Music Week Africa set to become the No 1 Music Platform in Africa

From Left to Right: Tori Abiola, Event Director; Henry Bassey, Director- Team Lead; Ojoma Ochai, Director, British Council Nigeria; Professor Pat Utomi; Audu Maikori, Founder/Director Music Week Africa; Oscar Onyema, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange; Leslie Kasumba, Director, Music Week Africa; Deji Awokoya, General Manager, Beat FM/Megalectrics and Raoul Sawhney, Director Digital at the press conference held on Friday, November 27th 2015. (Press)

Music Week Africa (MWA) today announced the launch of an annual Pan-African week long series of events designed to explore and promote all aspects of the industry’s diverse ecosystem. Music Week Africa will provide a business networking platform for musicians, professionals and other players in the music industry as well as enlighten sector practitioners, investors and policymakers about the industry. The inaugural MWA event will be taking place in March 2016.

The theme for the 2016 launch is “The African Music business is now open for business.” MWA will focus on the three key countries which have been industry leaders in entertainment in Africa in the past decade – South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. It will be made up of exhibitions, product launches, workshops, investor clinics, product launches, county showcases and more.

Commenting on the Launch Audu Maikori, Founder MWA stated “The impact on digital marketing, promotion sales, performances and publicity is changing the way artists ,brands as well as record labels are conducting business all across the world. Africa is no different, the creatives, business of entertainment, supporting technology, music policies, trends and growth sectors are all covered by respective players in the music space across various countries in Africa and need to work together to put African entertainment businesses on a competitive level playing field and become fully integrated into the global economy.”

Raul Sawhney, Finance & Technology Director MWA further added “It is only now, aided by digital technology, that Africa’s insurmountable influence on world music is getting recognition and traction. The industry is primed for growth and MWA’s role is to provide robust knowledge of the music industry and well as create a platform that highlights the inherent opportunity and value across the African entertainment business. The combination of music, arts and entertainment and the adoption of technology now make Africa the next frontier for new talent and sound. The conditions are right, now, and the African entertainment industry is officially open for business”

The African Music Landscape has grown significantly in the past few years. Nigeria’s entertainment and media market is the fastest-expanding major market globally. By 2019, the market will be more than twice as big, with estimated total revenue of US$8.1 billion.The South Africa’s entertainment and media market continues its run of double-digit year-on-year growth, and is set to reach R176.3bn ($ value) by 2019. Kenya’s entertainment and media market is set to surpass US$3 billion in 2019. The industry has the potential to do much more and MWA will bring together key stakeholders to start the conversation about enabling sustainable growth in the entertainment industry across the continent.
Music Week Africa collaborated with over 20 partners including local and international content providers, copyright bodies, policy makers, NGOs and production houses underlying the importance of the entertainment industry as key driver of economic growth and development and the need for collaboration amongst key stakeholders in the Industry.

Lee Kasumba, Director MWA also added ‘There is a need for an international conference that will connect the African music ecosystem through a series of events, discussions and policy engagements to drive industry growth’