THE CATALYST IS THE FIRST PRODUCT OFF NEW PAN-AFRICAN MEDIA COMPANY, OF IMPORTANCE IS LIFE FOUNDED BY MUTHONI MAINGI
Passionate about the power of the mobile phone and the Internet to change people’s lives meaningfully, Muthoni Maingi has founded a Pan-African media company, Of Importance is Life.
The first product produced by the company is The Catalyst, a Pan-African comedy web talk show hosted by Muthoni Maingi. The Catalyst launched at an event held today (25th September 2020) at Metta, Nairobi. Each season of the show will have 12 episodes, interview exclusives, and deep cuts on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, newsletter and a podcast. The series is created by Muthoni Maingi and written by Muthoni Maingi, Justine Wanda, Sheila Omondi and Ciku Waithaka.
Stretching across themes in politics, culture and entertainment, The Catalyst is space to connect, create stories for ourselves and by ourselves. This is a space where we get to know each other without having to explain ourselves. Space where you get a weekly round up of hard-hitting, no-holds barred commentary on Africa and the African diaspora. It is the show you want on your calendar twice a month.
As countries continue to go in and out of lockdown, there’s a voracious appetite for good content. We’re depending more heavily on screens to inform and entertain us. In this environment, content is coming into its own, with media brands demonstrating a clearer understanding of how a well thought out content strategy can pay off for their brands.
Follow News By The Catalyst:
Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Facebook |Twitter
News by The Catalyst’s Podcast is Available on: Apple Podcast, Soundcloud, Anchor, Spotify, RadioPublics, Soundcloud and PocketCast
Of Importance is Life is a direct translation of the Kenyan phrase, “Cha mhimu ni uhai.” Because for the Pan-African spirit to remain alive, what is important is that we are alive, we are here and talented. Muthoni Maingi founder of Of Importance is Life says, “The definition of “African” for us, is people of African descent, both on and off the continent,” adding, “The mobile phone and internet has not only served as a site of trade, commerce, learning for Africans on the continent and the diaspora but more importantly, it has connected us all across continents. We have been able to connect the dots on our oppression but even more importantly, connect to grow ourselves, grow each other and create moments of joy and magic.”
The Catalyst is driven by a style of reaching the modern, African woman in a hurry. Breaking down the most important news analysis that you need to know to start your day. It’s a product that integrates events in culture, politics, tech, and focuses on being an important part of African women’s daily update calendars. Politics, business, culture, science and technology are in constant collision, creating new conflicts, new industries, new opportunities and new challenges in Africa. This is why The Catalyst is built around a simple proposition —to deliver the clearest, smartest, most efficient and trustworthy experience for audiences and advertisers alike.
ABOUT MUTHONI MAINGI
Muthoni Maingi is an award-winning Global Digital Strategist and currently the Head of Digital Campaigns at Oxfam International. At Oxfam she leads global work, serving 90 countries in the confederation on digital strategy to influence and leverage the power of people to end poverty. She looks at ways to grow the brand to become a leading digital influencing organization. Using mobile, web and social media to drive, support and connect the actions, donations and offline participation of millions of people. She and her team stay up at night thinking of initiatives that use the power of digital to connect people and amplify voices to influence decision-makers and eradicate poverty.
In her past life, she was the Digital Manager overseeing Enterprise and Consumer Business Unit at Safaricom (one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most valuable brands and Kenya’s number one social media brand during her tenure). In this role in addition to managing all digital marketing campaigns, she was part of the core team that launched two new brands -Little Ride (a cab-hailing service) and BLAZE (a youth telecommunications network). BLAZE was recognized as a digital excellence, case study on Think with Google and won the Relationship Brand category at the African Excellence Awards.
Muthoni also led Airtel Kenya’s digital team, during a period in which Airtel Kenya established itself as not only the number one Kenyan brand on social media; but was also the only African brand profiled on Socialbakers for outstanding digital customer care and mastering social devotion.
A firm and passionate believer in the power of the internet and the mobile phone to transform lives, provide true points of meaning and change; she has worked on several projects to spearhead this in Kenya. Including being a Founding Director of the civil society group Bloggers Association of Kenya and acting on an advisory basis for the conceptualization of the Kenyan Social Media Awards.