International Speaker Series Presents James Makawa April 16
Published: April 16, 2009
The Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana at the University of Evansville is proud to welcome James Makawa, co-founder of The Africa Channel, home to the UE campus Thursday, April 16, as part of its 2009 International Speaker Series.
Makawa, a native of Zimbabwe and former member of the UE Soccer Team and the Class of 1982, will speak at 7:00 p.m. in UE’s Eykamp Hall, located on the second floor of the new Ridgway University Center. His lecture, entitled Africa to Evansville to Africa and Back- The Journey of an African Media Entrepreneur, will be the second event in the 2009 International Speaker Series, after the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour’s visit to UE on March 30.
Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, will round out the series with a two-city event in Indianapolis and Evansville on November 6.
The series is made possible by a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., and is sponsored by Old National Bank.
"The Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana is excited to welcome Mr. Makawa back to campus to speak on April 16," said Robert Clark, dean of UE’s Schroeder Family School of Business Administration and director of the Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana. "From his first days in broadcast at WUEV here on the UE campus, Mr. Makawa has illustrated a tremendous drive to be at the top of the broadcast field.
"In co-founding The Africa Channel, he has done exactly that, while paying tribute to and creating tremendous awareness for his homeland."
Originally from Zimbabwe, Makawa is one of the few executives from Sub-Saharan Africa to have enjoyed a successful career in both local and network television in the United States. For more than a decade, he worked as a local news reporter and anchor with leading local stations before joining NBC News as a correspondent in New York and Chicago. Eventually, Makawa returned to South Africa and co-founded the African Barter Company (ABC), in partnership with Grey Advertising Worldwide. In 2000, after clearing hundreds of hours on TV stations across the continent reaching an audience topping 150 million, Makawa co-founded the African Broadcast Network, a pan African network of television stations with affiliates in 18 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Finally, Makawa returned to the United States to found The Africa Channel - a showcase for the African continent's most outstanding English language television series, specials, documentaries feature films, music, event specials, biographies, soap operas, current business analysis, cultural and historical programs. His goal was toe create a station for shows that reflect the people of Africa, their incredible stories, their daily lives, their music and art, their successes, celebrations and challenges.
For more information on Makawa’s visit to UE, members of the public should contact the Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana at (812) 488-2455, or globalindiana@evansville.edu.
