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Since acquiring bmi just over a year ago, British Airways has this year substantially increased its African network adding three additional destinations and 20 more services.

On the 12^th May 2013, British Airways increased its Nairobi flights to eight from the previous seven flights. The new addition operates as an overnight flight, leaving its Heathrow hub on Sunday evenings and arriving in Nairobi on Monday mornings. The return flight departs Nairobi on Monday evenings arriving in London on Tuesday mornings.

In Morocco, it has just announced an increase in its schedule to Marrakech from daily to 10 flights a week and added a third weekly service to Agadir. The additional frequencies go on sale immediately. The Marrakech services increase on 28 October with the third Agadir flight starting on 29 October.This is the second time in less than a year that the airline has grown its Morocco services. Late last year it added four flights a week to Marrakech and began a twice-weekly service to Agadir.

In West Africa it started flying three times a week to Sierra Leone and Liberia. The new flights to these fast-growing regional economies are in addition to the well-established West-African routes in Ghana and Nigeria.

In south Africa it confirmed three additional frequencies to Johannesburg, on top of the existing double-daily services to the country’s business hub and its direct daily Cape Town/ London flights, which increase to double daily over the southern hemisphere summer peak season.

“The acquisition of bmi has enabled us to expand our flying programme in Africa to serve 18 routes in 15 countries. We now fly to more places, more often than we ever have before in the 80 years we have served the continent. These flights link growing African destinations to London and provide onward connections to the world’s business capitals,” says Ian Petrie, regional commercial manager for Africa.

In addition to this international network, British Airways’ franchise partner, Comair, operates to domestic and regional destinations in South and Southern Africa, flying over 700 departures a week. It recently added Maputo to its regional network.

For more information on British Airways’ African network and timetables, visit www.ba.com

23^rd May 2013: With only three days to go, GOtv is proud to announce that subscribers are in for a treat on Sunday, 26 May 2013 at 20:00 GMT. The launch show of the highly anticipated show, Big Brother Africa: The Chase, will be screened LIVE, on both AfricaMagic World and AfricaMagic! The big night will see 28 new housemates revealed to audiences across Africa, and their arrival will be celebrated by a multitude of award-winning musicians from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa when they take centre stage to perform their biggest hits.

These musical heavyweights comprise of Don Jazzy, D’Prince and Wande Coal; as well Mafikizolo – one of South Africa’s leading Afro Pop music groups. The line-up will also include some comic relief from Kenyan stand-up comedian Daniel Ndambuki, popularly known as Churchill, and the much loved IK Osakioduwa, will host the show.

GOtv audiences can tune in to AfricaMagic World, channel 9; and GOtv Plus audiences can tune into either AfricaMagic World or AfricaMagic, channel 1; on 26 May 19:00 CAT, to be part of the Big Brother Africa movement!

MTN Uganda, the number one sponsor of Uganda’s National Football team, the Uganda Cranes, has launched a new campaign to drive love, affection and passion for the Uganda Cranes.

The new campaign inflames passion and with the focus aimed at “We believe in our Team and our Nation” it creates a link between this passion and the MTN brand.

“We strive to live our customers’ passions and champion their aspirations by getting involved with the things that they care deeply about. In Uganda, this definitely includes the Uganda Cranes and that’s why we are proudly the Number one team sponsor.” said Ernst Fonternel, MTN Uganda Chief Marketing Officer.

One activity that enjoys universal appeal across all our operating regions is football. It’s the world’s most popular sport and serves as a common global language, making it a perfect fit for MTN Uganda that’s all about getting people talking.

“Our hope is that our Nation embraces this “We believe” spirit and we will be there in full support for the team on their next two qualification games scheduled for the 8^th and on the 15^th June 2013 at Mandela National StadiumNamboole.” Fonternel explained.

“We believe in our Team, the Uganda Cranes, and our Nation. As the Cranes’ number one fan, we call upon every Ugandan to join us on a journey as we support, uplift and celebrate with the Uganda Cranes. The campaign is aimed at re-igniting the passion for the team in the short, medium and long term.” saidFonternel.

The new campaign is strategically launched just one day after the soccer governing body Federation of Uganda Football Association appointed a new coach, Milutin“Micho” Sredojevich to lead the Uganda Cranes for the next two years.

FUFA President Lawrence Mulindwa thanked MTN Uganda for always coming out to support the Uganda Cranes.

“This new campaign is very timely. It comes in at a time when we have also reinforced the team with a new manager who we believe will take the team new levels of success. Our very sincere appreciation goes out to MTN for the continued support,” Mulindwa said.

About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading telecommunications firm in country with more than 7.9 million customers as of 31 March 2013.

Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug; www.youtube.com/mtnug; www.facebook.com/mtnug and www.twitter.com/mtnugandacare.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 31 March 2013, MTN recorded 195.4 million subscribers across 22 countries. Visit us at www.mtn.com , www.mtnbusiness.com , www.mtnmmo.com  and for our football fans www.mtnfootball.com.

8 birthday candles for YouTube

100 hrs. of video footage uploaded every minute

YouTube views in Uganda grow by 75%

The largest video sharing platform worldwide turns 8 this week – and what an amazing journey it has been.  YouTube, which was acquired by Google in 2006, has become the go-to destination to find video content on almost every subject possible – from the latest viral Harlem shake video to how-to demonstrations on making your home solar-energy equipped.

With YouTube viewers can access and create news, information or entertainment, wherever they are and on whatever device is available. Today YouTube has announced that more than 100 hours of video footage is uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s more than four days of video uploaded each minute.  In 2012, it was 72 hours of video uploaded every minute. In 2011, it was 48 hours and in 2010, it was 35 hours.

With over 6 billion hours of video watched worldwide per month, a quarter of which are viewed on a mobile device, YouTube is growing fast each year. In the past year, visits to YouTube have grown by 75%, and uploads have increased by 30% in Uganda.  South Africa leads the region with most playbacks followed by Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria. YouTube has evolved into more than just an entertaining and educational video sharing site – now, it plays a key role in advertising and business development as well.

YouTube has become a popular place for Ugandans to go and view popular news clips and features like NTVs Point Blank, and Bukedde TVs news bulletin Agataliiko Nfunfu and “Lonely Hearts” programme, Abanoonya. Many Ugandans now know that even if they fail to catch these features live, they will be able to get them on YouTube.

Through these programmes and features, YouTube has turned locals into celebrities, catapulting personalities like comedian, Kansiime Anne (NTV Mini Buzz), kickboxing champion, Moses Golola, NTV news reporter Agnes Nanduutu (Point Blank) and Alex Gwamba (Full Full Condition) to fame.

Alex Gwamba’s “Full Full Condition”, an NTV Point Blank video feature was posted on YouTube and became a popular comedy with over 227,000 Views. The video clip is about a drunk Gwamba narrating an accident, that caused a beer truck to veer off the road, crush to the ground and empty its contents by the roadside, prompting residents to abandon their work and revel in a beer party all day. The video that has made Gwamba one of the most popular Ugandans inspired a telecom campaign in Kenya by Airtel, called “Full Full Weekend”.

Make sure you’re up to date with the latest news stories, immerse yourself in cultural events or hear directly from the world’s leaders. Whatever you want to see, YouTube is the place to go.

About YouTube

YouTube is the world’s largest online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC, is based in San Bruno, California, and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more information, visithttp://www.google.com/africa and our Google Africa Blog: google-africa.blogspot.com.  You can also follow Google’s Africa team on Twitter: twitter.com/googleafrica

MTN has topped the list as the highest ranked African brand in the prestigious Millward-Brown Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013 survey.

This year’s listing shows that MTN moved up an impressive nine places to position 79th, with an overall increase in brand value of 23%. MTN debuted at position 88 in the survey last year.

“MTN, a South  African multinational brand, rose 23 percent in brand value, the greatest appreciation in the BrandZ™ telecom category.  The brand, which operates throughout Africa and in parts of the Middle East, enjoyed strong revenue and earnings growth following a 15 percent increase in subscribers and a 58.5 percent hike in revenue derived from data” states the BrandZ top 100 report.

This achievement comes at the backdrop of MTN Uganda, a member of MTN Group being ranked and awarded as Uganda’s Best Brand for 2012.

The top three BrandZ most valuable global brands are in technology. These are  Apple, Google and IBM. Six of the Top 10 brands are either Technology or Telecom companies.

The fast growing markets represented in the Brand Top  100 are: China (12 brands, one less than it had a year ago); Russia (2 brands, same as a year ago);  India (2 brands, same as a year ago); Africa (1 brand, MTN, same as a year ago).

Congratulation to MTN Group and MTN Uganda for holding Africa’s Flag among the top brands in the world.

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The New RAV4 (Fourth Generation, 2013 Model) is stylish, comfortable and versatile. It has a lot of exterior, comfort and safety revisions, compared to the first generation 1995 model, second generation 2001-2005 model and the third generation 2006-2012 model.

The exterior revisions of the new RAV 4 immediately catch the eye. The spare tyre has been relocated to a hidden space beneath the cargo load floor, the side swinging rear door has been replaced with one that is hinged at the top and the exterior has been completely redesigned with a sleeker roofline, bolder character lines and a unified front fascia that links the expressive headlights with the grille and Toyota logo.

The interior of the new RAV 4 is even more impressive. The dashboard and center stack are more modern and attractive, the interior cabin is more spacious with slim back front seats that allow for more rear knee room as well as steering wheel controls for audio and Bluetooth hands free phone.

For all i-pad, i-phone and tech lovers in general, the new RAV 4 has a USB port for your pleasure. The six auto transmission new RAV 4, creates room for better fuel economy, less noise and less wear; all of which are guaranteed by the fifth and sixth gears.

Talking of safety, the new RAV 4 is designed to limit the chances of accidents as well as ensuring you stay safe in case an accident happened. Some of the safety features include dual front airbags, front seat mounted side impact airbags, and dual head curtain side impact airbags as well as drivers’ knee airbags.

The price for the new RAV for ranges between $26,000 and $36,000 [exclusive of taxes] depending on the specifications.