MultiChoice to cover Obama historic visit to Kenya on a dedicated channel

This July, all eyes will be on Kenya when President Uhuru Kenyatta hosts his US counterpart, President Barack Obama in his fatherland, Barack Obama Senior’s country of birth. To ensure that our subscribers do not miss this much-anticipated historical visit, MultiChoice Africa will cover the event on a dedicated channel on DStv and GOtv.

MultiChoice and its partner, public broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), are the host broadcasters during the visit. Both companies will provide comprehensive coverage of the visit, including all public events featuring President Kenyatta and President Obama. From Wednesday, 22 July 2015 to Tuesday, 28 July 2015, DStv channel 199 and GOtv channel 99 will be at the centre of the ‘Obama-mania’ action in Kenya. KBC will broadcast all the events live on KBC Channel 1 and Heritage TV in Kenya.

“We are thrilled to open up this channel dedicated to providing the whole of Africa with first-hand information about this significant moment for Kenya, and indeed the rest of the world. As part of our commitment to providing our subscribers with relevant and up-to-date, world class news and current affairs, this dedicated channel promises to provide gripping coverage of the tour by US President Barack Obama and his host, Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta,” said the CEO of MultiChoice Africa, Tim Jacobs.

“We are delighted to partner MultiChoice on yet another momentous period in Kenya’s history,” said KBC Managing Director and MultiChoice Kenya Chairman, Waithaka Waihenya.

Obama first expressed his consideration to visit Kenya at a meeting in South Africa in 2013 where he told a youth leader from Nairobi: “If in three years and seven months I’m not in Kenya, then you can fault me for not following through on my promise.”  For seven days, DStv and GOtv subscribers will be able keep up with all the live footage of Obama in Kenya along with informative documentaries about the country.

Obama is expected in Nairobi, Kenya from July 24 where he will attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2015 (GES 2015) organized by the White House which gathers entrepreneurs and investors from around the world. Kenya will host 3 000 investors, government officials, private sector players, entrepreneurs, innovators and the world’s media during the 3-day summit. This will be the first time the international Global Entrepreneurship Summit will be hosted in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Channel will feature snippets of live coverage of the 3-day Summit, bilateral talks between President Obama and President Kenyatta, joint live press conference by the two Presidents plus round-the-clock coverage on Kenya’s success stories, Obama file footage, some of Kenya’s greatest personalities, the country’s achievements including tourism content like famous landmarks and wildlife.

MultiChoice is firmly committed to Africa and this partnership with the Kenyan Government is part of the pioneer pay-TV firm’s way of bringing investments that have social and economic benefits to the communities in which it operates through investment, job opportunities and training.

MultiChoice in Kenya is a joint venture between the State Broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and MultiChoice Africa. The company will provide technical and production support during the summit through Local Productions (operating as SuperSport and M-Net) including raw feed to media houses as well a 24-hour dedicated channel on its platforms.