The Kusi Ideas Festival seeks to build a “Pan-African ideas transaction market” to capitalise on the opportunities and innovations available to Africa to help her win in the 21st Century. This is in line with the Nation Media Group’s vision of being the “Media of Africa for Africa”, which aims to contribute to shaping the agenda that will enable Africa to be a leading player in global politics and economics. The second edition, a hybrid, in-person and virtual conference, on the theme “Towards a Post-Covid Africa: Recovering Together”, was held in the middle of a pandemic at the lakeside City of Kisumu on December 8th and 9th, 2020.
The conference sought to examine the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on African economies and livelihoods and explored the tremendous African resilience as Africa emerged from the crisis and to provoke discourse, encourage dialogue, shape opinions and policy directions, and generate practical solutions for the future of Africa. The event brought together diverse influential continental leaders, innovators, development partners, young entrepreneurs and some of the best policy minds from across the world.
This conference was co-hosted by H.E Hon. Anyang Nyong’ Governor, County Government of Kisumu and was attended by dignitaries including Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, the then Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Ms Maureen Mbaka, Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs-Kenya, Hon. Dr. Rashid A. Aman, Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Health-Kenya, Dr. Said Ally Matano, Executive Secretary, East African Community-Lake Victoria Basin Commission, Dr. Azim Lakhani, The Diplomatic Representative of Aga Khan Development Network-Kenya, Esayas Woldemariam, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, and Nathalie Munyampenda, CEO of Kepler-Rwanda, among others.
This festival was awarded second place in the “Best Use of an Event to build a News Brand” category at the International News Media Association (INMA) Global Media Awards 2021.
