NOW HERE IS WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

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Recent developments in the radio broadcasting industry in Canada brought both good and bad news. The bad news was that several radio stations mostly owned by Rogers Sports and Media (RSM) were recently shut down as a result of falling advertisement revenues and declining audience numbers. The good news is that the African diaspora community represented by media arms such as Sauti za Africa and Msimulizi Community News in conjunction with the large diaspora community have now been presented with the unique opportunity to own and operate an Afrocentric radio station. Our audience numbers are very high and the thirst for opportunity is immense. The plan would be to get direct licensing from CRTC in Ottawa which should not be difficult. It truly is a gift from the heavens above.

 

The radio stations closed are listed below:

The six stations shuttered by Rogers include:

•          Vancouver: 1130 NewsRadio and Sportsnet 650

•          Calgary: 660 NewsRadio and Sportsnet 960

•          Halifax: NewsRadio 95.7

•          Kitchener: 570 NewsRadio

These closures directly impacted 80 employees at the stations, with an additional 150 corporate and support roles affected across sales, marketing, programming, and some TV position

 

This new pathway allows some form of leap-frogging into a much wider area of engagement both geographically and through an industry span in the media and entertainment industry. The  community is already setup with specialties in radio broadcasting, print media and online media as well as other communication channels. The community does not have to re-invent the wheel as a matter of speaking. A committee that can easily be setup can oversee such an acquisition by crossing all required regulatory and industry hurdles while collaborating with RSM to take over ownership of the broadcasting assets including towers and studio facilities.

 

UNESCO declared the language of Kiswahili as an important linguistic asset and as such the 7th day of July every year is declared as World Kiswahili Language Day starting from 2022. Against the background of this declaration and the large increase of Swahili speaking people world wide with some estimates indicating 300 million is clearly very indicative of its importance and prominence. Kiswahili is quicky becoming the language currency for the continent of Africa with its now renewed economic strength, large deposits of metals and minerals, very luscious blue economy assets and the powerhouse of modern infrastructure developments.

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But time is of the essence. Sauti za Africa had already broached the subject with some high-level delegates at the recent Toronto Kiswahili Festival (Kongamano) held July 11, 2026 at Pam O’Connell recreation complex where a very successful event was held. Please visit www.sautizaafrica.org for further details.

 

We hope the diaspora community can see the collective wisdom in this endeavor and shall support our movement forward to the desired objective.