Dear colleagues and friends,

This is 2020 and every week we are reminded that reality truly is stranger than fiction. For the past few days, Nigeria’s startup world has been in shock over the gruesome murder of Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur Fahim Saleh, the well-known and well-liked CEO of Nigerian motorbike-hailing startup Gokada. Saleh was found dismembered in his Manhattan apartment, the apparent victim of an incomprehensible act by his 21-year-old personal assistant Tyrese Haspil. Saleh had recently discovered that Haspil had stolen money from him but had chosen not to report him to the police, putting him on a repayment plan instead.

Meanwhile, the normally subdued world of French-language African cinema was also being rocked by its own scandal, as it was revealed that actress Annabelle Lengronne had been edited out of the latest edition of Canal+ Afrique’s Ciné Le Mag show for mentioning Assa Traoré as an example of an inspiring Black woman. Assa Traoré is an activist and the sister of Adama Traoré, a young French-Malian who died in police custody in 2016. In response to what they considered blatant censorship from program director Frédéric Dezert, host Claire Diao and her team resigned. This is actually far from the first incident of censorship at Canal+, which is owned by Vivendi, a conglomerate with business and political interests across Africa and whose management certainly tried - in an incredibly clumsy way - to avoid stirring up anti-French sentiment on the ground. 

As we collectively shake our heads at people making terribly bad choices (Kanye that includes you), we can take comfort in the fact that exciting things do continue to happen in the African entertainment space. In this edition of HUSTLE & FLOW, I’ll talk about internet balloons bringing connectivity to remote areas of Kenya, Mr Eazi’s mogul move creating new financing models for African music artists, and Showmax Pro introducing live sports streaming to Africa’s VOD space.

For those of you currently on their summer vacations, enjoy and feel free to ignore this email. For those of us in Nigeria or the US whose work life knows no respite, don’t hesitate to send me your comments, questions, or corrections at marie@restless.global. Previous editions of HUSTLE & FLOW are available here. Watch out for the next one in two weeks.

Happy reading to all,


Marie

CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The Nigerian government has officially handed over Lagos’ iconic National Arts Theater to the country’s Bankers Committee, which will shepherd its renovation. The landmark location used to be Nigeria’s primary performance center and had its heyday in 1977 when it hosted the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac '77), but has since gone into disrepair. The Bankers Committee, which brings together commercial banks CEOs and officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria, has announced that it would invest no less than $51 million (N20 billion) in the project. Besides the rehabilitation of the facility, which is supposed to be completed in 18 months, the project aims to create economic activities in music, film, fashion and ICT around the National Theater, targeting 1 million jobs in the next 5 years. Lagos has been crying for proper infrastructure to support its booming creative industries, and the idea of a Media and Tech city built on the model of Dubai’s Media City has been going around for a while. Depending on the final plans, the National Theater project has the potential to fulfill that role. However, some question whether the timeline and expected results announced by the Bankers Committee are realistic, especially in the current context. Let’s hope that this initiative doesn’t turn out like the 12,000 federal projects reportedly abandoned across Nigeria.


INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE

Alphabet’s Loon has officially begun operating its commercial internet service in Kenya, in partnership with Telkom Kenya. The fleet of 35 high-altitude balloons will essentially work as floating cell towers, drifting 20 km above ground on currents in the Earth’s upper atmosphere to provide 4G LTE service across 50,000 square kilometres in central and western Kenya. The balloons, which are about the size of tennis courts, were launched from the US and navigated to Kenya using wind currents (which, yes, seems totally crazy). According to Loon, this is the first balloon-powered internet project to launch in Africa, and the first non-emergency commercial deployment in the world.

In rather less uplifting news, the Ethiopian government has only partially restored the Internet across the country, after two weeks of a total internet outage. The government had justified the shut down as a measure to prevent the spread of hate speech after the shooting of prominent Oromo singer and activist Haacaaluu Hundeessaa led to violent unrest. According to internet monitoring group NetBlocks, most fixed-lines and some wifi users have regained access, while mobile internet and data services - which are used by a majority of Ethiopians - remain inaccessible. 


MOBILE

Sonatel, Senegal’s leading telco, is seeking to raise up to $170 million (including $50 million through a bond issue) through the Private Infrastructure Development Group and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, to upgrade its service platforms and extend its 4G plus network across the country.

In South Africa, MTN has switched on its 5G network in the cities of Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. Through its agreement with Ericsson for the provision of 5G radio access networks equipment, the telco now plans to roll out its 5G service across 20 of its markets in Africa, starting with Nigeria. 

Despite a substantial fall in voice and data prices in Africa in recent years, a recent International Telecommunication Union report shows that Africans still spend a lot more on mobile costs as a share of gross national income than the rest of the world. As Quartz writes, African users pay nearly 200% more than the global average for voice and three times more for data, relative to average income.


E-COMMERCE 

The merging of finance and e-commerce solutions continues in Africa’s biggest market. TradeDepot, a four-year-old startup solving supply chain issues in Nigeria’s informal retail market, has raised $10 million from Partech, IFC, Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-FI) and MSA Capital and will now be expanding its operations to include financial services and credit facilities to its customers. In a country where informal stores account for 98% of all retail sales, TradeDepot uses technology to connect consumer goods distributors including Nestle, Nasco, Unilever and Kelloggs, to some 40,000 micro retailers in the informal sector. The TradeDepot platform already processes order payments and offers inventory management, which puts it in the position to aggregate data on its merchants’ businesses and use it to build credit ratings. Including this latest round, TradeDepot has raised a total of $36 million since its launch in 2016.

Professor Ndubuisi Ekekwe, writing on the Tekedia Institute website and referring to OPay’s recent shutting down of several of its verticals, has some words of advice for companies that have big ambitions in the consumer sector in Nigeria: you cannot grow faster than the environment. Ekekwe’s take is very insightful and worth quoting at length: “Nigeria cannot be growth-hacked in the way Beijing, London, New York and other areas can. Our gestation period to profitability is legendary and one of the longest in the world (...) If you do those flashy things (yes, one million Facebook likes, top ten local ranking in Alexa, etc), you will burn. More so, as OPay goes into ecommerce, it needs to slow down and not try to grow faster than Nigeria: Nigeria is a slow-po country and no marketing gimmicks will change that. The hardest job in life is finding jobs for people where there are no jobs. The second is making sales to people who have no money! My Response: My principle is to model that Nigeria has only about 30 million “people”. That is a very pessimistic model. It gives me room to navigate. Another strategy is to become a parallel entrepreneur: be in many things and forget Harvard preaching of core competency and domain focus. If you visit one of the owners of a bank in Nigeria, his office has 27 companies with the bank as one. While we know these rich guys for their banks, they are super-diversified that one policy change will affect one business while benefiting another. There is no govt policy in Nigeria that will not help one of the firms and at the end, everything is neutralized and wealth is preserved.” Words to keep in mind as Nigeria enters what is likely to be a long-term recession.


FASHION

Dior Men Creative director, Kim Jones, has partnered with Ghanaian painter and portraitist Amoako Boafo for the brand’s Spring-Summer 2021 menswear collection. Jones, who grew up between Ethiopia, Kenya, Botswana and Ghana with his hydro-geologist father, had wanted to work with an African artist for a while when he encountered Boafo’s work at Art Basel in Miami last year. The collection was modeled by an all-Black cast and released as a short film on YouTube. Dior will also ensure this particular collection leaves a lasting legacy by supporting Boafo’s newly created foundation for young artists in Accra.

Kenya’s ban on the importation of used garments in late March, as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19, could help the country revive its own textile industry, writes the New York Times. The textile sector in Kenya, like in several other African countries, was wiped out in the late 1980s as the continent started opening its markets to foreign competition. A couple of years ago, East African countries had already attempted to ban second-hand clothing imports to boost local manufacturing, but all except Rwanda had to back down after the US threatened to suspend them from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provides reduced or duty-free access to the American market. While for Rwandan president Paul Kagame, wearing hand-me-downs not only compromises the development of the local economy but also the very dignity of its people, in Kenya, searching for hidden gems in second-hand markets and upcycling or styling them has become a creative industry in itself. Nevertheless, coronavirus restrictions might have finally provided Kenya with a window of opportunity to start shaping the future of its textile manufacturing sector.


FOOD

Nigerian company Pedro's, founded by Lola Pedro and Chibu Akukwe, is redefining ogogoro, a local West African alcoholic drink extracted from palm trees, for the global market. Ogogoro is a type of gin that is often served to guests, including at traditional wedding ceremonies, or consumed at local bars. Pedro’s team works with communities in southern Nigeria to collect locally filtered palm saps, before distilling them a second time to match global tastes. The drink targets high-income earners across Africa and the world, and is currently distributed in high-end restaurants and bars in Accra, London, and Lagos.


VISUAL ARTS

Senegalese photographer Omar Victor Diop’s series “Liberty”, although produced in 2016, remains extremely topical today and is worth revisiting, especially if you are not yet familiar with Diop’s striking work. “Liberty” chronicles events linked to Black protests across eras and countries through the lens of allegory. It includes a photograph of Diop playing the role of young Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed in Florida in 2012, and another, played by Diop's friend Dija, of Aline Sitoe Diatta, a Senegalese hero of colonial resistance who led a boycott against the French government's seizure of rice harvests during World War II and died in prison for her efforts. "The art I produce is an attempt to build another bridge between these [groups of] people that are actually one people -- that were separated by history and slavery and the colonial era," Diop said.

On the topic of French misdeeds in Senegal, France has officially confirmed the handover to its former colony of a historic saber which belonged to the entourage of El-Hadj Oumar Tall, a 19th century warlord and Muslim scholar who conquered an immense territory straddling Senegal, Guinea and Mali, and fought against the French colonial army. France will follow this up with the upcoming restitution of 26 works of art belonging to the kings of Abomey in Benin and currently housed at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum in Paris. Looks like the restitution is finally being concretized.


MUSIC

Remember when I prophesied (yes, prophesied) that Mr Eazi would become the Jay-Z of Africa? Well the award-winning artist has just announced the launch, in partnership with lead investor 88mph, of a $20 million Africa Music Fund (AMF) through which he wants to create a new funding model for music artists on the continent. Selected artists will be given funds upfront based on their existing and projected streaming revenue, so that they can expand their catalog of music content. The investment will then be paid back in installments as the artist's earnings start to rise. Does this sound familiar? Yes, this is exactly the same model as TradeDepot’s new credit facility for informal merchants that we just talked about. Digital tools now allow knowledgeable investors like Mr Eazi to extrapolate the future growth of an artist from precise metrics such as streaming revenue, YouTube views, or social media data, so that he can provide that artist with the money he or she needs to scale their production. And because money is only one aspect, AMF also plans to support its artists grow their audience by helping them book shows and distributing their music on its upcoming platform Cinch Distro, developed in partnership with music technology company Vydia. 

And the audience is showing up. OkayAfrica has a great article on the rise of stan culture in Afrobeats. The term “stan” was coined by Eminem in 2000 to refer to an excessive form of fandom. Since then, social media democratized "stanning," which now simply refers to a group of loyal fans who may not necessarily be that obsessive (you may have heard of K Pop Stans’ recent foray into political activism). Read the article for more on D’Banj’s Koko movement (rape allegation still pending, let’s not forget), 2Face's "African Queens", P-Square's "Omoges", Korede Bello's Belovers, Olamide’s "YBNL Gang", Davido's "HKN Gang," Yemi Alade's "Warriors," Burna Boy's "Outsiders", Naira Marley's "Marlians," and, most powerful of all, Wizkid’s “Wizkid FC”. 


SPORTS BUSINESS

Nigerian-born mixed martial artist Kamaru Usman beat Jorge Masvidal in Abu Dhabi last weekend to retain his welterweight championship belt, delighting fans and even prompting the Nigerian President to send him a congratulatory message. Usman is the UFC’s first ever champion from Africa, and he remains unbeaten after 16 bouts. The dominance of Usman and of his compatriot, New Zealand-based middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, is now leading more Nigerians to look into MMA, despite the current lack of structure for the sport in the country.

French Development Agency (AFD) continues to roll out its Sport and Development initiative, which finances micro-projects across Africa. These initiatives must be supported by small French associations in partnership with local actors. The second call for proposals is open until September 30, 2020. AFD also just released a new magazine dedicated to women in sports titled Women Sports Africa.


BROADCAST

As Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League and Serie A returned last month, sports streaming surged to pre-COVID level across Europe, according to Conviva, returning to about 30% of total viewing time, up from 2% at the height of the pandemic. However in Nigeria, MultiChoice is still considering not renewing its license for Premier League and other sports rights, which have become overpriced in the tough economic environment. MultiChoice used to be able to buy sports rights in bulk for the whole continent, until the now-defunct HiTV came into the market and argued that the Nigerian rights should be sold separately. However, this proved unsustainable. Should MultiChoice decide not to renew its EPL rights, it would open the door for competing bids from Pay-TV operator StarTimes or from public free-to-air channel NTA, although it seems improbable that either of them could come up with anything close to the $250 million last paid by MultiChoice for the Premier League.

One piece of content that MultiChoice Nigeria is unlikely to let go of any time soon is Big Brother Naija, which premiered yesterday and swiftly took over social media. The online auditions, conducted in May, received more than 30,000 applications. If you are curious about the 20 housemates who made the cut, head over here. They will be fighting it out over the next 10 weeks for $220,000 worth of gifts. According to their enlightening profiles, I would say that about 97% of them promise to bring either “fun” or “drama” to the house, while some 74% are interested in “the money”. Get ready.

Finally, Mo Abudu has announced that her EbonyLife TV channel will no longer be broadcast on Multichoice’s DStv satellite platform. This means that Abudu is essentially shutting down her linear broadcast business (which had reportedly been struggling for years) and focusing fully on her production activity. All her current and future content will now move to her VOD platform EbonyLife ON, and of course to Netflix, with which she recently signed a major deal. 


VOD

Comcast-NBCU’s VOD service Peacock launched in the US last week, and with that, the global streaming wars’ fight card is complete. Coming last to the market after competitors HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and of course Netflix, Peacock is differentiating itself by its ad-supported model (AVOD), backed up by live sports.

I have talked in previous editions of HUSTLE & FLOW about the huge potential appeal of both the AVOD model and of live sport streaming in Africa. Well, the second one is about to get tested as Showmax has launched Showmax Pro, which bundles the existing Showmax service with music and news channels, as well as live sport from SuperSport. Showmax Pro, which has begun rolling out in Kenya and Nigeria and will go live across sub-Saharan Africa within the next few weeks, features all Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and PSL games, IAAF Athletics, professional boxing, the world’s biggest marathons, and more. Now this is starting to look like proper competition for Netflix. Showmax didn’t stop there and also announced new investments in local content, although these seem limited to South Africa at the moment. 

Meanwhile, Netflix has released its global Q2 results, which showed the addition of 10 million new subscribers in the past 3 months, bringing its total footprint to 193 million. Netflix has repeatedly cautioned that it might not be able to maintain this momentum throughout the year, forecasting “only” 7.5 million additional subscribers for the second quarter. This would nevertheless bring the streamer’s global audience above the 200 million subscriber mark, which is a staggering number. Besides its considerable head start in terms of reach, Netflix also finds itself in the enviable position of not having to play catch up on Black content, contrary to its competitors who are now scrambling to “diversify” their library. The New York Times has the fascinating story of how that came to be. It may have helped a little that Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, who was just named Co-CEO, happens to be married to a Black woman. And when it comes to Africa, YNaija has an interview with Netflix execs Ben Adamasun and Dorothy Ghettuba in which they share some insights about the way the streamer approaches partnering with local producers, which it often does as early as the pitch phase, to develop authentic local content that can travel.


FILM

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria has appealed to the federal government and President Muhammadu Buhari to include the cinema sector in its financial intervention plans to prevent an “imminent collapse,” and to speedily allow cinemas to reopen in line with the approved reopening of air travel, arguing that both activities present similar health and safety challenges. Like in many other countries, the Nigerian film sector came to a complete stop in March. Among the numerous negative impacts of the lockdown is the build up of a substantial backlog of unreleased films, in a country that normally produces up to 50 movies a week. Pre-COVID, some of the most anticipated films of the year were, interestingly, remakes of 1990s Nollywood classics such as Domitilla, Glamour Girls, Rattlesnake, and Nneka the Pretty Serpent. Quartz has a good article about this new trend, which follows the huge success last year of Living In Bondage: Breaking Free, a sequel to its 1992 original.


CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Meanwhile in Hollywood, African projects and talents continue to gain ground. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood is now attached to direct Viola Davis in The Woman King, inspired by the 18th century Dahomey Kingdom’s all-female military unit known as the Amazons, which fought against the French and neighboring tribes. Apple has signed a first-look deal with Idris Elba and his production company Green Door Pictures to produce series and films for its platform Apple TV+. And finally, Ghana-born multi-disciplinary artist Blitz Bazawule has signed with leading talent agency CAA. Bazawule’s feature directorial debut, The Burial of Kojo, was acquired by Netflix through Ava DuVernay’s Array Films. His work is also featured prominently in the upcoming Beyonce visual album Black Is King, which will debut internationally on July 31 on Disney+, and in Africa on Mnet and Canal+ Afrique.


CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Acomart TV, a new platform that brands itself as “the first-ever virtual screening room exclusively for Afrocentric films and TV shows” kicked off a few days ago. Producers can now upload their content to the platform to promote it to potential buyers. Acomart says it currently has over 15,000 hours of film and TV series content from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon and South Africa available for licensing. 


SOCIAL MEDIA

Is TikTok’s reign already over? Facebook is scheduled to launch Instagram Reels, its answer to TikTok, in a matter of weeks in the US and more than 50 other countries, after piloting it in Brazil, France, Germany, and India. The global launch, which has been in the works for over a year, comes as TikTok is facing scrutiny from Washington over its handling of user data. Like TikTok, Instagram Reels lets users make and share 15-second video clips set to a vast catalog of music, as well as borrow and remix audio from other people's videos. May the best social media giant win.


VIDEO GAME

And to wrap up this bi-weekly summer edition of HUSTLE & FLOW, I recommend any reader interested in the African video game space to watch Africa in Colors’ excellent webinar (in English and French) on the topic. At the speakers explained, this is a sector with tremendous potential in Africa but where everything still remains to be done, from growing and measuring audiences (the lack of market data is a challenge), to building schools and infrastructure with the support of governments, and creating flexible business models based on diversified revenue streams, including outsourcing from global studios.