The Merck Foundation, in partnership with First Ladies of African and Asian countries, has announced the winners of its 2023 Song Awards under the themes “More Than a Mother” and “Diabetes and Hypertension.” The awards were unveiled by Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of the “More Than a Mother” campaign, alongside African First Ladies who serve as ambassadors for the initiative.
The 2023 awards celebrated 13 talented winners whose songs tackled critical social and health issues across Africa. Senator Dr. Kelej expressed her excitement, saying, “Songs are a powerful medium for addressing and influencing social and health issues across Africa. This year’s entries were exceptional, with impactful lyrics sparking meaningful thought and dialogue within communities.”
The “More Than a Mother” Song Awards focused on raising awareness about breaking infertility stigma, supporting girls’ education, ending child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), stopping gender-based violence (GBV), and promoting women’s empowerment. Meanwhile, the “Diabetes and Hypertension” Song Awards aimed to promote healthy lifestyles and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of diabetes and hypertension.
Since its inception in 2019, the Merck Foundation Song Awards have celebrated nearly 50 winners and produced over 30 songs and music videos addressing critical issues across Africa. Senator Dr. Kelej emphasized the transformative power of music in inspiring engagement and action: “I have always believed that music and art have the power to evoke emotions, which in turn inspire engagement and action.”
Building on this success, Merck Foundation has opened submissions for its 2025 Song Awards under the same themes. Musicians across Africa are invited to submit their entries by September 30, 2025. The foundation encourages artists to use their creativity to address social issues such as infertility stigma, girls’ education, child marriage, FGM, GBV, women’s empowerment, diabetes prevention, and hypertension awareness.
The competition is open to both established and emerging artists who can submit songs in English, French, Portuguese, or local languages.
The winners of the 2023 awards were recognized for their ability to convey strong messages through music. Among them were Kobusinge Jackline from Uganda (First Position – Women Empowerment), Vita Nkanza Dep’s from the Democratic Republic of Congo (First Position – Child Marriage), and Dennis Kimani Wanjiku from Kenya (Third Position – Diabetes & Hypertension).
Since 1975, 20 renowned international artists have created BMW Art Cars. The “rolling sculptures” – from Alexander Calder’s first-ever Art Car to Julie Mehretu’s latest – offer an impressive cross-section of art history over the past five decades. To mark the anniversary, the BMW Art Car World Tour features the largest exhibition programme in the history of the series, spanning all five continents.
“The BMW Art Car Collection celebrates 50 years of artistic freedom and visionary design. The 20 vehicles have become international icons, telling stories of society, technology and performance,” says Ilka Horstmeier, Board Member for Human Resources and Real Estate at BMW Group.
The BMW Art Car World Tour kicks off in Europe and Asia. On 20-21 March, BMW Art Cars by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Jeff Koons will be showcased in Vienna at the Museum of Applied Arts and the SPARK Art Fair. Meanwhile, the 20th BMW Art Car by Julie Mehretu will embark on an Asian tour and be displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong (28-30 March).
Next to a special exhibition at the BMW Museum, upcoming stops of the tour include international art fairs (et al. Art Dubai, Market Art Fair in Stockholm) and institutions as well as museums and platforms for classic automobiles (e.g. Concorso d’Eleganza at Lake Como, Louwman Museum in The Hague).
In addition to the tour, BMW is releasing various lifestyle products and art car miniatures as well as a new book in celebration of the anniversary.
Ethiopia’s vibrant ecosystem of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is a critical engine for economic growth, yet these businesses often face significant hurdles in accessing the financial services they need to thrive. To address this challenge, a powerful collaboration has emerged between Dashen Bank, Accion, and Mastercard, aiming to revolutionize financial inclusion through innovative, digitally-enabled solutions. Capital spoke with Raliat Sunmonu, Vice President, Africa & the Middle East, Accion Advisory, to delve into the intricacies of this partnership, exploring its goals, strategies, and potential impact on the Ethiopian MSME landscape. Sunmonu sheds light on the specific obstacles faced by small businesses, the transformative role Accion envisions playing, and the innovative use of AI and technology to empower women-owned businesses in particular. This interview offers a glimpse into a promising future where financial services are more accessible, relevant, and impactful for the backbone of Ethiopia’s economy. Excerpts;
Capital: Can you explain the partnership between Dashen Bank, Accion, and Mastercard? What are the main goals of this collaboration?
Raliat Sunmonu: In 2022, Accion renewed its partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to improve the financial health and livelihoods of small businesses globally, using digitally-enabled solutions. Through the program, Accion works with financial services providers (FSPs, e.g., banks, fintechs, digital platforms) to accelerate digital financial inclusion for small businesses and underserved customers such as women entrepreneurs. Dashen Bank’s partnership with Accion under this program will enhance Dashen’s ability to deliver innovative, digital financial services to their customers, but particularly underserved segments like women entrepreneurs, micro and small businesses.
Capital: What specific challenges do small businesses in Ethiopia face regarding access to financial services? Raliat Sunmonu: Simply put, small businesses have long been ignored by the major players in Ethiopia’s financial services sector. It’s always been too easy—and profitable—for banks to serve larger organizations so most existing financial products have been tailored to the needs of corporates and medium-sized businesses. Many micro and small businesses often run non-digital, manual operations that give financial institutions little visibility, making it riskier and more expensive for these FSPs to offer their services. Digital tools and solutions can address many of these challenges, however, small businesses will still require a lot of handholding and capacity-building to use these tools.
Capital: What role do you see Accion playing in transforming the financial ecosystem for MSMEs in Ethiopia? Raliat Sunmonu: Accion has more than 60 years of experience globally, finding and using the right mix of tools to improve financial outcomes for the nearly two billion people around the world who are underserved by existing financial solutions. We bring a unique mix of tools and institutional capabilities to advance our partners’ financial inclusion priorities. In Ethiopia, our Advisory team has been active for a few years, providing technical assistance to various actors in areas including digital financial service (DFS) product design, credit risk management, and working with our partners’ end customers to improve their trust in, and ability to use, various types of financial solutions. With Dashen, we can do that at a significant scale—and impact. We are also investors, and now that the regulatory landscape is changing, there might be opportunities in the future to also invest in innovative companies that are solving financial inclusion challenges in innovative and meaningful ways, bringing not only capital but additional governance and operational expertise. Finally, we’re building the collective capabilities of the financial services ecosystem; through industry convenings such as Financial Inclusion Week and the Responsible Finance Forum (both hosted by the Center for Financial Inclusion, an independent think-tank housed at Accion) and programs such as our joint program with the Harvard Business School on strategic leadership in financial inclusion.
Accion’s combined work in Ethiopia can collectively accelerate meaningful financial inclusion, especially in markets like Ethiopia that are newly opening up. The uniqueness of Accion Advisory’s model is it allows us to operate in markets even when they are not ready for other types of engagement, and be avant-garde in building coalitions with all kinds of actors, creating useful demonstration models and deepening the local capacity to engage. We have earned the trust of multi-year partners like the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to play this role for consecutive projects around the world.
Capital: How does Accion intend to leverage AI and technology to improve financial inclusion for women-owned businesses?
Raliat Sunmonu: Female-owned businesses tend to be even more disadvantaged when it comes to financial services and many financial institutions still see women as high(er) risk. Accion is leveraging AI to make financial solutions more meaningful, accessible, and relevant for women entrepreneurs. For example, to create customized customer engagement tactics that are more appropriate to how women interact with and use financial products; to leverage different types of data and create more nuanced credit-decisioning tools. We will bring this expertise and tools to support our work at Dashen Bank.
Capital: What are the expected outcomes of the innovation hub for small business owners in Ethiopia? Raliat Sunmonu: The innovation hub will significantly enhance Dashen Bank’s ability and capabilities (skills, tools, processes) to better understand and be more responsive to evolving customer needs—whether that customer happens to be a micro-entrepreneur or a corporate entity. The end goal is for Dashen to extend its pioneering leadership in the Ethiopian financial services sector by delivering meaningful, differentiated financial solutions to the small businesses that power Ethiopia’s economy, and doing so sustainably i.e., profitably.
Capital: How will this initiative contribute to reducing the $4.2 billion financing gap in the MSME sector? Raliat Sunmonu: One of the main goals of this partnership is to help Dashen de-risk, and scale lending to historically underserved customers: women, micro and small businesses. We’re helping Dashen do that in several ways, for example: a) introducing more nuanced credit solutions—and credit risk methodologies—that are more appropriate to the end customer segment, such as supply chain finance for last mile retailers (a majority of whom are women); b) creating better portfolio monitoring tools to provide better clarity on portfolio performance at the most granular levels and c) through strategic partnerships, make the bank’s offerings more accessible to a wider range of customers.
Capital: What strategies will be employed to ensure that the needs of women entrepreneurs are adequately addressed through this initiative?
Raliat Sunmonu: We incorporate a gender lens in all aspects of our technical assistance support. At Dashen Bank, this will include targeted research to prioritize the highest opportunity areas for serving women customers better; improving engagement with women customers (product messaging, channels, training relationship managers, etc.); using data in more meaningful ways to quantify and improve impact on women; and designing products that intentionally reduce barriers to women’s access and adoption. The program also has specific targets for around gender performance which we’ll be monitoring closely.
Capital: How important are strategic partnerships with supply chains in developing new financial products for MSMEs?
Raliat Sunmonu: Supply chains are critical in deepening financial access for small businesses – these supply chains serve as points of access for financial products, i.e., banks like Dashen can offer more nuanced products at the point of [customer] need; they can provide data that may be otherwise difficult for FSPs to access on small businesses, such as sales turnover, inventory size, value and variety, etc.—this data can be used to enhance lending models. Supply chains, especially digitalized ones, can also catalyze new value-added services that can be especially useful for last-mile merchants as they adopt more digital services.
The Ethio-Djibouti Railway Standard Gauge SC (EDR) is enhancing its logistics capabilities by incorporating documentation services.
Having recently secured a multimodal operations permit from the Ethiopian Maritime Authority, EDR is positioning itself as a significant player in the logistics industry, with a strong focus on improving profitability and efficiency.
Connecting Djibouti’s ports to Ethiopia’s interior, EDR is actively collaborating with various government agencies to attract private sector partners.
Internal sources indicate that the company is working to strengthen its presence in the logistics sector by leveraging its multimodal operations, which are essential for managing a diverse range of imported goods, excluding bulk shipments.
Mintesinot Yohannes, Global Logistics Director at EDR, recently informed Capital that the railway company is partnering with both domestic and international logistics providers to launch its new business initiative.
These multimodal services are designed to optimize the transport of imported goods, excluding bulk and certain strategic commodities, ensuring faster and more reliable delivery.
In addition to its freight forwarding services, EDR—an initiative launched in 2018 by the Ethiopian and Djibouti governments—is focusing on expanding its export cargo services, which include both transportation and documentation processes.
To achieve this objective, the company is working with government institutions to build relationships with exporters.
For example, in a recent communication to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, EDR requested assistance in connecting with key players in the coffee industry to attract new clients for its freight forwarding services.
The letter, signed by EDR CEO Takele Uma, emphasized the authority’s crucial role in supporting the growth and success of exporters.
“In light of this, we are formally requesting your support in attracting new clients for our freight forwarding services, particularly those involved in coffee, which is Ethiopia’s largest export commodity, and related exports,” the letter stated.
“The demand for efficient, reliable, and affordable freight forwarding solutions is rapidly increasing, and we are committed to helping Ethiopian exporters meet their logistics needs seamlessly. With your guidance and endorsement, we are confident in significantly expanding our client base while contributing to the prosperity of the export sector.”
EDR aims to encourage exporters to utilize its services for inland transport, freight forwarding, and customs processing.
By offering these comprehensive solutions, the company ensures prompt and hassle-free deliveries, enabling Ethiopian products to reach global markets without unnecessary delays.
Takele also underscored the importance of the multimodal operations license granted by the Maritime Authority, noting that it enhances EDR’s capacity to provide end-to-end logistics solutions from origin to destination.
“This establishes us as a reliable partner for exporters seeking seamless and integrated logistics services,” he added.
To further advance its new business initiatives and capture a larger market share, EDR is consulting with other relevant public and private entities.
The Maritime Authority has issued permits to five companies, including EDR, to operate in the multimodal transport sector, alongside the state-run Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics.
With its expanded service offerings and strategic collaborations, EDR is well-positioned to transform Ethiopia’s logistics sector, delivering efficient and reliable transport solutions for both exporters and importers.
