"Africa To The World", It Will End In Tears (Op-Ed)

Over the last few years, a handful of large scale entertainment products, both fictional and otherwise have propelled African art further into the global consciousness. Despite the mixed reviews, more and more stories with a varying degree of connection or relevance to the continent capture the zeitgeist in ways we haven’t seen before.

It’s safe to say that the growing interest in African art and African stories has been exciting to watch. As an avid spectator of this paradigm shift, seeing the reach of African content creators and their work further by the day has been nothing short of inspiring. Whether it be through; big budget flicks and their respective chart topping soundtracks, the growing fascination the diaspora continues to have in traditional and non traditional music coming out of the continent or, (my personal favourite) the assimilation of surefire memes comprised of nollywood characters and problematic East African media personalities,.

Beyond this immediate, surface level acceptance, the hunger for African art continues at more corporate levels. Artists such as, Irene Ntaale, Yemi Alade and Tiwa Savage recently signed global deals to UMG directly or through their continent-based offices. UMG and other major labels continue to license their catalogues to “local” streaming platforms like boomplay, Udux, Mdundo and Songa, while making key acquisitions of “local” labels with strong catalogues that lack a digital footprint. All exciting stuff that will (hopefully) offer a foundation for more creators to take their work to continental and eventually global heights.

But anyone half informed could sell you on Africa’s potential. Many tout the continent as “the final frontier”, who’s large youth population is slowly but surely gaining the spending power to consume global entertainment. Some may even say that this growth is inevitable and that wouldn’t entirely be a stretch. With more affordable smartphone devices becoming readily available and 5G on the horizon, an entire population of young consumers are about to come online for the first time, having leap frogged all previous modes of entertainment consumption thus far, skipping physicals, digital downloads and straight to video/audio on demand streaming. While all this progress could, in five or so years, pose largely beneficial for the UMG’s of this world, who continue to quietly position themselves NOW, it could very well be the detriment of our own artist communities. Here’s how. 

The backlash online of pretty much all major theatrically released or upcoming films (AND their soundtracks) depicting Africa or African’s  goes to show that any western portrayal of Africa is bound to erase certain realities, identities or communities. If it’s not the awkward accents or western-centric perspectives, it’s the questionable shooting location choices. There’s too many examples of the former and while examples of the latter are fewer, they’re just as saddening. The Mira Nair directed, Queen Of Katwe, a disney film that tells the very real story of a Ugandan girl who, through her love of Chess rises to international acclaim, was only partially shot in Uganda with other scenes shot in South Africa (I'll get to the bigger problem here later).

All of those record deals I previously listed are obviously happening at the hands of American corporations, who ultimately have the interests of their western stakeholders at heart. The global demand for african music increased and so they went out and signed a couple of the biggest names on the continent to meet said demand. I can’t officially speak to the terms or nature of these deals, but these are global deals that I imagine are for multiple years and for multiple projects, offering what may or may not be 360 services … American artists barely want these kind of deals. And if there’s anything that we’ve learnt about African artists entering into these kinds of deals in the past, is that it really is hit or miss. 

These same companies licencing their catalogues to “local” streaming platforms will essentially export their share of streaming revenue back once it has been generated. Now I have “local” in quotes because while these platforms are based in Africa, catering to Africans, their ownership structures reflect a different reality. Boomplay, the Lagos based streaming platform carrying 52 million users, are owned by Transsion Holdings, the China-based, number 1 phone maker in Africa, and NetEase, a Chinese internet company that has already built a music streaming service in China boasting 400 million users recently raised $20 million in a series A round led by Maison Capital, with participation from Sea Capital (Both Chinese private equity firms). Songa, a Nairobi based streaming platform is owned by Safaricom, who’s management stake belongs to the British telco Vodafone.

The most alarming aspect of this (colonial) progress is that the 5G capabilities soon coming to the region are being provided again by Chinese tech firms like Huawei who are selling this connectivity to our local telcos and governments along with cyber security hardware and software currently being used to stifle oppositional dissent in places like Uganda, Algeria and Zambia. Some of this technology is being used to censor the voice of artists speaking out against those in power. In Uganda, singer and politician Bobi Wine’s efforts are continuously undermined by these cyber security measures provided by Huawei through phone hacking, tapping and city wide surveillance. In the year of our lord, 2019, Censorship continues to cripple some of East Africa’s most outspoken work, with or without technological aid. In Kenya, the Cannes festival winning film “Rafiki” was initially refused a premiere within its own borders due to “LGBTQ” subject matter at the center of the films narrative. 

As if all these doubled edged advancements weren’t bad enough, piracy and corruption of government bodies responsible for the arts still run rampant.Through a source who chooses to remain unnamed, I learnt that Queen of Katwe was only partially shot in Uganda because a handful of corrupt individuals within the commission responsible for granting access to shoot in the country learnt of Disney’s involvement and grossly overpriced permits. In order to avoid national embarrassment, a minister personally went to Disney in order to keep the film from being shot elsewhere altogether. 

I say all this to ponder on the crux of this great creative progression. Who does it ultimately benefit? When others tell the African story, much is erased. When others choose to sign and develop African music, the terms of the deals, the focus of the projects that follow and the fiscal priorities more often than not misalign. When others own the infrastructure, it will never be for the betterment of our own. And when the political class are entrusted to further the arts, self motivation will almost always come first.

I will end with the infamous case of vine. At a significantly low point in the platforms existence, 18 of Vine's top creators came together for a secret meeting with the company's executives. With a declining number of fans following and watching, the Viners (?) believed that the app was failing. Many stars in the group already had begun shifting to other platforms. Led by creators the group pitched an idea: If Vine paid each star $1.2 million and changed certain features of the app, each creator would post 12 Vines per month. Otherwise, all 18 would leave the platform. As word spread through the tight-knit collaborative community of Viners, more stars joined the coalition. Executives entertained the proposal at first, and at the very least considered their deal. The two sides however, were unable to come to terms. So the creators walked. Today, many of them enjoy lucrative careers on other platforms while vine is merely a thing of the past.

The very least we can do as an East African artist community, on a micro level is to think beyond ourselves and prop up our own. With the current infrastructure in place, There is no single individual south of the Sahara capable of global success without the support of their entire artist community. To simplify the only tried and tested solution I can point to; there is enough creative diversity in many a region to offer the resources necessary, through forms of barter-collaboration. Now some may disagree, to which i’d say, cool, but this is not a question of whether or not you would like to take your chances of me being wrong. The change is coming and it’s very clear where the power lies. No one is coming to save your artistic integrity. If we are not unified in our efforts and the work of our peers, on the ground, who continue to further this creative insurgence East Africa is currently witnessing then, none of us will own it’s future.

I’ll be hosting a bi-weekly podcast further dissecting East Africa’s creative renaissance. I’ll be joined by a variety of stakeholders actively involved in this shift forward, discussing the reality of this changing time and some of the challenges faced, both as individuals and as a community.