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Career timelines

Larry Madowo: a career across African and international newsrooms

Selected milestones in Larry Madowo’s reporting, training and move to CNN.

Coverage through 2023-02-07 · Sources checked 2026-11-07

What this record covers

A historical career record through CNN’s February 2023 host announcement. Earlier newsroom roles are included as context where the sources do not establish appointment dates.

Position at the coverage date

CNN had announced Madowo as its new African Voices Changemakers host. The announcement scheduled his first programme for later that month. [s1] [s2] [s3] [s4] [s5] [s6]

Record details

Starting in Kenya
CNN’s biography traces his broadcasting career to Kenya Television Network, where he began at age 20. [s1]
Business broadcasting
Before the BBC, he worked at NTV Kenya and CNBC Africa. His CNBC work included presenting daily market programmes from Johannesburg. [s1]
BBC Africa business desk
As Africa Business Editor, he oversaw six syndicated programmes in three languages and managed journalists in London and four African countries. [s1]
Reporting from Washington
His BBC North America assignment covered the pandemic, the 2020 US election and major racial-justice stories before his return to Nairobi. [s1]
Graduate reporting
Columbia identifies him as a 2020 graduate of its business and economics master’s programme and Knight-Bagehot Fellowship. An excerpt from his thesis became a BBC story about Jumia. [s3]
Dates and limits
The February 2023 CNN release announced a hosting role and a planned first broadcast. It does not establish that the first broadcast had already happened. [s2]

The sequence

4 documented milestones. Highlighted entries mark turning points. Dates retain the precision of the source.

  1. career

    Featured on African Voices

    CNN’s later programme announcement recalls featuring Madowo on African Voices in 2017.

    Evidence [s2] Link to this event

  2. career

    Graduated from Columbia’s journalism programme

    Columbia identifies Madowo as a 2020 graduate of its business and economics master’s programme and Knight-Bagehot Fellowship.

    Evidence [s3] Link to this event

  3. career

    CNN announced his Nairobi appointment

    CNN announced that Madowo would leave the BBC for its Nairobi-based correspondent role.

    Evidence [s1] Link to this event

  4. career

    Announced as African Voices Changemakers host

    CNN named Madowo as the programme’s next host and scheduled his first show for 25 February 2023.

    Evidence [s2] Link to this event

Sources & evidence

  1. [s1] cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com

    CNN appointment announcement

    Official source · Accessed 2026-11-07

  2. [s2] cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com

    CNN programme announcement

    Official source · Accessed 2026-11-07

  3. [s3] apply.jrn.columbia.edu

    Columbia Journalism School graduate record

    Official source · Accessed 2026-11-07

  4. [s4] www.socialdifference.columbia.edu

    Columbia University profile

    Official source · Accessed 2026-11-07

  5. [s5] www.cjr.org

    Columbia Journalism Review interview

    Reporting or institutional reference · Accessed 2026-11-07

  6. [s6] www.bbc.com

    www.bbc.com

    Reporting or institutional reference · Accessed 2026-11-07

Public update history

— Researched against the cited sources. Unresolved gaps are not presented as facts.

— Titles and explanatory text passed the copywriting and source-consistency checks. Sources and data are unchanged.

— Re-researched against the cited sources and checked before updating.

— Titles and explanatory text passed the copywriting and source-consistency checks. Sources and data are unchanged.