Spotify has opened the Greasy Tunes Café Kitchen in Nairobi in partnership with The BAG, marking the start of a 12-day pop-up that runs from July 15 to July 26 at Heltz House, the company said in a media statement dated July 16, 2026.

According to Spotify, the Nairobi activation is the third edition of Greasy Tunes after Johannesburg in 2023 and Lagos in 2025. The company said the concept is built around curated food and community-led programming that links music discovery with local cultural experiences.

The opening night was co-led by The BAG, which Spotify described as a Nairobi events and nightlife platform. Spotify said the launch was designed around how young Nairobi residents gather “around food, sound, conversation and community,” with street food culture positioned as a central theme.

Spotify said the café kitchen was created in partnership with Jikoni Studio Nairobi, and that the menu was developed “alongside local Kenyan chefs.” The company added that the food offering is intended to reflect Kenyan street food culture within a venue built for music and community programming.

The programme includes collaborations with local creative communities and event brands, including Studio 18, The BAG, BluePrint, Fishermans Experience, Bambika TV, Assembly, Ongeza Volume, Standup Collective, Nakili Session and Strictly Soul. Spotify said the calendar will also feature two live podcast recordings from Mic Cheque Podcast and 30 Percent Podcast.

Spotify said its internal listening data informs the concept’s focus on food-related moments. “Spotify listening data from June 2026 shows that for Nairobi listeners aged 18 to 24, the dinner-adjacent window between 6pm and 9pm is the largest food-related listening period in the dataset, accounting for 20.9% of all daily Gen Z music listening in the city,” the company said.

Agnes Opondo, Artist and Label Partnerships, East Africa at Spotify, said the data points to a blended local-and-global listening pattern among young users. “What stands out in this data is not just that Kenyan artists dominate the dinner playlist, but that they sit naturally alongside names like Dave, Tems and Drake. That tells you something about how young Nairobians experience music. They are not choosing between local and global. They are moving between both in the same evening, and Kenyan artists are holding their own in that mix. For anyone working with East African talent, that is a powerful signal,” Ms Opondo said.

Spotify also disclosed that Kenyan artists appear on seven of the top ten tracks streamed by Nairobi’s 18–24 listeners during the 6pm to 9pm window, led by Ywaya Tajiri, and including Wakadinali, Mutoriah, Toxic Lyrikali, Sauti Sol and Njerae. The company added that regional collaboration also featured in the same listening mix, citing Alikiba and Bien, alongside international acts.

For Kenya’s creative economy, the activation signals continued competition among global platforms for mindshare in local music and youth culture—an audience segment that is increasingly central to marketing budgets across telecommunications, consumer goods, hospitality and live entertainment. Pop-up experiences that blend music, food and community events also reflect a wider trend among brands seeking offline engagement to complement digital consumption, particularly in Nairobi’s nightlife and events sector.

Spotify said it is working with 12 communities and partners to host 20 events over the 12 days, spanning “food and music to podcasts, comedy, sport, fashion and live cultural programming.” The company did not disclose financial terms or expected attendance figures.

The pop-up is scheduled to conclude on July 26, with Spotify indicating that Greasy Tunes is positioned as a multi-city series, following previous editions in South Africa and Nigeria.

Six artists in Tusker’s Base to Billboardz (B2B) programme performed original music publicly for the first time on July 7 at Nairobi’s K1 Klub House, as they prepare to release a collective album later in August.

According to the press release, the jam session featured Muringi Matheri, Manasseh Shalom, Zawadi, Chris Barr, Njuguna and Ras Amor, and was positioned as a preview of music produced during a mentorship and recording process that began in February. The event drew music fans and industry stakeholders, the statement said.

The milestone comes as Kenyan brands increasingly deploy music platforms as part of broader youth and culture-facing marketing strategies, while the country’s creative economy continues to attract corporate sponsorship and structured talent development models. For Kenya’s music sector, programmes that bundle training, production support and performance slots can influence how quickly emerging acts professionalise and monetise their work through streaming, live shows and brand partnerships.

Brigid Wambua, Senior Brand Manager for Tusker at Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), said the showcase demonstrated the impact of mentorship and practical training on artists’ readiness to perform original work in front of audiences.

“These artists have challenged themselves creatively, refined their craft and gained the practical skills needed to build sustainable careers. Seeing them perform their own music before a live audience is a powerful reminder of what can happen when talent is matched with the right support, mentorship, and platform. This is only the beginning of their journey, and we are excited to see how they continue to grow beyond the album launch,” Wambua said.

KBL said B2B is not structured as a traditional music competition, describing it instead as a career accelerator for artists who already have released music, live performance experience, a growing fan base and “at least one million career streams.” The company said the programme aims to bridge the gap between emerging talent and mainstream reach through mentorship, industry exposure and professional development.

In the selection process, the six artists were picked from an initial pool of 30 musicians, the press release said. The shortlist was developed by musician Bien working with a panel of industry experts, after which public participation and further evaluation produced the inaugural collective.

KBL said the cohort has received coaching led by Bien and other industry professionals in areas including vocals, songwriting, dance, performance and the business side of music. The statement also cited access to professional recording sessions, master classes and “curated industry exposure.”

For Kenya’s entertainment and advertising markets, structured programmes such as B2B can deepen the pipeline of commercially viable talent, while providing brands with content and live-event formats that can be scaled nationally. If the planned album and performance circuit gain traction, it could add to the growing calendar of ticketed events and brand-sponsored tours that support venues, promoters and service providers across the live music value chain.

Next, KBL said momentum from the jam session will feed into the group’s collective album launch in August, after which the artists are expected to continue performing as part of the Oktobafest 2026 artist lineup “across the country.”

Kenyan filmmaker Likarion Wainaina will premiere his new psychological thriller, Anam’s Wake, at Prestige Cinema on 31 July 2026, with additional screenings scheduled from 1–2 August 2026, according to a press release dated 24 June 2026.

The film is written and directed by Wainaina and produced by Wanjiru Njoroge, with cinematography by Enos Olik, the statement said. The cast includes Marima Wanjiru (as Anam), Sam Omondi, Peter Kawa (as Mason Ebale), Vanessa Okeyo (as Amani Ebale), Ruth Apondi (as Aunt Kavata), Pras Jadi (as Kwame Ebale), Gathoni Mutua (as Zuri Ebale) and Brenda Ngeso (as Nyawira).

The release positions the film within a growing pipeline of locally made features seeking theatrical audiences in Kenya, where premium cinema venues in Nairobi have increasingly served as launch pads for domestic films alongside international titles. The planned multi-day screening window also reflects a distribution approach that relies on concentrated opening weekends to build word-of-mouth and media attention.

Anam’s Wake is set against the backdrop of African mourning rituals and traditions. The story follows Anam, described in the press release as a professional mourner trained to summon Death and negotiate the passage of souls. While she guides others through loss, she remains emotionally numb after her mother’s death 16 years earlier. The film’s plot centres on Anam’s first solo ritual at the Ebale family home, where a wake “spirals into a chilling ordeal” as family secrets surface and Anam confronts unresolved grief, according to the release.

Wainaina said the project drew from personal experiences of grief. “Anam’s Wake was born from my own journey through grief. After attending numerous burials in early 2024, I became fascinated by the way sorrow often stays hidden, only to return with overwhelming force later,” he said in the statement. He added: “This film explores that terrifying truth, that unprocessed grief waits in the shadows, ready to consume us.”

Producer Wanjiru Njoroge said she was drawn to the cultural grounding and thematic focus of the script. “Anam’s Wake is the kind of film I entered this industry to make—deeply rooted in African culture yet universal in its themes,” she said. Njoroge added that the story explores “grief, family secrets, identity and a young woman navigating the tension between tradition and her own path,” and pointed to its reliance on subtext: “What drew me to the project was its trust in silence and the emotional weight carried in what remains unsaid.”

For Kenya’s creative economy, new theatrical releases can have knock-on effects for jobs across production, post-production, marketing and exhibition, while also strengthening the case for local content investment and wider distribution partnerships. The press release also notes the film drew on “extensive cultural consultation and local knowledge,” positioning authenticity and cultural representation as a core production consideration.

Wainaina is best known for directing Supa Modo, which premiered at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival and was selected as Kenya’s submission to the 91st Academy Awards, according to the release. The statement also describes him as co-founder of Kibanda Pictures and credits him with directing multiple Kenyan television productions.

Next milestones will likely include further details on screening times, ticketing and any wider rollout beyond the initial Prestige Cinema dates, as well as additional marketing materials such as trailers and press-kit assets referenced in the release.

ÀLKÉ, a pan-African cultural institution founded by Lulu Shabell, has unveiled what it describes as a long-term institutional framework to protect African cultural intelligence, strengthen intellectual property (IP) ownership and build infrastructure to scale Africa’s creative economy, the organisation said on June 17, 2026.

The announcement, issued from Nairobi and Cape Town, positions the framework around mechanisms for “ownership, licensing, enterprise development, and long-term capital formation,” according to the press release. ÀLKÉ said it is seeking to address Africa’s relatively small share of the global creative economy by developing African-led institutional structures that translate cultural authorship into protected and investable value.

The move comes as global trade in creative products and services expands. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that creative services exports reached $1.4 trillion (about KES 181.3 trillion) in 2022, while creative goods exports reached $713 billion (about KES 92.0 trillion). UNCTAD data also showed developing countries increased their share of global creative services exports from 10% in 2010 to 20% in 2022.

For Africa, UNCTAD estimated the continent’s share of the global creative economy at about 1.5% in 2022, up from 1% in 2018, with exports of $2.4 billion (about KES 310.3 billion) in creative goods and $4 billion (about KES 517.2 billion) in creative services in 2022.

ÀLKÉ argued that institutional investment could materially raise Africa’s contribution to the sector. It cited Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projections that, “with the right structural investment,” Africa’s creative economy could generate between $150 billion and $160 billion annually by 2030—about KES 19.4 trillion to KES 20.7 trillion (US$150–$160 billion).

“Africa has always been a source of cultural innovation, but too often the systems that turn that innovation into lasting economic value are built elsewhere,” said Lulu Shabell, Founder of ÀLKÉ. “ÀLKÉ exists to help change that by building institutions that protect authorship, support enterprise, and create durable economic benefit from African cultural intelligence.”

In the statement, ÀLKÉ described itself as “more than a brand or event platform,” and said its work will include preservation of indigenous design knowledge, support for African creative enterprises, and development of “permanent structures” aimed at keeping value generated by African cultural expression within African communities.

The organisation also linked its approach to Kenya’s legal and policy environment. It pointed to constitutional provisions that recognise culture as foundational to the nation, call for promotion of IP rights, and require legislation to ensure communities receive compensation or royalties for the use of their cultures and cultural heritage. Regionally, it cited the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Swakopmund Protocol, which provides protection for traditional knowledge and expressions of folklore against misappropriation, misuse and unlawful exploitation.

For Kenya’s creative and cultural businesses—spanning film, music, fashion, craft, design and digital content—the focus on IP and licensing frameworks is likely to resonate as firms and creators seek to monetise content across borders while protecting ownership. In recent years, policymakers and industry groups in East Africa have increasingly emphasised enforcement, rights management and royalty collection as key barriers to scaling creative enterprises and attracting capital.

ÀLKÉ said it will continue developing several pillars of its model, including an educational framework, a venture studio approach, a craft preservation strategy and an endowment structure. The institution said these elements will be advanced “through a series of forthcoming announcements.”

ÀLKÉ, a pan-African cultural institution founded by Lulu Shabell, has outlined what it described as a long-term institutional framework to protect African cultural intelligence, strengthen intellectual property (IP) ownership and build infrastructure to scale the continent’s creative economy.

The announcement, dated 17 June 2026 and issued from Nairobi and Cape Town, comes as global creative trade continues to expand. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) data cited in the statement shows creative services exports reached $1.4 trillion (about KES 181.3 trillion) in 2022, while creative goods exports totalled $713 billion (about KES 92.0 trillion). Developing countries increased their share of global creative services exports from 10% in 2010 to 20% in 2022, according to UNCTAD.

ÀLKÉ pointed to Africa’s relatively small position in this market. It cited estimates that Africa’s share of the global creative economy stood at about 1.5% in 2022, up from 1% in 2018, and that the continent exported $2.4 billion (about KES 309.9 billion) in creative goods and $4 billion (about KES 516.5 billion) in creative services in 2022.

ÀLKÉ said its model is intended to narrow that gap by “creating mechanisms that support ownership, licensing, enterprise development, and long-term capital formation.” It also referenced BCG projections cited in an original essay, stating that with structural investment Africa’s creative economy could generate between $150 billion and $160 billion annually by 2030 (about KES 19.4 trillion to KES 20.7 trillion per year).

“Africa has always been a source of cultural innovation, but too often the systems that turn that innovation into lasting economic value are built elsewhere,” said Lulu Shabell, Founder of ÀLKÉ. “ÀLKÉ exists to help change that by building institutions that protect authorship, support enterprise, and create durable economic benefit from African cultural intelligence.”

The institution described itself as an entity focused on preserving indigenous design knowledge, supporting African creative enterprises and establishing structures that allow value generated by African cultural expression to remain with African communities. Its stated areas of work include preserving and commercialising indigenous knowledge systems, supporting creative ventures with “scale-ready infrastructure,” and creating financial structures aimed at compounding value “across generations,” according to the statement.

The announcement also connected the framework to Kenya’s legal and policy environment. ÀLKÉ cited provisions in Kenya’s Constitution that recognise culture as a foundation of the nation, call for promotion of IP rights, and require legislation to ensure communities receive compensation or royalties for the use of their cultures and cultural heritage. It further referenced the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Swakopmund Protocol, which addresses protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of folklore against misappropriation, misuse and unlawful exploitation.

For Kenya’s business landscape, the focus on IP ownership and licensing speaks to a longstanding challenge in the creative sector: creators and communities often struggle to convert cultural production into bankable assets and predictable revenue streams. If institutions can standardise documentation, rights management and licensing pathways, stakeholders say it could improve investability for creative ventures, increase export readiness and support formalisation—areas that matter as Kenya positions itself as a regional hub for cultural production, design and digital content.

ÀLKÉ said it will continue developing what it termed its educational framework, venture studio model, craft preservation strategy and endowment structure, with additional announcements planned.

Rolling Stone Africa (RSA) and ON Kenya have launched Voices in Motion, a storytelling platform they say is designed to support emerging African creators and expand how the continent’s sports stories are documented and distributed. The initiative was launched in Nairobi on June 16, 2026, and will culminate in a Creative Summit scheduled for July 29 to August 2.

According to the organisers, the platform targets photographers, filmmakers, writers, videographers and digital creators, with a focus on building skills and providing access to mentorship and industry networks. The programme is positioned around sports storytelling, with the organisers citing a gap between Africa’s elite athletic performance and the depth of narrative coverage around athletes’ experiences.

In their statement, RSA and ON Kenya said African sporting achievements are frequently covered “through external lenses,” which they argue can limit attention to the cultural context, personal sacrifices and community stories behind athletic success. The organisers said Voices in Motion aims to invest in local storytellers as a way to influence how these narratives are captured and shared.

“Across Africa, we have extraordinary athletes whose achievements inspire millions, yet many of their journeys remain unseen,” said Navalayo Osembo of ON Kenya. “Through Voices in Motion, we are creating pathways for young creators to develop the skills, networks and opportunities needed to tell these stories authentically and powerfully. We believe that the future of sports storytelling in Africa should be shaped by Africans themselves.”

Gwen Madiba, Editor in Chief at Rolling Stone Africa, said the initiative is intended to strengthen the capacity of storytellers who work closest to the communities where sports talent is developed. “Every record broken, every sacrifice made and every triumph achieved deserves to be documented by storytellers who understand the communities and cultures from which these stories emerge,” she said. “Voices in Motion is about ensuring that Africa not only produces world-class athletes but also world-class storytellers capable of sharing these journeys with the world.”

The organisers said the Creative Summit will bring together athletes, journalists, storytellers, industry leaders and aspiring creators for training, collaboration and mentorship. They did not disclose the summit venue, programme partners beyond RSA and ON Kenya, or the budget for the initiative in the statement.

For Kenya’s creative economy, the initiative lands as brands and publishers increase spend on digital-first sports content and athlete-led narratives, particularly across video and social media formats. The stated focus on mentorship and practical training aligns with an industry shift toward multi-skilled creators who can shoot, edit and publish across platforms, as sports coverage becomes more creator-driven and audience-led.

If implemented at scale, the programme could also expand professional opportunities for Kenyan freelancers and small production teams that support sports federations, talent agencies and sponsors. However, the long-term impact will depend on selection criteria, the depth of mentorship, and whether participants receive paid commissions or pathways into sustained work after the summit.

RSA and ON Kenya said applications will open for aspiring creatives from across Kenya to participate in the Voices in Motion programme, with successful applicants expected to receive mentorship, industry exposure and access to the Creative Summit. The organisers have not announced application dates or cohort size.

Red Bull has crowned dancer Zack The Great as the 2026 Red Bull Dance Your Style Kenya national champion after the competition’s national finals held on May 24, 2026 at the Tsavo Ballroom, Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, the company said in a press release dated May 25.

According to the statement, the national finals brought together 16 Kenyan street dancers in head-to-head battles, with Zack The Great winning the title after a final against first runner-up King of Smiles. The winner will represent Kenya at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Finals in Zurich, Switzerland on October 24, 2026, where Kenya will be among 51 participating countries, Red Bull said.

The event adds to Nairobi’s growing pipeline of large-format youth and creative economy events hosted at major venues such as KICC, as brands continue to invest in live experiences tied to music, sport and cultural participation. For Kenya’s creative industry—spanning dancers, choreographers, event production crews and content creators—such competitions can create income opportunities through performances, workshops, sponsorships and digital distribution.

Zack The Great, quoted in the press release, said the title carried personal and community significance. “Being crowned the Red Bull Dance Your Style 2026 champion is something truly special. I am grateful for the support, the love from the community and the opportunity to represent something bigger than myself,” he said. He added: “Kenya is full of energy, culture and incredibly talented dancers, so being recognized among such amazing talent means a lot to me.”

He also pointed to the challenge of competing abroad. “I think the biggest challenge will be adapting to a completely new environment and atmosphere. It will be my first time competing on such a major international stage,” Zack said, adding that adjusting to the crowd and overall experience in Zurich would take time.

Red Bull said the Kenyan champion will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Switzerland (value not disclosed). The company did not provide cost details or local economic impact estimates for the Nairobi event.

In addition to the competition battles, Red Bull said the Nairobi finals featured appearances by international dancers, including MT Pop (named as the 2024 Red Bull Dance Your Style World Champion), Luwam (identified as a finalist at the 2024 world finals), Luciano (identified as the 2025 Netherlands champion and global finalist), and Verb (identified as a two-time South Africa champion in 2022 and 2023, and a 2023 global finalist). The press release added that the visiting dancers conducted workshops for members of Kenya’s dance community while in Nairobi.

The 2026 edition was the sixth Kenyan edition of the global competition and launched in March, with qualifying rounds held in Mombasa and Nairobi before the KICC finale, according to Red Bull. The format is audience-judged: spectators vote for winners after each battle using red and blue LED wristbands, the company said. Red Bull also said all urban dance styles are accepted except break dancing, which is not included in the competition’s rules.

Looking ahead, attention will shift to preparations for the Zurich world finals in October, where Zack The Great will compete against national champions from other markets. Red Bull has not announced any further Kenya dates beyond the completed 2026 season, but the company’s statement positions the event as an ongoing annual platform within its local calendar.

Book Bunk and Hay Festival Global have concluded the 2026 edition of Nairobi Litfest, held in Nairobi from May 8 to May 10 across McMillan Memorial Library, Kaloleni Library and Eastlands Library, according to a statement dated May 25, 2026. The organisers said the festival’s fifth edition brought together writers, artists, educators and audiences for more than 25 sessions over three days.

The event took place inside public libraries that Book Bunk has been restoring through a partnership with Nairobi City County, positioning the festival within a broader push to revive public cultural infrastructure. In its programme summary, the organisers cited masterclasses, panel discussions, performances and a children’s festival among the key formats used to engage audiences.

Organisers said highlights included a screening of the documentary How to Build a Library, which they said follows Book Bunk’s work in restoring public libraries, and a live performance by Kenyan artist Mutoriah on the second day of the festival.

The festival’s 2026 theme focused on “speculative cartography and South-to-South connections,” which the organisers said was intended to encourage audiences to rethink boundaries, imagine alternative futures and engage across disciplines and geographies.

Wanjiru Koinange, Book Bunk Co-Founder and Nairobi Litfest Co-Director, said the festival depends on collaborative effort and sustained participation. “Nairobi Litfest is a festival built by many hands and sustained by a shared belief in the power of sharing ideas. Each successful edition is a result of our guests, audiences and partners showing up for each other, for their communities and for storytelling,” Koinange said.

The organisers said Book Bunk and Hay Festival Global have partnered since 2024 to co-present Nairobi Litfest. Over the past three editions, the partners said they have hosted more than 120 writers and artists across 75 events, reaching an audience of more than 3,000 in person and online.

Julie Finch, CEO of Hay Festival Global, said the organisation intends to continue the partnership. “We are delighted with the success of Nairobi Litfest 2026 and proud to continue our partnership with Book Bunk. Together, we are creating meaningful spaces for dialogue, imagination and exchange for audiences in Nairobi and around the world,” Finch said.

Angela Wachuka, Book Bunk Co-Founder and Nairobi Litfest Co-Director, said the festival’s positioning in public libraries remains central to its identity. “Five editions in, Nairobi Litfest continues to be a place where urgent conversations about literature, art and ideas find a home inside public libraries that belong to everyone,” Wachuka said.

In its programme recap, the organisers said the 2026 edition included masterclasses in fiction writing, autobiography, poetry, curatorial practice and indie publishing led by Lina Meruane, Dr. Nick Makoha, Ellah Wakatama OBE, Ciku Kimeria, Richard Oduor Oduku and Dr. Portia Malatjie. They also cited children’s sessions featuring storytelling, music and movement, chess, puppetry and painting with Muthoni Maina, Orpah Agunda, Tunde Onakoya, Michael Mutahi and Prisca Ojwang.

The organisers said panel discussions addressed imagination, identity and social change, featuring speakers including Alain Mabanckou, Yvonne Owuor, Natasha Brown, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Safiya Sinclair, Inua Ellams and Nanjala Nyabola, alongside film and curatorial conversations with Moussa Sene Absa, Maia Lekow, Chris King, Dr. Portia Malatjie and Lola Shoneyin.

Cristina Fuentes La Roche, International Director at Hay Festival Global, said the partners view the festival as a platform connecting local and international voices. “Nairobi Litfest continues to celebrate the best of local and global literature, bringing together artists, writers and audiences in meaningful exchange,” Fuentes La Roche said.

For Kenya’s cultural and creative economy, the festival’s continued use of public libraries as venues underscores a growing business and policy conversation about investing in community-based cultural infrastructure, programming and skills development. Book Bunk’s model links restoration to programming and digitisation, which can expand access to content and create new opportunities for creators, educators and cultural organisations.

In “notes to editors,” the organisers said the 2026 collaboration between Hay Festival Global and Book Bunk was supported by the British Council as part of the UK/Kenya Season 2025, with additional main support from Open Society Foundations and Hawthornden Foundation. They also cited programming partnerships with Amnesty International Kenya, The Caine Prize for African Writing, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), the Ramón Llull Institut and Indus Conclave.

Looking ahead, the partners indicated the collaboration will continue, building on the past three editions’ scale and international mix of participants. The organisers did not announce dates for the next edition in the statement.

Safaricom, through its foundations, has launched “Capture the Good”, a national photography and videography challenge that will invite creators to document community projects in education, health, economic empowerment and environmental conservation, the company said on May 12, 2026 in Nairobi.

According to the press release, entries are open at https://capturethegood.safaricom.co.ke/ until May 30, 2026. Participants will select from 250 projects, visit project sites and produce visual stories showing the projects’ impact. The initiative is being run in partnership with the Photographers Association of Kenya (PAK) and the Photojournalists Association of Kenya (PJAK), with Vivo named as the mobile photography partner.

The programme outlines a multi-stage judging process. Safaricom said submitted work will be reviewed by a judging panel, which will select 90 regional winners for a masterclass. After refinement and resubmission, a second judging round will produce 18 national winners whose work will appear on the Capture the Good website.

Safaricom Group Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa said the company was seeking to use creators’ perspectives to document community change. “We live in a visual world, often enhanced by a photo or a video, building believability, relatability and connections, while allowing the rest of society to live through these stories. These platforms enable us to share stories of transformation, while humanizing the spaces where we serve our communities. We rea now looking to see these stories of impact through their lens,” Ndegwa said.

Safaricom said the challenge will also include public voting. It stated that three winners in each category will be awarded photographer and videographer of the year prizes, with cash awards of KES 1 million for first place, KES 750,000 for second place and KES 500,000 for third place. The press release added that total rewards will amount to KES 20.4 million, including cash prizes, airtime, vouchers and merchandise, alongside data offers intended to support submissions.

The competition is scheduled to run until August 14, 2026, when Safaricom said it plans to crown winners and stage an exhibition of selected works.

The launch also included an education infrastructure announcement. Safaricom said the M-PESA Foundation broke ground for an ICT laboratory at Kisumu Boys’ High School valued at KES 12.5 million, which it said would support learning and innovation for more than 1,800 learners.

For Kenya’s creative economy, the challenge is likely to intensify competition around documentary-style content tied to development programmes and corporate social investment, while strengthening links between creators and institutional funders. The involvement of PAK and PJAK also suggests an emphasis on technical standards and journalistic approaches as creators seek to translate field visits into publishable photo and video narratives.

Next milestones include the May 30, 2026 submission deadline, the regional shortlisting and masterclasses, followed by final judging and public voting ahead of the planned August 14, 2026 awards and exhibition, according to Safaricom.

MTV Staying Alive Foundation has rebranded to Shuga Global, marking the end of a partnership with Paramount that concluded at the end of March 2026, the organisation said in a media statement dated 17 April 2026. The rebrand was announced at a launch event held on 16 April 2026 at KOFISI Square in Nairobi, attended by development partners, cast and crew, media and members of Kenya’s creative community.

According to the statement, the rebrand is intended to expand the organisation’s reach, partnerships and the range of stories it produces under the Shuga franchise, which has been active in Kenya since 2009. The organisation said the transition followed a “mutual” process tied to a shared vision for its future after the Paramount partnership ended.

Shuga Global’s first release under the new identity is the Mashariki Offscript Podcast, a 10-episode series hosted by Shuga Mashariki cast member Makena Kahuha alongside media personality Muchina Maloba. The podcast launched on 17 April and is available on Spotify, YouTube via Shuga Global and other digital platforms, the organisation said.

“Rebranding as Shuga Global signals an exciting new era for our organization as we continue to evolve,” said Wame Jallow, Executive Director of Shuga Global, in the statement. Jallow added that the organisation would “continue to innovate” and work with new partners, while acknowledging Paramount, MTV and other stakeholders who have supported its work.

Mitchelle Kimathi, Country Manager, Kenya, Shuga Global, said the podcast was designed to capture youth conversations in spaces where young people live and study. “Offscript Podcast came from a simple belief, that the conversations young Kenyans are already having deserve to be heard,” Kimathi said, adding that the recordings were based on on-campus engagement and listening sessions.

The organisation said the podcast was recorded over a month across three universities: the University of Nairobi, Egerton University in Njoro (Nakuru) and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology in Siaya. Episodes are expected to drop weekly and will be accompanied by regional and national radio distribution “to reach more young people across Kenya,” according to the statement.

For Kenya’s media and creative economy, the shift signals an effort to deepen multi-platform distribution beyond television into audio and radio formats—channels that remain significant for mass reach and local-language consumption. The move also reflects growing competition for youth audiences across streaming, social media and on-demand formats, particularly for content that blends entertainment with social messaging.

Shuga Global cited viewership metrics for its Kenyan TV franchise as an indicator of audience demand. It said MTV Shuga Mashariki accumulated about 5.3 million views in its first season, while Season 2—premiered on Citizen TV in February 2026—had surpassed 8.3 million YouTube views at the time of the release. The organisation also referenced the Sema Na Me support chatbot collaboration in Season 1 as an example of extending storytelling into direct youth support, linking discussions to issues such as mental health, gender-based and intimate partner violence, livelihoods and relationships.

Looking ahead, Shuga Global said it is developing Shuga Mashariki Shorts, an anthology film series expected for release in June 2026, with further details to be announced. The organisation said the broader Shuga franchise broadcasts across 40 African countries, positioning the new identity to continue regional distribution while expanding partnerships and formats.