DStv Eutelsat Star Awards Competition Receives Overwhelming Response Across the African Continent

DStv Eutelsat Star Awards Competition Receives Overwhelming Response Across the African Continent

PARIS and JOHANNESBURG, November 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



This year is already proving a great year for the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards as the
competition reaches a milestone of over 1,000 entries from secondary and high-school
students from across Africa. The competition, sponsored by MultiChoice and Eutelsat
Communications, and now entering its second year, is designed to provoke thinking on how
innovation and satellite technology can propel Africa into the future. Entries have now
closed for this year's event.



This year's panel of judges is another achievement, with a jury comprising
high-profile academics and business leaders. Patrick Baudry[1], a French astronaut, born
in Douala, Cameroon, and a member of the fifth NASA Discovery mission, has accepted the
invitation from MultiChoice and Eutelsat to chair this year's jury. Speaking on behalf of
the jury, Patrick said: "We are committed and passionate about the development of
high-tech skills for young people and honoured to play a role in shaping young minds and
encouraging ambition. We look forward to judging the ideas and creative thinking by the
finalists in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 22 November and to assigning this year's prize."



The first edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, won by Mary Musimire from Uganda
for her essay and Michael Yeboah from Ghana for his poster, is still generating
significant interest across Africa. This will reach new heights on 9 November when
Michael's illustration is taken into space by an Ariane rocket. To mark the launch of
Eutelsat's newest satellite, Michael's artwork is decorating the faring of the Ariane
rocket that will blast off into space from the Ariane launch site in French Guiana, South
America.



(Photos available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/eutelsat_communications)



"We are astounded by the talent we see emerging through this competition. As founding
sponsors of this initiative with MultiChoice, we are delighted to showcase a new
generation of African creativity and to see last year's winning poster by Michael Yeboah
go into space on the Ariane rocket flying our latest satellite," said Joaquim Pereira de
Lima, Regional Sales Director for Africa at Eutelsat.



MultiChoice Africa's Regional Director East Africa, Stephen Isaboke, welcomed the
choice to host the awards in Dar es Salaam: "We are privileged to host these awards in
Tanzania. This is not only a great initiative to honour our continent's young minds but it
goes a long way in honouring and celebrating ourselves as Africans and the contribution we
can make to the rest of the world. It will be a proud moment at the gala awards function
when two of Africa's brightest stars will take the world stage, the winnerto represent the
continent overseas at a launch site for an incredible opportunity to watch a rocket go
into space and the runner-up to visit Eutelsat's head office and satellite facilities. We
wish the finalists all the best in the last stretch of the competition."



The launch of Eutelsat's satellite, EUTELSAT 21B, on Friday, 9 November can be watched
on Eutelsat's website: http://www.eutelsat.com. The transmission will start at 21:50
Central European Time (20:50 UTC).



For more information on the competition: http://dstvstarawards.com



1. A UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Patrick Baudry was involved in the establishment of
the African Virtual University. He has also, since 2000, participated in the establishment
of science and mathematics programmes for African girls. Baudry is a veteran of the Soviet
Soyuz/Salyut Programme and subsequently joined the US Space Shuttle flights on the fifth
Discovery STS-51G mission in June 1985.



About Eutelsat Communications



Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding
company of Eutelsat S.A. With capacity commercialised on 29 satellites that provide
coverage across Europe, as well as the Middle East, Africa and significant parts of Asia
and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators. As of
30 September 2012 Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 4,400 television
channels to over 200 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile
telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband
markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets.
Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates high speed Internet
services through teleports in France and Italy that serve consumers, enterprises, local
communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the
Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ just over 750
commercial, technical and operational professionals. This culturally diverse staff
comprises employees from 30 countries. http://www.eutelsat.com




Eutelsat Communications and DStv

CONTACT: Contact at Eutelsat: Frédérique Gautier, Tel.: +33-1-53-98-37-91, fgautier@eutelsat.fr. Contact at MultiChoice: Anda Ngani, Tel: +27-11-289-5363, anda.ngani@multichoice.co.za


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