Joyce Blessing Wins Award

Joyce Blessing has won the DJ Song of the Year Award at the third edition of the Ghana DJ Awards held on February 21 at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) in Accra.

The Ghana DJ Awards, which is one of the biggest events in the entertainment calendar in Ghana, was organised by Mercury Republic Events to reward hardworking radio and mobile DJs who have contributed immensely to the growth of the entertainment industry in Ghana.

The celebrated gospel music icon, who took home the award, beat icons such as Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, Daddy Lumba, D Black and Yaa Pono to grab the award.

In 2013, the award-winning gospel musician grabbed five awards including the Gospel Artiste of the Year Award at the Ghana Gospel Industry Awards (GGIA).

Joyce Blessing disclosed that after her seven weeks performance tour in the UK, 'I have been receiving constant calls from my fans and music lovers to remix my award-winning hit song, 'Monko Mo Akyi .'

'I thank God for how far He has brought me, my management, Media Excel Productions, and all DJs who played my songs making it win this category. I thank my fans, everybody and management team for encouraging, and supporting me from the beginning to date,' she said.

In a chat, her producer and manager, Ernest Ennin, told BEATWAVES that Joyce truly deserves the award because she has played a very important role in the development and promotion of Ghanaian gospel music.

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Minister Ike announces 2nd album titled "Onyame Gya"

There is definitely some power in God’s fire and multiple awards winner Minister Ike is back again to demonstrate it with his new album titled “Onyame Gya”. Minister Ike latest's release is distributed by Shepherd music production.

His first single from the album, "Onyame Gya,"is currently playing and ruling the online sector, radio and TV will follow up intensively soon. With the “Onyame Gya” album, Minister Ike has created something to God's glory and bless people. Minister Ike further goes on to say that "Every song has a story and came from a place of abiding in Him, a place of loving the Lord and worshiping Him."

The 12-track CD is executively produced by Minister Ike featuring Anointed Queens singers. The album leads with 'Onyame Gya', an inspirational track with a message of fire of God to attack our enemies in both spiritual and physical.

The George Forest produced ‘Onyame Gya’ track arrived just in time for the hardships people are facing in Ghana and the world. “Onyame Gya” means the Fire Of God, the fire of God to burn enemies who are fighting against our progress, work, family, family, finances and marriage issues”, he said.

This album also promotes an intimate time with God. The first released song from the album; This album is for real people who are going through real stuff he encourages people to buy and listen to “Onyame Gya (God’s Fire)” because it will encourage them to pray because this song is a prayerful which will bring break through.

Minister Ike has won twelve awards with his first album titled “Me Nyame A Ne Wo”. He is also a regular contributor gospel music in Ghana, Europe, Canada and USA. Minister Ike has travelled around the world for singing in churches and doing big shows to spread the testimony of how Jesus Christ has saved his life.

He has performed with renowned gospel musicians such as Kwaku Gyasi, Christiana Love, Esther Amoako, Diana Asamoah, OJ and many more.

Minister Ike will embark on a tour alongside some top gospel musicians soon to promote the album.

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Teta returns with a new hit

Even if you’ve never been a fan of Diana Teta’s music, her latest hit will pull your heart strings. The Gakondo group member, who was recently in Sweden, has returned with a club banger titled, Tanga agatego. The song was recorded in Sweden by producer Ben Joe.

“The song has a great message dedicated to music fans. The song is based on social issues - money and jobless men,” she said.

Teta said the video will be shot in Rwanda to give it an African context. During her trip to Europe, the singer held a concert in Belgium that featured several Rwandan musicians living in Europe.

The 21-year-old started recording music in 2009 after emerging among the top three in a local singing competition that was organised by a German group. She was thereafter given a recording opportunity and recorded two songs. The Call Me singer also auditioned for the Tusker Project Fame in 2012 but she was eliminated in the first round, which inspired her to join the music industry.

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Miss Earth Rwanda 2015 auditions start next month

The Miss Rwanda 2015 edition may have concluded, but the world of beauty pageants still has more to offer. The first edition for the Miss Earth Rwanda 2015, (MER), search will take place early next month. Saida Bahati, the Managing Director of Chichi Media group, one of the organisers of the pageant, said contestants will be selected through an audition process that will be carried out in 30 districts of the country. The pageant will feature contestants, aged between 18 and 25 years. They must be 55kgs, high school graduates, not pregnant and never given birth before.

After the auditions, only 30 girls will be selected to go to the boot camp for eight weeks, where they will be trained on cultural values, public speaking and the environment. There will be weekly eliminations where the public will vote by SMS and online, which will leave 15 girls to compete at the finale in July.

The pageant is a franchise of the World Miss Earth and its aim is to raise awareness on the issues of environmental degradation, global warming as well as climate change.

“We are looking for a girl to be an ambassador for the nature and culture of Rwanda. This is a good platform for the girls to get exposure and experience,” said Bahati.

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The contestants will compete in the categories of, Miss Earth, Miss Fire, Miss Water and Miss Air. The winner will receive a brand new car, cash prizes of $US1000 and will participate in all Miss Earth activities. She will also represent Rwanda at the Miss Earth 2015 in Philippines, in November.

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Mauritius:A true holiday destination

Mauritius is a fascinating world-inone island slice of paradise. Its very name conjures up images of tropical luxury and stupendous extravagance. This delightful holiday destination offers a wide array of opportunities and services niche segments such as the organization of international events, high profile Weddings, Honeymoon, Spa resorts offering high quality accommodation/services within a highly distinctive well-being package.

Mauritius offers wonderful clean beaches, brilliant coral reefs, attractive multicolored aquatic species, tropical weather and serene atmosphere. Snorkeling, Scuba Diving, Deep- Sea Fishing, Kayaking, Submarine ride, Subscooter ride, there is a sport for almost everyone. One should definitely opt for Under Sea walk - an unusual activity where one can actually walk on the seabed with the weighed foot or opt for world's first Underwater Sub- Scooters. Experience the thrills of Dolphins swimming with you; visit Tamarin Bay, the most famous surf site in on our western coast.

The country has a diversified range of adventures land sports which includes Quad Biking, Para-sailing, mountain biking or Sky Diving. The tour is incomplete without experiencing the thrill of walking with the king of jungle- a unique adventure activity called, “Walk with the Lions” at the Casela Nature & Leisure Park, which is also, home to more than 140 varieties of birds from five different continents. Also the zip-line ride is a thrilling experience in which people are allowed to fly over from one spot to the other, through a network of zip-line cables. It is an interesting way to discover the waterfalls, forest and landscapes of Mauritius. We also have a number of 18-hole championship or international standard golf courses.

Be it a destination wedding or a perfect honeymoon destination; Mauritius fits in perfectly in both the categories. Weddings are well catered with a choice of beautiful backdrops including plantation-style homes, pristine beaches and jagged volcanic mountain ranges. There are fabulous choices of luxury hotels and resorts for people to enjoy pre and post- wedding pampering activities or just a relaxed sunset cocktail in Paradise. Mauritius is perfect destination for an exotic moment of togetherness.

It has a plethora of local and international gastronomical delights for every taste bud. Mauritius has the combination of flavors nurtured through its people of different cultural heritages and cooking traditions. Indulge your palate to an array of wonderful local and international cuisines that include English, Indian, Creole, French, Chinese, African, etc. Most dishes generally have an extensive yet subtle use of spices such as saffron, cardamom, cloves and many different herbs.

Tourists can enjoy a large selection of gateaux’s similar to the ones found in France as well as some wonderful Indian sweets. Mauritius also is proud to claim our local beer, Phoenix, to be one of the best in the world and the world renowned Green Island Rum.

The island also offers a vibrant night-life with casinos or the Sega dances / cultural events organized in the hotels. Watch Sega, which is national dance and musical form of Mauritius. Introduced by African slaves during the French colonial period, the Sega is an exotic dance to watch and enjoy Mauritius nightlife. The region of Grand Baieand Flicen- Flac on the West coast region has some of the most popular pubs, clubs, bars and is a paradise for nightlife lovers.

The island is loaded with historic sites, cultural diversity, geographic variation and almost limitless activities to distract you from the daily grind of beach and pool. Mauritius enjoys a relatively mild climate. Visit Mauritius where you will have your dreams fulfilled.

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Airtel Ghana Introduces DOTGO’s SMS Web Browsing Service

The DOTGO SMS Web Browser is a ground-breaking service that gives all mobile phone users access to the internet without cellular data or Wi-Fi – whether they use simple feature phones or smartphones.

 DOTGO’s SMS Web Browsing service gives mobile users – particularly in areas where Internet penetration is low – access to e-mail, news, and to websites like Wikipedia, Yahoo! and Facebook. For many users, DOTGO is actually their first-ever access to the Internet.

U s i n g DOTGO’s SMS Web Browsing service is easy: A subscriber just sends an SMS to DOTGO c o n t a i n i n g the name of the website they want to browse. DOTGO responds with an interactive menubased version of the website condensed and formatted for SMS.

Manu Rajan, Marketing Director for Airtel Ghana commented: “DOTGO’s powerful platform has democratized the Internet for our subscribers. Yes, smartphone adoption is growing fast, but feature phones are still heavily in use.

With DOTGO’s expertise, we have instantly increased Internet penetration in Ghana by enabling our feature-phone users to access the Internet with their existing phones.”

Since all of DOTGO’s services are built using the same core DOTGO platform, launching new services introduces no further technical overhead once a carrier has launched any one of DOTGO’s solutions, like the SMS Web Browser. This allows DOTGO carrier partners to rapidly launch new messaging services that create new value from their existing infrastructures.

From Group Messaging services to social networking with rich SMS support, DOTGO’s solutions have been adopted by over fifteen tier-one operators around the world.

Significantly, DOTGO’s messaging platform also provides mobile operators with muchneeded protection against the growing revenue losses caused by Internet-based services that bypass the carrier, such as messaging delivered by OTT players.

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PayGate launches e-commerce payment collection service for SMMEs

An e-commerce hurdle for smaller businesses in South Africa has fallen with the launch of a new payment collection service from PayGate.

“For a small company that’s turning over less than R100,000 a month, getting an e-commerce merchant account through a bank can be prohibitively difficult and expensive,” says PayGate’s business development manager Brendan Williamson. “Yet there are hundreds of small and home-based businesses in South Africa that are poised for growth, if only they had a realistic way to sell and receive payments online. That’s the gap we’re aiming to fill.”

Williamson says PayGate’s entry level e-commerce platform will allow SMEs to accept a wide range of payment methods, including international credit and debit cards, and get easy access to their money without needing to open a new bank account. “Our Payment Protector real-time fraud monitoring system is part of the package, so people are protected against credit card fraud,” he adds.

Payment methods on offer include Visa and Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro, Diners Club, American Express, SID Instant EFT, PayD, paysum1 and UKash, says Williamson, along with a growing menu of mobile payment options.

The service can be activated within 48 hours, he adds: “The application form is just two pages long, there’s no security required and the approval is quick. This allows small business to collect payments more easily, to project a more professional image and to grow to a different level.”

PayGate will continue to support small businesses as they grow, says Williamson. “There are other services aimed at the SME market, but if a business takes off it can outgrow those really fast - and having to change platforms can be very disruptive. At PayGate we support everything from homebased craft businesses to a major airlines, so we’re able to grow with our customers.”

However, he warns that small businesses planning to go online should work hard on their marketing. “You can’t assume that being online automatically sells your product - making your shop window visible is a key challenge. Businesses who are new to e-commerce should make sure they choose web developers who are able to help them with advice on search engine marketing and payper- click advertising. Then once the customers are in the door, PayGate will make sure you can collect their money at the till.”

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