Afrinity Production draw attention to Muhamadou Mughtarr Bittaye commonly known as Bitz , a 24 year old professional Gambian photographer.

Being a photographer for one and a plus year, his passion for photography is to manifest the beauties he sees with his eyes through lenses. According to him, there is beauty all around us but we need modern tools to see them vividly.

Although his subject matter might have evolved, Bitz raw and compassionate approach to The Gambia, memory, and the inevitable passage of time has become an ever-present theme for his photography.

Bitz inspirational drive started in tendaba, it was a School trip , getting and hoping for the best week but unfortunately the network was bad at that time ,he couldn’t do much with his phone . So he started taking pictures and showing his friends, they loved it and that’s where his passion tends from.

He honed his craft, taking photos of his fellow students and friends in Tendaba. And this self-taught photographer has become recognized for his portraits and beautiful work of his images in the industry.

Bitz works to create new worlds with his photographs. He is also purely a self-taught photographer. His passion is story-telling and he lives a life embroiled in it with his self-portraits. He is a photographer who refused to settle for convention and pursued his passion and curiosity.

The Young Man is unique, he spent a great deal of time with the individuals in his photographs, and in addition to highlighting their personal histories, his dignified portraits have embrace alot of inspiration.

Bitz photographs told personal stories, but they also transcended barriers and changed hearts and minds throughout the nation. Though he wasn’t formally trained, he is making a permanent mark on the history of photography.

His goal is to be remembered as one of the greatest in African history of photography, he want his work to be remembered and seen by generations to come.

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production draw attention to Mariatou Sarr, a 24 year old entrepreneur, beauty queen and a Journalist. She have been contesting in beauty pageants since 2013 and have won many crowns and awards both in national and international pageants.

She made us proud in the global forefront and why not? She is one of the well known queens around with charming personalities. But what really leaves us enamoured by Mariatou is that she stopped at nothing to prove her worth. She is highly respected now not only for her beauty but for her keen sense on how to survive in the pageant world. She just refuses age, or grows stronger with age.

The Young Gambian beauty went to Armitage where she was crown Miss Armitage twice in a row. She won the Miss Armitage and Miss CRR which paved a way for her contesting in the Miss 22nd July Scholarship Pageant Organized by the former president. She is also placed top 10 out of 48 countries at the Miss Heritage global beauty pageant 2019.

Truly a beauty queen both inside and out, Mariatou has been active in social and civic works especially for promoting peace and livelihood as part of way of giving back to her community. She also promotes arts and culture with her tailoring shop “Yatou’s Dream Cut”.

Being a beauty queen in the Gambia to Mariatou is very Challenging due to the misconception surrounding it. She said beauty pageant is not just modelling, is about being an ambassador and pushing courses for change.

Mariatou want the world to know that she is a woman, whose gender doesn’t define who she is. Regardless of the misogynistic society she come from, where women are suppressed or box to be who the society wants them to be.
She grab every opportunity that comes her way regardless of the challenges life throws at her. The Young queen is perseverance, resilient and will want to serve as an inspiration to as many lives as she can with her story.

She is a firm believer of Expressing herself through what she wear. What a person wears speaks volumes about them and their personality to Matiatou, being a beauty Queen has ignited her love for fashion and the art of cloth making . Their is nothing more beautiful to her than wearing a right outfit for the right occasion and being comfortable in what you wear.

The birth of her fashion and design business was as a result of a pageant that she won, the pageant money prompted her to take a leap of faith and start a business with the help of family. Though she is not currently an active title holder of a pageant so there is nothing to balance at the moment it’s fully business for her.

Mariatou believe The Gambia can make a name in the international market if people start to set standards for the Gambian business and make sure we embrace our locally made fabrics. These things for Mariatou will make Gambian outfits stand out, if we embrace what makes us unique then we can have a space in the international market as Africans.

She makes public appearances in her own taloired gorgeous outfits and that signature style of hers takes away our heart. Whatever Mariatou does, is always off the beaten track and wins accolades. She chose the path her heart has led her to and results are before us!

By Amie T. Camara

Music, in all its most diverse styles and modes of enjoyment, is pervasive in the youth’s life, following them in different daily situations, each one with its own sound track. Music not only dominates the youth’s daily life, but also their social relations: the musical consumption among the youth is, in fact, a major marker of communities’ taste and DJ’s works hard to bring that taste to reality.

Afrinity Production draw attention to Lamin Camara, commonly know as DJ Kanu, a Gambian DJ and entertainer. The 2016 pretigious Radio Presenter winner of the year and also nominated for the 2017 radio personality of the year, now he is UK based and ready to Continue what he love doing, DJ’ing.

As DJ’s main responsibility is for the selection, mixing, sequence and, in some cases, production of music that make the bodies to move in the dance floor, DJ Kanu has a unique protagonism in the electronic music culture. Presently, his protagonism exceeds the more underground youth scenes, ascending to the limelight in the Gambia and outside: in fact, he acquire the social statute of a celebrity, of a super star.

His DJ career started as a hobby and later as a full time DJ and he have been doing it for over a decade now. It all started in 2004, where he use to be playing in ceremonies, birthdays and anniversaries, it was until 2012 when he started playing on Radio stations.

Fast-forward a few years and many many experiences in between, he became known in different communities around the Gambia both locally and internationally for his amazing choice of mixing songs.

For Kanu, being a DJ in the Gambia is easy and the same time difficult, the easy part for him is everyone can be a DJ as long as you know how to play music and can also do the transition. As per the difficult part of it, is on how you going to bring yourself in the limelight and be known for your work.

He added that, getting yourself a sound system is also an important part of a DJ’S life. Due to the lack of structural institution in the Gambia, DJ’S have to work hard to make this things available at all time.

Kanu is not just a DJ, he is a well known Entertainer and a promoter, he is known by almost all the recording artist in The Gambia for his availability and the playing of Gambian songs for the past years of him being in the entertainment industry.

When ask why he focus more on Gambian songs, he said “am a proud Gambian and I realize that I have a role to play and contribute my quoter to the industry”.

Lamin works with Black lynx (the organizers) for 6 years, Paradise FM and later to Afri Radio until he later get his recognition from Gambian artist and started working with few artists and got booked for their shows an launchings.

The well known Gambian DJ have worked with many popular artists that have been known to be the focal point of the Gambia music scene. Such as, Gee Bu Balla Gaye, Silky Christ and Team Kunda.

Kanu open to us about his dislike of being a DJ in the Gambia, he based on the lack of respect from the people, he feels like they don’t celebrate the way they should do. “Especially when working with some institutions, they don’t seem to give you that value and respect you deserve and that can affect even your payment”, he lamented.

Kanu’s professional goal is to be an international DJ, where he will be producing, “being a DJ is not enough, you have to be a producer as well. And by producing your music that’s going to put you out there and build you more”, Said Kanu.

He also want to own an institution where all DJ’S can benefit from it and get good payment for their work.

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production draw attention to November 11th coup as today marked 24 years since close to two dozens of Gambian soldiers were killed.

It was July 1994, when Yahya Jammeh (red beret), Edward Singhateh and Sana Sabally celebrated their military coup. Following the coup, its leaders banned all opposition parties and the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) was established as the ruling government of the Gambia, and the 1970 constitution was suspended. The leader Yahya Jammeh and other coup organizers step in further to gain public and political support while holding back all opposing parties on their intervention.

The coup frontiers also took in control the national radio stations and put forward harsh restrictions on the press to prevent the broadcasting of opposition’s point of view. These harsh restrictions led to the imprisonment and exile of several Gambian journalists who expressed anti-coup sentiments. It also affects some West African Journalism and led to their deportation some of which are on charges dating to colonial rule and with politically charged biases.

The violations of human rights were not only on the journalists and vocal protesters of the coup: Yahya Jammeh’s most controversial policies combined the re-establishment of the death penalty, which was mostly given for political opponents and attempted coup leaders. With these acts, Jammeh and his allies were able to legitimize the coup, the new ruling government and the PPP, both internally and internationally. Leading up to the September 1996 election, Jammeh transformed the AFPRC from a ruling military body into the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), and stand as the nominee for the new party. He won this election, partially due to the lack of major opposition parties, thus legitimizing his government and fully stand as the President of The Gambia.

Today, The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission continued to hear from high-profile statement and information from members of Yahya Jammeh’s former military junta. The entire details on the executions that took place on 11 November 1994 were explained by protected witnesses and some alleged that the current national security presidential adviser was there when close to two dozen soldiers were executed.

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production draw cognizance to Hussein Gaye, a Fashion-Creative and a first generation college graduating in Economics and finance at the University of The Gambia. A Former Runway Model and a commercial , Worked as a brand Ambassador for companies and use education as a great tool for advocacy.

Coming from a family of 6, predominantly women and being raised in a typical wollof family, has thought him to care for others. He did a lot of soul-searching to understand who he is and what he can contribute to a rapidly growing economy. With high levels of unemployment, pollution due to the burning of discarded clothes and with it’s increasing daily occurrence

The Young self made Hussein is the founder of HUSSEIN’s CLOSET, a clothing brand based in the Gambia, geared towards addressing climate crisis and unemployment gap. A student leader who initiated a successful Nationwide Campaign that focused on encouraging young people to venture into their passions.

Hussein’s Closet is a brand he started while studying at the University of the Gambia. This idea was acknowledged and even after his completion at the university, he is still supplying and designing hoodies for students, faculty staff, and professors thus, contributing to building his brand professionally. The brand is basically focused on men’s wear ranging from all types of clothing to all categories of men.

Hussein’s interest is to address the major challenges facing the world such as climate change, species extinction, pollution, poverty, and inequality. This realization provides him with a unique and exciting opportunity to rethink, redesign, and rebuild a positive future for business practices.

As a career path, he chose modeling in 2015 at high school after been awarded “Nusrat Most Handsome” which is frowned upon in a very conservative and religious society like The Gambia. However, he persevered on his choice not only for personal reasons but to also serve as a role model in the industry for young models especially men. His first agency was Linguerr and Damel Modeling agancy – later , he decided to work on his own as a freelancer.

Due to the fragmented nature of the industry and the discrimination it attracts, he co-founded the Gambia Models’ Union to serve as a platform and voice for positive change. He also revitalized the Union and designed fundraising strategies including monetization through the selling of branded t-shirts and caps which generated income for the organization. In 2018, under his leadership, the team hosted their first live television runway and exhibition on QTV. The event attracted 25 fashion designers and reached a live and virtual audience. This resulted in an increased income and wages for models which had a great impact on all of them and left them with gratitude, alongside campaigning on the hashtags #RecogniseGambianModels.

Hussein worked with several designers, fashion shows both within and outside The Gambia! He was the model to be featured at the first ever insight University of The Gambia Magazine! Through modeling and mingling with designers and fashion minded people , he was inspired to Launch his own brand H-Closet in 2019. In 2017, he was selected to be the representative for Mister Africa in Nigeria and mister model international in the USA.

Currently, he is the communication and information officer at catch them young-Gambia. A fashion entrepreneur and an influencer. Also as the assistant manager for Miss Smiling Coast and national director for 2 major international pageants! He wish to persue his studies in either Economics, Finance, Business , entrepreneurship or design. “This is what I do and aiming to achieve as my journey continues , as I’ve not even gone quater way”, he make known.

He is Passionate about youth-empowerment, global leadership and innovation, through Arts and Entrepreneurships.

What is Hussein’s Professional goal?

“The next big challenge for society is to transform our economy and to incorporate the principles of sustainable entrepreneurship and design in our higher institutions and the tourism sector. The fact that none of our higher learning institutions offer courses in sustainable fashion and innovation is a great concern. Thus, I would be able to execute the knowledge and skills acquired from my studies to achieve two major objectives; i.e. to bridge the unemployment gap and mitigate the environmental and climate crisis ( through recycling ) ” he said.

Hussein cannot do without prayers , food, and the great people around him.

By Amie T. Camara

By Amie T. Camara

Professor Mahmood Yakubu has handed over his duties as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria.

He passed on the leadership mantle to an INEC National Commissioner, Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Muazu (rtd), on Monday at an event held at the headquarters of the electoral umpire in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Ahmed will act in that capacity pending when the Senate confirms the reappointment of Professor Yakubu as INEC chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Source___Channels TV

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production draw attention to the Tropical Storm Eta that has hit Florida, flooding roads and knocking out power in some areas with heavy rain and strong winds.

Eta made landfall late on Sunday in the Florida Keys and forecasters fear it could still cause flash-flooding in the southern US state.

About 200 people are dead or missing after Eta hit Central America.

The storm is now moving south-west and is expected to slow and strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico.

Earlier classified as a hurricane before losing strength, Eta wreaked devastation in Panama, Honduras and Guatemala. It also passed through Cuba before making landfall in Florida.

Pictures posted on social media from the region showed houses with water up to their roofs and flooded fields. In Florida residents posted video of howling wind and driving rain.

Source___BBC

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production unveil the trial of three men in Spain over two deadly jihadist attacks that killed 16 people and injured 140 in and around Barcelona in 2017.

The trio are accused of helping the perpetrators, who were all shot dead by police, carry out the attacks.

One of the perpetrators rammed a van into pedestrians in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas tourist area, before a twin attack was launched in a nearby town.

The Islamic State group (IS) said it was responsible for the attacks.

The men will appear in Spain’s top court in Madrid Today.

Source____BBC

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity reliably make known to you that, this new order is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Embassy of China and Consulate in Nigeria announced this in a public notice on Thursday, adding that it will no longer issue a certified health declaration form for non-Chinese nationals in the country.

According to the communique, entry by holders of diplomatic, service, courtesy or C visas will not be affected.

Foreign nationals visiting China for emergency needs may apply for visas at the Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Also, entry by non-Chinese nationals in Nigeria with visas issued after 3 November 2020 will not be affected.

Source___Channels TV

What you realize as you read the story of Malick’s success, and the inevitable failures along the way, is that he share some fundamental qualities; a passion to succeed, an ability to forge ahead despite overwhelming odds, the charisma to attract the best teams and to challenge them, and an uncanny instinct to redirect the trajectory and jump on opportunity when they most need to.

Afrinity Production draw attention to incredible Malick M Jarju also known as Dabakh Malick, a native of Batang Killing, Nuimi. He worked
with reputable institutions, including Deloitte, PHB bank, Reliance Financial Services, Matforce,and Unique Solutions Ltd.

I will say am kind of a bit of junky when it comes to listening to others describe their entrepreneurial journey to where they are, but I’m not a fan of well edited interviews to be precise. I like seeing the real person behind the myth; that imperfect human being who somehow navigated through their insecurities and challenges and isn’t afraid to talk about them. And that’s Malick for you!

For the past six years, he has been at the forefront of the fastest developing entrepreneurship company, shaping and moving the use of green energy as a solution
to the current energy issues in five countries namely Gambia, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, and Niger at Africa Energy Solutions. As a calculated risk-taker, with a BA degree in Financial Administration, a deep financial
knowledge, and management experience garnered over twenty years, he decided to dive into entrepreneurship and start a company built on a foundation of his core values of integrity, innovation, growth, and more importantly patriotism.

He believe interweaving these values into his daily decision-making has proven fruitful as Africa Energy Solutions has not only helped him play his part in youth employment, and positive climate change but has also help him winning several national and international awards as it continues to grow within the sub-region.

His Awards includes:

GCCI 2016 Award Finalist for ‘Emerging Business of The Year Award, Cummins 2017 Top Progressing Power Generation Channel Partner Of The Year, Top 10 Finalist of the Harvard Business School–Africa Business Club 20th Business Conference held at Harvard Campus in Boston, Massachusetts,
Airwell 2019 Best Performance Partner and People’s Choice Social Media Personality Award .

Young Mr. Malick is still striving for the best and believing that “hard work pays” always.

By Amie T. Camara