IFPI opens sub-Saharan Africa office in Kenya

The office will be headed by Kenyan lawyer and corporate executive Angela Ndambuki. She will take up the role of regional director and will be responsible for the region's 46 countries.

IFPI promotes the value of recorded music, campaigns for the rights of record producers and expands the commercial uses of recorded music. The federation boasts a membership of 1 300 major and independent companies in about 60 countries. It also has affiliated industry groups in 56 countries. Its recently released Global Music Report for 2019 shows that recorded music industry revenues for Africa and the Middle East grew by 15.9% to $101m.

"I am looking forward to working on strengthening the copyright industry in sub-Saharan Africa, both in policy and operations, especially in light of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area," Ndambuki said.

Ndambuki joins IFPI from the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) where she was CEO since September 2017. Before KNCCI, she was the CEO of the Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) between 2012 and 2017.

Commenting on the launch of the regional office, IFPI CEO Frances Moore said: "Sub-Saharan Africa has an incredibly exciting and diverse music landscape. The opening of our office in Nairobi demonstrates IFPI's focus and commitment to the region and will enable us to better champion issues affecting the local recording industry and support the further development of the music market in these countries.

"I'm delighted that Angela is joining the global IFPI team to spearhead our work in the sub-Saharan Africa region and support its growing recording industry. Angela is enormously talented and comes with a wealth of experience.

"We would also like to thank Rob Hooijer whose work as the regional coordinator has helped us expand our presence in the region and laid the groundwork for the opening of our office in sub-Saharan Africa. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with him."

Ndambuki is well-known for defending the intellectual property rights of artists. In 2018, she was named among the 100 Most Reputable Africans by Reputation Poll for her various roles in advancing corporate governance, and intellectual and human rights interests.

In 2017 she was voted Kenya's Top 40 Under 40 Women winner by the Business Daily for her role in policy and advocacy in trade facilitation and intellectual property rights. She also serves as the vice-chairperson of the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and is a member of the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) as well as an expert at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Academy.