Hi, Quartz Africa readers!
A new dance
After nearly two decades of decline and existential threat, the global music business finds itself in one its most exciting periods growing by 8.1% to $17.3 billion last year.
While the formal “global” music business was going through its worst years, the African independent pop music business was having a renaissance in several of the continent’s large cities over the last decade and a half. It was different from previous booms because with YouTube, SoundCloud and Twitter, to name a few, the new sounds from Lagos’ Afrobeats to Luanda’s Kuduro and dances from Accra’s Azonto to Soweto’s Gwarra Gwarra were being seen and heard around the world—almost in real time.
African pop artists, with their management teams, entrepreneurially built up their fan bases, personal brands and sold out live shows first at home and then internationally. This all happened early on without the marketing might of major music labels. But these young African artists and their teams want to do more than just break through, they want to take over, and that’s where the majors come in.
Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company based in Los Angeles, hasn’t just been watching the rise of the nascent African music business from the sidelines. Universal has been quietly putting in place technical infrastructure to build pan-African music operations from scratch. It is opening two key new offices, announcing last week an Abidjan base, which will oversee mostly Francophone west Africa run by Moussa Soumbounou.
This week UMG will unveil its office in Lagos under general manager Ezegozie Eze Jr. Both these offices will work with the existing Johannesburg office with a renewed focus on signing local artists, building at home and taking them pan-African and then global.
UMG is not first to tap into the new wave of African pop, Sony-owned labels have signed two of the biggest Nigerian artists in Davido and Wiz Kid in the last few years as well as in South Africa and elsewhere. However UMG, which is owned by French media conglomerate Vivendi, seems to be taking a comprehensive approach that includes a focus on the all-important live music business, particularly on a continent where it’s a bit more difficult to monetize streaming music. It already has UMG Live, a talent booking agency and ULive, a live event producer, and there are plans to work with Vivendi’s CanalOlympia and Canal+ to develop live venues.
So it’s not so much late to the party as trying to build the party venue, develop the artists to perform, book the talent, produce the show and possibly sell the t-shirts. The future of the global music business is happening in Africa.
— Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
Africa’s last absolute monarchy is finding it hard to rebrand itself with a new name. In April, King Mswati III announced Swaziland would now be called eSwatini. But the process of this name-change is proving to be harder and likely more expensive than he must have thought.
How Ethiopia and Eritrea found peace after two decades. In mere weeks, Ethiopia and Eritrea normalized relations, promised to reopen embassies, and resumed trade and flights between their capitals. Martin Plaut expounds on the backstory that led to this historic moment. These are also some good books to read on Eritrea if you want to learn more.
Analyzing the transactional loyalty of Nigerian politics. This week, Nigeria experienced a major political realignment with a faction of president Buhari’s own party leaving as they prepare to unseat him in the February elections. Long-time Nigeria analyst Matthew T. Page explains how a fluid political reality begets a power-hungry political culture in Africa’s most-populous nation.
Africa’s biggest TV player is lobbying to regulate Netflix. MultiChoice’s chief executive has been calling for the US streaming service to be regulated, blaming it for the loss of over 100,000 subscribers last year alone. Lynsey Chutel writes on the challenges facing MultiChoice’s as it tries to prove it’s place as an underdog.
Why Chinese firms will continue building expensive roads in Uganda. Last month, Chinese deputy premier, Wang Yang opened a 51-kilometer expressway spanning the Ugandan capital Kampala to its main airport in Entebbe. Analyzing the expenses, Lydia Namubiru documents how politics and policy ensure Chinese contractors have the upper hand in road construction.
Barack Obama’s favorite African books list is good, here are a few more to make it better. Ahead of his upcoming trip to the continent, former president Obama he a summer reading list. Of course his list included the quintessential authors such as Achebe, wa Thiong’o and Adichie. We take a look at Obama’s list and suggest a few more.
Chart of the Week
China is now, by far, Kenya’s largest external creditor. As Nairobi oversees a borrowing spree to upgrade infrastructure and improve energy options, the latest figures show China has become the favorite destination to access quick cash. As Abdi Latif Dahir reports, the current debt numbers have renewed questions over how these loans could be repaid in the long run.
Other Things We Liked
Discovering the place of Kenya’s gifts from the moon. Twice, in 1970 and 1973, the United States gifted Kenya commemorative plaques with four rice-sized moon rocks that were brought back on the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions. In Owaahh, they try to find out what happened to those official plaques.
The Pan-African roots of football in Ghana. Football is a well-loved game across Ghana, whose team The Black Stars have had legendary performances in previous World Cup games. In Africa as a Country, Philip Janzen dispels a myth about how the popular sport was introduced in the West African nation.
Keep an eye on
Obama tours Kenya and South Africa (Jul. 15-19). Former US president Barack Obama will visit Kenya and meet with president Uhuru Kenyatta and travel to his father’s hometown in Siaya to open a vocational school. He will then travel to South Africa to deliver the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg.
China’s president visits Africa (Jul. 19-24). Xi Jinping will take his first trip to Africa since getting re-elected as president in March, meeting with leaders in Senegal, Rwanda, and South Africa.
Mobile 360 Africa (Jul. 17-19). The conference will bring together leaders from across Africa’s telecom and tech sector to explore how to harness an inclusive digital landscape for all.
*This brief was produced while listening to Dooyo by Dur-Dur Band (Somalia)
Our best wishes for a productive and thought-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, books on Eritrea and Uganda road contracts to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day. This newsletter was compiled by Abdi Latif Dahir and Kemi Lijadu and edited by Yinka Adegoke.
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