 French-speaking embassies met at the Alliance Francais in Nairobi, Kenya, to launch the demand of Francophonies on their 50th anniversary under the theme of urban change of a sustainable city. Here is the story. Addressing the media, France Ambassador to Kenya, Aline Costa, said many events have been organized in Kenya to celebrate their Francophonie month. The theme of the 50th anniversary of the Francophonie in Kenya will be urban change and sustainable cities. So numerous activities will take place in Nairobi and Kenya, including in Mombasa. For example, this March, for a whole month, this is a new from what we did before together, it's a longer period to take stock of all the good initiatives that we all have. With the participation, as I said, of the French-speaking embassies, French-speaking associations such as the Francophone Network of Kenya, the Association of Teachers of French, KDF, and indeed the Alliance Francais will be a key place to celebrate the 50th anniversary of La Francophonie. By highlighting the value of the French language in the arts, science, and literature. Tunisian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Salim Hafsi, said his country is working together with the French Embassy in Kenya to celebrate the anniversary as a way of unifying nations and enabling environment for business. So it's an opportunity to develop interaction and cooperation on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of OEF, the summit, the summit of the Francophonie. It will be held in December this year, and we will be happy to host this special event. And the topic which was chosen is something which is special, especially for youth and for Africans. It's connectivity in diversity, digital as a vector of vehicle for development and solidarity. And we know that Kenya is really very strong in all these matters of connectivity especially through EMPESA. On the other hand, Tunisian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Ralf Hakna, reiterated his government's efforts in supporting arts and culture in Kenya. The President of the Swiss Confederation visited Kenya, and in the Swiss system you are head of a ministry, and then we have rotating presidents. So he was the President of the Swiss Confederation, but he was also a Minister of Culture, among other things. The first meeting that he wanted to have was with Kenyan artists. So we organized a meeting with more than 20 artists at the go-down center. The next day he met with His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya, the first thing he took up was culture and the potential of creative arts for job creation in Kenya. So the discussion went on on what kind of policies are in place in Kenya in Switzerland to promote culture. So that is an example to give you how we try to put culture on the political agenda in Kenya. And you spot on there as a huge potential for job creation when it comes to arts. With Kenya being a bedrock of talents in both arts and sports, the Egyptian Deputy Ambassador Nellie said more Africans would be included in the new upcoming movies. From an artistic point of view, these movies are eligible to be part of it. This being said, I think in general we have a lot of African movies in Cannes, and as Egypt is concerned, for example, the movie that is going to be shown is for a very famous director called Yusef Shaheen. Yusef Shaheen has been nominated seven times in Cannes for awards. And he won in 1997 the 50th anniversary award for his lifetime achievement. So I think, as Cannes, they recognize the African cinema and they promote it as well. And I hope we will see more films, not more, but more in the near future. These are the celebrations, so the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Aikitab and the Ambassador of France to deploy access in the 2020 French Language Resource Center. As part of the 2019 Radio France International Discovery Award, the Congolese singer-selling banza was in a Robe Kenyans part of her African tour prize. The jury presided over by international artists including Angelique Kejo and taking Jaffa Kohli selected banza ahead of other 10 finalists across the African continent. Every year, more than 33 million people gather for Francophone Month, initiative created by the International Organization of Cultural Day Banzi team. Dereva Hilewi reporting for I-254 News.