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Thursday, 4 December 2014

RAAAH Ready for Lagos Debut at Africa International Fashion Week 2014

Emerging London-based label RAAAH is getting ready for its debut in Nigeria during Africa International Fashion Week 2014 taking place between 2-6 December 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Following a successful exhibition at UK’s biggest trade expo Pure London and runway debut with her first collection ‘Fly/Fly Higher’ at Africa Fashion Week London in August, RAAAH first showcased on the continent in designer’s native Zimbabwe during Zimbabwe Fashion Week 2014 where she was nominated for the Designer of the Year Award.

The emerging designer, recently named as one of the “15 African Women to Watch in 2015” by New African Woman magazine, has received much interest from Nigerian media, buyers and celebrities alike, with Tiwa Savage rocking her Loosen Up dress on the red carpet and more recently Seyi Shay wearing the Yesss bodysuit on the set of her video shoot.

Lagos will see RAAAH showcase brand new pieces from her upcoming Pre-Fall collection as well as some old favourites from ‘Fly/Fly High’.

With tones of silver and gun metal at the forefront, the silhouettes once again are inspired by feminine strength which are fast becoming RAAAH’s driving design aesthetic, a blend of feminine fluidity with strong structures to signal powerful, confident women. The designer makes use of silk noil, silk bounded lace in pink and silver which give a subtle nod to African print, silk lurex, and fine brocade to create a range of contemporary pieces. Africa International Fashion Week organised by the International Business Consortium Nigeria, organisers of Africa’s prestigious model search and owners of Ecowas Fashion Week, in collaboration with Vogue Talents and in partnership with Studio 24 will also see the launch of “Scouting for Africa” competition sponsored by Access Bank PLC Nigeria and Baileys, aimed at emerging womenswear, menswear and accessories designers of African descent. The shortlisted designers set to appear in Vogue Italia in 2015, and the winning designer presented with the opportunity to showcase their designs at Palazzo Morando in Milan in September 2015.

Africa International Fashion Week will take at the Grand Ball Hall at Oriental Hotel in Lekki in Lagos, Nigeria, with an awards evening sponsored by Baileys targeting women who have made their mark in the African fashion industry.

Continentel dance festival ends on a high

It was an energetic night of colourful performances, as the third edition of the annual East African Night of Tolerance-(EANT) dance festival came to an end.

The contemporary dance festival started with professional workshops held by the visiting dancers at several locations in Kigali and Huye.

The performances started on November 20, with the Independence Cha Cha at the Rwanda Revenue Hall in Kimihurura. On 21st Nov, the festival moved to Maison de Jeunes in Kimisagara, for a night of contemporary hip-hop from Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo.

Then it was back to the Rwanda Revenue Hall on 20th for three East African contemporary groups and, finally to Papyrus Restaurant for an evening of solos with dancers from West Africa.

This year’s theme was: “Culture and Transgression.” The final performances were by dancers from Benin, France, Isoko Yu Buzima, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire and the small venue at Papyrus was packed with a delighted crowd.

Richard Adoussou of Benin opened the show with a piece called Murmures, which was inspired by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech in Dakar, which claims: “Africa has no history.”

Matthieu Nieto followed with the piece: “I am not my colour.” He dressed and danced like a Malian woman and spoke like one in fluent Bamanan to represent his diverse cultural influences.

Matthieu Nieto followed with the piece: “I am not my colour.” He dressed and danced like a Malian woman and spoke like one in fluent Bamanan to represent his diverse cultural influences.

Next was a piece from Gabon by Amael Dibobe titled, “Pepper in the Eyes,” about a leader who puts on a mask in order not to see the suffering around him.

The last performance was “I Love Red” by Ange Aoussou from Ivory Coast, which is about the post-election violence in Cote d’Ivoire and the country’s future.

The dance festival was organised by Amizero Kompagnie and sponsored by the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Institut Français Paris (IF), Institut Francais du Rwanda (IFR) and Positive production. It was also supported by Ishyo Arts Centre, Papyrus, the Office and Iriba Centre.

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

ASSAM Awaits to delight you!!

Assam tourism will certainly charm your minds. This land has always fascinated masses of people to discover and learn the jewels of nature. After reading these amazing facts on Assam, you would definitely plan your next vacation to ASSAM!! Assam tourism awaits to delight you.

Assam “Peerless” land, as that is what Assam means owing its roots from a Sanskrit word 'ASOMA', is an entrance to the North East India. It is a region where nature herself has decorated the vivacious landscape, hummocks, woods, brooks and streams, flora and fauna and above all the loving people. Assam stands a proud evidence of rich cultural heritage through its temples, monuments, and torrential Brahmaputra River. It is mythological state in terms of traditions and civilization and hence makes for an astonishing experience - in short Assam tourism info gives you best of Assams unbelievable travel experience.

Adventure Sports in Assam
If you are driven by the zest of thrill, then take on Assam Adventure tourism. You have plentiful opportunities for it in the state. The landscape and varied terrains of Assam India beckons all the adventure partisans.
Rafting Adventure: The splendid Brahmaputra overwhelms many prospects for rafting. You can relish river rafting holiday tours in this titanic river and its numerous tributaries.

Angling Adventure:Home to many species of fish like game fish, the Golden Mahseer, or tiger of the Himalayan Rivers, rivers like Jia Bhoroli, Kapili and Manas give the fun of angling Adventure.

River Cruise Adventure:Thinkingof challenging the stalwart Brahmaputra, even if it is risky! Hmm! That's the spirit. The torrential river, the wild environs, the enormous hills all come in your way of river cruise. Adore the adventure thrill down your nerves.

Boat Racing Adventure:Cities like Hajo, Saulkuchi, Barpeta, and Guwahati hold boat racing events during festive occasions endorsed by Assam Tourism.

Golf Adventure:Many tea gardens of Assam have golf courses tucked with them. A holiday tour on tea gardens, playing golf will be a supreme experience of paramount happiness.

Mountaineering and Trekking Adventure:The North Cachar Hills and Karbi Hills are on hit list of the trekkers and mountaineers Adventure holidays. These provide extreme excitement to the tourists. The 'Elephant Rocks' in Morigaon District entice many trekkers.

Mountain Biking and Cycling Adventure:Hey! Bikers over there... inspired by the frolic biking spirit. Welcome to Holiday adventure tour of Assam India and curb those savage and unexplored terrains. You can even take part in bicycle and motorbike rallies.

Para Sailing Adventure:Indian and Foreign tourists are fascinated to this novel sport in Assam introduced by The Assam Tourism Development Corporation. The best place for para sailing tour in Assam is the spot is North Guwahati.

Hang Gliding Adventure:Aren't you excited to fly high? So if you wish to enjoy hang gliding come to the Kamakhya Hills and hills around Kaziranga and soar up high.

Bird Watching Adventure: The north east India is a shelter for many rare flora and fauna. While on your Himalayan foothills travel you will encounter some of the prettiest birds in their natural habitat.

Fairs and Festivals of Assam Festival of Assam are patent with cheerfulness and rich merriments. Among the popular ones that you can enjoy on your Assam tourism are Bihu, Tea Festival, Ambubasi Mela, Jonbeel Mela, Baishagu, Rajini Gabra and Harini Gabra, Dosa Thoi! Long Nai, Ali-Ai-Ligang, Rongker and Chomangkan.

Assam on a Platter Slake your craving, pamper your taste buds by the aromatic flavors of Assam. Different from other neighboring states, the cuisine of Assam is an amalgamation of authentic styles with a pinch of local variety and external impact. An atypical feature of Assam's culinary is the minimum use of oil and spice but broad use of herbs, fruits and vegetables. The preparations are not that lavish and use of jaggery or sugar is main. A classic Assam platter will have a starter Khar, a group of some dishes that are named after the main ingredient and will end with tenga, a sour dish. The cuisine of Assam has many vegetarian and non-vegetarian delights for gourmets. The staple food of Assam is rice cooked in many ways- boiled, roasted, pulverized or just soaked. Curry of boiling vegetables accompanies rice. Pithas made from rice powder is essential for many dishes here.

Celebrated Cities of Assam
Assam tourism will take you to a number of bizarre destinations. Discover these destinations on your incredible Assam tour for an all-round experience.

Dispur City:The capital city of Assam India is well known for Auction Market of Tea. There are spaces of mythological implication like Basistha Ashram, and a cultural center Shankardev Kalakschetra.

Guwahati Capital City:“Light of the East” is well-known for regal Brahmaputra River. It is the hub of commercial trading in north east. The eminent tourist places in Guwahati are Umananda temple, Kamakhya Temple, Assam Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Assam State Museum.

Barpeta City:This “Land of Satras” has a fame in terms of business. A great number of schools and educational institutions make it a center for education in east.

Dibrugarh City:The name of the city has its derivation to the mouth of a river Dibaru. It is a small town less haunted by tourists. This commercial city located along the Brahmaputra is the largest tea exporting town in India.

Silchar City:Rolling to the extreme east of this city is the river Barak. The unmatched view of sunrise in the striking natural environs is marvelous. Bhuban hill, Sri Sri Kancha Kanti Devi Temple, Khaspur, Maniharan Tunnel and temple of Goddess Lakshmi Devi are must see tourist places for voyagers on Assam tourism.

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Liquid Telecom Wins Awards At AfricaCom

Liquid Telecom has graciously won two awards at 2014 AfricaCom awards which rejoice and honor brilliance in the African Telecoms, Media and ICT Market.
It was a mesmerizing moment for Liquid Telecom as it was acknowledged in the Best Pan African Initiative group for ramping up the East Africa Fibre Ring which associates Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and back into Kenya - the first fully redundant regional fibre ring, linking these countries to each other and the rest of the world.
The ring safeguards that people and businesses across the East African community now take delivery of permanency of Internet connectivity and an extremely trustworthy service.
Liquid Telecom's shared MPLS satellite service was entitled as the VSAT Innovation for Africa. Conventionally endusers needing MPLS satellite services in Africa have had to buy a devoted channel on a satellite link.

Liquid Telecom's R & D team established a method to split an MPLS channel so that it could service hundreds of customers at the same time, furnishing a quality service with 99.5 per cent availability, at a heavily reduced price. Customers comprise enterprises of all sizes that need a dependable and secure satellite connection.

Nic Rudnick, CEO, Liquid Telecom, said: "I am extremely proud of our team who continue to work hard to create Africa's digital future. We are an agile and entrepreneurial company which believes that everyone has a right to be connected. We will continue to innovate and set the standard for the African telecoms market."

During the annual AfricaCom conference and exhibition, Liquid Telecom revealed its evolution in laying Fibre To The Home over which it is rendering homes and small businesses with unlimited data packages and 100Mbps, the fastest broadband ever accessible in Africa. The service has by now gone live in Zambia through various retail outlets; and in Zimbabwe via retail ISP ZOL Zimbabwe, part of the Liquid Telecom Group. Plans are now underway to launch FTTH on a wholesale and retail basis in Kenya, Rwanda and two further countries early next year.

Global pharmaceutical firm joins Rwanda in cancer fight

Rwanda could soon be one of the first countries in Africa to venture into clinical trial tests and research for cancer and other diagnostic diseases.

This follows an exploratory visit by Robert Mulroy, the CEO of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company involved in developing and preparing innovative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases, amongst them cancer.

Mulroy was in the country on a three-day visit, during which he held meetings with top government officials, including the CEO of Rwanda Development Board, Francis Gatare.

He also interacted with senior officials from the Ministry of Health to discuss key possible areas of partnership, most especially in the areas of clinical research tests.

Speaking to The New Times after his meeting with Gatare, Mulroy said his firm carries out research with the hope of introducing better treatment for people across the globe and was looking into ways of partnering with the Rwandan government.

government. “We have been discussing opportunities about how we could expand our research to include Rwanda and Africa,” Mulroy said.

He added that they had had positive discussions and were looking forward to exploring opportunities for partnerships.

He said they had been attracted to Rwanda by the positive climate for partnership and that the ties would help improve the health sector. “We visited the cancer centre at Butaro and were pleased with what we saw.

 We saw a strong foundation for cancer treatment and are committed to improving it further,” Mulroy added.
He disclosed that the government has also opened up opportunities of partnership in various sector.

Patrick Ndimubanzi, the Minister of State in charge of Public Health and Primary Healthcare, said they are looking forward to the collaboration.

The exploration by the pharmaceutical comes about the same time experts have been calling for the development of a multi-disciplinary approach for cancer management.

Partnership Between Bank Windhoek and Fli

Bank Windhoek and the Financial Literacy Initiative (FLI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on November 12, 2014. The MoU will oversee the terms of cooperation between and amongst the platform partners of FLI.

FLI is a nation-wide podium which entails more than 40 stage supporters from the public, private and non-profit sectors, meant at cultivating the Namibian public on financial matters, counting consumer protection, with the aim of crafting a financial literate nation. Bank Windhoek is one of the Platform Supporters of FLI.

Bank Windhoek has been a vigorous member and proud enthusiast of FLI since its launch in March 2012, as the Bank comprehends that a savings culture is developed with an augmented understanding of financial matters and information of banking products and services.

The Managing Director of Bank Windhoek, Christo de Vries, said: "Although the FLI is a voluntary platform, Bank Windhoek will continue to support the FLI and will play its role as a partner in educating and empowering our clients and the general public with knowledge on the Bank's products and services to enable them to make informed decisions about their finances."

Global pharmaceutical firm joins Rwanda in cancer fight

Rwanda could soon be one of the first countries in Africa to venture into clinical trial tests and research for cancer and other diagnostic diseases.

This follows an exploratory visit by Robert Mulroy, the CEO of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company involved in developing and preparing innovative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases, amongst them cancer.

Mulroy was in the country on a three-day visit, during which he held meetings with top government officials, including the CEO of Rwanda Development Board, Francis Gatare.

He also interacted with senior officials from the Ministry of Health to discuss key possible areas of partnership, most especially in the areas of clinical research tests.

Speaking to The New Times after his meeting with Gatare, Mulroy said his firm carries out research with the hope of introducing better treatment for people across the globe and was looking into ways of partnering with the Rwandan government.

“We have been discussing opportunities about how we could expand our research to include Rwanda and Africa,” Mulroy said.

He added that they had had positive discussions and were looking forward to exploring opportunities for partnerships.

He said they had been attracted to Rwanda by the positive climate for partnership and that the ties would help improve the health sector. “We visited the cancer centre at Butaro and were pleased with what we saw.

We saw a strong foundation for cancer treatment and are committed to improving it further,” Mulroy added.
He disclosed that the government has also opened up opportunities of partnership in various sector.

Patrick Ndimubanzi, the Minister of State in charge of Public Health and Primary Healthcare, said they are looking forward to the collaboration.

The exploration by the pharmaceutical comes about the same time experts have been calling for the development of a multi-disciplinary approach for cancer management.