Tanzania: Private Firms Support Vital in Sports, See How Sbl Does It

 

By Dailynews Reporter

'DIAMONDS are forever', so goes the saying. Diamonds are treasured gems due to their value and attractiveness. However, they are rare until they are discovered, mined and exposed to the market; that is when they reveal their true value and importance.

So too are talents, strengths, brilliance and power; they are everywhere but until they are unleashed through exposure in a given platform, they will always remain untapped.

Do you want to see how private firms like Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL) help to skyrocket the development of sports. The Women Premier League whose champions are Simba Queens has become among the best in Africa. The league grew drastically after getting the lucrative sponsorship from SBL and now it draws professional players from neighbouring countries. Tanzania was among the earliest African countries to have a Women League at the Premier League level.

Not only that SBL also backs the senior football team, Taifa Stars and the firm has been backing the team for almost a decade now.

Now it is a talent searching and developing, SBL has once again honoured the Tanzanian youth who are ubiquitous but it is sad that due to various reasons, rarely are they brought to light and so most of them go undiscovered to the disadvantage of those who harbor them. Significantly, the lack of the requisite platforms to showcase their talents is the major reason that most youths see their aptitudes go up in smoke.

However, there are organizations and companies such as SBL, which, having seen the plight of talented youth, have come up with innovative methods to give the youngsters a second chance to display their abilities.

Recently, SBL, through Serengeti Lite banner, has launched a new campaign dubbed, 'Take a Bite Out of Life', a campaign that, among other things, targets to provide its youthful Tanzanians with an opportunity to showcase their talents, preparing them to achieve whatever their aspirations may be in life.

The campaign targets those who do not want to settle for the ordinary and are keen on looking for experiences that offer more than a product in a brand that captures the spirit of youthfulness which entails, among other, attributes, freedom and self-expression.

Apart from providing them with an opportunity to show-case their talents, the campaign enables its consumers to enjoy every moment to the fullest while at the same time savoring the alluring fuller taste of Serengeti Lite beer, the only Truly Tanzanian Lite beer, made in Tanzania by Tanzanians for Tanzanians.

The three-month campaign will provide a platform to 5,200 contestants who are above 18 years old from across the country who will participate in a DJ competition whereby three lucky winners will walk away with DJ kits of up to 7m/- and will also be adopted as official DJs where they will be involved in future brand promotions and activation activities.

Just like diamonds are valuable, so is talent. Locally and even across the globe, scores of talented men and women have managed to make it in life through making good of their talents. That is why, SBL, through the 'Take a Bite of Life' campaign, seeks to give talented youths a chance to hone their skills and hence prepare them for a brighter future.

The participants, who will not have made it to the finals will also enjoy various prizes which include branded merchandise and most importantly, they will have the privilege of having a platform to show-case their talents under the umbrella of the popular Serengeti Lite beer brand.

Speaking during the launch of the campaign in Dar es Salaam, the acting Executive Secretary for National Arts Council of Tanzania (BASATA) Matiko Mniko said the campaign will enable youths with hidden talents to get a platform to demonstrate their talents and reap big out of it.

"What Serengeti Lite has done is quite big. We have scores of youth with amazing talents but they fail to get the right platform to demonstrate their capabilities. On behalf of the government, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to SBL for coming up with this campaign that will give every interested youth an opportunity to amplify his or her talent," Mniko said

Adding: "As a government, we recognize arts as essential to the economic wellbeing of an individual and as also a contributor to the overall economic development of our country. Through this nationwide campaign, SBL is going to contribute to the creation of new employment opportunities and also expose talents of thousands of youths who will take part in the DJ search competition".

Matiko urged talented youth to come forward and seize the opportunity, saying that the government considers it a beneficial initiative and further urged other stakeholders to come up with similar ideas that will help to expose talents in other fields.

SBL Senior Brand Manager, Wankyo Marando said anyone who is above 18 can participate in the competition from wherever he/she is, since the competition covers the whole country.

"Announcements on the venues of the competition will be made in every region and district and will be done through road shows, radio and Serengeti Lite Social media pages," Marando said.

To participate in the competition, interested participants are requested to register in one of the outlets dedicated for the competition within their local areas and are required to have their own play lists. There will be auditions every week.

Winners will be obtained through a voting process where judges will have 60 per cent of the votes while remaining 40 per cent per cent of the votes will come from the consumers.

Marando urged consumers to participate in the promotion by voting physically or through SBL's social media pages.