- Pan-African communications and marketing agency headlines Rotary Africa Centennial event to shine a spotlight on African excellence globally
- Luminaries such as Bill Gates, Dr Nkosana Moyo and Gcina Mhlophe to address influential Rotary Africa Centennial Celebration
Change makers and thought leaders from across Africa will converge virtually this month as Rotary Africa celebrates 100 years of facilitating impactful socio economic change on the continent, bringing over 90 speakers together, including heads of state, prestigious Rotary representatives, African business leaders and leading visionaries, pioneers and icons.
As the world’s largest volunteer humanitarian service organisation, Rotary International comprises business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace worldwide.
Held on 24 and 25 April, Rotary’s Africa Centennial International Conference will showcase home-grown solutions to move the continent forward, featuring such speakers as Dr Nkosana Moyo, founder of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies; Gcina Mhlophe, storyteller, poet, playwright and anti-apartheid activist; and Ellyanne Wanjuku, ecowarrior and the driving force behind the planting of 250,000 trees in Kenya.
Joining these luminaries as headline sponsor of the event, African Brand Architects is aligned with Rotary in the area of economic advancement in Africa.
A collective of powerful thought leaders in the marketing and communications space in Africa, African Brand Architects shares Rotary’s passion for all things African and for fostering African networks and businesses so that they prosper and develop strong, supportive global linkages attracting business interest, growth and investment for job creation.
To achieve this, African Brand Architect’s approach is to design, develop and implement practical Communications, Marketing, Reputation and Business Development strategies with measurable tactics delivering an impact for brands across Africa and beyond.
Bound together, not by bricks and mortar, but an intrinsic need to support, that is the spirit that drives this dynamic collective that has become African Brand Architects. “We are invested in fostering communities that deliver meaningful results – support, change, reconnection and respect across multiple sectors,” Natalia Rosa, MD at African Brand Architects.
“Driving the team at African Brand Architects is the desire to see Africa through a different lens and to harness its great potential – a continent that delivers an exciting prospect for brands wanting to reach a dynamic continent, and a dynamic continent that wants to reach the world to showcase its innovative spirit,” she says.
“The power of partnerships is a key theme in the content programme and this is the ethos on which African Brand Architects is based,” adds African Brand Architects director Shereen Hunter. “Our vision is to shine a different, innovative, spotlight on Africa from a marketing, branding and communications perspective. Headlining the sponsorship of this important event is just one step on that important journey.”
“The excellent panels and keynote speakers secured for this milestone celebration is testament to the significance and value placed on the work done by Rotary over the last 100 years in seeking solutions to some of the Africa’s most pressing humanitarian challenges,” says District Governor Annemarie Mostert, Chairperson of the 2021 African Centennial Celebrations who will also officially open the proceedings.
Adding to the highlights of entertainment by the Soweto String Quartet and the Ndlovu Youth Choir, will be a personal message from Bill Gates, representing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to acknowledge the great work done by Rotary in Africa.
“We see Africa as a continent that delivers an exciting prospect for brands wanting to reach a dynamic continent, and a dynamic continent that wants to reach the world. This Rotary Centennial platform showcases the potential that Africa and its people have. We are thrilled to be strategically partnering with Rotary to reframe the narrative of Africa into the future,” concludes Rosa.
For a full programme and list of speakers, and to find out more about the Zone 22 Rotary Africa Centennial International Conference, go to https://www.rotary9400.org.za/sitepage/rotary-africa-centennial.