Sunday, 05 March 2017 12:33
Celebrating Ghana @60 - ‘A Day of Blackstars’
Written by Young_AfricaCentre
6th March 1957, marks an important day in West African history. Ghana’s independence was the spark that ignited an entire ‘inferno’ of liberation movements throughout Africa. The 6th of March marks Ghana’s Independence Day and this year (2017) the Republic of Ghana celebrates its 60th anniversary! While we know that 6th March is not a national holiday in the UK, the Young Africa Centre, intend to match the joyous sentiments of the Ghanaian people by choosing Saturday 11th of March 2017 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of independence.
I love fashion and I am particularly excited when one of my very own is making headlines with her brand, Izelia.
ANNOUNCEMENT: The new Africa Centre has an ambitious vision for future. It is built around five pillars of activity and three buildings in Southwark where the rejuvenated centre will host cultural, social, intellectual, entrepreneurial & innovation and education activities.
On Thursday 15th December, The Africa Centre held an event to celebrate its new location in Southwark and the holiday season. The event was a Christmas special that included a cocktail reception, an African pop-up store that showcased emerging and established talents from Africa and the UK-African Diaspora and fan Afrobeat DJ.
On Tuesday 29th Nov, Pop up Africa and Start-ups for Africa held an event that explored how social and digital media has contributed to the growing interest in African Food. The event was a panel and foodpreneur showcase; an ideas sharing and networking event, bringing together African foodies and anyone with a general interest in African Food.
Saturday, 26 November 2016 07:45
Unpaid internships. Foot on the ladder or exploitation?
Written by Willorna Brock
Are unpaid internships exploitation of young people or does it provide them with a foot on the career ladder?
Sunday, 20 November 2016 12:00
How being a businessman is different from being an entrepreneur?
Written by Joyce Sarpong
What is the difference between a businessman and an entrepreneur? originally appeared on Quora: the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Peter Lynch, VP at a private equity firm, on Quora:
Monday, 03 October 2016 00:00
Fascinating Facts For You About Black History Month
Written by Joyce Sarpong
Why History? The question “Why does history matter?” is often asked. To arrive at an answer, one would need to understand when history actually began. Ask historians and various answers are offered depending on who you talk to, but the answer to this question should be: Now. History begins now, at this very moment. What happened a second ago is already history. History is the huge succession of events that created us. Think of it, if you like, in the same way as you do a family tree, tracing back to your two parents, four grandparents, and so on. I…
When I think about the African leaders we have and compare the state of our African nations pre and post independence, I find myself asking the question: "Of what value is the hard won independence that African nations commemorate on a yearly basis? African leaders are becoming increasingly democratic and are making significant progress in liberalising the political environment. They are more accountable to their citizens, and showing more respect for human rights and civil liberties. Whilst good governance is gaining ground in Africa, it's happening at a snail’s pace and the bad eggs still linger. Last week, Nigerian President…
On 21st September 1909, Kwame Nkrumah was born. He is the founding father of Ghana and the man who led Ghana to independence from Britain in 1957. As Mali & Guinea celebrate their Independence Day this week, I would like to pose this question: "What is the significance of Independence Day to us in current times?" For me, as a person who only spent a couple of my formative years in my motherland, Ghana’s Independence Day was a time for celebrations with friends and family with lots of singing and dancing. Educational and government institutions were the most visible…
How Art and Culture Enhances Brand Africa Over the past weekend, I was fortunate to go to the Southbank Centre, London and attend a number of events as part of Africa Utopia. The Festival was back for a third year celebrating arts and culture from Africa. Art and Culture This year’s festival featured some of the greatest artists from the African diaspora across music, dance, literature, fashion and the visual arts. Highlights include: Photo credit: afropean.com Photo credit: BBC Senegal’s mighty Orchestra Baobab returned their first London show in three years; A one-off gig from one of West Africa’s…
Saturday, 22 August 2015 00:00
“Back to School” with Purpose this September
Written by Joyce Sarpong
Photo credit: Blue Square Thing / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA As memories of summer fun fade and life starts to get very busy, I have noticed that most of us are no longer just working 9 to 5pm. Rather, we are juggling various roles (full-time or part-time) and so essentially, we’re running our own business – the business of building our very own personal brand. I have come to understand I am my own biggest advocate and that the key to creating a powerful personal brand is not the job or career, but the goal that I pursue. I have…
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been expressions of outrage and condemnation in the media and social media over an American hunter’s killing of a well lion called Cecil in Zimbabwe. Reactions over the killing have ranged from revulsion toward the trophy hunting and the obvious need to protect human life. I have been asking myself, what is it about this story that has caused such a reaction? As one Zimbabwean New York Times reader commented, “A stray lion in human settlements is an obvious danger. It deserves to be shot on sight,” Afro wrote from Zimbabwe. “But…
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Wednesday, 12 August 2015 00:00
10 African Women Riding theTechnology Tsunami
Written by Joyce Sarpong
Photo credit: ransomtech / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA Juliana Rotich, KenyanFounder, Ushahidi Title: Executive Director at Ushahidi Industry: Information Technology and Services Education: University of Missouri Kansas City, MIT Media Lab Expertise: An IT professional with years of experience in Database administration, Application development and project management. She served as the Data Analyst at Hewitt Associates in Chicago, She also has on-the-ground experience as a citizen journalist. Current: She's also behind iHub – a collective technology space in Kenya & co-founder of BRCK Inc. Summary: Recognized by Fortune Magazine as 2014 50 Global Leaders and as the Social Entrepreneur of…
Barack Obama's visit to Kenya was a momentous occasion that put Africa in the spotlight. The President's visit to attend the Entrepreneurial Summit and address the African Union was a significant trip. Africa is less dependent less on aid now than it did in the past. Whilst aid is diminishing in it's role, investment is having an increasing role. This will require many African countries to become global partners working in partnership with donor / investment partners, not merely minority shareholders, but rather by generating wealth and creating jobs. Such a partnership will also require that African nations to play…
Tuesday, 28 July 2015 00:00
Plato's Cave - Changing the perception of Africa
Written by Joyce Sarpong
The above picture depicts Plato's allegory of the cave in which he describes a gathering of people that are chained down to the wall of a cave, and are facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to designate names to these shadows. The shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall do not make…
Wednesday, 22 July 2015 00:00
African Business Safari: Making Business Connections
Written by Joyce Sarpong
The month of June is typically busy with lots of business events before the start of the holiday season and last month was certainly no different. So when I was invited to the Africa Business Safari –ECOWAS event, I looked forward to the being introduced to business owners from the ECOWAS region of Africa and those wanting to do business in the region. I was not disappointed. Whilst social media enables us to create and share content or participate in social networking, it is not a replacement for meeting people in person at events. I'm sure you'd agree that seeing…