Dear colleagues and friends,
2020 is certainly the gift that keeps on giving. Over the 4th of July weekend, a providential Black personality with global influence has emerged to save Americans from an uninspiring choice at the ballot next November. Unfortunately, it’s not Michelle Obama but Kanye West, who announced his candidacy for the presidential elections on Saturday. It doesn't come as a complete surprise as Kanye had already threatened to run last year (but was aiming for 2024). Democrats are now concerned that Kanye will pull a Nader and cost them the Presidency, to the benefit of the rapper’s erratic soul brother and current occupant of the White House. Seems like we haven’t reached the depths of the absurd yet.
Meanwhile in Ethiopia, popular Oromo singer and activist Hachalu Hundesa was shot dead last week, sparking protests from outraged fans and prompting the government to shut down the internet. This is not the first time that Ethiopia’s leadership resorts to this tactic to quell dissent, which is not a good look at a time where the country is purportedly opening up. It is also very expensive. In 2019, a similar two-week blackout is estimated to have cost Ethiopia $66.87 million.
This week in HUSTLE & FLOW, I’ll talk about how a type of legal certification called “Geographical indication” could be the way to protect Africa’s IP over its traditional crafts such as Ghana’s kente cloth, how the postponement of the African Cup of Nations to 2022 may disadvantage African teams at the World Cup, who are the African artists who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures this year, and more.
Also, as my readers in the western hemisphere are preparing to take some time off over the summer, I’ll temporarily reduce the frequency of HUSTLE & FLOW to one edition every other week until the end of August. This will also give me a little bit more time to absorb your great feedback and reflect on new ways to continue serving this community.
Please continue to reach out at marie@restless.global, to consult past editions at www.restless.global/hustleflow, and to subscribe here!
Happy reading to all,
Marie
COVID IMPACT
Speaking to the BBC’s Business Daily podcast, Moses Babatope, co-founder of Nigeria’s largest cinema chain FilmHouse, estimates the loss of revenue over the past 5 months at $13 million for the Nigerian film sector and $50 million for the Nigerian creative industries as a whole, with 50 to 150,000 jobs at stake, while PwC’s Chijioke Uwaegbute believes the total loss could eventually reach up to $200 million. HEVA Fund’s George Gachara has also spoken out about the shock that the pandemic has caused to the fragile East African creative ecosystem.
As the scale of the impact on the African creative sector becomes clearer, the rescue and support measures that have been announced so far seem clearly insufficient. More recently, the Goethe Institut has launched a $3.4 million support fund for African creative and cultural organizations impacted by the pandemic. These approved organizations will be able to access up to $28,000 in funding for the September-December 2020 period. Meanwhile, the Africa Technology and Creative Group has launched the 'ATCG COVID-19 Response for African Creative Industries Fund', which seeks to raise donations to support creatives across Africa who have lost their income source due to the pandemic or are looking for innovation support to test out new ideas or create new COVID-related projects. Applicants can receive a maximum grant of $500 or innovation support up to $2,000.
However, as Aubrey Hruby and Roberta Annan write in The Africa Report, the long term trends (rising popularity of African music, film and fashion, fast digitalization, decreasing data costs, interest from companies like Netflix and Universal Music, to which I would add the new global Black empowerment movement that is changing the perception around Black content) continue to support the investment thesis in Africa’s creative economy. I shared more of my thoughts on this topic (and in French for once) on the panel organized by Africa in Colors last week.
INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE
Africa Data Centres, part of the Liquid Telecom Group, has consolidated its position as Africa’s largest carrier-neutral data center provider by acquiring a major site in Johannesburg from Standard Bank. The facility is “widely recognized as the most prestigious and highly specified data center anywhere in Africa, offering world-leading levels of security, resilience and capacity”.
Paris-based content and technology provider Summview has chosen Rack Center to host its services in Nigeria. Summview specializes in the development of applications and multimedia services for smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, IPTV and OTT, such as EbonyLife TV’s VOD platform. Rack Center will provide the company with a direct connection to the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, over 35 of the major carriers and ISPs and all five undersea cables serving the South Atlantic coast of Africa.
MOBILE
The Ethiopian Communications Commission has announced that it has received twelve bids for the country’s two available telecommunication licenses, including nine from telcos (The Global Partnership for Ethiopia (a consortium made of Vodafone, Vodacom, and Safaricom), Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom, Snail Mobile), two from non-telcos and one incomplete submission. The Global Partnership for Ethiopia is the clear favorite, although others likely made very compelling cases as well. For more on this, this Jeune Afrique article digs into the value proposition of several of the bidders (in French and behind the paywall).
In South Africa, MTN has called for the release of additional spectrum in order to enable its implementation of its 5G network expansion plans, which aim to cover 10 million people within 12 months. Authorities in South Africa have made temporary spectrum available during the lockdown, but have not yet allocated permanent spectrum.
E-COMMERCE
Chinese-owned startup OPay, which had been aggressively pursuing a super app strategy in Nigeria, is putting several of its verticals “on pause”, including its ride-hailing services (ORide and OCar) and its logistics delivery service (OExpress). Just last year, OPay had raised a massive $170 million round of funding, but it proved to be no match for the current “harsh business conditions” which include a global pandemic, a lockdown, as well as a government ban on motorcycle taxis. OPay plans to focus on its payment solutions, which it claims are profitable, and on growing its e-commerce operations.
With Whatsapp payments now operational in Brazil, an Africa launch cannot be far away. Although Facebook’s payment platform is likely to be a hit with sellers and consumers alike, the risk is that it might make some homegrown African fintech solutions redundant. Nigerian fintech startup Carbon, however, has already anticipated this moment and is now positioning itself as a potential future partner for the social media giant. The startup’s keyboard-based Carbon Express solution allows users to perform financial transactions within any conversation on their mobile devices, and already works on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Twitter. Facebook typically collaborates with local partners to facilitate its services in different countries, so working with Carbon could be a convenient way for the platform to connect with the Nigerian financial ecosystem. That is not the first smart move from Carbon, who is also one of few private companies in Africa that voluntarily releases and discusses its financial reports. All the way back in 2013, when co-founders Chijioke and Ngozi Dozie launched the first incarnation of their lending product, they made the bold choice of commissioning a satirical ad featuring the crooked Nigerian pastor character from my show (spoiler alert: that didn’t quite work). Those ads have now disappeared from the internet, but click here for a taste of Pastor Chinedu and his Desperately Single and Bitterly Married Seminar.
FASHION
Vogue highlights Industrie Africa this week, a two-year-old platform dubbed the “wikipedia of young African designers” which showcases a directory of over 80 brands from 24 different African countries. Already a solid fashion content destination, in May 2020 Industrie Africa went one step further by launching an online store, with a catalog available for worldwide delivery thanks to a partnership with the ubiquitous DHL. Industrie Africa is the brainchild of Tanzanian Parsons School of Design graduate Nisha Kanabar who worked in fashion publishing for a decade across various markets before founding her own venture.
Last week I talked about Vlisco’s wax prints and Nigeria’s aso oke. As an example of IA’s great content, one of its recent in-depth features digs into the history and symbolism of kente, Ghana’s traditional fabric, and why its use by some members of the US Democratic Party to demonstrate solidarity with Black America a few weeks ago irked many. Writer Sefa Gohoho Boatin also exposes the apparition of fake printed “kente” cloth from China (the real kente is woven by master craftsmen) and recent efforts to patent or protect Ghana’s intellectual property over the cloth, with one option being “Geographical Indication”, a label that ties the production of a particular item to its region of origin, just like it is done for champagne, cognac, or even South African rooibos tea. Geographical Indication could be used to protect many of Africa’s traditional products and crafts, and efforts to implement it across the continent should be backed by development institutions that have a mandate to support the African Creative Industries.
VISUAL ARTS
The couple of (possibly looted) Igbo sculptures presented at Christie’s Paris’ June 29 auction have sold slightly below their estimated price for $239,232 to an online bidder. If it’s any consolation, the Nigerian Urhobo sculpture which was on sale for around $1 million did not find any takers. For the French speakers among you, Le Monde has the story here.
LITERATURE
Nigerian writer Innocent Chizaram Ilo has won the Commonwealth Prize Short Story prize (Africa) for When a Woman Renounces Motherhood, which can be read in full on Granta’s website. At 23, Ilo is the youngest-ever writer to be awarded the Africa region prize.
MUSIC
Three African artists are among the winners of this year’s BET awards, which took place last Monday. Nigeria’s Burna Boy confirms that 2020 is his year by winning Best International Act, while Zimbabwe’s Sha Sha won the Viewer’s Choice award for Best International Act, and Brown Skin Girl, WizKid’s collabo with Beyoncé, her daughter Blue Ivy, and rapper Saint Jhn, won the BET Her Award.
Nigerian record label Mavin Records has partnered with Seattle-based music licensing startup SyncFloor to bring the label’s catalog to more potential sync buyers. Mavin was launched in 2012 by star producer Don Jazzy, notorious for working briefly with Kanye West, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and for over a decade with D’Banj, with whom he used to own Mo’ Hits Records. Mavin Records, which secured major investment from Kupanda Holdings (backed by TPG Growth) last year to back an ambitious growth strategy, represents local artists such as Johnny Drille, Di’ja, D’Prince and Korede Bello, whose breakout hit Do Like That has racked up over 200 million YouTube views. I did a quick test on SyncFloor, whose tagline is “Finding Music Naturally”, by searching for the key word “Nigerian”. The response I got: “We noticed the core genre in your search is underground.” Hmm.
SPORTS BUSINESS
The Africa Cup of Nations, which was set to take place in January 2021 in Cameroon, has been postponed to January 2022 by the Confederation of African Football as a result of the pandemic, while the women's version of the tournament has been cancelled. This means that the Afcon will now take place in the same year as the World Cup, which risks disadvantaging African teams at the World Cup by giving them an extended season of competition.
Multichoice’s SuperSport is reportedly considering not renewing the broadcasting rights for the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, for which it pays around $250 million and $100 million respectively, citing rising prices and an unfavorable economic environment. Both properties are currently barely breaking even on the platform, according to SuperSport executives.
BROADCAST
The Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria has called for the Nigerian National Broadcasting Commission to put on hold the implementation of its controversial new Broadcasting Code, which seeks to ban content exclusivity in the country, to make way for a fresh process of wide-ranging stakeholder consultations. Meanwhile, the NBC has indicated that it would move forward with the implementation. The arm-wrestling continues.
Still in Nigeria, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said that the still-ongoing digital switchover is expected to eventually generate more than $1 billion, mostly from spectrum sales, and more than 1 million jobs in the areas of set-top-box manufacturing, content production and advertising services. After repeated delays, the digital switchover is currently completed in only 5 of Nigeria’s 36 states. No word about the impact of COVID on these plans, despite the fact that the broadcast industry has been hard hit globally by the loss of advertising revenue. In Kenya, for example, Nation Media Group has had to let go of 175 employees.
However in Ivory Coast, which has experienced a less severe lockdown than most and whose broadcast market has recently been energized by the launch of new DTT channels, advertising revenues have grown 37.7% in May 2020 compared to May 2019. TV advertising revenues are still twice lower in Ivory Coast than in Senegal though, despite Ivory Coast’s GDP being double the one of Senegal.
FILM
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (whose members vote for the Oscars) has invited 819 new artists and executives to join its class of 2020, including several Africans such as Kenyan documentary producer Toni Kamau, Nigerian actress and director Genevieve Nnaji, Zimbabwean post-production coordinator Sue-Ellen Chitunya, Kenyan short film director Wanjiru Njendu, British-Nigerian actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, Nigerian director Akin Omotoso, British-Ghanaian actor David Gyasi, French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, Mozambican director Inadelso Cossa, Egyptian-American short film director Miranda Yousef, French-Malian director Ladj Ly, and Sudanese documentary filmmaker Hajooj Kuka. Congratulations to all new Oscar voters, many of whom have already been showcased in this newsletter for their groundbreaking work.
Disney-owned Searchlight pictures has signed on to produce a movie based on the improbable life of “Black Mozart” Chevalier de Saint-George, who was born the illegitimate son of an African slave and a white planter in the French Caribbean colony of Guadeloupe and rose to become a champion fencer, classical composer, virtuoso violinist, and conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris. The project was pitched by Atlanta writer Stefani Robinson and will be helmed by Jamaican-born Watchmen director Stephen Williams. Do I wish that French producers and financiers would invest that boldly in projects that reflect on their own colonial history? Yes I do. But there is also no question that Disney will be more effective in bringing the story of Saint-George to a mass audience. A note to African writers: now is the time to polish all these African historical hero projects that have been sitting in your drawers for years.
VOD
Netflix has tapped Ghanaian-American Marketing Maven Bozoma Saint John as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Saint John is leaving entertainment company Endeavor, where she had been CMO since 2018. Previously she held senior brand and marketing positions at Uber, Apple Music and Pepsi. Saint John has been involved behind-the-scenes in shaping Ghana’s roots tourism strategy and in bringing Black American stars to the country for its Year of the Return celebrations last year. Just before the global lockdown, she took her Endeavor team to Accra to explore business opportunities and collaborations with local creatives. Her appointment at Netflix is great news as it can only strengthen the streamer’s current push into African content.
CONTENT PRODUCTION
I’ve already talked about Yvonne Orji’s HBO special Momma, I Made It, which is getting great reviews in the US. I must admit that I have not yet watched it myself, but this thought piece from writer Damilola Oyedele seems to echo the ambivalent feelings of Nigerians on the ground for Orji’s comedy show. Oyedele talks about a certain type of “performative Nigerianness” plaguing some Nigerians who have been away from their home country for so long that they have partially embraced the American view of it, and might even unknowingly contribute to perpetuating certain stereotypes. “It is crucial to make clear that Nigerian-Americans are one type of Nigerian, one small slice of the experience of being Nigerian,” writes Oyedele. “There are so many other ways to be Nigerian. Some Nigerians continue to remain in Nigeria, with the means to immigrate but with no interest to do so. Some were born in Togo. Others have lived in countries like Tanzania, South Africa, Germany, Nigeria, the UK, and the US. Some, like me, migrated in their 20s for education and remain here as reluctant economic migrants. All these experiences are different. Their stories matter. And these stories must not be silenced by a caricatured story of a Nigeria that doesn’t even exist anymore.” This is valid for Africa as a whole.