nation of Comoros, probably inspired by the antics of Doukoure Stephane,Le molare, Caloudji or Dj Lewis, has decided to cook their own version of this Afriurban sound originating from the Ivory Coast.

Why a petition from you and me ?

"a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority with respect to a particular cause" this would be the definition by the dictionary of the word petition. In this democratic age ,where the voices of many can be heard through polls,elections,public demonstrations and other massive social forces,the use of petition for worthy causes by the average Afriurban citizen ought to become normal.


What cause should be worthy of your signature and thought-energy ? would it be the situation in Sudan,Congo,post-war Liberia and Sierra Leone. What about pressing the Regional African organisation(e.g Ecowas) and the African union to act on Humanitarian issues(e.g Drought caused famine,epidemics).
The idea is to sign a online petition on African related issues and address it to our would-be leaders,maybe they will show us that they are actually leaders.


Website:http://www.ipetitions.com/view.html

see: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/darfur_noflyzone/ ( petition for Sudan)

Afriupdate: Caramel lounge is Afriville

A couple of posts ago, Afribusiness introduced you to the social network site Caramel lounge. We must announce that a change took place at that social institution, they underwent a name transformation and are known as Afriville for now on.When visiting their site you should see the transformation for those of you familiar with Caramel lounge. Visitors should look
forward to the new tools and mediums coming to Afriville.com. Some of which are; a movie database (showcasing African & Caribbean movies); blogs (to allow you say whats on your mind); fashion and style column (2007 will be year of African fashion and they just thought they would keep you abreast of whats going on).
Nice.

I also had the oportunity to dialogue with one of the Administrator of the site to truly understand their new purpose/direction and overall vision. Please check the first part of our online interview:me: So what has been happening with Caramel lounge ? I see yu guys are entering a new phase

http://afriville.com: yes

the site is finallly coming together

1:42 PM and basically we are redefining our purpose

1:43 PM me: What is the new purpose ?

http://afriville.com: an agenda if u may

at first caramel lounge was aplace

1:44 PM where you go to chill and talk with like minded people

afriville is about dealling with issues that we face in all arena

its a voice for the african people if youmay

A voice

1:46 PM inwardly it should be aplace where wefind solutions

am working on platforms like integrating blog and the blog importer you suggested some time ago

1:49 PM actually i had a non profit organization idea i wanted to run by you

1:50 PM me: In order to find solutions, the problems ought to be identified then presented to the audience.How do you intend to present these problems,Video supports, podcast supports,streaming,articles ?

http://afriville.com: my idea is actually one othrough fashion

1:51 PM I want to appeal to the new generation in the way the likes of che guevera captured the world

a label with designs with political statements

something people of our generation can relate to

1:52 PM i mean everybody wants to help deep down

and if that means wearing a shirt that makes a statement

1:53 PM in the past few days i've been doing alot of researh on things happening that the youths of our generation might not be aware of

1:56 PM not everyone reads blogs but when you see a moving line on someones shirt at a party

it might push u to go home sit down and do somegoogle searching on the issues

1:57 PM me: Ok, run the idea but let's finish with Caramelounge, I am going to write a update. Regarding the fashion venture My feel is that in addition of the statement in writing on the shirt , it would be better to make a second statement via means/mode/material/place of production.Also where the funds generated by the sale of the items might go.See for example the red campaign .

1:58 PM http://afriville.com: yes

the funds generated will go to organizations that help with those issues

so buy buying you are directlyshowing your support for the issues

1:59 PM on the caramellounge front

2:03 PM am working on s many things

a wordpress integration is in the works

2:04 PM newspaper promotion magazine promotion

me: Ok, If I understand well the visitor at Afriville is being educted about different current issues and can also be part of the solution by funding programs through the purchase of items. He/she also spread the knowledge by wearing a statementA quick parenthese: Check Ted global 2007 in Arusha Tanzania and this site www.springwise.com

9 minutes

2:14 PM me: Let's talk about the magazine,newspaper,TV networks,internet tV promotions. I came across the official site for a movie Africa Paradis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT4jdYLHH9w)which did not obtain any distribution deals(yet), nor was able to create the level of independant buzz within the African community ( truly their backyard). I thought to myself if site such as caramelounge,oopss Afriville have a relationship with this production company , they would be both benefit in tremendous way.

2:15 PM http://afriville.com: at some point they will

the problemis

like i was saying about thevoice

africans have a tendency to only be interested in whats going on in the wester world

2:16 PM nigerians know more about france then they know about benin

thats why we need to get the attention of africans

2:17 PM about african businesses

2:19 PM create awareness that our people are solving our problems

2:20 PM british people buy british cars

it gives them a sense of pride

and thats a factor in every successful economy

me: They provide the type of content that might fit Afriville agenda, Afriville would provide an efficient alternative to the more traditional promotion platforms. So who would start the dialogue, Afriville or African businesses , or Afriville and African businesses together

http://afriville.com: i think bloggers now are doing a great job of speaking out

2:21 PM I am constantly looking for new people to start partnerships with

2:22 PM afriville is ready to put itself out there

and someone on my team will be aggressively searching on where a collaboration effort can be made

I would gladly promote anyone one right now who has a worthy cause

8 minutes

2:31 PM me: I will recommend you to visit timbuktuchronicles.blogspot.com if you have not, they have a great list of companies in diverse sectors accomplishing great things.