“Raise women entrepreneurs by encouraging limitless ambition” says founder of Restless Global Marie Lora-Mungai

European women entrepreneurship platform WEgate asked me to weight in on the entrepreneurial journey:

“Entrepreneurship is both a marathon and a roller-coaster. You have to be able to stay the course and survive the lows to enjoy the highs. So plan for it, manage your energy, and take care of yourself. Sleep, eat well, exercise, put money aside for the rainy days, and build strong friendships because those will be your support system when things get tough.”

Read the full article at: https://wegate.eu/%E2%80%9Craise-women-entrepreneurs-encouraging-limitless-ambition%E2%80%9D-says-founder-restless-global-marie-lora

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What Can Africa Teach the West? 5 lessons from Africa in these times of trouble.

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"What will tomorrow bring? Since Western societies entered their current state of unpredictability, insecurity, and instability, the few experts who still dare to throw in a prediction these days do it with a new sense of humility. The turbulent acceleration of the pace of history, which started with the 2008 financial crisis and has since taken many shapes and forms and culminated with the Brexit/Donald Trump double sucker punch, has left us nauseous from motion-sickness. As system and values that were previously taken for granted are seriously challenged in Europe and America, Western nations are faced with the prospect of a deeply uncertain future.

This is a new feeling for most Westerners. How to live in a state of constant worry, of permanent concern, of insidious fear? To survive in this turmoil, or what Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe calls “the normalization of a social state of warfare”, we’re going to have to strengthen our immune system. And in this context Africa, a continent which has undergone more than its own share of unrest, is a place where the West would be well inspired to look for answers."

Read the full op-ed at:

https://medium.com/@marieloramungai/what-can-africa-teach-the-west-5-lessons-from-africa-in-these-times-of-trouble-4b16df93ea98

And in French in Le Monde:

http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2017/04/30/l-afrique-est-bien-placee-pour-apporter-des-reponses-a-un-occident-en-constante-inquietude_5120354_3212.html

Le continent africain à l’honneur aux Galeries Lafayette

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"Le continent africain est à l’honneur aux Galeries Lafayette jusqu’au 10 juin, et ça fait du bien. L’enseigne du boulevard Haussmann est le premier grand magasin parisien à reconnaître et à célébrer l'énergie et l’influence de la jeune création africaine à travers une grande opération baptisée AFRICA NOW.

(...) Dans le cadre de cette manifestation exceptionnelle déployée sur l’ensemble du réseau Galeries Lafayette en France, l’enseigne a souhaité donner la parole à des personnalités de premier plan. Mobilisées sur des questions d’économie, d’innovation ou de culture sur le continent africain, ces invités sont réunis dans une série de débats baptisée AFRICA NOW TALKS, que j’ai eu le plaisir d’organiser et que j’aurai l’honneur de modérer.

C’est ma conviction personnelle, formée pendant 11 années passées à sillonner le continent, que l’Occident a beaucoup à apprendre de l’Afrique, de sa conception de l’entrepreneuriat, de sa créativité, de  l’empathie, la compassion et de l’humour qu’on y cultive, mais également et de manière plus surprenante peut-être, de la place que l’on accorde aux femmes africaines dans les sphères du pouvoir. En effet, d'après le rapport “2016 Women Matter Africa” de McKinsey, l’Afrique est au-dessus de la moyenne mondiale en ce qui concerne la représentation des femmes dans les fonctions dirigeantes des entreprises et en politique. Dans le cadre des AFRICA NOW TALKS, nous sommes fiers d’avoir 50% de femmes intervenantes et de soutenir l'initiative #notomanels (non aux tables rondes exclusivement masculines) lancée par trois femmes de tête kenyanes*."

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/le-continent-africain-%C3%A0-lhonneur-aux-galeries-marie-lora-mungai?published=t

Africa Offers Big Potential for Streaming Video (Variety)

"When the pan-African VOD platform Buni.tv launched in 2012, the Nairobi-based company was one of the first to recognize the untapped potential of the online market on the continent, which was in the midst of a mobile-phone boom. With thousands of hours of African films and series, the service seemed poised to capture a new and growing audience hungry for homegrown content."

http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/africa-streaming-video-vod-smartphones-1201941493/

African VOD Landscape Heats Up As Trace Buys Buni.tv (Memeburn)

"Local content is a big plus for many video platforms, with pan-African video-on-demand (VOD) service Buni.tv being one of the more notable offerings on the continent.

Now, as it prepares for the launch of its own video platform later this year, French broadcaster TRACE TV has announced that it acquired Buni.tv.

Buni.tv was launched in 2012 and stands out as one of the three largest VOD platforms in Africa, along with Iroko TV and ShowMax."

https://memeburn.com/2016/06/africa-trace-buni-tv/

Canal Plus Overseas Boards African Crime Drama The Trade (Variety)

"According to co-creators and showrunners Marie Lora-Mungai, of Restless Global, and Tendeka Matatu, of Ten10 Films, the agreement with Canal Plus Overseas marks a step toward realizing a pan-African prestige series that would be Africa’s answer to “The Wire.”

“Our ambition with ‘The Trade’ is to create a TV series set in Africa that can rival the best series in Europe or in the U.S., while bringing a world that has never been seen before on screen to global audiences,” said Lora-Mungai and Matatu."

http://variety.com/2016/tv/festivals/canal-plus-overseas-boards-african-crime-drama-the-trade-1201797602/

PanAfrican Studio Restless Global Adds Ambitious Crime Drama Series + Film on Kenyan Whistleblower to Slate (IndieWire)

“The title – ‘The Trade’ – is the essence of the series,” says Restless Global’s Marie Lora-Mungai. “Every action, relationship, decision and consequence is a trade, an exchange, a bargain, a negotiation, whether it is in the physical world or within the characters’ moral or spiritual selves.”

“’The Trade’ is our flagship project,” adds Tendeka Matatu. “A truly pan-African project that we believe has breakout potential.” 

And second, on the feature film front, an adaptation journalist and author Michela Wrong’s 2009 best seller “It’s Our Turn to Eat. The story of a Kenyan whistleblower," is in development under the title "State of Betrayal." 

http://www.indiewire.com/2015/11/panafrican-studio-restless-global-adds-ambitious-crime-drama-series-film-on-kenyan-whistleblower-to-slate-137751/