Radio Africa wins WAN-IFRA’s WIN Revenue Incubator competition

Radio Africa Group trounced several local and international media houses to emerge victorious in the World Association of News Publishers’ (WAN-IFR) WIN Revenue Incubator competition.

WAN-IFRA is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organizations, and many individual newspaper executives from 100 countries.

In the competition, Radio Africa's strategic project proposal emerged as the overall winner with Huguka (Rwanda) and AB Communications (Zimbabwe) coming in second and third respectively.

“We are delighted to announce the winners of the Advanced Module B: Revenue Incubator Course. After a rigorous evaluation process conducted by our panel of three judges, we are proud to recognise the following organisations for their exceptional work Radio Africa Group - Kenya (1st place), Radio Huguka - Rwanda (2nd place) and AB Communications, Zimbabwe (3rd place),” Digital ABC Programme Lead Khin Thandar said while announcing the results.

Radio Africa Group was represented by Bosco Ondieki (Digital), Florence Wasike (Circulation), Brian Oruta (Digital) and Valentine Ludiema (Radio).

The Group’s Editorial Director Paul Ilado lauded the team for emerging victorious saying the achievement demonstrates the company’s commitment to excellence and innovative strategies that have the potential to shape the future of the challenging media ecosystem.

“I am thrilled to extend my heartfelt congratulations on winning 1st Place in the Advanced Module B: Revenue Incubator Course! Your achievement is a testament to your exceptional innovation, strategic planning, and unwavering commitment to sustainable revenue growth,” Ilado said.

“This victory not only highlights your remarkable abilities but also demonstrates your capacity to compete and excel in a challenging environment. I am incredibly proud of each one of you and cannot wait to see how you continue to build on this success.”

Radio Africa Group Digital Editor Francis Mureithi on his part welcomed the achievement saying the victory is a testament to the company’s commitment to empowering its staff in line with emerging technological innovations.

"This victory is a clear demonstration that we are ahead when it comes to digital innovation and how media can take advantage of the emerging technologies,” he said.

"It opens a window for more learning and experimentations as we strive to reach wider audiences with more credible, factual and interactive content."

The competition was a product of six months of rigorous training pitting representatives from nine media houses from five African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe

Participants were trained on a Revenue Incubator course that equipped them with skills on how to accelerate media revenue through strategies and techniques.

Participants were also provided with tools to start, manage, and assess business incubators.

After the training, participants were required to present a strategic project proposal that could help their respective media houses and media professionals maximize their revenue streams.

The winning group explored the various ways Radio Africa Group can use technology including Artificial Intelligence to produce digital products that can generate more revenue.

Radio Africa Group boasts six radio stations, The Star Newspaper and several digital products such as the Star Kenya and Mpasho.co.ke among others.

The win comes barely seven months after Radio Africa beat its peers in other countries to win the Artificial Intelligence Project Proposal Competition.

The project dubbed ‘The WAN-IFRA Women in News Digital ABCs capacity building programme ‘Age of AI in the Newsroom" ran from May to June 2024.