19 July, 2011

ALICIA KEYS TO OPEN HER HEART TO AFRICAN YOUTH IN FINAL EPISODE OF “MTV BASE MEETS…WITH MTN”


Lagos, Nigeria 15 July 2011: Award-winning musician, writer, producer, humanitarian, and activist Alicia Keys is to be interviewed by African youth in the final episode of MTV Base Meets…with MTN, the upcoming TV series that empowers African youth by bringing them face to face with the political, business and cultural elite.  
Keys, who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and won 14 Grammy Awards since her breakthrough 2001 album debut Songs in A Minor, will meet with a panel of youth from all over the African continent in an intimate Q&A session that will see her reveal her thoughts on music, as well as important issues such as HIV and AIDS, poverty, and more.  
Beyond music, Keys is also a tireless AIDS activist and philanthropist. In 2003, Alicia Keys co-founded Keep A Child Alive (KCA), a people’s movement that provides life-saving AIDS treatment, orphan care, nutrition and surrounding support to children and families affected by AIDS in Africa and India. Since its inception, KCA has served 250,000 people affected by AIDS and continues to provide much needed relief and treatment.
Alicia Keys was selected to appear in MTV Base Meets…with MTN after African youth voted for the influencers, game-changers and opinion formers that they would most like to meet.

MTV Base Meets Alicia Keys with MTN will premiere across Africa on MTV Base (DSTV channel 322) on 5 September 2011 and on terrestrial channels STV (Nigeria), Muvi TV (Zambia), Clouds TV (Tanzania), WBS (Uganda), Canal 2 (Cameroon), TV3 (Ghana) and NTV (Kenya).  

To win a chance of an all-expense paid trip to the USA to meet Alicia Keys and participate in the recording of the last episode of MTV Base Meets…with MTN, go to www.mtvmeets.com (competition extended from 17 to 25 July 2011).

Commented Alicia Keys, “I am honored to be a part of this important series and to connect with young Africans to hear what’s on their minds, and discuss the issues that are close to my heart.”

MTV base Meets…with MTN is an initiative created by MTV Networks Africa and MTN to provide young Africans with a unique opportunity to share their candid insights about business and entrepreneurship with business leaders and political icons and to hear their views on some of the key issues facing African youth today.  

Influencers who have already gone under the scrutiny of the MTV Base Meets…with MTN cameras so far including Nigerian entertainment mogul, Ben Murray-Bruce, philanthropist and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, African Heads of State President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia) and President Paul Kagame (Rwanda), and Julius Malema (President, African National Congress Youth League).

Youth panelists who have participated in the taping of the TV series so far include: 27-year old bank worker Princess Cooper (Liberia) who interviewed President Sirleaf-Johnson; professional comedian Daniel Friedman (South Africa); 17-year old high school student Fred Saydee (Ghana) and journalism student Babajibe Oni-olusola (Nigeria).

For more information on MTV Base Meets…with MTN, go to www.mtvmeets.com or http://mtvmeets.mobi or follow the campaign on Twitter at #MTVMeets@MTVbaseAfrica.
-ENDS-
ABOUT MTV NETWORKS AFRICA
MTV Networks Africa is a multiplatform entertainment network responsible for the African business operations of MTV Networks International’s Emerging Markets division, one of the fastest growing regions in the company’s portfolio of multi-platform businesses. The Emerging Markets Group manages 32 television channels, 30 websites, one video portal and four mobile TV channels encompassing the MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, VIVA and Comedy Central and COLORS brands in Central & Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East and India. Additionally, the Emerging Markets portfolio includes MTVNHD, MTV Networks International’s first international high definition channel dedicated to music and kids which is operated by the Emerging Markets Group of behalf of MTV Networks International.  MTV Networks International is a unit of Viacom Inc (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B). 


ABOUT MTN GROUP
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 April 2011, MTN recorded 150 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. Visit us at www.mtn.com and www.mtnfootball.com

ABOUT KEEP A CHILD ALIVE
Keep a Child Alive provides first class AIDS care, support, nutrition and love to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. There are currently 15 million AIDS orphans in Africa alone and 30 million people have died from HIV/AIDS worldwide. Anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment has transformed the lives of people with AIDS in the West, returning them to health from illness. However, millions of people with AIDS have no access to these lifesaving drugs. KCA funds more than just the pills necessary to fight HIV/AIDS by providing the necessary nutrition, shelter and support to ensure the treatment is taken properly and is effective. KCA currently provides funding to 11 clinical and orphan care sites in 5 countries: Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and India; with previous projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Zimbabwe and South Africa that have been successfully scaled to new levels of service and self-sustainability within their communities.

Keep a Child Alive is committed to engaging the global public in the fight against AIDS and is proud to be a pioneer in fundraising. KCA was the first charity to ask the public to donate directly to purchase AIDS treatment and the first to make a documentary, "Alicia in Africa" available for free download. Keep a Child Alive also pioneered text messaging as a means to donate using our innovative Text ALIVE campaign to inspire whole new audiences to support our work. Keep a Child Alive's latest campaign, BUY LIFE, uses the smart-phone applications to scan bar-code technology to donate directly to KCA. KCA is the first to use this bar-code technology for philanthropic purposes.

For more information on Keep a Child Alive, please log on to www.keepachildalive.org/uk or www.buylife.org.

Contacts:
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