Focus on Africa at 60 - Match the voice
- Published
Match the Focus voice
Focus on Africa radio is 60 years old! To celebrate this momentous birthday, we're taking you behind the scenes so you can find out a little bit more about some of the voices who bring you the stories.
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Bilkisu Labaran is the News Editor for Focus on Africa. A Nigerian, she presented and reported for Focus for many years. "Interviewing the then president of Ghana in 2010, Professor John Atta Mills, I was under strict instructions from his press team not to bring up the sensitive issue of his health. So I didn't. Instead, I asked why he, as a known sportsman with such prowess, no longer played any sport? He was very gracious but the response from his press team made headlines."
Catherine Fellows has been a producer at BBC Africa for many years, specialising in documentaries and arts programmes. She's now the editor of the music programme "This Is Africa", presented by DJ Edu.
Bola Mosuro joined the Focus family in 1992 and is now one of the main Focus presenters. "If I could do one interview again it would be with Fela Kuti. He toured the UK in the 90s and finally agreed to talk after a concert in Birmingham. UK. I was in awe. He'd been smoking, as usual, so was in another realm, but the young feminist in me that night tried tackling language he used. Suffice to say we didn't get far. If I could turn back time, I'd relish the time to hear about so much more, like "Shuffering & Shmiling"."
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Audrey Brown is a South African, left-handed lover of life. She's been presenting Focus since 2005 and The Conversation on the BBC World Service. "I did an interview with a woman from Uganda who campaigned for the rights of unmarried women and women with no children. A very scantily prepared brief led to me thinking she was a sort of matchmaker and writing a billboard line that read: and we meet a woman who organises hookups for single women. I was corrected, very politely, live on air."
Nour Abida is a broadcast journalist, who produces the Focus radio programme and its "AfricaToday" podcast.
Kim Chakanetsa is a Zimbabwean journalist, with the Focus team since 2013. Kim currently presents Focus's new podcast "The Comb".
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Veronique Edwards is a no-nonsense, veteran producer known for her intimate, funny interviews and a contact book full of the private numbers of African leaders old and new. She loves cooking, entertaining, gardening and African fashion.
Nishat Ladha is Ugandan and presents the sport of Focus, after presenting Sportsworld on the BBC World Service for many years.As a sports fan, she loves hearing about the journey that African sports stars take to reach the top. One of her favourite interviews is a recent one, with Cameroon's double Olympic triple-jump champion, Francoise Mbango. "As a mum, it was fascinating to hear how she retained her crown at Beijing 2008 straight after having a baby. Incredible!"
Hewete Haileselassie joined the Focus on Africa team in 2008 as a freelance producer. She currently works on the planning desk.
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Stanley Kwenda is a Zimbabwean journalist. He produces Focus and recently covered the English Premier League for BBC Africa.
Paul Bakibinga's voice as a presenter of Focus has been known to audiences across Africa since 2004. He's also responsible for editing the output of the programme several times a week. "One of my most memorable interviews was with a young woman called Kechi Okwuchi, one of only two passengers, who survived a plane crash in Nigeria in 2005. She had severe burns and was given limited chances of surviving, but survive she did – and went on to be a singer and motivational speaker. What an inspiration."
Victor Sylver started reporting from Sierra Leone in 1991. He had to flee his country in 1997 and now produces Focus.
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David Amanor has been presenting Focus on and off since 2012. He also presents The Fifth Floor on the BBC World Service. "I think my best interviews are always with ordinary people eg. Malawi elections in 2019 with a girl footballer who calls herself ‘Wayne Looney'; the market women in the Ivorian elections of 2015; aboard a matatu in Kenya in 2014, and one of my all time favourites was during the 2008 Cup of Nations in Ghana when I talked to people at Takoradi railway level crossing."
Chris Bickerton was known as the voice of Africa because he presented Focus on Africa for 30 years, beginning in 1970. He was much loved by the Focus audience - even to this day. Sadly he passed away in 2002
Pearse Lynch joined Focus on Africa two years ago. He's the current editor of Focus, The Comb and Africa Today podcasts.
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Alice Muthengi is a Kenyan journalist and has been producer with the BBC Africa service for many years, as a reporter, documentary maker as well as a producer.
Esau Williams is a broadcast journalist with BBC Africa and also presents Focus on Africa. He enjoys chess and classical music.
Hassan Arouni has presented Focus on Africa since the 1990s. "I did an interview last year with the Nigerian singer D'Banj. At the end we both burst out in spontaneous singing. I think it best expresses my warm interview style that gets right into the heart of the interviewee."
Credits: Producer - Penny Dale, Development - Purity Birir, Design - Millie Wachira, Production Co-Ordinator - Muthoni Muchiri
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- Published15 August 2020
