Al Kags
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (October 2007) |
Al Kags is a prominent writer and poet in Kenya. having Founded the Al Kags Trust for Poetry, he is the creator and publisher of the Quarterly Colour Series of Poetry, which started September 2006 and is read by over 175,000 people around the world. Al Kags is also a leading entrepreneur in ICT and media circles.
Al Kags has been reputed to maintain a very low profile in Kenya and East Africa, adding, analysts say, to his mystic and popularity. His Official Website is [1]
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[edit] Personal History
Al Kags was born Alex Kagwe on August 13 1980. He grew up initially in Nairobi, where he lived with his grandmother, then a prominent businesswoman, Janet Kagwe, before joining his mother, Edith Kagwe and step father, Harald Freitag in Malindi, at the north coast of Kenya.
He changed his name to Al Kags as a protest to the negative ethnicity in Kenya and also as an acknowledgment of his personal brand. In 2000, Al Kags moved back to Nairobi, where he started his career as a marketer writer who evolved with time to one of the most popular writers and poets in East Africa.
[edit] Work
Al Kags initially worked at Bonafide Ltd, where he was the sales manager, selling custom made inventory software for the company. He stayed a very short time before he was poached by the International Education Services, a student counseling agency in Nairobi.
In 2001, he joined the master Editor and Writer, David Makali, who was the executive director of [The Media Institute]. He was given the responsibility of helping revive the Expression Today paper, which has become the definitive Media Magazine in Kenya, ET.
Throughout his career, Al Kags has been the idea generator and brains behind, successful magazines in Kenya such as Mambo (known in media circles as the masterpiece), Expression Today and ICTVILLAGE as well as the strategist behind the success of such magazines as Sokoni and many others.
As a features writer, Al Kags was among the first Kenyan writers to write on the situation in Darfur as well as Zimbabwe (a pet subject of his). He also wrote a memorable feature on the people trading in West and Northern Africa.
In 2004, Al Kags set up Multiple Choices, one of the first communication companies in Africa to venture into web 2.0 products and he led his team (including web developer guru, John Wesonga) to build Africa's first corporate blog, [Peupe].
Al Kags has been credited with building industries, with local magazine, Business in Africa describing him as "The Business master". he has been credited with revitalizing the [Marketing Society of Kenya], where he was a member of the council; Convenor of [ictvillage], the powerful ICT lobby and BusinessLoop, an exclusive CEOs forum. Most recently, Al Kags sponsored the technology Innovation, Design and everything initiative with his partner john Wesonga, in a bid to build a fraternity of entrepreneurs in Kenya.
[edit] References
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{{The Sunday Salon - [2]}}
