Baaba Maal: African music needs to be its own brand

"It's time for what we share with the world to be developed here," he said. "The main foundations of music must above all meet the standards of exchange and sharing that can only flow through travel.”

Baaba Maal was speaking at the opening of the Music In Africa Conference for Collaborations, Exchange and Showcases (ACCES) on 17 and 18 November at the Place du Souvenir in Dakar, Senegal.

ACCES is an annual music conference that hosts industry players from across the continent and is dedicated to the African music sector. The event featured concerts, exhibitions and networking sessions and brought artists, musicians, journalists and teachers to share their knowledge of the music industry. During the two-day conference, about 50 speakers from 15 countries took part in panel discussions. Several concerts were organised and a workshop was initiated.

"We can and must interact with other cultures, while keeping ours intact," Maal said. "This exchange must in no case lead to the loss of various assets”. He said diversity and openness to diversity is a huge advantage for the artist, who could then afford to revisit what he has been exposed to.

Research is essential in musical practice and in this respect, Maal said, Africa has an inestimable cultural wealth that only needs to be explored and then exploited. He invited the younger generation to give themselves "the trouble to do research".

Moreover, he noted, he himself had to travel West Africa for two years for the sole purpose of diversifying his collection. He said he was nonetheless committed to "genuine musical rooting".

At the opening, the secretary-general of Senegal's Ministry of Culture, Birane Niang, hailed "the beautiful initiative, cultural as well as intellectual, taken by ACCES".

Niang said the initiative contributed to "the consolidation of skills in a contribution to the development of the music industry" and asserted "the commitment of the government to support the cause".

Also speaking at the opening, Aisha Deme, chairperson of Music In Africa, said her organisation wanted "to contribute to the implementation of a real music industry in Africa".

"These two days will facilitate the exchange between different actors of the music industry,” she said, adding that she hoped ACCES would provide "practical modalities" and become "a link in a long chain".