25 Jun 2015

His robust and soothing voice was first heard on radio a few years ago. A man of immense integrity, composure and calibre, Phenyo Moroka, a conservative yet gentleman like, is a force to reckon with. 

He has been an influential career radio and television broadcaster and public campaigns and youth advocate since 2012.

In addition, Phenyo hosts a popular morning show on the youth radio station Yarona FM and a business programme on CNBC Africa. 

He is also an active member of the US Embassy’s Youth Advisory Council and has volunteered with youth development initiatives such as Junior Chambers International and the Botswana National Youth Council.

As an entrepreneur, Phenyo partners with local schools to carry out needs assessments and understand what youth want to improve in their lives. 

Amolemo Nkwe of BOPA caught up with the famous pacifying voice of Yarona FM, Phenyo to find out what he has been up to and that he is one of the Lucky “13” Mandela Washington participants.

BOPA: Please tell us about yourself and who Phenyo Moroka is?

MOROKA: I was born on 20^th May 1983 at Princess Marina Hospital, and I am the middle child of three boys. I grew up in Gaborone and went to Thornhill Primary School. 

For high school I was shipped off to boarding school in the Eastern Cape in South Africa where I went to an all boys’ school called Queen’s College Boys High School. After matric (Form 5), I went to the University of Stellenbosch and graduated with a BA Human Resource Management degree majoring in Organisational Psychology and Political Science. 

After my degree I enrolled at a private advertising school in Cape Town with ties to advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather called Red and Yellow School of Logic and Magic, where I got a post-graduate Diploma in Advertising & Marketing Communications Management.

BOPA: Wow! So there is more to Phenyo than being a radio personality, interesting, so what has been Phenyo been up to apart from being the host of Flight Six 2 10 from 6am – 10am on Mondays to Fridays on Yarona FM?

MOROKA: Over the past year or so, I have been keeping quite busy. I was appointed Shell Brand Ambassador for Botswana in September 2014. Also, I serve on the US Embassy Youth Advisory Council, and host/MC corporate events, the most recent being the 2015 beMOBILE Premier League Awards that were broadcast live on Btv.

I also had a short stint as host of a business television show called Doing Business In Botswana that aired on CNBC Africa. And then of course I found out I had been selected as one of the Fellows for the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

BOPA: Congratulations are in order as we heard that you are one of the Lucky “13” Mandela Washington participants, so please tell us more about this initiative and your role in it.

MOROKA: Thank you. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship programme of US President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). 

President Obama launched YALI in 2010 as an initiative to support the efforts of young Africans as we play our part in the economic growth and strengthening of democratic governance in our various countries.

I, along with 24 other fellows from other African countries, will be participating in the Business and Entrepreneurship Institute at North-western University in Evanston Illinois. 

The programme promises to be intense and will combine in-class academic and leadership training with activities that include site visits to global business giants such as Google and McDonald’s, participating in various community service projects as well as networking events with business people from the greater Chicago area. 

BOPA: That is quite interesting. Please tell us in detail about this and though you are not the first Motswana or Radio Personality, please tell us why you are distinctively different from the rest and what you are going to bring back to this country  that will set you apart from the previous YALI attendants?

MOROKA: How the programme is implemented differs from university to university, but at North-western each week we have about two and a half days of class session, and the rest of the week is site visits to businesses, cultural exchanges, peer collaboration sessions, mentoring sessions and community service. 

I cannot say that I am any different from the rest. The only thing about me is that I am constantly on the lookout for opportunities and when I find one that resonates with me I go for it. That said however, I think the fact that I was able to carve myself a niche in the radio space has played a major role in bringing opportunities such as the Shell Brand Ambassadorship and the Mandela Washington Fellowship my way. 

What I plan to bring back to Botswana is a bolder, stronger, more creative, more innovative businessperson who can add tangible value to the organisations I work with and the country at large.

BOPA: That is fair enough. Please tell us about the inspiration behind radio, the arts and when you decided to pursue it?

MOROKA: My first interaction with radio was at university in 2003 and I fell in love with it immediately. Even when I came back home in 2005 after completing my studies, I tried to get on Yarona FM but was rejected by then head of programming Owen Rampha. 

I then decided to join the corporate world and it was with the untimely passing of Mathata Gasennelwe who was a mentor and an older brother to me that I decided life is too short to not follow one’s passion. I was ultimately able to join Yarona FM as a stand-in in August 2009 and as they say...the rest is history!

BOPA: Have you won any awards, if so how has this inspired you and your audiences?

MOROKA: Unfortunately I have never won any awards, but I would like to believe that the things I have achieved through good old fashioned hard work and carrying myself and doing my work observing the highest professional standards have inspired many young Batswana. I have received messages from many young people who have said to me that I inspire them to aspire to succeed in their lives and there is nothing more humbling and motivating than that. ENDS