Born on 4th July 1987, Larry Madowo is a renowned journalist whose rise to the apex of his career is a life lesson to be emulated. He started out as a washed out journalist but quickly gained a footing in the competitive media industry and has gone to work for global news outlets like BBC and now CNN International.
His well thought out articles have appeared on the Washington Post and the Guardian. His journey in the media industry began at Kenya Television (KTN) where he started as a trainee. After leaving KTN, he went on to conquer the media world and build a very large fan base, especially during his time on Nation Media Group when he hosted NTV’s The Trend show.
The talented journalist has won a number of awards thanks to his personality, fearlessness and his delivery. He was also the first black person to deliver the Peter Stursberg Foreign Correspondents lecture at Canada’s Carleton University in 2020.
In May 2020, it was announced that he will be joining CNN as the Nairobi correspondent.
“I have long admired CNN International’s award-winning coverage, and I’m honored to be joining such a talented team. I look forward to sharing the full spectrum of life in one of the most dynamic parts of the world with CNN’s global audience,” he said.
Education
Larry attended Usingo and Karapul for primary school before proceeding to St Gabriel’s Seminary Secondary School. Afterwards, he enrolled for a Communications Degree at Daystar University in 2007.
Career Summary
2007: Joined Naivasha based vernacular radio station named Bahasha FM where he read news in English. The station was owned by NACADA chairman John Mututho and closed down following the 2007/08 post election violence.
2008: Joined KTN as a Trainee reporter. He launched and anchored Kenya’s first daytime business program KTN Financial Markets Live and KTN Business Today. Also responsible for the formation of KTN Kenya Facebook long before stations began forming social media pages.
2010: Joined NTV as a business news reporter, anchor and editor. He launched The PM Live and hosted the weekly magazine show Money Matters.
May 2012: Joined South African based CNBC Africa as an anchor and pioneered the show Eye on Kenya.
December 2012: Re-joined NTV as a technology and news anchor. He also hosted the popular show The Trend.
2018: joined BBC News Africa as a Business Editor. He led a team of business journalists based in Nairobi, Lagos, London, Dakar and Johannesburg and appeared across BBC World TV, BBC World Service Radio, BBC News Channel UK and BBC radio 4 as a reporter or commentator on African Business.
2020: Made a comeback on BBC after a break in a new role as the North America correspondent in the Summer of 2020 with a report from a Coronavirus unit in Houston, Texas.
May 2021: joined CNN as the Nairobi based correspondent.
