Reeperbahn Festival International helps nurture music industry ties between Africa and Europe at ACCES 2019

ACCES is Africa's leading music business conference that takes place in a different African city every year. The event is carefully designed for music industry players to exchange ideas, discover new talent and create business linkages. This year's edition takes places at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Alliance Française and The Goal Coast Hub.

The panel discussion is titled Fostering Collaboration Between African and European Music Markets and makes part of a multifaceted partnership between ACCES and Reeperbahn Festival that aims to formalise business exchange and collaborations between artists and industry players working in Africa and Europe.

The session, scheduled for Saturday 30 November at 2.30pm at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, will see industry leaders brainstorm ideas about how to further invest in the ongoing partnerships between the African and European music markets, and explore the educational, collaborative and performance opportunities available today.

The panellists will include musician and activist Roberto Hacaturyan (Artlink, Switzerland), artist manager Stefanie Schumann (Delicious Tunes, Germany), SAMRO Foundation managing director Andre Le Roux (South Africa), Asa Baako One Dance Music festival curator and programmer Okhiogbe Omonblanks Omonhinmin (Ghana), Lighthouse CEO Trond Tornes (Norway) and Afro x Pop founder Pamela Owusu-Brenyah (Germany).

Reeperbahn Festival will also host a second panel discussion, titled Navigating the Recording and Distribution Industries in a Changing Environment, a day earlier on 29 November, also at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. The session begins at 1.45pm.

In addition, Reeperbahn Festival is taking three diaspora acts – Gato Preto (Germany/Ghana/Mozambique), Songhoy Blues (UK/Mali) and Lúcia de Carvalho (France/Angola) – to perform at ACCES 2019. The three will join an exciting line-up of showcasing artists that will also feature Mokoomba (Zimbabwe), Arka'n (Togo), Sibusile Xaba (South Africa) and Bholoja (eSwatini), as well as Ghanaians Yaa Yaa, Santrofi, Kyekyeku & Ghanalogue Highlife, FOKN Bois, Cina Soul and FRA!

View the full ACCES 2019 programme here.

Registration is mandatory and African delegates register for free.

About Reeperbahn Festival International

This year ACCES has a partnership with Reeperbahn Festival – Germany’s largest music platform based in Hamburg. The partnership creates a framework for the festival to collaborate with ACCES in facilitating sustainable business engagements and exchange between European and African music businesses and professionals, as well as the provision of performance opportunities to musicians in both territories. The Reeperbahn Festival International Programme is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. In 2020, the next Reeperbahn Festival International spin-offs take place in Los Angeles (22-25 March), Beijing (24-26 April), Nashville (11-14 May) and New York (15-18 June). For more information visit the official website.

About ACCES

ACCES is a pan-African trade event for music industry players to exchange ideas, discover new talent and create business linkages. ACCES is held in a different African city every year, attracting active music industry players from across the globe.

ACCES is organised by the Music In Africa Foundation, a non-profit and pan-African organisation, in partnership and with the support of Siemens Stiftung, Goethe-Institut, Reeperbahn Festival International, Alliance Française, BMG, MediaSound Hamburg, the Multimedia Group, Africa Art Lines, Afrikayna, The Gold Coast Hub, the Year of Return, the Prince Claus Fund and the ANT Mobility Grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

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