Sponsorship in tough times![](https://biz-file.com/b/0907/29515.jpg?1) Finding a sponsor for any event during the economic downturn has now become a tricky activity. Large to medium businesses are handling their finances prudently in order to keep themselves economically stable in these uncertain times. When big companies that have been in their respective industries for years start crumbling, it becomes difficult to part with hard-earned cash to invest in any good cause. Even long-running events, such as the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, which has been held now for 11 years and has been a success on all accounts, landed in dire straits when the SABC withdrew its financial support leaving the organisers with just a week to find funding. It is now time to explore other avenues of sponsorship from other companies that may not feel the effects of the economic downturn in the long run. Crisis or no crisis, the mobile industry is thriving in Africa. Vodacom continues this year to sponsor the Vodacom Funny Festival in Cape Town, South Africa while Zain plans on sponsoring the first ‘Mandela Day' concert to be held at New York's Radio City Music Hall in celebration of Mandela's birthday and MTN is one of the sponsors of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is clear that this industry has resources to spare. In East Africa, East African Breweries has renewed its sponsorship on the Project Fame reality show for the third season running through its brand, Tusker, demonstrating that not all sectors are being negatively affected during the recession. Events organisers seeking sponsorship need to draw up a list of companies that are, more likely than not, struggling during the economic downturn and avoid these resources until there is some light at the end of the tunnel and look to those that have the cash and support to throw around. Cheers! Sindy Peters, Content manager Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com. Top stories
2010 FIFA World Cup
[Proffesor Ndawonde] JOHANNESBURG: FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, says the world football governing body is satisfied with the level of preparation that was done for the 2009 Confederations Cup. Read more >>FIFA president, Joseph Blatter, has insisted that technology will not be used in the foreseeable future to settle disputed referee decisions in the game of football. Read more >>[Chris Bathembu] JOHANNESBURG: Celebrations following the successful hosting of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa should now be replaced by hard work and preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Read more >> Advertising
[Oguntimehin Olufemi Olamide] It remains a serious battle for advertisers to draw TV target audiences into watching commercials and then entice them to act upon the ads. Viewers are fond of channel hopping during ad breaks; in Nigeria, for example, the lack of television content has been blamed for this avoidance, yet even with the introduction of satellite TV and local stations loaded with content, this has not changed. Read more >>Digital
NAIROBI: The 1,500km fibre-optic backbone connecting Mombasa and Kampala is now complete, as announced by the project contractor, Green Future managing director Fred Sewe at the project handover ceremony in Kampala, Uganda. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32701.jpg) Washington, D.C: A new report from the World Bank Group finds that access to affordable, high quality internet and mobile phone services enables development across all levels of the economy and society. Read more >>Rapid penetration of cellular phones into South Africa and the rest of the Africa will set the stage for mass adoption of the internet across the country and continent. That's according to Deon Liebenberg, regional director for sub-Sahara Africa at Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry solution. Read more >>[Lesley Stones] The surprise resignation of the local manager of technology developer HP has been explained, with his reappearance as the new general manager of IBM sub-Saharan Africa. Read more >> ![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32832.jpg) LAGOS: Flying Dove, a distributor of Sony consumer electronics products in Nigeria commissioned on 26 June 2009 two new Sony Showrooms in Lagos. They are located at the Palms Shopping Mall and at Victoria Island. Read more >>NAIROBI: Telkom Kenya, late last week unveiled Mickael Ghossein as its new CEO. The announcement was made by the company's board of directors following a meeting earlier in the week. Read more >>Education and Training
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32892.jpg) The Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) is offering a new peer mentoring service for African journalists. The service aims to directly connect journalists to FAIR peer mentor, Charles Rukuni. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0906/32652.jpg) WASHINGTON: YouTube opened an online journalism training hub on Monday, 29 June 2009 featuring tips from some of the top names in the business including Bob Woodward of Watergate fame. Read more >>Eventing
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32948.jpg) BAHRAIN: Zain has announced that it plans to sponsor the first ‘Mandela Day' concert to be held at New York's Radio City Music Hall on 18 July, 2009, Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday to raise funds for his foundations. The concert is being staged by 46664, a campaign the foundation named after Mandela's Robben Island prison number, with the support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Read more >>Media
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32863.jpg) Diageo announced the winners of the 6th Africa Business Reporting Awards at a gala ceremony at Sheraton Park Lane, Piccadilly, London last night, 2 July 2009. Xan Rice from The Guardian and the New Statesman won the award for Journalist of the Year 2009. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32876.jpg) The Kenya Correspondent's Association (KCA) and Kenya Association of Photographers, Illustrators and Designers (KAPIDE) launched a journalist's trauma booklet, The Healing Messenger, on 26 June 2009. The booklet is published by the International Media Support (IMS), and provides insight into the trauma experienced by journalists covering the post-election violence in Kenya in early 2008. Read more >>NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on national police Inspector General Mike Okiro to investigate reports that Delta state police harassed six journalists and attacked at least three of them last week. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0906/32635.jpg) Leaders of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists, strongly condemned at their biannual meeting in Djibouti on 23 June 2009, the unsafe and precarious working conditions of journalists in Africa. Read more >>Mobile
Increased access to the internet via mobile phones has increased the risk of being targeted by the viruses and hackers that prowl the internet. Read more >>The South African cellular market reached a milestone of 50-million connections at the end of 2008 - but only 68% of these represented individual users. This is according to World Wide Worx 2009 annual Mobility study, released yesterday 2 July 2009. Read more >> [Gregory Gondwe] A number of Malawians that are also clients of one of the country's mobile phone service providers and use Western Union banking services have hailed the two institutions' partnership. Read more >>[Carole Kimutai] The Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) has invested KSh7,5 billion (US$93,75 million) in Essar Telecom Kenya Holdings Ltd (ETKHL) - a subsidiary of Essar Telecom Limited. Read more >> ![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32728.jpg) Zain has received an offer from France's largest entertainment groups Vivendi, for its African operations. Read more >>Newspapers
[Gregory Gondwe] Nation Publications Limited (NPL) has launched a short message service (SMS) in order to reach out to its readers and advertisers. Read more >> Online Media
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32767.jpg) WASHINGTON: Video-sharing site YouTube announced on Wednesday, 1 July 2009 that it was doubling the size limit for uploads to its website to allow users to post more high-definition (HD) video. Read more >>Research
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32792.jpg) Despite the decline, however, South Africans remain optimistic overall and are the third most optimistic in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa region. The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence was released on 1 July 2009. Read more >>Retail
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32999.jpg) Lorato Edith Boakgomo-Ntakhwana has been appointed as chief executive officer of First National Bank of Botswana (FNBB). Boakgomo-Ntakhwana is the first black female to be appointed to this position. Read more >>Africa's Big Seven (AB7) exhibition, showcasing the food and beverage industry, will take place from 19 - 21 July 2009 at the Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa. The event plans to host over 300 exhibitors from 35 countries offering trade opportunities to attendees. Read more >>Though the global financial crisis is yielding disastrous results for sub-Saharan African Least Developed Countries (LDCs), some say the slowdown could allow nations to unite and consider innovative approaches for prolonged economic and social development. Read more >>DAKAR: As an African Union summit on agricultural investments opens in Libya, donors and non-profits are calling participants' attention to the role smallholder farmers - mostly women - can have in feeding their communities. Read more >>[Wambi Michael] KAMPALA: With the world economy in the grip of a credit crunch, traders and consumers in Uganda are struggling with price inflation and the depreciation of the country's currency, the Ugandan shilling, against the dollar. Especially importers have not been able to bring goods in which were ordered when prices were lower. Read more >> [Arao Valoi] The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday, 1 July 2009, approved a 12-month, SDR of 113.6 million (about US$176 million) for Mozambique under the IMF's Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF) to cushion the country from the effects of the global economic downturn, said Felix Fischer, IMF resident representative in Mozambique. Read more >>[Alison Walkley] One of the last discussions to occur at the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, which took place on 26 June 2009, saw leaders from the UN Development Program (UNDP), the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and representatives from Australia, Finland, and Nicaragua convene to discuss gender equality and its role in economic recovery and sustainable development. Read more >> [Arao Valoi] MAPUTO: The business environment in Mozambique registered significant improvements last year but productivity levels, which could allow the country to compete in global markets are still a big concern, according to a World Bank report released on Monday, 29 June 2009. Read more >> TV
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32946.jpg) CNBC Africa's presenter/producer Sue Beukes, cameraman Thabo Mathebula and editor Amanda Diergaardt walked away with the Best Television Feature 2009 award for the programme ‘Doing Business in Africa' at the Africa Business Reporting Awards held on 2 July 2009 in London. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0907/32888.jpg) NAIROBI: East African Breweries (EAB), through its flagship brand Tusker Lager, is continuing its sponsorship of the Tusker Project Fame reality show that's now in its third year running with an investment of approximately Kshs200 million. Auditions for the musical talent reality show launched concurrently this past weekend in Kenya Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Read more >> [Walter Wafula] Samsung Electronics has unveiled a flat-panel TV with a provision to access content on various websites, in East Africa. The 29mm LED TV was launched in Kenya at the end of June 2009. Read more >>Out Of Home
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0906/32655.jpg) Display Mania International, a manufacturer of a variety of dynamic indoor and outdoor display systems, is having a sale on their top-of-the-range products. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0906/32640.jpg) With an emphasis on portability and value-for-money, Right Stuff's various kiosks are a great investment for point-of-sale, events and informal trading that are ideally suited for rural Africa. Read more >>Public Relations
Organisational communication training specialists, Quo Vadis Communications, is to run two additional courses before the year's end to meet demand. Read more >> "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." - Robert Louis Stevenson"Be dramatically willing to focus on the customer at all costs, even at the cost of obsoleting your own stuff." - Scott Cook"Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom." - Euripides
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