ONGEA! 2018: Lessons and milestones

The third edition of ONGEA! ran from 16 to 19 February at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, and was a culmination of about 15 years of showbiz impact, having operated for a decade as Kenya Music Week until 2013. Even with all the achievements of the past, ONGEA! 2018 had its fair share of lessons and milestones, for both the participants and organisers.

This year the number of visitors was 12 574, up from 11 273 in 2017. The event boasted 43 exhibitors, 57 stands and 30 showcases, of which two were reserved for the Mdundo Awards where Willy Paul led the pack. Professional discussion panels grew from eight to 10, with an impressive list of experienced industry professionals discussing a wide range of topics pertinent to the industry.

These included panels on publicity, women in music, music education, Kenya’s copyright amendment bill, noise-pollution enforcement, securing festival bookings and the relationship between film and music.

The topics were designed to fill information gaps that are common among industry players. And the panellist were as diverse as the topics being handled, ranging from media personalities, performers, politicians and intellectual property lawyers, among others.

All the panels and showcases were streamed lived on the ONGEA! YouTube channel and many who attended the discussions were happy with the depth of enquiry and relevance of the topics. Each panel included a Q&A session where the audience engaged the panellists with intuitive queries.

The showcases were equally intriguing, with some great performances on stage. Exhibitors were given priority in terms of time slots but there were several open mic sessions throughout the whole event. With a few bookers from Europe in attendance, performers were eager to impress. Showcases varied from upcoming bands to well-established groups with extensive international experience.

This year was the first that saw European companies exhibiting at the summit. Ma Case Productions, a talent management and tour booking company from France that is interested in pan-African music, was one such example.

“We have had a lot of enquiries about meetings on demand,” ONGEA! head of production Beth Achitsa said. “We had a successful piloting phase this year and we hope to develop this with our registration partners to have a meeting-on-demand service.”

Others who spoke to Music In Africa included Lucy Engeshav from Sauti Academy. The music school held auditions at the summit and offered scholarships to successful applicants.

“We were very impressed by the accomplishments of all participants and proud of them,” Engeshav said. “The two winners will be enrolled in May and we expect them to graduate in March 2019. The turnout was huge – we registered at least 22 participants every day.”

Twenty-one-year-old scholarship recipient Muthoni Kiragu, who is a fashion design and textile student at the Technical University of Kenya, said: “I am really happy and proud of myself. It is a great opportunity. I think music education is useful to every musician. There are many talented vocalists who do not know how to market their songs or how to write songs.”

The ONGEA! Summit attracted music professionals of varying experience from across the East African region. Attending for the first time, DJ Prince from Uganda appreciated the opportunity to network with various people in the business, although he noted that many exhibitors seemed overwhelmed by the number of visitors and as such couldn’t provide enough attention to everyone.

“The showcases went late into the night and so I couldn’t stay that late because of where I was staying,” he said. “It could be useful for upcoming artists to start the showcase performance a bit earlier. However, the general experience was great. I made very useful connections that will help me in my career.”