MIAF reflects on 10 years of supporting the African music industry

The yearlong anniversary celebration is taking stock of all the accomplishments that the Foundation has chalked up over the years, despite unexpected challenges along the way including recent crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the current global economic downturn.

Despite these challenges, the MIAF is proud of its achievements, which stem from dedicated and extensive work on the ground with all manner of music professionals from across the African continent and its diaspora.

A decade of sustainable investment

During its formative decade, the MIAF has made important investments spanning the length and breadth of the African music industry – with an emphasis on supporting upcoming talent and the devoted players working to improve the state of the industry. This support has come by way of carefully and expertly curated projects designed to improve the often difficult situation that many music professionals find themselves in on the continent.

To this end, and with the help of dedicated funders and partners, the Foundation has made notable investments in developing the Music In Africa portal (www.musicinafrica.net), without doubt the most comprehensive information portal for African music in the world.

In 2015, the MIAF adopted a new strategy as a way to bolster its support for the sector, occasioning the introduction of various projects aimed at addressing some of the continent’s most pressing challenges. These projects, driven primarily from the MIAF’s head office in Johannesburg and satellite offices in, Dakar, Accra, Kinshasa and Nairobi, brought about measured investment in artist mobility, organisational financing, research, capacity building, market development, B2B exchange platforms, talent export, instrument building, and advocacy aimed at making a positive change in areas such as intellectual property and gender disparity.

In the past five years alone, the MIAF has invested close to €10m towards making a positive difference in the sector. Some of the MIAF’s key projects in the past years include the ACCES music conference – a key pan-African platform for industry players to meet, exchange ideas, discover new talent and accelerate the shaping of Africa’s vibrant music sector. Concurrently, the MIAF’s Sound Connects Fund (SCF) is one of the few funding facilities dedicated to the creative economy in Southern Africa, with a budget of more than €4m invested in developing the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the region.

Other noteworthy projects of the MIAF include the Gender@Work training programme for female music professionals, the critical Instrument Building and Repair programme, aimed at professionalising indigenous instrument making, the Revenue Streams for African Musicians project, which was run as a pilot in South Africa in 2020 to improve the earning potential of music makers, the Music In Africa Live digital content production project, and the MusicXwords training and exchange initiative targeting musicians and spoken word artists.

Thousands of beneficiaries

Through these programmes, and many others, more than 7 000 music professionals have directly benefited from programmes conducted by the MIAF since its establishment 10 years ago. In the same period, the Foundation has offered jobs and learning opportunities to over 1 000 journalists and researchers across the continent, developing useful information that is shared with thousands of users free of charge.

“The Music In Africa project began as what some would call a ‘naive dream’ to connect different players in a stratified industry with different contexts and at different developmental stages,” Music In Africa Foundation director Eddie Hatitye said. “What started out as a small team has resulted in a multitalented, robust staff complement of 18 operating in unison from five countries across Africa.

“For this, we owe a debt of gratitude to our partners, particularly our long-time partners Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut, for supporting the Foundation and its important work on the continent. This initiative, which is now very much a reality for us and all those who have benefited from our work, has become an important part of a unified, pan-African music sector that is excitedly in the process of garnering massive success at home and abroad. We see great things for the Foundation in the near future as we continue to design new projects with a view to further professionalise the sector and empower its players.”

Siemens Stiftung managing director and spokesperson Dr Nina Smidt said: “It gives us great pleasure that the Music In Africa Foundation can look back on an extraordinary 10-year success story. As the Siemens Stiftung, we are always optimistic about the cultural work on the continent and our expectations are regularly far exceeded. Music moves people and contributes to a better life in Africa as well. We are glad and happy that we have been able to accompany this good path all this time. We wish the Music In Africa Foundation continued success and look forward to many more new musical discoveries.”

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the MIAF has ignited and reignited partnerships with important events and organisations in Africa such as the Africa Rising Music Conference (South Africa), Ayoba (South Africa/Africa), MTN Bushfire Festival (eSwatini), Bassline Fest (South Africa), FEMUA (Ivory Coast), PPC Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zimbabwe), JMI Global music conference (Zimbabwe) and Sauti za Busara festival (Zanzibar), among others. The MIAF remains open and keen to collaborate with like-minded players. Share your ideas with us by contacting Mr Blessings Ngwenya at [email protected].