Ginimbi targets world-class celebs

BUSINESSMAN Genius "Ginimbi" Kadungure says he is on a mission to transform the country's entertainment industry, which he believes has been too far behind when compared to neighbouring countries.

With business interests in South Africa and Botswana, Genius recently decided to enter the showbiz full time by acquiring a promoter's licence from the National Arts Council and opening an upmarket nightclub in the capital.

Club Sankayi was opened last week while the Fally Ipupa show at the HICC last Saturday was the first international gig staged by G Entertainment, Genius' licenced promotion company.

Shaleen Manhire-Nullens, an international PR consultancy who handles a number of Genius' projects, said Club Sankayi will redefine the meaning of entertainment in the country.

"The plan for Club Sankayi is to make it unique, to always bring in different people, different celebrities to keep people entertained and to always want to come to the club. The plan is to have a celeb appearance every month, it does not necessarily mean that we will have a concert but just an appearance, a celeb performing a song or two.

"We have themes whereby Thursdays will be ladies nights, Fridays will be for rhumba and Nigerian, Saturdays for international music and Sunday is dancehall/reggae. So sometimes, depending with the month, we might bring in (as an example) Kofi Olomide and he will come through on Friday because that is the rhumba night. So it depends on who we bring in to keep it exciting and entertaining.

"We will however, change the set-up with time. We will be changing the themes to keep the club fresh, different designs etc so that people will stay entertained. Another example is that we are working on the Congolese Independence Day, the celebrations that are on the 30th of June so those are the different things we will be doing involving different countries. Sankayi is for Africans and we want to accommodate every single person and to keep it fresh," she said.

Genius said he is inspired to bring entertainment in Harare, and eventually all of Zimbabwe, at par with the leading countries on the continent.

"As you know Zimbabwe is open for business and the grand plan is to change the face of entertainment in the country, starting with Harare. We have lagged behind when you compare the entertainment scene in neighbouring countries.

"Nothing can stop us from offering what those in South Africa and Botswana, for instance, are being offered. Club Sankayi will definitely change the entertainment scene in Harare and the first week of operation has promised a bright future. We are not stopping until we put Zimbabwe where it should be.

"Club Sankayi will offer world class entertainment four days a week –Thursday to Sunday and we want to raise the bar very high," said Genius.

Looking at the Fally Ipupa gig, Genius said it was a satisfactory start considering that rhumba had become a dying genre in Zimbabwe.

"Considering that rhumba has been dead in Zimbabwe, I was happy with the crowd that turned up at HICC for Fally. In terms of logistics everything went very well."

He has since disappeared to the backstage and left the day-to-day management to a team consisting of veterans in the local entertainment industry.

"I am no longer the face of G Entertainment, I have withdrawn to the backstage because I have other pressing commitments and meanwhile I have a team of dedicated people who are determined to make names for themselves and G Entertainment is the best platform.

"For instance I was not even involved in choosing the MCs for the Fally Ipupa show, it was done by the management that's in place now."