Samba Yonga

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Samba Yonga
Born
Lusaka
NationalityZambian
Occupation(s)Journalist, media consultant
Notable workCreation of Zambia's Museum of Women's History

Samba Yonga is a Zambian journalist and media consultant. She has worked a long time as editor for Big Issue Zambia and has written for several other publications. Yonga is the founder of Ku-Atenga Media, a media consultancy firm and was named one of Destiny's "Power of 40" most influential women in Africa in 2017.

Career[edit]

Samba Yonga first became interested in journalism after she won a prize for a short story she had written.[1] She attended college and whilst there worked part-time for a local newspaper.[1] After graduation Yonga found work developing ideas for TV and radio programmes.[2] She was then appointed to run the relaunched Trendsetters youth magazine.[1] Yonga has also written for Okay Africa magazine and The Guardian.[3][4] Yonga was editorial director of The Big Issue Zambia magazine, which was launched by the International Network of Street Papers in 2007.[1] The magazine was published in six countries and Yonga travelled frequently to visit these.[2]

Yonga established a media consultancy company, Ku-Atenga Media, from the word for "to create" in Luvale, her native language.[2] Shortly afterwards, she left Zambia to study for a master's degree in global media and translation communication at the University of London.[2] Upon her return, she began to expand Ku-Atenga, providing consultancy services on communications strategy. The company now carries out work for local and international clients, including the Zambian government, European Union and the United Nations.[5]

Yonga began the Narratives of Silenced Voices to research and publish the stories of African women from history.[5][6] The project was run in conjunction with the Kvinnohistoriskt museum [sv], a women's history museum in Sweden, and Zambian activist Mulenga Kapwepwe.[6] Yonga developed the project into the Zambian Museum of Women's History, initially as an online-only offering but with a view to having a physical location to allow display of artefacts collected by the project.[6]

Yonga writes a blog on WordPress.[7] She was named one of Destiny's "Power of 40" most influential women in Africa of 2017.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Samba Yonga". Panos London. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Meet Samba Yonga The Woman Behind Ku-Atenga Media - UzaCoona Magazine". UzaCoona Magazine. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Meet the Zambian Radio DJs Who Could Play a Pivotal Role in this Week's Presidential Election". Okay Africa. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  4. ^ Yonga, Samba (21 September 2011). "Youth paralegals in Zambia help tackle child abuse". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Zambia : Zambian media entrepreneur Samba Yonga, selected as one of Destiny Magazine's "Power of 40" most influential women in Africa". Lusaka Times. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Zambia: Museum of Women's Living History Launched". LusakaTimes.com. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Samba Yonga - Vishinganyeka". Word Press. Retrieved 13 November 2017.