Staff Writer

The International Committee of All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, and The African Union Commission, AUC, have announced the program for the biggest music event in Africa, the 5th AFRIMA-Ghana 2018 holding in the Gold Coast City of Accra, Ghana from Wednesday, November 21 to Saturday, November 24 under the theme ‘Africa is Gold’.

Ghana was unveiled as the 5th AFRIMA Official Host Country by the AUC on September 5 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Subsequently, the Republic of Ghana accepted the Official Host Country rights on Tuesday, September 11 during a media event held at the Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City Accra and attended by top Ghanaian government officials led by the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana, Honourable Catherine Afeku.

Kicking off the back-to-back exhilarating events program for the 5th AFRIMA on November 21 is the AFRIMA Welcome Soiree, a reception in honour of arriving AFRIMA nominees and delegates, African Union officials, members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, media and other invited guests.

This is followed by the Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS) on November 22 at the Ballroom, Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra, between 8.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. To be held under the theme “African Music in a Global Village: Leveraging the Opportunities”, the annual AMBS is a panel discussion platform to interrogate and strategize on the business of music in Africa while charting a synergistic way forward for development and economic empowerment for the music talents. It is a platform for business networking and interaction among music professionals, music executives, government officials and other stakeholders in the music, media and financial sectors of Africa while discussing the potentials present in the continent’s music industry and ways to harness its socio-economic gains.

Later in the day on November 22, at the AFRIMA Music Village, lovers and fans of African music are in for high octane performances by upcoming and A-list artistes from across the continent in a festival-style music concert which holds at the 100,000-capacity Independence Square, Accra, from 5.00 p.m. till dawn. The event will be broadcast live on dedicated satellite event channels.

In a bid to showcase the cultural and historical dynamism of the beautiful host city, invited guests will be treated to a tour of landmarks and sights of Accra on Friday, November 23. This will be followed by the Nominee’s Party from 10.00 p.m.

The live broadcast Main Awards Ceremony on Saturday, November 24 will have in attendance high profile guests from across the continent and the Diaspora. Scheduled for the Accra International Conference Centre, AICC, Ghana, by 7.30 p.m., the star-studded awards show will begin with the live-broadcast red carpet at 4.30 p.m. where all the glam, glitz and high fashion of the 5th AFRIMA-Ghana 2018 will be on display. The awards ceremony to be broadcast to 84 countries on 105 partner media channels will also feature a potpourri of performances from some 2018 AFRIMA nominees, past award winners, and special guest artistes.

Wrapping up the thrilling event programme is the 5th AFRIMA After-Party at the Pool Bar, Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast, Accra, Ghana.

Expressing her excitements at the coming events, Hon. Catherine Afeku said “On behalf of His Excellency, the President of Ghana and the people of the Republic of Ghana, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana welcomes African artistes, African media and event delegates to the 5th All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA-Ghana 2018. We take pride in ourselves in hosting this continental awards between November 21 and 24 which is consistent with our national development agenda to the growth of culture and the creative arts. We project a boost to the tourism economy of Ghana and the creation of opportunities for artists and investors in the culture and creative arts industry of Ghana. We expect more of such opportunities to be created in the national economy as we host AFRIMA events in the coming years. This will become one of the vehicles to deepen the collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Africa Union to drive the Government’s transformation agenda. We look forward to welcoming you with the warm Ghanaian hospitality, Akwaaba!”

Also sharing his enthusiasm, AFRIMA Country Director for Ghana, Francis Doku extolled the virtues of the Host Country saying, “We are very excited to be the host for the 5th AFRIMA, Ghana is a very beautiful country, and the most hospitable people on earth, and we want the whole of Africa and the rest of the world to come to see how we can also help developed the culture of Africa through music. It is also an opportunity to show the world what Ghana looks like, who we are, and the fact that we can also help to bring Africans together just as we did during the colonization of Africa. He went further to implore the world to come to Ghana, enjoy the food, the weather and the people from 21st to 24th of November, 2018 when Africa and the world will meet in Accra for the 5th edition of the All Africa Music Awards. Welcome to Ghana”. He concludes.

In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA seeks to reward Africa’s music talents living on the continent or in the diaspora, it stimulates conversations among Africans and between Africa and the rest of the globe about the great potentials and values of the African musical and artistic heritage for the purpose of creating jobs, reducing poverty, calling the attention of world leaders to Africa and promoting the positive image of Africa to the world for global competitiveness.

TECNO Mobile conducted a recruitment event for their Graduate Trainee program at MUBS last Friday.

By Our Reporter

TECNO Mobile Uganda last week conducted a recruitment event for its inaugural Graduate Trainee program. The Graduate Trainee program is aimed at equipping fresh graduates and university finalists with hands-on skills as they ready to step into the employment world.

The mobile devices company established two registration platforms to the program; the online registration platform and an offline event that happened at MUBS on Friday, October 5.

The program is open to individuals who are interested in getting practical skills from highly qualified professionals in the fields of Digital Marketing, Marketing, Retail, Graphic designing and Human Resource. The successful candidates will be trained by skilled teams in the select fields at their Kampala Head Quarters on Kampala Road, Prism Building.

The TECNO Graduate Trainee programme will be an annual programme, with plans to extend it to the countryside so that students outside Kampala can also benefit from the opportunity.

The East African Development Bank (EADB) in partnership with the British Council and the Royal College of Physicians (London), has completed a week long Oncology Training under the EADB Medical Training and Fellowship Programme for 42 doctors from Kenya at Ole Sereni Hotel.

The current cascade is geared towards boosting the medical fraternity capacity in fighting noncommunicable diseases in particular cancer and neurological disorders in East Africa.

The 42 doctors from Bomet, Homabay, Isiolo, Kitui, Mandera, Marsabit, Kwale, Meru, Murang’a, Nyamira, Trans-Nzoia, Turkana, Vihiga, Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Wajir, Tana River, Nairobi and Kakamega counties representing a total of 19 counties were trained on acute cancer presentation triage and management of cancer symptoms under the tutelage of Prof. Walter Mwanda, Course Convener for Oncology for Kenya, Dr. Ruth Board from the Royal College of Physicians & Trainer Doctors.

The doctors join their predecessors making a total of 394 doctors across the four East Africa countries who have been trained since the inception of the program in 2016. EADB METAF program intends to train 600 East African physicians by 2020.

Prof. Walter Mwanda (centre), Oncology & Gynecology Lecturer at the University of Nairobi & also the Course Convener for Oncology in Kenya, with, Resident Obstetrician & Gynecologist- University of Nairobi, Dr. Grace Kanyi (left), British- Royal College of Physicians- Medical Oncology Consultant, Dr. Ruth Board.

On a letter read during the closing and certification ceremony of the Oncology Training, Ms. Vivienne Yeda, EADB’s Director General wrote that, “The burden of disease and particularly the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a growing concern in the region. NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, are now the leading cause of death in most regions of the world. Of the most pressing NCD concerns, the burden of cancer has been increasing in Africa.”

Prof. Walter Mwanda (left), Oncology & Gynecology Lecturer at the University of Nairobi & also the Course Convener for Oncology in Kenya, British Council of Kenya, Director of Programmes & Partnerships, George Kogolla (right) and, British- Royal College of Physicians- Medical Oncology Consultant, Dr. Ruth Board (second right), present certificates to Dr. Nassim Ngila Esala, and Dr. Ian Simel Koyiet, both from Tenwek Hospital (Bomet).

“The partnership with the British Council and the Royal College of Physicians brings 500 years of medical experience, global reach and programme quality and expertise that is comparable to few. For Kenya this cohort brings to life the core aim of this programme. You as the doctors working in the counties were the primary focus of the programme. We believe that you will interact and challenge the content and approach of the training, giving feedback based on your contextual realities, “read the letter.

The training comes at a time when about 50 Kenyans die daily from various forms of cancers and of these, 80-90% arrive in hospital too late. This trend is common across East Africa and is associated with lack of treatment facilities and expertise for treatment, prevention and early detection. Kenya has a population of about 50 million people.

The ratio of doctor to population is at 1:17000 with only 17 cancer specialists and 2 palliative care specialists covering the entire population.

“We are pleased that the partnership with EADB and the Royal College of Physicians brings global expertise into the East African Region and will lead to a rich exchange of skills, expertise and experience. The programme will lead to better health for the people of East Africa,” said George Kogolla, Director Programmes and Partnerships at British Council.

Prof. Walter Mwanda (left), Oncology & Gynecology Lecturer at the University of Nairobi & also the Course Convener for Oncology in Kenya, British Council of Kenya, Director of Programmes & Partnerships, George Kogolla (right) and, British- Royal College of Physicians- Medical Oncology Consultant, Dr. Ruth Board (second right), present certificates to, Dr. Stephen Kibengo Chege and Dr. Nzinga Aura Mwende, both from Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Dr. Ruth Board from the Royal College of Physicians added that, “We are proud that we have this opportunity to use our expertise to support our colleagues in the East African region. This programme is an excellent example of the Royal College of Physician’s aim to improve care for patients and to develop physicians throughout their career by increasing access to high quality postgraduate training.”