|
U.S. program helps African entrepreneurs
|
| Ronald Mutebi, founder of Chicago-based IT consulting firm Tek Consults Group |
Washington, DC -- Ronald Mutebi can now do in three months what might have taken him a year. With his $100,000 share of a grant to benefit Africa, the entrepreneur will soon be sending solar ovens to his native Uganda.
Mutebi obtained exclusive Ugandan rights to market the units from Illinois-based maker Sun Ovens International. His goal is to reduce the country’s dependence on wood and agricultural waste products for cooking fuel.
Mutebi was one of 14 African American entrepreneurs, selected from a group of 58 finalists and more than 700 applicants, awarded just under $1.4 million in total grants at last week’s inaugural African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) in Washington, DC. The ADM is a joint public-private initiative on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Western Union, aimed at boosting employment in sub-Saharan Africa.>> more |
NEWS YOU CAN USE :
Kenyan Safaricom extends money transfers to Britain
NAIROBI, (Reuters) - Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom (SCOM.NR) extended its money transfer service to Britain on Tuesday and may roll it out to other countries. The service - known as M-Pesa - transfers over 600 million shillings daily and has handled 230 billion shillings ($3.05 billion) since it was set up in March 2007.>> full story
Kenyan finds ties to home with local Chicago organization, the Internet
CHICAGO, IL -- As the quartet began singing, accompanied only by the shh-shh rhythm of a wooden shaker called a kayamba, Veronica Kariuki’s face eased into a smile at the familiar tune, and she sang along in Swahili.
Kariuki, who serves as the office and program manager for the United Kenyans of Chicago, is in charge of arranging events such as this international music concert for the area’s Kenyan population.
On Friday, the four-person singing group Singers of United Lands performed at the organization’s headquarters in River North. Their set included songs from each of its members’ homelands: Chile, Latvia, Korea and Kenya. more>>
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS:
As refugees settle in, city’s translation needs evolve
Farsi. Karen. Kirundi. These are languages not often heard in Chicago.
But as refugees from Iran, Burma, and Burundi—plus a host of other nations—establish a life here, their growing communities need translation services. more>> |
|
|
|
| S P E C I A L FEATURE STORY |
| Putting Chicago’s Rude Cabbies on Notice |
 |
| Immigrants, more so Africans, have experienced low moments in the hands of fellow rude Africans when it comes to riding a cabbie in Chicago. Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga, our senior writer, has elected to put on notice some of these Africans. Click here to read his notice and the experiences he recently encountered in Chicago |
|
|
|
|
{ad
space}
|
 |
| Engagin the World |
 |
|
 |
|
|
COMMENTARY
Mayhem in Kenya: Where Do Christians Feature In All This?
Fellow Kenyans, over the past few days, we have witnessed unnecessary violence and bloodshed in our beloved country that has enjoyed peace since her independence. While many continue to point fingers at the government for responding to the opposition with live ammunitions and the opposition for violence, looting and other criminal activity that has resulted to the government's resolve to in-discriminated crackdowns, kindly allow me to also point the finger to what I believe is a cause for current mayhem in Kenya and suggested solutions. >>more |
| |
|
ml |
