The tourism ministry is still trying to reach out to Oscar award-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o to market Brand Kenya, CS Najib Balala has said.
Speaking to KTN News on Wednesday, the minister said the Sulwe author will be appointed as soon as the ministry and her team agree on the terms and conditions.
“Unfortunately, we could not reach her in terms of complications of how do we engage her, how much it is going to cost to bring her on board…those are the things that we are ready to engage with her team, and then we are ready to appoint her as well,” Balala said.
Balala also noted that they are not discriminating against anyone and are open to working with both local and international celebrities.
In January, Lupita laughed off claims that the ministry had been seeking her out for five years but their efforts had proved futile.
Read: Lupita Laughs Off Claims That She Has Been “Inaccessible” For Five Years For Ambassadorial Role
He said, “I know everybody is asking why not Lupita. Lupita has commitments and her managers cannot allow us to access her. We’ve spent the last five years looking for Lupita,” he said.
This was after they settled for British supermodel Naomi Campbell as the face of Brand Kenya.
On why they settled for Campbell, the minister said they were seeking to attract a new market which they believed the model can help reach with her vast international networks.
“We can have one of our own, and we already have Eliud Kipchoge. We are targeting specific markets and sectors, so we will identify brand ambassadors because of that. We use Kipchoge to market Kenya because of his vast international networks,” CS Balala said, adding that she was taking on the role for free.
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