The BBC World Service has announced a brand new daily news podcast for Africa, more episodes of “The Comb podcast“, and also kicked off a competition to discover new podcast talents in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Here’s what you should know about the new daily podcast for Africa
According to BBC, Africa Daily will be a deep dive into the news stories shaping Africa, one question at a time. Presented by Ugandan journalist Alan Kasujja, and released each weekday morning, Africa Daily will zoom in on one single story, providing context and depth to the issues shaping the continent. This is a podcast about Africa, for Africa and host Alan Kasujja will be in conversation with those at the heart of the story. Africa Daily is produced by the team behind Newsday – the BBC World Service’s flagship breakfast news radio show.
The new daily podcast follows the launch in 2020 of the weekly podcast for Africa, The Comb. It is back this month after a short break, with more episodes combing the continent for stories about the unseen forces that bind us together and tear us apart.
Alongside the two new podcasts, each weekday, Africa Today will continue to summarise all the top news stories from the BBC Africa radio programme, Focus on Africa.
The International Podcast Competition, the first of its kind by the BBC World Service kicked off on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, and will close on Friday, January 22. The winning entry from the competition will be turned into a new podcast, hopefully, to be launched later in 2021. Open to aspiring audio hosts and producers (in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa) who are not broadcast professionals and don’t already have a credit on a commercial podcast. We’re looking for a brilliant idea for a podcast, in English, which will appeal to listeners in Africa and throughout the world, and we’re especially interested in stories that will resonate with women.
Mary Hockaday, Controller, BBC World Service English said:
The podcast market is beginning to take off in Africa, and the BBC World Service is really keen to explore how podcasts can help us bring the BBC’s impartial journalism to new audiences in a style that’s more informal and conversational. Each day, Africa Daily will put a spotlight on a single news story that’s dominating headlines, and once a week, The Comb will continue to unearth fascinating stories from across the continent. And we’re thrilled to launch a podcast competition to discover new talent and unheard voices and offer the chance to have your idea turned into a chart-topping podcast. If you’re based in Nigeria, Kenya or South Africa and you’ve got a brilliant idea for a podcast we absolutely want to hear from you!
Got an idea for a podcast? Aspiring audio hosts and producers based in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are invited to submit their proposal for a podcast here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/send/u64076462
The competition opened on January 5, 2020, and the closing date for submissions is 13 GMT, January 22, 2021.
The competition will have a three-stage judging process. Judges will include:
Paula Rogo, Founder of Africa Podfest, Africa’s first podcast festival and Kali Media, an African women-focused podcast network (based in Kenya). Kim Chakanetsa, Host of The Comb, the BBC World Service weekly podcast for audiences in Africa. Odudu Efe (FayFay), Founder of the Naija Podcast Hub (based in Nigeria). Sharon Machira, BBC TV & Radio Presenter based in Nairobi, Kenya. Jedi Ramalapa, Editor-in-Chief, Sound Africa, in South Africa and Jon Manel, BBC World Service Podcast Commissioning Editor.
Full information on the application process, criteria, judging process and terms and conditions are available here: www.bbcworldservice.com/podcastcompetition
