Jumia Travel Launches “Travel Wednesday"

This comes as a successor to the recently celebrated Black Friday, seeking to extend travel bargains throughout the season.

Nairobi, 20th December, 2016 – Following the successful 2016 Black Friday campaign, Jumia Travel has launched a campaign dubbed “Travel Wednesday” running every Wednesday to Friday on the company’s official website. The campaign’s main objective is to carry on readily negotiated rates referred to as “Dream Deals” with the aim of encouraging and facilitating travel through the year.

With 2017 having been designated as the “Year of Sustainable Travel” at the United Nations 70th General Assembly, one of the major goals for industry players will be to draw policies that contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic growth throughout the seasons in the tourism circuit.

While initially a maximum of 8 hotel deals will run during the promotion, they will in the coming days be increased to a total of 12 deals running until every Wednesday and Friday. “This is designed to meet our customers’ demand to have access to affordable travel options through Jumia Travel. Following the impressive public response on Black Friday, we want to create a new appointment for all travellers, an opportunity to get more deals that we have negotiated with thousands of hotels across Africa,” noted Paul Midy, CEO of Jumia Travel.

The deals have been launched in African countries where the company has been on the forefront in providing accommodation and travel packages within the means of most travelers. They include Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Algeria.

As in the case of Black Friday, the Dream Deals will also be co-marketed across all Jumia ecosystem in the countries they operate in. “More than 25% of our Black Friday bookings came from the Jumia ecosystem. Thus, it is vital to continue working closely with our sister companies to increase the traffic of the customer, as this was the main objective of the rebranding” added Midy.

Other channels through which the Dream Deals will be run include Jumia Travel’s social media pages, newsletters, and SMSs among others 

Ringier to Partner with Ghafla

As part of its continued expansion, Ringier Africa Digital Publishing (RADP), Ringier Africa’s publishing company, will work with Kenya’s top entertainment website ‘Ghafla’ . The partnership sees Kenya’s leading entertainment platform relaunch and enhance its editorial output, by diversifying Ghafla’s content to include current affairs, news and analysis.

With this partnership and relaunch, Ghafla will now also become a regional publisher aimed at providing innovative, insightful and entertaining content targeting the wider East African market, and will have footprints in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Since it first launched in 2009, Ghafla has led the way in publishing up to the minute, youth-oriented entertainment news for East Africa, known for breaking top stories and building an active community of mobile-savvy followers across the continent. The partnership with Ringier  and relaunch consolidates Ghafla’s position as Kenya’s top entertainment news brand, as well as signals a new strategic direction in terms of expanding the editorial scope to include more politics, current affairs and international news stories, to further increase the popular platform’s followership. The redeveloped platform will also look to significantly increase its video and new media content, across all content sections and channels.

Ringier Africa & Asia CEO, Robin Lingg said Ringier is constantly reaching for new opportunities to strengthen its position as an innovative and leading publisher; “We are excited to welcome Ghafla as a new partner of our business in East Africa, seeing a lot of great potential in the product and its further growth opportunities.The inclusion of Ghafla into the Ringier family comes at an exciting time for our publishing company, as we continue to invest in building out a fast-moving, pioneering, credible and truly pan-African publishing network.”

Ringier Africa GM, Leonard Stiegeler said that Ghafla’s partnership with Ringier’s publishing arm also fits well into Ringier Africa’s overall strategy to build out leading digital businesses throughout the continent in four key verticals: content, classifieds, e-commerce and digital marketing; “Ghafla will benefit from being part of a leading pan-African digital media group and able to tap into connections from across the continent.”

Ghafla is also expected to benefit from Ringier’s 180+ years of experience and knowledge in the media industry, to become a leading East African online news platform and media publisher as well as to bring new exciting products and offerings to its existing and new advertising clients.  

Tim Kollmann, Ringier’s Managing Director of RADP adds, “Working with the Ghafla team, we will be settting new standards in the regional media space, offering up-to-date information at any time of the day, directly to East Africa’s media consumtion tool of choice; the mobile phone.”

Commenting on the partnership, Ghafla’s founder, Samuel Majani, who will continue as Co-CEO of Ghafla, notes that his mission from day one was to get news to Kenyans online. He adds, "I am very proud that Ghafla, which started in a Kenyan bedroom seven years ago, is now partnering with one of the largest African media enterprises. This partnership will give us access to international know-how and will ensure that we can learn from and apply the global expertise that the Ringier team brings with it".

Win A Holiday this Labor Day Weekend With Jovago Website !

Is your work taking a toll on you and are in need of a break? Or are you just dreaming of a break in your perfect destination? Well your desire might just be realized this labor day with Jovago.com.

Ever since 1887 when the first labor celebrations were held, the 1^st of May has evolved to be the only day of the year when workers are celebrated and work place achievements appreciated. With this year’s May Day celebration falling on a Friday, most people will have a 3 day holiday, from 1^st till 3^rd May. How are you planning to spend your holiday break?

Even though everyone would wish to spend their labor day holiday by taking a short vacation, several factors including, finances, logistics and unavailable hotel rooms could derail any plans one might have.

Enter Jovago Labor Day Competition

In appreciating the effort and hard work of the Kenyan worker, Jovago is offering workers an opportunity to win an amazing 3 night long weekend in a 4 star hotel of their choice  in Kenya

All you have to do is to:
– take a picture of yourself or with your colleagues while at work,
– upload your picture to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag  #JovagoMayKenya and also share it with @Jovago.
– Let your friends and family like/comment/share the picture.

If your picture garners lots of likes, comments and shares by 30^th April, you should definitely begin packing your holiday bags and prepare for an amazing Labor Day weekend.

Participate now and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @Jovago_ea in East Africa)!

Chloride Exide Ltd -Sauti Sol's "Lipala" Dance 'Meme':Are Kenyan Corporates Catching up on Social Media Trends?

Music Videos are becoming a powerful tool in modern day business environment especially in the social media scene, ever heard of  viral video meme remakes of Psys Gangnam , Beyonce's " All The Single Ladies” Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe,” and now the" Sha Nay Nay"(made after the legendary Martin Lawrence character 'Sheneneh Jenkins')  dance trending in the USA. Well corporates and Ad Agencies in the West have discovered the powerful marketing effect available in such self made videos and have gone ahead to make renditions of the same shedding the all suit and tie perception and painting themselves as Social, Friendly, Caring, Engaging...




A Kenyan firm Chloride Exide Ltd with marked presence in the East African Region has caught up on the trend.Here is a video of the firms employees dancing the  MTV EMA best African Act Award 2014 winner " Sauti Sols"

Lipala Dance !The video has over 4,000 views as at 30 October, 2014 though it was published on 27 October, 2014.Will it go viral? talk about free advertisement !

University Of Florida Swahili Students Dancing @diamondplatnumz "My Number One Song"

Diamond Platnumz

 Tanzanian Bongo Singer @DiamondPlatnumz fans will certainly find this dance video beautiful but hilarious! Apparently University of Florida 2014  African Language Initiative(AFLi) Elementary Swahili students made an impressive dance video of the popular "Ngololo dance " tune and its generating quite a buzz online.You just have to appreciate the effort as Swahili is not their native tongue and attempting the rhythmic dance was clearly  a gargantuan task for them !

Reminds me of the film of the typical stereotype ad lib  "Whitemen Cant Dance(they even made a Movie)"! But surely the University of Florida Class deserve a pat on the back for the effort.Apart from the dance video they also created a tutorial video with the class engaged in a make believe Swahili conversation video.

Well that's a start and its pretty impressive one especially  considering it takes extra effort when one undertakes the task of learning a new language that they are not exposed to and hardly listen to it on a day to day basis ! I am sure the instructors are pleased  and had a good time while at it .Kudos Messrs  Filipo Lubua, John Munyui and Brenda Wawire!

Nigerian Blogger Linda Ikeji:When Blogging Pays Up Massively !

She has all the reasons to smile after putting her hand to event planning,modelling,book writing and blogging. Blogging paid off.On Tuesday she put up a blogpost flaunting her new 24 Million Naira Range Rover  and since then many Nigerians have turned to blogging to see whether fortune can come knocking her way.

Linda Ikeji with three new Cars

We are yet to see a Kenyan make so much for blogging but the truth is we are heading there.Blogging is so influential case in point is Bizokulu post on being denied a Visa that earned him a second chance with the British Ambassador Christian Turner. However we are yet to see blogging translate into "serious cash" for a Kenyan Blogger. Most get by paltry handouts, tech gadget on loans, petty freebies and events. A few are having engagements with corporates that ends up with lump some payments and hardly a contractual engagement.Some have had to leverage blog associations with intent to generate collective influence, exposure and perhaps then get to the money.

Its true many will say money is not the motivation.But question is wouldn't it be nice  if blogging itself could pay as much as it has done for  Perezhilton, Huffington Post and the Linda Ekeji's of this World ...and if not can it at least self sustain the blog and the blogger? For that to happen however question is are people willing to engage you financially due to the content you write.That can be a ready telling fact.

But that is not really it with the case of Linda Ikeji, she operates a freemium blogger platform , has massive traffic  and a global rank 2,077. What is perhaps telling is that majority of her traffic is Nigerian.It therefore is an indicator that perhaps muchof what she is making is coming from Nigerian based company's or global company's that have an interest of reaching the Nigerian Market.
Point being is that if Kenyan bloggers are to make it rich  then they have to have locally appealing content ,get steady readership and develop influence value that can be sale able to the corporates.

Now if you think you can make money from blogging in Kenya such as Linda Ikeji has please note that it has been a long time coming for her(actually around 7 years), it took hard work, the right kind of content and perseverance.  The best advice really would be keep blogging, write relevant content, be authoritative and not just a rabble rouser and keep at it. You will find it rewarding in many senses(cents)!

Lupita Nyongo's Elmo Sesame Street Video

Lupita Nyongo finally appeared on Sesame Street talking to Emo about skin. She looks happy confident and vibrant talking about her brown skin.Apparently its not her acting prowess that is at feature in the episode but her skin colour ! That is raising eyebrows dependent on how one wants to look at it.But for most its hilarious and fun how confidently she goes about little Elmo's questions.

Sincerely there s a lot to learn about skin and the diverse shades of colour it comes in,but in the final analysis "Skin is Skin" !

Comedy Giant Robin Williams Is Dead !

Shocking as it is the king of comedy Robin Williams is dead  due to suspected suicide according to the HolyWood Reporter internet site. Robin Williams has entertained Millions perhaps billions of us through his witty comedic antics in several blockbuster Hollywood movies such as Mrs DoubtFire ,Aladin, Patch Adams , Jumanji.

He was such a funny guy, uniquely talented and could get a laugh out of anyone. The World will surely miss him.

Its especially tragic to note that he died not due to natural causes but suicide after a bout of depression.That is just so sad and illustrates the reality that being a superstar or famous does not automatically translate to being happy.Value your life as it is.Our sincere condolences to the family.

Victoria Kimani's New Photoshoot

Apparently the Kenyan songstress Victoria Kimani of "Toto " fame is trending in Nigeria not for her vocal prowess but her Tribal & Edgy Photo shoot .The photos  can be viewed on the BellaNaija Blog and her Nigerian Audience simply love it.

Is modelling her new fame? that remains to be seen.Was she a one hit wonder? That too remains to be seen.

Just A Band -Probably For Lovers Video !

The hit maker "Just a Band" have released a NEW VIDEO  on Youtube entitled Probably For Lovers that is set to go viral.The video song has all the hallmarks of a video that will go viral online with a catchy tune and especially appealing societal theme featuring people of various backgrounds miming the catchy lyrics.Once again they have released the video song exclusively online in an apparent move to appeal to their online fan base again.

Just A Band are remembered for the 2009 viral video "Makmende" which had a Global appeal and cast the group into the international limelight.Their latest song has a happy "sing to it appeal "and has been mostly shot by their mobile phones.This may just be their second big hit after an apparent 'visible absence' in the local entertainment scene.The video has been contrived by asking fans to submit their videos for  inclusion into the video .Will the Probably For Lovers Video replicate their earlier success.The Jury and verdict will be online!

Emirates launches as-it-happens television viewing ‘ice TV’

19 February, 2013 – Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, has launched ‘ice TV Live’ as part of its on-going efforts to provide the latest in on-board entertainment. Emirates will now offer up to four channels of as-it-happens television viewing. 

ice TV Live offers passengers four TV channels to select from: BBC World News in English, BBC Arabic, Euronews and, for sports fans, Sport24 - a channel dedicated to major sports events around the world.

A major sponsor of renowned global sporting events, Emirates recognizes the power of sport and its ability to connect people from around the world. A dedicated channel which provides coverage of major sporting events is a key part of the TV channel line-up. February’s Sport24 highlights include English Premier League and Bundesliga football matches. Coverage of more events will be announced soon, but 2013 will feature coverage of the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open Tennis, ATP Tour Masters 1000 Series, ATP World Tour Finals, US Open Golf, and the British and Irish Lions Tour. In line with this week’s announcement of a five year agreement appointing Emirates as a Global Partner of Formula 1® starting with the imminent 2013 season, ice TV Live will also include coverage of Formula 1; ensuring sports fans on Emirates miss none of the action.

“Installing the type of satellite communication that allows live TV on an aircraft is no easy feat,” explained Adel Al Redha, Emirates Executive Vice-President of Engineering and Operations. “Emirates continues to enhance the features of its inflight entertainment system with its partner Panasonic.” 

The ice TV Live channels will also complement the full range of Emirates entertainment and communications options. Emirates was the first airline to introduce usage of GSM telephone on its aircraft and expanded this to the use of Wi-Fi and now live TV channels. With this latest addition, Emirates now offers Wi-Fi on 32 aircraft including all A380s, plus mobile phone use on 98 Boeing 777, Airbus A330-200, A340-300/500 and A380 aircraft.

Emirates is committed to providing the most connectivity, maximum comfort and most engaging in-flight entertainment in the skies. The ice TV Live news channels enhance Emirates existing live BBC text news headlines introduced in 2003 - which made Emirates the first airline in the world to offer such live news updates.

The new ice TV Live follows an incredible year of Emirates ‘firsts’ for inflight entertainment and communications. In 2012 alone, Emirates introduced touch TV screens similar to that found on tablets, bigger personal TV screens (27-inch in First Class, 20-inch in Business Class and 12.1 inch in Economy Class – with high definition (HD) resolution), and the introduction of mobile phone use for the first time on A380 aircraft.

2013 will build upon Emirates’ reputation for equipment and content innovation. In addition to ice TV Live, mobile phone use and Wi-Fi to Boeing 777s, the entire ice-equipped fleet will see improvements in the first few months of the year that include more music and more types of music than ever before, more Arabic TV and films on-board, the introduction of African movies, and a dedicated CBeebies channel for younger flyers.

Ruth Matete Bags Tusker Project Fame Season 5 Finals!

On Sunday 29th July 2012, the curtains came down on the popular East African reality tv musical talent show Tusker Project Fame Season 5 with 26 year old Kenyan Communications graduate Ruth Matete (here's her facebook fanpage) emerging the winner!To a great extent she was hugely popular especially amongst young Kenyans and tipped to win due to her strong voice and Neosoul/RnB songstress prowess.
Whether or not her win will translate into a successful musical career is perhaps what critics are out to watch for as previous winners have hardly left a mark in the musical scene within the region.Will she perhaps change the trend? time will tell.

As a winner Ruth Matete takes home Kenya shillings 5 Million in cash, a 10 Million Kenya shillings recording contract with Universal Group , one year security services from G4S and a whole lot of other freebies.

Her performance in the academy was constant often managing to pull impressive feats with sterling stage performances of the different genre of songs she was put up to.From quite early in the show one could tell that she would make it to the final two.She did not disappoint in that regard!

Her second strongest competition was Rwandan competitor Jackson Kalimba who wowed the crowd with a spectacular performance of Lokua Kanza's song Voir Le Jour which when translated means 'until i see the day' .Earlier in the competition a controversy had simmered in certain circles as to whether Jackson Kalimba qualified as a professional musician prior to the auditions of the show which seeks novel talent.

Jackson Kalimba however ended up being a close third after Kenyan Doreen Muchiri (in my two cents he was better than Doreen hands down) who performed dismally.In my take Doreen though talented goes off to the world with a performance that befits probation.During the show she earned the title "probation queen"-as an artiste she faces the daunting task of avoiding being dubbed the "probation artiste".

Surprisingly,Joe Irankunda of Burundi managed to survive to the top 5 whereas his musical prowess was severely limited.He basically was comedic,lacked vocal appeal but his strategy lasted him in the academy to the last five standing and for that he deserves a measure of congratulations.As to whether he will translate into a successful musician is an enigma of sorts.

Tusker Project Fame Season 5 and Social Media:

What was particularly impressive about Tusker Project Fame Season 5 was perhaps its use of social media i.e,YouTube, Facebook and Twitter(@tuskerlager-my tip next time use  a twitter handle commensurate to the show and not a brand name) to engage the viewers in real time conversations. Selling a brand via social media adheres to different rules as opposed to traditional media.The majority users being the youth want a buzz not a corporate trying to sell them something in such an open manner.

According to the website Hashtracking.com the #tpf5 generated a massive over 70,000 impressions within 24 hours reaching over 56K people indicating the online buzz on the show was gigantic. Samsung Kenya also hyped the show by introducing tablets both in the show performances and in coordinating student tasks during their stay at the Tusker academy.That was significant progress and improvement as compared to past competitions.

TPF & The Future:

The challenge for the organizers is to reinvent the show and take it to a whole new level in the next season. One place that needs to be re-engineered perhaps is the modus operandi of the show ....the whole voting fiasco,the student tasks,the eviction shows to ensure the level of  unpredictability is hyped to a whole new level.Putting three or four contestants on probation each week as a way of eliminating week performers has now been surpassed by time! Re think the concept!

The organizers should also  re model the website....requiring users to input their age, country of origin and subscribe to terms and conditions takes out the beauty of having anything online,unless your website belongs to the r-rated category,that option should have long been discarded.The website also needs prompt updating, live streaming,visual-graphic appeal  and other antics that the internet nowadays offers!

Lauryn Hill Confirmed For Sold Out Capetown Jazz Festival

Multi Grammy Award winner Ms. Lauryn Hill has been confirmed to perform at this year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Her performance will take place on Saturday 31 March 2012 at the famous Kippies stage.

“We are extremely excited about the addition of Ms. Lauryn Hill. She is an exceptional artist and festival goers can expect a sensational show. She completes a line-up of world class acts that audiences have come expect from the festival,” says Rashid Lombard, espAfrika CEO.

“”Both public tickets and corporate hospitality tickets are completely sold out.
Non -ticket holders are urged not to try their luck at the festival gates as there will be no tickets available,” says Lombard.

Hill established her reputation as a member of the sensational Fugees. In 1998 she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The recording earned Hill 5 Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.

After several years out of the spotlight, Ms. Hill returned to live music in 2011. She has toured extensively since, including performances at Coachella Valley Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest, and Rock The Bells. In February 2012 Hill performed a new song, titled Fearless Vampire Killer, during a sold out performance at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC.

Launch of Nokia Asha Range Phones In Kenya

Nokia yesterday officially launched its "Nokia Asha " range of phones in the Kenyan market at the Loft Lounge Westlands.The launch featured many celebrities, tech gurus,graffiti artiste bloggers and media personalities.The launch was definitely fun filled with a lot of trivia,rap contest,street dancing ,goody bags and fanfare befit of the brand name that Nokia is especially in relation to easy to use ,and quality smart phones that Nokia is , in the region.The  twitter hash tag for the event was #LetsQWERTY 

According to the press release the three phones immediately available in the market include:

Nokia Asha 201

The single SIM version of the Nokia Asha 200, the Nokia Asha 201 is ideal for young consumers who wish to stay socially connected, are price conscious and like listening to music. The Nokia Asha 201 has great music features including a high performing loudspeaker, enhanced stereo FM radio and ringtone tuning. It supports up to 32 GB memory cards and provides a battery for 52 hours of music playback time. The Nokia Asha 201 also supports push email as well as the popular messaging app WhatsApp. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Asha 201 is KES 7,300.

Nokia Asha 302

The Nokia Asha 302 is Nokia’s first Series 40 phone to support Mail for Exchange, giving people access to their emails, contacts and calendar on an exchange server. That and a stylish QWERTY keyboard make it ideal for young entrepreneurs and professionals seeking a beautifully designed phone. Additionally, the Nokia Asha 302 connects to popular social networks and enables chatting through Whatsapp and other IM services. The Nokia Asha 302 is powered by a 1-GHz processor and supports 3.5G data speeds. Great multimedia capabilities including a 3.2 MP camera, enhanced stereo FM radio, a music player as well as up to 32 GB memory card support. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Asha 302 is KShs 10,000.

Nokia Asha 303

The Nokia Asha 303 is designed with sophisticated materials and metallic finishes, combining a large 2.6” capacitive touch screen with a high quality QWERTY keypad. The device uses a powerful 1 GHz processor, 3G and WLAN to deliver a fast Internet experience. Social networks, email and instant messaging are at the centre of the experience, easily accessible from the home screen. Entertainment and applications are also a core part of the Nokia Asha 303 offering. Angry Birds Lite comes preinstalled on the phone. The estimated retail price of the Nokia Asha 303 is KShs 13,730.

Little Known Facts About The Largest Cruise Ships Ever Built

 

If you are like me you probably operate under the mistaken belief that the Titanic was and is still the largest passenger ship ever built.You are mistaken-there are two new kids on the block -The Oasis and The Allure of The Seas  which when compared to the Titanic both in matters of size,performance and comfort  basically pale it out!

If you are a cruise enthusiast and interested in cruises like i am then the link provided:Cruises may benefit you a lot  when it comes to cruise deals. However without digressing let me list the Dimensions of the three ships for your comparison:

•   Titanic :  269.06 meters in length by 28.19 meters width/beam by 32 metres height, she measured 46,328 register tonnes

• Oasis of The Sea: 360 meters in length by 47 metres width/beam waterline extreme 60.5 metres and height 72 meters , Tonnage 225,282.
• Allure of The Seas: 360 metres in length by  47 metres width/beam waterline extreme 60.5 metres and height 72 metres, Tonnage  225, 282

  Allure of the Seas is like a miniature city offering the best service and entertainment at sea, with the ship travelling at a comfortable speed of 22 knots leaving you with one of the most enjoyable and memorable cruises you have ever had.  

The ship which travels from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale to Florida, then to marquee destinations through Caribbean, offers a captivating adventure like the first ever Starbucks outlet at sea- not present in the Oasis of the Seas. The Allure of the Seas allows you to enjoy your cruise experience with the Mexican-fare favourites at Rita’s Cantina, prime cuts straight from the skewer and the best margaritas.  

The Allure of the Seas offers its guest with a unique experience along the Coast of Hispaniola and the Royal Caribbean’s pristine beaches. With amazing accommodation of different categories the guest are able to relax and enjoy as their kids are savoured to a unique, creative, educational and totally fun programs.