Tuesday, April 15, 2008

BBC seeking young Swahili-speaking entrepreneurs

PRESS RELEASE

14 April 2008

BBC seeking young Swahili-speaking entrepreneurs

The BBC is seeking young business minded Swahili-speakers across
Africa to take part in its Faidika na BBC (Prosper with the BBC)
competition.

Entrepreneurs aged 16 to 24 have until Sunday 16 May to submit their
proposals on how they can start a successful business that has a
positive impact on
their community, using US $5,000. The proposal should be no more than
1,500 words and can be emailed to faidika@bbc.co.uk It can also be
posted to the
following:

Country Address
Burundi
Faidika na BBC 2008, Building Maison de la
Bible, Avenue de la Mission, 2eme etage, en face de
PAR, Bujumbura BP 6790

Kenya
Faidika na BBC 2008, 5th Floor, Longonot
Place, Kijabe Street, PO Box 58621, Nairobi
Rwanda

DR Congo
Faidika na BBC 2008, P.O Box 2790, Kigali

Tanzania
Faidika na BBC 2008, Skyways Building, 3rd Floor, Ohio Street and
Sokoine Drive,
Dar es Salaam

Uganda
Faidika na BBC 2008, 1A, Ruth Towers, Plot
15A, Clement Hill Road, Kampala

BBC Swahili Head, Solomon Mugera, said; "This competition is all about
big ideas and giving a young person an opportunity to turn that idea
into a viable business. It's also about helping young people to do
well for themselves and serve their local
communities."
Salim Kikeke, Faidika na BBC Project Manager added: "I am convinced
many young people have interesting ideas for money-making projects
which will launch their business careers. For those who do not win the
top prize we hope to offer inspiration and advice to help them get
closer to their dreams."

Five regional heats will take place in Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda and Rwanda – which will also include D R Congo finalists. Each
regional heat winner will receive a specially commissioned trophy and
a certificate. The regional heats takes place in Burundi on Monday, 2
June; Rwanda (with DRC finalists)
on Tuesday 3 June; Tanzania on Wednesday 4 June; Kenya on Thursday 5
June; and Uganda on Friday 6 June.

The six winners from the five regional heats will then battle for the
top prize at a grand final to take place in Uganda on Wednesday 18
June. The grand final
will be broadcast live on BBC Swahili radio and online, via
bbcswahili.com. The competition winner will be selected by a panel
made up of young East
African entrepreneurs and will receive another trophy and US $5,000.

David Ssegawa, aged 22, from Kampala, Uganda, won Faidika na BBC last
year. He beat over 5,000 Swahili-speaking new business hopefuls with
his
award-winning idea - a candle-making business called Bright Light
which stops people having to buy imported candles from China. David
has now successfully
launched his business. To read his story online and find out more
about Faidika na BBC go to bbcswahili.com.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

This press release is also available in Swahili.

Solomon Mugera, Head of BBC Swahili and Salim Kikeke,
Faidika na BBC Project Manager are both available for
interview. Please send an email to
christine.george@bbc.co.uk or call +44 (0) 207 557
1142/2944.

BBC Swahili is a multi-media broadcasting service providing radio and
online content to Swahili-speaking audiences across Africa and the
rest of the world. Its flagship breakfast programme, Amka Na BBC, is
broadcast at 6.00am EAT and brings regional and world news as well as
music and human interest features. Its
most popular news and current affairs programme, Dira Ya Dunia, starts
at 6.30pm. Leo Afrika is the last show of the day. Broadcast between
8.45 and 9.00pm, it focuses on African news. BBC Swahili's popular
24/7website is bbcswahili.com. Visitors can access, in text and audio,
up-to-the minute news, features and analysis on East Africa and the
rest of the world. It also features the award-winning Kimasomaso
project, which aims to break down taboos and myths around sex and
sexuality and was launched jointly with the BBC's international
charity, BBC World Service Trust.

BBC World Service is an international multimedia broadcaster
delivering programmes and services in 33 languages. It uses multiple
platforms to reach 183
million listeners globally, including SW, AM, FM, digital satellite
and cable channels. It has around 2,000 partner radio stations which
take BBC content,
and numerous partnerships supplying content to mobile phones and other
wireless handheld devices. Its international online sites include
audio and video
content and offer opportunities to interact directly with world
events. They receive around 700 million page impressions monthly,
attracting around 40 million
unique users per month. For more information, visit
bbcworldservice.com. To find out more about the BBC's English language
offer and subscribe to a free
e-newsletter, Email Network, visit bbcworldservice.com/schedules.

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