UK based Beauty of Rwanda

www.infoafricanow.com just had the pleasure of having a one on one with Beauty of Rwanda, a UK based company whose sole purpose is to sell Rwandan artifacts to Europe and the rest of the world. The new company has wonderful plans in store, and we are honored to share them with you...

infoafricanow.com: What is Beauty of Rwanda?

Beauty of Rwanda is a unique for profit company that is working to change the lives of impoverished Rwandans. We are trying to restore and heal the people of Rwanda. The vision of the company is to sell Rwandan artifacts to people in the west thus helping all the craftsmen and women of Rwanda, many of whom are survivors of the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsi that took place in 1994.

www.infoafricanow.com: Where are you based?

Beauty of Rwanda: We are based in Newcastle, United Kingdom.

www.infoafricanow.com: What products do you sell?

Beauty of Rwanda: We sell hand made products from Rwanda. They are made from papyrus, sisal, banana and grass fibre and other raw materials from Rwanda.

www.infoafricanow.com: What are some of the challenges you are facing in the process of selling crafts in the west?

Beauty of Rwanda: I know that there is huge interest in African artifacts both from ex-pats living in Europe, North America etc.and/or others who may have visited Africa on holiday as tourists.
The challenge is to find a way to bring to market genuinely locally sourced products rather than mass produced fakes which do not benefit the real crafts men and women of Africa.


www.infoafricanow.com: What is your take on the African Crafts market?

Beauty of Rwanda: The market is there and it's huge but how huge is the key question.... We are trying to sell from a website (www.beautyofrwanda.com) so that we can capture those who can't physically travel to Rwanda to buy the crafts. In other words, we are going to bring Rwanda to them!

www.infoafricanow.com: Are you open to partnerships with artisans in other African countries apart from Rwanda?

Beauty of Rwanda: Yes, absolutely, provided that it fitted in with the overall ethos of Beauty of Rwanda.

www.infoafricanow.com: What inspired you to venture into this trade?

Beauty of Rwanda: I knew of different men and women associations based in Rwanda that sold rwandan crafts. Most of the members of these groups are survivors of the genocide as I had earlier mentioned. Some are the wives of men serving time for atrocities they committed in the genocide. Others are women who were raped and are HIV positive. The work they do is their only means of earning a livelihood for them and their families. These women are very skilled and their crafts are beautiful but their finished products were only being sold in Rwanda and one or two other countries....They are my inspiration.

www.infoafricanow.com: What are your future plans?

Beauty of Rwanda: Our dream is to bring the traditional culture and produce of Rwanda to a worldwide audience. The success of the company will be measured by the improved quality of life and opportunities of the craftsmen and women of Rwanda. One day, maybe a shop right here in Newcastle? Wow...that would be amazing.

www.infoafricanow.com: What advice would you give anyone venturing into the international crafts trade?

Beauty of Rwanda: One has to research the market just like any other thing I suppose. This is a first for us so we are still learning and taking every good advice on board. We hope many people will take the journey with us.

For more information, email Beauty of Rwanda at info@beautyofrwanda.com, or take a peak at their beautiful website: www.beautyofrwanda.com They can also be found on twitter: @beautyofrwanda

Kenya's Mara Timbo Camp

Weaver Press Zimbabwe linked to www.infoafricanow.com

Weaver Press Zimbabwe is now linked to www.infoafricanow.com. Weaver press is an authoritative publishing house in Zimbabwe, covering topics like literature, history, law and children's books. We have successfully listed over seventy books from Weaver Press on www.infoafricanow.com.




For more information, the following links will be useful:

http://www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com/
http://www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com/useful-links.html

Nigeria's DJ Fabulous

Nigeria is without a doubt one of the top nations when it comes to African music with the likes of P Square, D'Banj and Fela Kuti leading the pack. It is therefore our pleasure to have a quick word with Lagos' upcoming DJ Fabulous(Yusuf Idris)....

infoafricanow.com: How long have you been a DJ?

DJ Fabulous: I have been DJ for 3 years now.

infoafricanow.com: Which Clubs/Parties have you played in Nigeria?

DJ Fabulous: I have played in several parties in Nigeria.

infoafricanow.com: How many songs have you recorded? What type of music do you sing?

DJ Fabulous: I have one demo

infoafricanow.com: What type of music do you play?

DJ Fabulous: I do Hiphop and RnB

infoafricanow.com: What do you think about the Nigerian music scene?

DJ Fabulous: Well the Nigerian artists are doing a great job.. now we are just like America in music

infoafricanow.com: Which Nigerian artists/DJ's do you respect?

DJ Fabulous: I respect Eedris Abdulkareem who happens to be my role model. I also respect Dj Humility.

infoafricanow.com: Which African musicians would you like to work with in future?

DJ Fabulous: I would love to work with many African artists but the ones I really want to work with are, Eedris Abdulkareem, Faze, OJB, JJC, VIP of Ghana, Tiny, Femi Kuti, Pasuma Wonder etc

infoafricanow.com: Any last words?

DJ Fabulous: Yeah! I just wanna shout out to everybody out there expect DJ Fabulous very soon.... music is my soul, music is in me. I will bring music edifies to the industry...WATCH OUT

Email DJ Fabulous: djfabulous87@yahoo.com

Namibia's KunsHuis Graphic Design Consultancy

KunsHuis is a Professional Graphic Design Consultancy with 6 years experience. They specialize in the design of:
• Logo’s
• Stationary
• Brochures
• flyers
• annual reports
• Magazine layouts
• small ad designs
• Signage
• Packaging Design
• Vehicle Branding
• Website Design and any other visual element needed by businesses.

KunsHuis Graphic Design Consultancy have experience working on clients such as:
• British American Tobacco
• BP
• Lexus
• Windhoek Gymnasium
• Old Mutual
• Meatboard of Namibia
• SAA
• Avis Fleet Services
• Diamonds Industry of Namibia
• Pupkewitz
• Namibia Tourism Board
• MultiChoice Namibia
• Toyota
• Lexus
• Roads Authority
• Agra
• Namfisa
• Government Campaigns
• Central family Practice
• Vespa among others.

For more information, check out http://kunshuis.com

Cameroon's Limbe Labs

Limbe Labs is a consultancy and startup incubator located in the heart of Central & West Africa. They are a group of technologists and entrepreneurs who share a passion for all things tech, with a special interest in African ingenuity. Limbe Labs has three main business units focused on consulting, socially-responsible outsourcing and incubating technology startups.

careers.limbelabs.com provides job listings available at the trend-setting company. Limbe Labs is active in the Cameroon tech scene, having sponsored BarCamp Cameroon. They provided logistical support and networking infrastructure on November 7th 2009.

Africa Gathering DC talk

View more presentations from Bill Zimmerman.

For more information have a look at the Limbe Labs Website

The Kenya Events Festival & Conferences Forum, 22-23 April 2010

Kenya will for the first time host a forum in events, festivals and conferences in April this year.
Makini College and the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) have partnered to hold this ‘first of its kind’ forum that will help develop an international benchmark for events and enable standardization of competency in event management in the region.
The two – day event will take place on the 22nd- 23rd April 2010 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The aim of the conference is to provide a professional learning experience for all stake holders involved in the Events Industry.
Among the attendees will be the following top event Gurus from around the world, who will join Kenyan event organizers in discussing way forward in the event industry. They will include: William O’Toole, Events Development Specialist for Abu Dhabi city, New Zealand and Scotland governments, Eva Schausberger, Director, Foreign Credential Recognition at Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council and Janet Langley, of South African, among other local stakeholders.
The events industry has been around for a while, but has not had a stable foundation in Kenya; most of the event managers in the country are not aware that international standards for holding events/conferences exist. Kenya has no specific body that recognizes event organizers and persons who derive their wellbeing from the industry. Hence, this event will bring out the importance of developing competency based standards, forming association for professional organizers and forming professional programmes that are relevant to event / conference/ festival managers.
The event hopes to:
• To develop a competency based standard with industry for event managers and the event industry.
• To develop a Forum that brings all stakeholders to learn about event management
• To develop relevant programmes in event management.

Some of the topics that will be covered in the forum are:
• How to bid for events
• How to promote and develop events
• Risk management and analysis of an event
• How to measure ROI on event sponsorship
• How to develop competency-based standards for event management
• How to benchmark event safety standards
• To develop internationally recognized training programs in event management

Who can participate? The event has attracted interest from corporate, government, non-governmental organizations, hotels & tour operators, churches and religious forums as well as independent event organizers and event service providers.
An exciting programme of events is lined up for participants that includes a forum where the guest speakers will address topical issues; break out sections where group discussions will be formed, a workshop which the attendees will be rewarded with a certificate, and an exhibition that will go on during the conference to allow sponsors to showcase their products and services.
We would like your media house to attend this event and accord it coverage.

For more information please contact:
Silvia Mochorwa
KICC (+254 724 274 170)
Tel: +254 20 247277
Email: smochorwa@kicc.co.ke
Or
Amelia Watindi
Tel: +254 20 24 98 759
Email: amelia@makinicollege.com

For more information, log onto www.kenyaevents.org

Wanted: African Freelance Reporters and Video Production Companies

A Message from Africa Interactive

To serve our fast growing portfolio of international clients - like Philips, KLM, Heineken, Starbucks, Nestlé and Nike - Africa Interactive is urgently
looking for Freelance African and Non-African reporters living and workin in Africa to do paid assignments.

We are looking for:

* African cameramen/women
* African video and film production companies
* African journalists
* African photographers

in all African countries

who speak English or French or Portuguese

If you like to sign up, please send your cv to:

bas@africanews.com

If you want to see who are in our reporter database now, please follow this link:

http://www.africanews.com/site/page/reporters

If you like to read more about becoming a reporter for Africa Interactive, please follow this link:

www.africa-interactive.net

I am looking forward to working together.

If you know other African Media professionals who might be interested in working with Africa Interactive, please forward this message.

Best regards,

Bas Vlugt, founder Africa Interactive
bas@africanews.com

Africa Interactive is the publisher of AfricaNews.com, the world's leading Africa website

www.africanews.com

www.infoafricanow.com at the 8th Property & Home Living Expo 2010, Nairobi, kenya

The just concluded Property & Home Living Expo 2010 was timely. Africa as a developing continent has a vibrant and rapidly expanding real estate market. This event was useful and showcased some of the best real estate companies in Kenya. Hass Consult and The Nairobi Water Company sponsored the Expo. For a more information on Real Estate companies in Kenya, take a look at:

http://www.infoafricanow.com/directory.php?do=Category&CountryID=23&CatID=24