NEFCISA
NEFCISA

The Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) is proud of its partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as a Strategic Implementing Partner (SIP) for its Social Employment Fund (SEF). Through this collaboration, MIAF is running a national programme that is creating jobs, addressing skills gaps, and strengthening South Africa's creative industries — in line with the SEF's overarching goal to generate work for the common good and build community value through employment, social contribution, and inclusive economic participation. Operating under the banner NEFCISA (National Employment Facility for Creative Industries in South Africa), the initiative is recruiting and training participants, matching them with host organisations, and has already placed 1 500 workers across the country — surpassing its original target of 1 000. NEFCISA is delivered through a network of 20 host organisations spanning five provinces, who are actively hosting participants and contributing to work for the common good across South Africa's creative and cultural industries. Key Objectives: Support employment and entrepreneurship in the creative industries. Offer skills development and training programmes. Foster partnerships between public and private creative sectors. Promote South African creativity at both provincial and national levels Foster community development through social contribution.

ACCES
ACCES

ACCES Conference and Showcase Festival is Africa's leading music industry gathering, bringing together the people shaping the future of the continent's music business. Artists, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, policymakers and cultural leaders from across Africa and around the world come to ACCES to build partnerships, exchange ideas, discover talent and create new business opportunities. Since its launch in 2017, ACCES has become the continent's premier platform for professional exchange and music market development. Combining a high-level conference with a curated showcase festival, networking, exhibitions and industry programmes, ACCES offers a unique space where creativity meets business and where African music connects with the global industry.

Gender@Work
Gender@Work

Music In Africa Gender @ Work is a three-year training programme aimed at upskilling and increasing the participation of female professionals in the African music sector. Launched by the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) in April 2019, the programme is connected to the MIAF’s ACCES music conference – a pan-African event held in a different African country every year. This connection enables the programme to reach new participants in a different African country every year. The programme marks the beginning of a more concerted effort by the Foundation to support the participation and inclusion of women in all facets of its programmes and the music sector in Africa as a whole. Over the three years, the programme will aim to address gender imbalances in the sector through training, lobbying, facilitating knowledge exchange and dialogues that foster the interest of women. The broader objectives of the programme are to: Provide industry training for women on critical music industry skills, focusing on: Stage management Electronic music production and recording Music business management Technical knowledge Provide an opportunity for both professional and aspiring women to benefit from the Music In Africa network and its broad range of activities in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Provide a solution-based platform in the form of a round table at ACCES with a view to identify challenges, discuss opportunities and lobby for the interests of female practitioners. Offer participants the opportunity to benefit from programmes offered by MIAF’s partners. Increase access to educational materials. Integrate participants in the broader ACCES programme to maximise experience and exposure to the industry. Record and present training materials on the www.musicinafrica.net, including but not limited to tutorials, templates and other best-practice materials. Communicate women-based themes that support the initiatives and messages of the programme. MAIN TRAINING ACTIVITIES Training in first country (Ghana): In the first year, participants will be trained on all aspects of stage management by a team of experienced stage managers from 10 to 17 November 2019. The programme will offer robust classroom training as well as practical, hands-on training in which participants will also be given the opportunity to manage various aspects of the ACCES performance programme. Training in second country: The second training iteration will take place at ACCES 2020 when the programme will diversify its course to include music production lessons and training on other music business topics. A round-table platform will also be introduced to coincide with the ACCES programme. Training in third country: The third training iteration will take place at ACCES 2021 in a different country, offering an advanced course. HOW DO YOU GET INVOLVED?  As a participant, facilitator or trainer: The programme enrolls up to 12 trainees every year. All opportunities are advertised publicly on this website, and will be added to this page. Please keep checking this page for new calls (below under UPDATES & CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES). As a partner Please contact Claire Metais at [email protected]. APPLY The call for applications for 2020 will be announced soon. The Music In Africa Gender @ Work programme is made possible with the support of the Prince Claus Fund, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut.

Sound Connects Fund
Sound Connects Fund

For cultural and creative practitioners and organisations operating in southern Africa, access to funding remains a major challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a massive impact on government policy, spending and the economy in general, and has seen spending on culture being moved further down the list of priorities. Further, the cultural and creative industries repeatedly cite four main areas where investment is needed for growth, which are increased visibility, mobility including access to new markets, finance and support structures.

Instrument Building And Repair Project
Instrument Building And Repair Project

Experience the Vibrations African Instruments Exhibition online in 3D

News

Mdundo receives investment proposal as rights issue raises $1.4m

08 May 2026 - 10:38

cc-img

Africa-focused music streaming platform Mdundo has received a non-binding letter of intent from an unnamed third-party investor regarding a potential investment that could result in the acquisition of up to 40% of the company.

The proposal involves a directed issue of new shares, alongside a possible purchase of shares from existing major shareholders. In the photo: Tanzanian artist Diamond Platnumz's music features on Mdundo.

The proposal involves a directed issue of new shares, alongside a possible purchase of shares from existing major shareholders, including JVD Holding ApS, a company owned by Mdundo board chair Jesper Drescher.

According to the proposal, the investor indicated a subscription price of DKK 2.50 per share. The offer is significantly higher than the DKK 1.00 per share subscription price attached to Mdundo’s recently completed rights issue.

The Kenya-founded company disclosed the proposal at the end of April while its rights issue was open for subscriptions between 22 April and 5 May.

Mdundo said the Board of Directors, excluding Drescher because of a conflict of interest linked to his ownership of JVD Holding ApS, decided to postpone consideration of the proposal until after the rights issue had closed due to its preliminary and non-binding status.

On 7 May, the company announced that the rights issue had raised approximately DKK 8.9 million (about $1.4m) before costs, representing 87.3% of the targeted DKK 10.2 million.

Chief executive Martin Nielsen said the company was encouraged by investor participation. “We are pleased with the outcome of the rights issue and grateful for the strong support from both existing shareholders and new investors,” he said.

In a regulatory filing, the company stated that the proposal reflected ongoing strategic interest in Mdundo and its future growth prospects.

“The letter of intent is non-binding and subject to customary conditions, including due diligence, agreement on final terms, and relevant approvals,” the company said.

The board added that there was “no assurance that any transaction will be agreed or completed”.

With the rights issue now completed, Mdundo said the board would evaluate whether to proceed with the proposed investment transaction and consider the possibility of a broader strategic partnership.

The company stated that it remained open to attracting a strategic investor capable of supporting its long-term growth and shareholder value.

The latest development follows the launch of a strategic review by the company in April 2025, with Deloitte South Africa acting as financial adviser. At the time, Drescher said Mdundo had strengthened its platform, expanded its user base and increased access to subscribers through telecom partnerships.

Founded in Kenya in 2013, Mdundo is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Copenhagen. The company said its user base had grown from five million monthly active users at the time of its 2020 initial public offering to 41.5 million users, according to its latest rights issue filings.

However, the company has recently faced operational challenges linked to billing instability among some of its largest telecom partners.

In its quarterly report covering January to March 2026, Mdundo said telco subscription transactions declined to 8.1 million during the quarter, compared with 9.9 million in the previous quarter.

The company also stated that it had reduced operating expenses by 50% compared with the previous financial year and estimated that around 20 000 direct subscribers per month would move the business closer to break-even.

Mdundo’s business model is built around partnerships with eight telecommunications providers, including MTN Group, Vodacom Group, Airtel Africa and Safaricom, giving the platform access to more than 352 million telecom customers across Africa.

Please log in to post a comment.

Most popular

Disclaimer: Music In Africa provides a platform for musicians and contributors to embed music and videos solely for promotional purposes. If any track or video embedded on this platform violates any copyrights please inform us immediately and we will take it down. Please read our Terms of Use for more.

newsletter banner

Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter

Follow us on social media