NMG annual Kusi Ideas Festival now heads to Botswana
Saturday July 08 2023
L-R: Kenyan High Commissioner to Botswana Mohamed Shidiye, NMG Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Stephen Gitagama, President of the Republic of Botswana Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, NMG Board Chairman Dr Wilfred D. Kiboro, NMG Non-Executive Director Mr Wangethi Mwangi, NMG Head of External Affairs Mr Clifford Machoka and NMG Corporate Affairs Manager Ms Kinya Gitonga posing for a photo. PHOTO | POOL
The fifth edition of the Nation Media Group’s annual Kusi Ideas Festival will be held in Botswana capital, Gaborone, in December this year.
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, after meeting with a delegation from NMG led by board chairman Wilfred Kiboro this week, said the event is crucial for Africans to “take control of their narrative and position the continent in the global arena.”
Read: Kiboro: Why Africa needs to invest in Congo
The delegation comprised NMG chief executive Stephen Gitagama, non-executive director Wangethi Mwangi, head of external affairs Clifford Machoka and corporate affairs manager Kinya Gitonga.
President Masisi said the festival will provide a platform “to drive the continental agenda through pan-African collaborations, knowledge-sharing and the use of media platforms.”
This year’s edition will be held under the theme “The Road to Agenda 2063,” reviewing the continent’s progress on the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which was adopted in January 2015 as a blueprint for Africa’s economic transformation.
Annual conference
The Kusi Ideas Festival is an annual conference bringing together leaders from around the world and serves as an ideas transaction market for the challenges facing Africa, and the various solutions and innovations the continent is undertaking to secure its future.
Read: Kusi sets stage for Pan-African innovation marketplace
This year’s festival features high-profile speakers, including heads of state and leaders of interest groups, who come together to brainstorm various issues that affect the continent.
Kusi was launched in 2019 in Kigali during NMG’s 60th anniversary celebration. The second edition was held in Kisumu in 2020 and the third in Accra in 2021.
Last year’s edition, held in Nairobi, Kenya, focused on climate change and environmental conservation, and was attended by delegates including government ministers and heads of state and government.
Read: Kusi Ideas Festival opens in Nairobi
NMG’s Clifford Machoka said the festival, by bringing private and public sector players together, ensures that “when we are talking of these great ideas, they can be implemented not only as policy ideas but as practical ideas.”
Kusi Ideas Festival last year won NMG a top award from the International News Media Organisation in the category of using an event to build a news brand.