ZAIN, MTV BRING A TASTE OF MIAMI TO NIGERIA
Johannesburg/Kinshasa/Lagos/Nairobi/New York, 11 November 2008: US hip hop phenomenon Flo Rida will perform for the first time in Africa at the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain (MAMA) as MTV salutes the power of US and African hip hop. Joining the whirlwind Miami MC performing at the event will be MAMA award nominees 9ice (Best Hip Hop, Best New Act nominee), Naeto C (Best New Act nominee), Ikechukwu (Best Video nominee) and Jua Cali (Best Male nominee).

For someone who only released his first album in 2008, Flo Rida has quickly notched up an impressive music resumé: enjoying a massive US number one hit, collaborating with T-Pain and Will.i.am among others and garnering numerous award nominations including two ‘nods’ for the upcoming American Music Awards. Named in homage to his home state, Flo Rida has taken the hip hop world by storm with his well crafted lyrics, slick grooves and speedy rhymes, honed during his teenage years when .e toured with Fresh Kid Ice from 2 Live Crew before popping up on high-profile mixtapes as a collaborator with numerous artists. Signed to Poe Boy/Atlantic, Flo Rida instantly made himself noticed with debut album Mail on Sunday, whose lead single, "Low," featuring T-Pain, held the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, and was #1 on Billboard’s Pop 100 chart for 12 weeks and still counting. “Low” was also #1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Tracks chart for 11 weeks, marking the longest-running #1 since 2004 and the seventh longest-running #1 in the chart’s history. ”Low” also made it into the record books as the biggest selling digital single of all time in the US, selling 4.3 million units!

Flo Rida, 9ice, Naeto C, Ikechukwu and Jua Cali will join previously announced artists Kelly Rowland, The Game, D’Banj, Asa and Cassette at the Velodrome, Abuja for MTV’s uplifting celebration of African music and artists on Saturday, 22 November 2008. Their performances broadcast on MTV base (DStv Channel 322, GTV Channel 40), partner networks and terrestrial channels RTGA (Democratic Republic of the Congo), TV3 (Ghana), NTV (Kenya), AIT (Nigeria), STV (Nigeria), TBC (Tanzania) and WBS (Uganda), from 29 November 2008.

To vote for your favourite artist or video, please go to mama.mtvbase.com. Music fans with WAP/GPRS enabled phones may also vote at m.mama.mtvbase.com (standard internet charges apply). Voting closes on Tuesday 18 November 2008. For details of SMS voting go to mama.mtvbase.com.
-ENDS-

For further information, please contact

Alison Reid
Director, Communications
MTV Networks Africa
Email: Alison.reid@mtvne.com
Tel: + 33 385 59 6771

About MTV Networks Africa
MTV Networks Africa is a pan-African music and entertainment platform which is responsible for broadcasting Viacom music, kids and entertainment channels in sub-Saharan Africa. The network distributes MTV, VH1, MTV base and Nickelodeon. Part of MTVNI's Emerging Markets group, MTV Networks Africa reaches in excess of 50 million TV viewers in sub-Saharan Africa via a combination of pay-tv and terrestrial distribution. The network also includes the dynamic online portal www.mtvbase.com.

MTVNI's Emerging Markets group is one of the fastest growing regions in MTVNI's portfolio of multi-platform businesses. The Emerging Markets group manages 26 television channels, 24 websites, one broadband channel and three mobile TV channels encompassing the MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, VIVA and Comedy Central brands in Central & Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. MTVNI is owned by Viacom Inc (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

About Zain
Zain is a leading emerging markets player in the field of telecommunications aiming to become one of the top ten mobile operators in the world by 2011. Zain was established in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator. Since 2003, it has grown significantly becoming the 4th largest mobile network in the world in terms of geographic presence with a footprint in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to 56.3 million active customers (as at 30 September 2008).

Zain operates in the following countries: Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In Lebanon, the company manages the network on behalf of the government operating as mtc-touch. The company’s mobile operations in Ghana will begin by the end of 2008.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker: ZAIN). The company had a market capitalization of over US$ 23.4 billion on 30 September, 2008.

For more, please visit www.zain.com