By Staff Reporter Ask any follower of the popular talent contest Zing run on Afrikaans language satellite television channel Kyk-Net, and they will tell you Walvis Bay is the place in Namibia that produces musical talent. Adding credence to this notion is the fact that a few years ago Vivian and Johnny, two youngsters from the country’s premier port, scooped the Zing honours. Now three other youngsters from Walvis Bay have stormed onto the local music scene. Performing under the name ‘Afro Shine’, Garth Prinsonsky, Gerson Mwatile and Romano Nauseb have just cut their first CD and they are well on the way to emulating the success of Vivian and Johnny. Africa Day, today, is a public holiday that commemorates Pan-Africanism. The anual public holiday, now observed in countries all over the continent, started after the founding of the OAU, a forerunner to the institution known today as the African Union. The launch of Afro Shine’s debut album coincides with Africa Day, and is scheduled to take place tonight at the Tal Indian Restaurant, a well-known eatery in Windhoek. The event is being organized by local consultancy firm, SMEs Compete. The launch of Afro Shine’s CD this evening coincides with another market access event of SMEs Compete, a Leather & Style 4 U exhibition that will also take place at the Tal Indian Restaurant this week. Director of SMEs Compete, Danny Meyer, says: “Music, too, is business and we have added this sector of the economy as a cluster to benefit from our capacity-building interventions.” SMEs Compete provides enterprise and entrepreneurial development support to small businesses. The firm services a growing number of clients, now exceeding 400 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) around Namibia. “With the support of German Development Service (DED), we will expand operations this year by establishing a presence in the northern and coastal regions of Namibia”, says Meyer. Prinsonsky, who leads Afro Shine, says: “I got to know Gerson Mwatile and Romano Nauseb more than a decade ago when we started our singing careers with Mascato Coastal Youth”. According to Prinsonsky, the three friends share a love for Afro pop music and composing lyrics. This in turn resulted in the formation of Afro Shine. In 2006 the three decided to cut a CD. They credit Walvis Bay entrepreneur, Ivan Marshall, for helping them turn a dream into reality by funding the recording best numbers and the production cost of the CD.