ACCES 2018 dates and venue announced

The announcement was made after the MIAF confirmed the Kenyan capital as ACCES 2018 host city at the beginning of March.

ACCES, which moves to a different African city every year, is a multidimensional music conference for industry professionals to network, share knowledge and discover new local talent.

The first ACCES conference was held in Dakar, Senegal, in November last year where about 500 participants from more than 40 countries in Africa and Europe as well as the US and Australia came together to learn about the West African music industry through informative panel discussions, showcases and tours to venues and studios.

MIAF director Eddie Hatitye said ACCES 2018 would build on the successes of last year’s conference.

“ACCES has become arguably the MIAF’s most important event of the calendar year. This is where our online and offline efforts come together with a view to improve the African music industry by nurturing business exchange and knowledge sharing,” he said.

“We looked at last year’s conference and asked ourselves how we could make the event even better. We asked our guests to complete a survey through which we got a better understanding of the activities they prefer. We will be implementing many of those in Nairobi come November.”

Hatitye said ACCES 2018 would introduce significant improvements in areas such as content curation, networking, showcasing and exhibition formats. The event would introduce streamlined one-on-one meetings, new networking tools, curated showcases, keynote lectures and customised exhibitions, among others.

The MIAF said an announcement about when and how interested parties could register for ACCES 2018 would be announced soon.

About ACCES

ACCES is an annual music conference that hosts industry players from across the African continent and around the world. ACCES 2018 will be held in Nairobi from 15 to 17 November and will see music professionals converge on the Kenyan capital to exchange ideas, discover new talent and accelerate the shaping of the music sector on the continent. The conference will offer training workshops, panel discussions, presentations, networking sessions, exhibitions, showcases, concerts and visits to key music industry hubs in Nairobi.

ACCES is supported by Goethe-Institut and Siemens Stiftung.

For more information about the conference, visit the official ACCES website.