WINDHOEK – Mobile network giant MTC has poured cold water over concerns that the company is importing foreign inspirational speakers as guests for its new TV show Masters of Success, which airs on NBC.
Some local viewers believe Namibia has enough individuals with success stories to tell, saying the mobile network company should look at local stories of inspiration.
“This project is about inspiring people with inspiring personalities across the African continent which includes Namibia,” MTC’s Chief Human Capital and Corporate Affairs Officer Tim Ekandjo told New Era last week.
“We did not at any point say that the show will only feature Namibians. I also want to recognise that one particular personality will not necessarily inspire all Namibians, because we are inspired by different people and that is why we have decided to attract diverse inspirational personalities so that we attract a diverse audience.”
Ekandjo, who is the executive producer of the show, explained that inspiration is something that cannot be discriminate against as it has no nationality, and therefore needs no passport.
“We are firstly Africans before we are Namibians, and this talk show is about using inspiring personalities from our own continent so that we can showcase positive African success stories.”
“Of course we have Namibian inspiring personalities and they will also feature on the show, but we will not assist those who want to discriminate Africans in their quest to do so. You cannot be proud about being Namibian and vindictive against other Africans,” he said.
Ekandjo said critics of importing foreign inspirational speakers must rather look at what these individuals have done in their lives to inspire others.
“There are of course a lot of people that meet the criteria, and the criteria are simply whether you are inspirational, and whether you have an uplifting story to tell,” he said.
Asked on how much MTC is paying the guest speakers, Ekandjo responded: “MTC did not come up with this concept to brag about how much we are going to spend on the shows, we came up with the concept to inspire young Namibians so that they too can realise their dreams.”
“How much we are spending is therefore insignificant. We are more interested in how many people the show managed to inspire and how it changed or will change their lives.”
The feedback received so far is overwhelmingly positive, Ekandjo said.
“We are also very happy with the manner in which we executed the first event. We had a full house and so many people who still wanted access to the live show which talks volumes about the choice of our first personality,” he remarked.
“Many who watched the broadcast on NBC also send us very positive comments. This project is therefore about inspiring as many people as we can with the choice of personalities we bring and we are happy that we have done an excellent job with the first show.”
The first episode of the show featured South African personality Bonang Matheba, with Nigerian actor Nkem Owoh lined up next.