Congrats to Johan-Allan Namu - 20 Jul 2009

Congratulations are in order for Kenya's Johan-Allan Namu who won the title of CNN Multichoice African Journalist 2009 over the weekend. Namu also made history by scooping both the Television News Award and Television Features Award for his work on Kenya Television News (KTN). He is now not only an inspiration to aspiring journalists in his home country but to those across the African continent as well. Africa has the brains but it also has the beauty. Face of Africa 2009 will also run its course and concludes the 14-episode series in early 2010 in Nigeria. There are plenty of other innovations added to the competition, one of them being that participants are able to apply online, so let the search begin. There's nothing to cheer about though for wine and spirit consumers in Zimbabwe as finance minister Tendai Biti announced an increased customs duty on these products. But then perhaps it is not the best option to be spending cash on wine and spirits during an economic downturn. This is not the only upset on the continent this week as a joint venture between Russian energy giant Gazprom and the Nigerian state oil company encounter one of the "worst branding disasters of all time" by naming the project NIGAZ. Investment in Africa is always welcome but perhaps a brand surgeon should be on hand at all times.