Africa and the diaspora on ACCES 2023 agenda

ACCES will take place at Mlimani City Conference Centre and the Warehouse live venue where the music trade event will host a pan-African line-up of showcasing acts on 9, 10 and 11 November.

The 10 November conference session will feature EMPIRE’s vice-president for strategy and market development for Africa and the diaspora, Ezegozie Eze Jr (Nigeria), African Music Week president Julz Ossom (Canada), Young Music Boss founder Jusnah Gadi (UK) and radio presenter Stani Goma (Australia).

The global rise of African pop music is strongly supported by Africans living abroad, allowing artists on the continent to achieve global recognition and fill large venues. Notable examples of this phenomenon include Nigerian stars Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido and breakout star Asake. Burna Boy’s recent stadium tours have set a new standard for Afrobeats artists, while Asake has performed at renowned venues like London’s 20 000-capacity O2 Arena in the UK and the similarly sized Barclays Center in New York.

Grammy-winning South African DJ Black Coffee recently headlined a show at Madison Square Garden in New York. Events like the Afro Nation festival, which regularly draws thousands of attendees worldwide, play a pivotal role in uniting the African diaspora, promoting genres like Afrobeats and amapiano on a global scale and driving streaming revenue in Africa to a projected $500m by 2025.

The programmed experts will take a behind-the-scenes look at the growing network of platforms and programmes bringing together artists, audiences and tastemakers from Africa and the diaspora.

Ezegozie Eze Jr, who was formerly the head of Universal Music Nigeria, was one of three pioneering executive hires that accompanied American distribution company and record label EMPIRE’s expansion into Africa last year. With more than 11 years of experience, the music executive focuses on economic impact and ecosystem development in the African and diasporic creative and entertainment industries.

Julz Ossom – a business marketing strategist, entrepreneur and consultant – is well respected for his vision within Canada’s artistic, socia and political landscapes. Originally from Ghana, he started as a popular Afrobeat radio DJ and in 2003 founded Ghanamixtapes.com, a pioneering digital platform for African mixtape culture. Ossom’s influence extends to partnerships with various cultural initiatives in Toronto and is known for his A&R work with Akon’s Konvict Muzik label.

Jusnah Gadi is a music business educator and the founder of Young Music Boss (YMB), a resource hub focusing on legal and business affairs in the music industry. The organisation is geared towards empowering artists and aspiring music executives by providing educational resources and hosting events like the Music Intelligence Seminar and the YMB Awards. Gadi boasts a legal background specialising in intellectual property and commercial law, and is passionate about developing the Tanzanian music industry ecosystem.

Born and raised in the Congo-Brazzaville, Stani Goma is the presenter and producer of Flight 1067 to Africa on PBS-FM in Australia. His programme showcases music from all over Africa and takes listeners on a musical journey across the continent. He has interviewed numerous African greats and served as an MC at major music and community events.

Register for ACCES 2023 here. African delegates register for free.

View the full conference programme here.

About ACCES

ACCES is a pan-African trade show 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 pan-African non-profit organisation, in partnership with Siemens Stiftung, Goethe-Institut, the Tanzanian Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports, the National Arts Council of Tanzania (BASATA) and Alliance Française.

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