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Rebranding Africa. One Story at a Time. 34
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MOSES MUTABARUKA editor-in-chief
WINNIE MILLS country coordinator
PAUL KIDERO photographer / creative consultant
IGNACIO HENNIGS creative consultant
WAMBUI KAMAU-ONG’WENY staff writer, content coordinator PATRICIA WANGUI contributing writer
ENOCK OYOO head post-ptoduction
MAC CHOKA video editor
DOLPH BANZA Layout & Illustration
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Dear TAP Fam, Warm greetings! I hope that this new year and out well for you and your loved ones!
decade Dear TAPstarted Fam,
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Our editorial boardand and committee pleased to ones are arm greetings I hope that youisand your loved name Masai Ujirisafe as TAP Magazine (2019) of keeping and healthy through this African global pandemic. the year. For his work with the ‘Giants of Africa’ and forcases being model continue ambassador of across the continent. As of aCovid-19 to rise Africa and For the world, a lot being an are inspiration, voice, a leader andlive. an In advocate of things coming toalight about how we the beginning, many for African Youth, both and abroad. Despite countries in Africa were quickhome to give stay-at-home orders, joining in the having call never bounced Spalding till teenage, Masai world’s to ‘flatten thea curve’ and ease the pressure on local healthcare is today Many a bearer of one of the most enviable trophies systems. African governments enacted lock-downs, some even before in allcountries’ of sportswere afterhitleading the previously underrated their by their first Coronavirus case. Toronto Raptors to an NBA title win. As the cases increased, each country’s particular neurosis started to show.
page 42 started of this off issue, Masai shares ofsecrets For From example, Kenya strong but stories corruption soon
on howspreading he got where he is to today and protective why he’s been started with regards personal equipment (PPE) and skipping his summerfunds. breaks forminister the lastof15health yearsturned to go from superhero emergency healthcare The
back to Africaalmost and give back Across to the the nextneighbouring generation.border in Tanzania, to supervillain overnight. no measures were put in place and the leadership decided not sharing its
On was page story of Africa a status the22, waywe’re to gosharing for her an and inspiring her people. South and Egypt tenacious young entrepreneur her socio-economic safe and quickly became Africa’s epicenters who while left various groups
comfortable UN for jobtheinspread NewofYork to start blamed each other the virus; locals Enda blamed travelers and Sportswear. first the running company - governments foreigners, the Africa’s elderly blamed youth,shoe the masses blamed proudly in with Kenya. for being made in league the Speaking well-to-do of andbrilliant so muchpeople more. who left the UN, Eiman Kheir is another young African
that now at the Overall, it’s heads safe tothe say Diaspora that Africadivision has handled andAfrican dealt with the pandemic Union. Catch hermost storycontinents/countries as she gives us theindefinition much better than the west; of something that
an African diaspora andtoexplains the diaspora scorecard western media continue refuse to fully acknowledge. With all the success
in her featurehasinterview on page 14. the continent had tackling this pandemic, the lock-downs have left many
MM OO SE AB RU S SE SM U M TUATB A AK RA UKA Editor-in-chief TAP Magazine Editor-in-Chief TAP Magazine
industries on their knees due to the lack of a proper foundation.
We also meet a young, brilliant artist whoincrease in violence Millions of jobs haveDelasi, been lost, increase in national debt, is slowly growing cult and following of his own has in been felt in towards women, rise ina taxes even added insecurity Accra. parts Whileofstill in Accra, we visit various Africa as a direct resultCodeTrain of Covid_19.offices
and Richard Brandt shares his story about the early
starting a software development training Astruggles wise manofonce said that “a pandemic is a terrible thing to waste”, thus program from his tiny kitchen present the has affected in this particular magazine issue, to wethe look at howwhere Covid_19 companyindustries continuesand to the turnlessons regular folks into different that Africa cansoftware take as we move development forward.
professionals across Ghana.
It wouldn’t be a CEO TAPat Issue we usdidn’t have Nathalie Munyampenda, Kepler iftakes through what has to agribusiness or fashion features. Read about Rose Michael be done for Africa to transition into Education Technologies.
Khaemba who teachesand us COO all about the power of value Manirakiza, Co-founder of Plendify Inc shares the challenges
addition and crop have diversification Nawar African entrepreneurs faced duringand this meet pandemic and Porgie Rosso, CoKamal, ata Mookh, brilliantone Sudanese jewelry that is and technology founder of Africa’s biggestdesigner event, ticketing taking theshares regionhow by the storm. companies event and entertainment space has been impacted.
Special thanks to the entire TAP team, to all our
contributors to everyone else who helpedAfrican in making Camille Storm and discussed how the ever-growing music industry has
this issue possible. Special mention to Elie Hills for dealt with the pandemic and Noella Coursaris Musunka, founder of Malaika the coverhow illustration. discusses the work of NGOs has been impacted and the adjustments being made. The issue wraps up with insights from John-Paul Iwuoha;
I’d like to end by paying homage Almas Elman. founder of Smallstarter Africa on Africa’stoAgribusiness and food supply chain A the phenomenal human andFounder a member of the TAP in Covid-19 Era and being Karim Sy, of Jokkolabs and an Afro tech
FAM. Weand willambassador never forget you. the state of Tech in Africa pre, during enthusiast discusses
Cover Image by A-Elie Hills Instagram @eliehills_arts
and post Covid_19. We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did
As always, grateful putting it together.
for your support.
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Wishing you a safe and healthy holiday season and New Year 2021. As always, with gratitude
9
EDUCATION
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emember when you were in school and would literally count the days till the next holiday? For some of you that may be a statement filled with nostalgia since you have been out of school for a bit. For current learners across Africa, Covid-19 gave them a sense of permanent holiday that many can’t wait to get out of. In Kenya, the Ministry of Education has suggested that kids should repeat their current year to the disappointment of many who just want to be done with this phase of their lives. The pandemic has also affected the lives of all involved in education: teachers have seen their roles being transferred to parents while some
What is the state of African education in relation to Covid-19? Currently, we have 297 million learners that are out of school on the continent due to Covid-19. Of those, only 19 million are using E-learning platforms. This is not necessarily Ed Tech in the sense that you are able to assess that students are learning, it’s more of an access to YouTube or TV. Such as what we’ve seen in Rwanda where MTN and Airtel have basically zero-rated access to learning platforms. Out of the 19 million learners that
have had to find other means of earning a living, parents have had to double-up their professions as children learn from home and students feel the ever-growing strain of having to turn their home environment into a learning one. Whichever way you look at it, learning has been changed forever and this pandemic may just be urging us to embrace Technology in Education sooner than many were prepared for. Hence, Is Africa ready to transition into Education Technologies (Ed Tech)? To answer this and other pressing issues relating to education in the time of Covid-19, we spoke to Nathalie Munyampenda: CEO of Kepler and former Managing Director of Next Einstein Forum (NEF).
environment. This includes both hardware and software components like: mobile technologies, cloud computing, artificial Intelligence (A.I), virtual augmented reality and social networking to basically improve learning and teaching outcomes (source: Next Einstein Forum). What was the state of Ed Tech in Africa before Covid-19?
What is Ed Tech?
Prior to Covid-19, just to give you an idea, the Ed Tech sector was expected to grow to about 351 billion dollars (USD) by the year 2025. In Africa though, we do not yet know how much it will grow because there are still basic infrastructure issues that need fixing but the opportunity is there.
Educational Technologies refers to the application of technology in both a learning and teaching
Specifically, what are the challenges of E-learning, especially during the pandemic period?
are using these platforms, only 2 million of those have access to Ed Tech. That’s a very low number.
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Power. In Africa, especially in rural areas, many don’t
have access to continuous power supply. Some places don’t have any power supply whatsoever. In fact, only 40% of people on the continent have access to electricity. This is a big challenge when it comes to online learning since the devices used for E-learning need power for them to operate. Access to Devices. For E-learning to happen, electronic devices (like smartphones, laptops and computers) need to be readily available to both learners and their teachers. Many children don’t have access to these devices and those who do were fortunate enough to have them before the pandemic hit. This is an equity issue. The devices needed are relatively expensive and most people outside cities (and from low-income families) cannot afford them. There needs to be a whole of society discussion including development partners on how we tackle this challenge in Africa. At Kepler, we already have an accessible, blended model that provided students laptops and so we were ready to move fully online once COVID-19 hit but that is not the case for everyone. Access to devices is an opportunity for local industries if governments can properly incentivize the private sector. Affordability and Internet access. There are different internet price levels across Africa. It might be cheaper to access the internet in Kenya but very expensive in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Internet penetration is only at 39.3% in Africa against a global figure of 62.9%. Relative to income, the cost of the internet is four times higher than in Asia and twice the price in comparison to Latin America. Digital Literacy. Many teachers and learners, especially in rural areas, don’t have sufficient knowledge to use technological devices/software that enhance learning. This makes leveraging E-learning very difficult. So how do you teach when you (as a teacher) don’t have access to a computer or internet, or don’t have the skills to teach learners? Learning online is not just about “Here’s the content. Now Learn.” It’s about interaction and reinforcement. Learning Content. There’s also the issue of relevant locally curated content that requires time to build. According to a study done on higher educational institutions in the U.S., professors said that it was a lot more work to teach online than to teach inperson since they had to make the content especially interactive so that the students actually absorb what they are learning. So, you can imagine from that perspective that it is a double challenge in Africa (even
Nathalie Munyampenda: CEO of Kepler and former Managing Director of Next Einstein Forum (NEF)
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if you solve infrastructure and device challenges). Before we curate relevant content for various audiences, we need to actually create content. What can be done to bridge these gaps and to improve e-learning in Africa? Obviously, education is a public good, not just an economic sector. But if you look at it from the perspective of an economic sector, you need to invest in education technology as you would any other sector. We need to invest in the basic infrastructure required, we need address questions of access, we need to look at teacher training, we need to identify the startups or companies that are creating the technological platforms and content and invest in them, we need to incentivize the private sector to support technology related upskilling etc.
What do you think the continent will have learned from this pandemic with regards to Education? Education remains a critical sector for Africa’s future. The education sector in Africa must reform itself,we must strengthen investments in teachers, rethink success particularly as it pertains to standardized testing, we must focus on building competencies, rebranding technical education to make it first choice, not last and we must scale investments in EdTech and upskilling/realizing. As well, we must be careful not to think that EdTech will solve all our problems. EdTech only enhances learning. We still need to do the ground work and the pandemic has shown us we have a lot to get done. Interview by Moses Mutabaruka
NEF ScienceWeek 2019 Djibouti 12
WAJENZI
ARTWORK DOLPH BANZA
A ямБlm on Science in Africa
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lessons for African Entrepreneurs during COVID-19 COVID-19 has shaken the ecosystem of African entrepreneurship and created supply and demand shockwaves in economies across the world. Entrepreneurs hoping for a postCovid-19 future must act decisively and seek solutions that will allow their businesses to not only survive but to thrive. With its inherent unpredictability, Covid-19 presents unique challenges for African entrepreneurs. In the next few paragraphs, we will explore how entrepreneurs can meet these challenges through the omnichannel transformation of their businesses, right-sizing operations, and by building a resilient balance sheet. The pandemic has proven that consumers can quickly change their shopping habits and resilient businesses can be responsive by deploying an omnichannel strategy. Across Africa, where most consumers prefer in-person experiences, many brick and mortar businesses have been reluctant to prioritize online platforms. While online consumers previously represented a small percentage of sales for African businesses, the Covid-19 paradigm shift represents an opportunity for survival and sustained growth. Smart brands that adapt now will reap immense benefits from their early adopters and the guaranteed expansion of online consumers. 14
the Covid-19 paradigm shift represents an opportunity for survival and sustained growth. The steps required for a successful omnichannel strategy start with thoughtful planning around the target customer and knowing where they usually spend their time. This exercise will guide you in updating your inventory management system to capture both online and instore sales, producing a 360 view of the business’ performance. For businesses that are new to this strategy, it is vital to consider all aspects of the business to avoid sales leakage and to capitalize on all available opportunities. As part of this strategy, prioritize branding to ensure that clients quickly recognize your business, and either develop or maintain loyalty to your brand. Clients should be incentivized to either follow the business online or provide details so they can be updated with offerings. Some platforms that work well in Africa are Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Try market testing to measure which platforms yield the best sales growth and customer experience. A successful omnichannel is not just a nice-tohave, it’s a survival tactic. A well-implemented omnichannel strategy allows the business owner to make adjustments to their operations and prioritize the channel yielding the best performance. This approach is called right-sizing operations. Right-sizing operations entail investing in the right areas. With the
reopening of many economies, most business decisions have focused on cutting staff and shrinking inventory. Although some of these decisions are inevitable, businesses need to be deliberate about investing in the right areas to drive revenue. For instance, shifting marketing dollars and resources away from conventional avenues to more digital options make better sense than eliminating the marketing budget altogether. Improving inventory turnover by carefully addressing how it is managed will also avoid over-buying to improve cash-flow management. Often, the most difficult decisions are about staffing but compromise can be achieved by reviewing job descriptions to determine whether employees can be reassigned to other areas of the business. Right-sizing is different from down-sizing as the focus is on driving revenue while reorganizing and trimming waste from the company. The strategy requires carefully reviewing company practices and eliminating some expenses while retaining valuable resources such as trained employees
A successful omnichannel is not just a nice-to-have, it’s a survival tactic. to help keep sales and customer service running smoothly. This approach demands an all-hands-on-deck management style, and it might be an adjustment to employees who are used to specific roles and duties. Using a right-sizing strategy will save your business and might, more importantly, allow you to keep key staff. Finally, COVID-19 has emphasized the importance of a resilient balance sheet. Many small businesses don’t usually have more than three months of cash-on-hand. This is reasonable as many of these businesses are new, and some might have obligations for large inventory purchases to maintain operations. One of the more difficult lessons from the pandemic is that low liquidity does not bode well for the survival of businesses. Building a resilient balance sheet requires bringing in revenue more quickly. This can be accomplished by using sales promotions, managing expenses while the business is growing and spending only where useful to keep a healthy cash-flow. Additionally, businesses can improve receivables turnover by giving clients incentives to pay earlier. A smart business would also focus on a long-term vision, make investments in remote tools to reduce its physical needs and the overhead cost of the rent. Another great long-term investment is implementing better accounting systems to capture all out-flows and provide a more in-depth review of expenses that might have been considered normal preCovid-19. A resilient balance sheet will propel a business forward from a position of strength. The future of the African continent remains bright, even amidst the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses that adopt omnichannel strategies, right-size their operations, and build resilient balance sheets will be well-positioned to successfully weather the setbacks and take advantage of the promising decade ahead for intra-African trade. Michael Manirakiza is the co-founder & COO of Plendify Inc.
Michael Manirakiza co-founder & COO of Plendify Inc.
Plendify is a financial technology company focused on widening access to working capital for businesses across Africa. Plendify is focused on creating strong supply chains and powering African businesses through leading-edge platforms. 15
EVENTS
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The technology boom in Africa has had a particularly profound effect on the entertainment industry.
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State of events and entertainment industry in Africa pre Covid 19
In the last couple of years, Africa has been undergoing a renaissance of sorts in the events industry. From smaller, more sparse shows to a booming billion-dollar industry, the events space in Africa has matured. From small openair concerts, to hosting major international acts in sold out stadiums, to global summits and exhibitions graced by world leaders, Africa has come into its own. The technology boom in Africa has had a particularly profound effect on the entertainment industry. In Kenya for example, the leap-frogging in technology led the world in mobile money transfers. This is coupled with a high adoption of mobile connectivity, ticketing and crowd management, increased efficiency and revenue collection. A boon for event organizers, this translated into a threefold increase in revenue. Kenyan organizers can now collate data and understand
their consumers, their needs and opportunities much like their western counterparts. This increase in mobile technology adoption and connectivity has also had a related effect. Particularly, it has led to higher affinity in the market especially in the entertainment events industry. Exposure to the internet and discovery of new artists and music has opened up the market to more niche musical acts being able to sell tickets and organically grow their audience. Gone are the days where one needed substantial radio play to expose the masses to their music. In the age, of SoundCloud,
Youtube and Social Media, artists can grow their audience and fanbase without needing to rely on traditional industry gatekeeping. This democratization has also helped smaller companies to create and earn a living putting together live events.
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Rwanda, another Eastern African county has made strides in their infrastructure. Rwanda's capacity for global Meetings Incentive Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events increased its revenue to US$74-million in 2018 alone, up from US$42-million in 2017. This industry growth is supported by heavy investment and innovations in not only the ICT sector but also in improvements in civil works and other related industries. This increase in capacity along with growing economies has also led to an increase in regional entertainment tourism. Popular festivals in Uganda such as the Nyege
Nyege Festival and Kilifi New Year festivals attract partygoers from across the region. As travel within Africa as a whole grows increasingly more affordable, it allows for organizers to potentially attract clients on a continental scale. How has Covid19 impacted the industry? Then along came COVID-19. As this novel virus began to make its mark on the lives of everyone on the planet, the true impact was sudden and crushing. Busy event organizers across the continent were faced with cancellations or forced to halt their operations in the fight against its spread. This came about primarily due to restrictions of public gatherings that are believed to contribute to the spread of the virus. The restrictive measures on the movement and gathering of people has affected the supply chain of the events industry in its entirety. Event organizers, venues, suppliers and support staff, artists and entertainers
have all been affected seriously by these measures as the world grapples with the new reality. Losses are being counted in the billions and many whose incomes depended solely on the events industry were left with few options and some unfortunately, may never recover professionally from the disruption. South Africa for example is the premier MICE destination for a lot of international companies and travel restrictions have all but crippled this industry sector. A popular hub for interesting venues, such as meetings held on the famous Blue Train, to conventions at the new Zeitz Museum in Cape Town the MICE industry across Africa has virtually ground to a halt. One of the options that opened to some in the industry was a move to online events. While this is a viable option for some, it is not others since Africa as a whole still has challenges with its ICT infrastructure. This coupled with the high cost of connectivity and the often unstable power grids and sparse mobile coverage leaves a lot of people out of this option.
Rwanda has made strides in their infrastructure. Her capacity for global Meetings Incentive Conferences increased its revenue to US$74-million in 2018, up from US$42-million in 2017.
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What lessons has covid19 taught the Industry? Despite this unprecedented challenge to the industry, there are a number of positive takeaways that companies have come away with to further adapt to the new normal. As the pandemic affects more than a billion Africans, players in the industry have had to adopt new measures and practices to continue to survive. With a sharp decrease in disposable income, many organizers have adopted more nuanced strategies regarding their audience. This reduced ability has created more discerning consumers and as such has taught organizers to better understand their audience using market research to create more nuanced and tailored events to respond to the hyperindividuality of their clients. The move away from physical events to virtual has created opportunity for companies to move into new methods of execution. With the concerns for public health, we are now seeing an upsurge in virtual meetings, livestreamed seminars and concerts and other events. It is a move away from more traditional methods of even advertising events that relied heavily on factors such as general advertising, word of mouth and proximity to venues. Business strategies have also had to change in reaction to the pandemic. Previously,
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the assurance of the nextevent right around the corner led many to not think about setting up savings for their businesses. In the past, the freedom of movement of both people and money created a year-long season of events, especially in Africa where culturally, gatherings were commonplace such as weddings, graduations and other significant social events. With the pandemic, there's been a shift towards preparing for such economic downturns and the creation of more robust businesses. With the pandemic also exposing just how little attention these industrieshave been getting from their respective governments, there has been an increase in the push for greater representation. Artists, performers, producers,DJ’s and other stakeholdersare increasingly becoming involved in influencing policy to highlight the needs of the industry and to establish political support. How has the industry responded to the pandemic? Surviving this period has not been easy for the events industry. Along with trying to desperately cut costs and spread the last shilling as far
as possible, there have been certain changes that have been made. Innovation has been a key factor in the new face of events. Innovations in virtual events such as augmented and virtual reality, livestreaming and a higher degree of interactivity have helped people to attend events without having to be physically present. Moving forward, many companies have begun to either collaborate or even merge in some cases to offer better services to a dwindling client base. Sharing skills and resources can prove to be a vital strategy for the industry to continue to operate in these trying times. How will global covid 19 lessons affect Kenya and Africa? Through not only our own experiences, but by observing the experiences of others around the world, Africa knew what was coming in the pandemic. We saw Italy ravaged by the disease
With the pandemic also exposing just how little attention these industries have been getting from their respective governments, there has been an increase in the push for greater representation.
and remembered the past pandemics we have fought and beaten before. We have real time lessons of survival from abroad and each other, from South Africa, to Malawi and the United States. Seeing what is happening all around us helps in influencing how we think, how we behave and how we relate to the world around us. Africans are more aware and connected to the world than ever before. No longer playing catch up to the rest of the world, we have innovations that are now leading the way forward. The potential for the future lies in Africa. We have embraced the new normal with the pandemic as with all the sweeping changes we have seen in the last few decades. The advantage of not having a lot of old infrastructure lets us embrace the future unencumbered. Africans now realize this, and with a massive youthful population will continue to take bold steps in shaping our bright and boundless future. By Porgie Rosso, Co-Founder, Mookh 19
Music
Camille Storm on Music in Africa
before, during & post Covid_19
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s a continent, Africa has become synonymous with music over the years. Whether it’s dancing to the beat of our own drums, telling our stories or acknowledging the inherent groove that exists in every aspect of our lives, it’s safe to say that our love affair with music transcends status, nationality, tribe and generation. The late great Nelson Mandela once said, the curious beauty of African Music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. Our current sad tale is Covid-19 and the disastrous effects it has had on our livelihoods. But like famines and uprisings in the past, we have had each other, a lot of music and heart to pull us through. However, like many lines of work, the music industry was affected profoundly by the Coronavirus outbreak. To give us a better look at Africa’s vibrant music scene before, during and after the pandemic, we sat down with Camille Storm, a Creative Entrepreneur with her finger on the pulse of Africa’s music scene.
Please introduce yourself My name is Angela Kariuki, but I go by Camille Storm. I was born on October 31st 1995 in Nairobi, Kenya. I’m an entrepreneur, music executive and journalist. I would describe myself as a perfectionist, ambitious, risk-taking mogul in the making. One might say you wear many hats, what exactly do you do? I’m known for being a music journalist as I have profiled major names in music such as Rema, Kwesta, and more for various international publications like The Fader, OkayAfrica and Boiler Room. In recent times though, I have ventured more into the music business side of things with my agency, Camille & Co. where we offer A&R(artists and repertoire), public relations and consulting services and with our latest expansion which is my new distribution service C&C distro.(first and only Africa-owned distribution service in East Africa as far as I know) So there’s journalist, publicist, music consultant, A&R and music distributor. At this point just call me a music executive. It makes it easier! lol When did your journey in the music industry begin and what inspired it? I was heavily inspired by conscious hip-hop as a pre-teen which was really weird because I was an 11-year-old girl listening to Lupe Fiasco, Common and Mos Def all the time. But that was when I became obsessed with music and started exposing myself to all genres and really expanding my musical palate. I I always loved writing and I excelled at English in school so at some point I meshed my love for music and writing and started my first serious blog “The Camille Way” in 2011. After years of blogging and then writing professionally about music, I was approached by an OG in the industry who thought I had the potential to do more than just write. He wanted me to start organizing and curating events with him and that’s pretty much how 20
I realized I could do much more in this space. Even though events are now not my thing anymore, it was my first introduction to the business side of things. But still, I would’ve never seen myself ending up where I am. I’ve kind of dabbled in different fields in this business and now I’m just getting to figure out where I belong and what role I’d really love to play with regards to the African music industry. But when I look back, it’s kind of crazy that I’ve made a career out of having a really good taste in music. Who are some of the industry greats you look up to? A lot of people who meet me tell me I remind them of Karen Civil which is awesome cause I definitely admire her a lot. But on a personal note, the people who inspire me the most are the ones I’ve met on my journey who have believed in me and taught me so much. I’d say Bizzle Osikoya (Co-founder of the Plug Entertainment, Lagos Nigeria), has certainly pushed me, mentored me, and shown me how much can be possible when you make the right moves in this industry. I also really admire my partner and good friend Frank Nwafor(A&R , co- founder of JAM Distro Africa and Sound Genie Global) .I’ve seen him A&R and promote artists from scratch till they have chart-topping tracks. It’s also special because he’s my business partner and we push each other 21
every single day and I feel that we both are working to change the narrative of African music.
What are the current most played songs on your phone/ iPad etc? Cross My Heart( Remix) by Tellaman featuring Alpha P, Kokonya by Spice Diana featuring Harmonize, Based on by Sammie Ca$h, Mastingo by Kahu$h featuring Chris Kaiga.
Is it a great time to be on the continent? This is such a wonderful time. We have the world’s attention, we have bargaining power, so much is possible. I hope more people across the continent take advantage of this special time to make the partnerships we need to take our industry to the next level and start competing globally.
How has covid 19 affected the industry? Well for starters it’s made everyone in the industry look into other creative ways of marketing and promoting their music while they can’t go out and perform or do physical interviews and the like. There’s obviously a much bigger emphasis on digital promo and social media engagement. The main thing I’ve seen is all the new creative ways we have had to figure money in an attempt to make up for all the money lost when artists are not performing. Monetized livestreams, merchandising, partnering with brands, there’s been a lot more talk about these other revenue streams that may have not been taken as seriously in our industry before.
Which African acts have you enjoyed yourself the most working with? Working with Rema will always be a top moment for me because I’m also his biggest fan as everyone knows! Those are the moments you will always remember, to be able to contribute to the journey of an artist you are obsessed with isn’t something everyone gets to say they have done. I thank God for that.
What has surprised you the most about the music business/ industry As a consumer or a music journalist it’s easy to idealize artists because you love their craft but when you get to know some of them on a personal level it isn’t always as dreamy. When you’re on the music business side of things you have to look out for yourself because artists can be very selfish and will always put themselves first. You have to sometimes actually forget about the music and focus on other more mechanical aspects of the business. So yes, working with artists has definitely shown me things! Which African acts do you think we’re sleeping on? Alpha P, Kiienka, Merry-Lynn, Veen, Supa Gaeta, Maison2500, David Meli, y’all will definitely all know about these guys soon if you don’t already. Premium talent. 22
What lessons has covid/ lockdown taught the many people involved in the industry? I would say that it’s important to maximize on all possible revenue streams as an artist or industry professional. Many African artists mainly made money from shows but now it’s not that easy. These are the times when being a brand ambassador could be very helpful, or having a great merch line that you can market to your fans, or ensuring your music is getting editorial support and as much promotion as it can on streaming platforms. What is the future of the music industry in Africa post covid? We just have to adjust and move with the times. But it’s interesting watching players in Asia for example who are still making millions of dollars with virtual concerts, maybe that’s where the world is headed. Maybe we need to start investing in virtual reality and creating experiences for audiences that don’t involve them being there physically. We don’t know when Covid will end or if something like this would happen again but it’s definitely been a wake up call and forced us to put our heads together and come up with new ideas. To be honest, as much as it sucks, I think a lot of innovation has and will come out of this period.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 5 years, I will be A&Ring albums and singles by some of the biggest acts in Africa who I may be already working with right now but they just haven’t blown up yet lol. In 5 years, I hope the structures I am trying to put in place with my record label and agency will be fully-functional and in a position to broker important deals and opportunities for African artists. C&C Distro should be in international conversations when it comes to independent music distribution partners and Camille & Co. should have broken at least 3 highly successful artists. In 5 years, just like now, anything will be possible but on a much higher level. Godspeed. 23
NGO COVID_19 IMPACT ON NGO’S IN AFRICA - AN INTERVIEW WITH NOËLLA MUSUNKA | FOUNDER AT MALAIKA ORG
NOELLA OELLA N IS COURSARIS OURSARIS C MUSUNKA USUNKA M My name is Noëlla Coursaris Musunka. I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to a Congolese mother and a Cypriot father. After my father’s passing when I was five-years-old, my mother was not able to support me so I was sent to live with relatives in Europe. Her sacrifice changed my life and I gained a qualification in Business Management. From there my career
founder of Malaika discusses how the work of NGO’s have been impacted and the adjustment being made.
as an international model began when I entered a competition to be the ‘face’ of Agent Provocateur. I won and did their campaign and subsequently landed other campaigns for brands in New York and London.. I have represented Creme de La Mer, MaxFactor and collaborated with designer Roksanda and The Outnet on a collection and some of the profits went to Malaika.
When I finally had the chance to visit my mom 13 years later, that was when everything changed. I was shocked when I saw the lack of infrastructure and the lack of opportunities that youth, especially girls and young women, faced. Africa is a young continent, full of energy and creativity and has so much potential. It is rich in culture, natural resources, and natural beauty. The DRC is a microcosm of that. There are so many smart, talented, and motivated girls who
can change the country and the world, if just given the right opportunities. So I founded Malaika in 2007 with an amazing team. It was originally named after my late father. Malaika is much more than simply a girls’ school. We’re really focused on building a model that takes into account the whole life of a girl - from her health, to her education, to the community around her. Malaika is about creating a supportive ecosystem. Our program provides holistic and free schooling for girls from primary through the completion of secondary school. Our amazing local teaching staff provides a holistic primary and secondary curriculum, covering everything from mathematics and language, to IT and sports, and our facilities run on solar energy! The school’s farm allows us to provide two nutritious meals per day to our students and staff, and we provide regular health check-ups to our students. We repaired and built 20 wells throughout the village of Kalebuka, which means that more than 30,000 people have access to clean water (we’re really proud of that!). We also run a community center, which provides education and vocational programs for other youth and adults in the community. It has a great football field! We want to show that empowering girls also means empowering their support systems. We think our model - quality schooling, good nutrition and health, clean water, and community engagement - can be replicated in other villages and other countries. I can’t wait to see this happen in the future! 24
What was the state of the NGO work/Industry in DRC and in Africa pre covid 19? How has Covid19 impacted N G O ’s i n D R C a n d Africa? For Malaika, while we are always fundraising and looking for additional streams of support, we were able to sustain our school and programs before the pandemic. We rely heavily upon grants and donations, whether that be through student sponsorships, recurring gifts, or events that people hold in their communities to fundraise for our students. COVID-19 hit us hard. We had to shut down o u r s c h o o l fo l l o w i n g government guidelines. I think nonprofits across the board are seeing dramatic losses in funding support. We’re def initely seeing less co m i n g i n t h a n e ve r before. For the community that we work in it has been incredibly hard. Even before COVID-19, life in Kalebuka wasn’t easy. No electricity or running water and making enough to suppor t a family were always issues the Congolese people faced. But COVID-19 has made everything so much worse and more dangerous for our girls. E ve r y t h i n g i s c l o s e d down, so even the little i n co m e t h at f a m i l i e s used to bring in has been cut-off. When the lockdown h a p p e n e d w e immediately began to plan out how we would provide emergency support. We needed to make sure that Kalebuka knew we weren’t leaving them behind. Now, we regularly distribute the
produce from our farm, i n a d d i t i o n to ot her food staples and have fed 4200 people. We have distributed cooking oil and soap, and have set-up handwashing stations in the village. Several of the women who were trained through our community center in sewing have been creating masks to distribute. We also have a 3-D printer that is being used by our students with the support of our STEM team to create face shields! We have made 900 of these face shields and fabric masks. Our dedicated staff have a l s o b e e n d e l i ve r i n g homework to the girls. What lessons has covid19 taught NGO’s and NGO leaders, advocates who work in Africa? I think there are three big lessons that we are learning. Communities are resilient and that their strength is immeasurable. Nobody should underestimate this. Yes, we are still in the middle of this horrible situation. But I have been moved by how quickly the people in Kalebuka mobilized to not only help one another but to help us serve others. We are so thankful that we have an amazing home in Kalebuka out of which we have been able to help a lot of other villages. Any NGO or community program has to be constructed with sustainability in mind. The only way we were able to mobilize our emergency support successfully once COVID-19 hit was b e c a u s e we i nve s te d 25
early on in creating a sustainable model. That ecosystem of support, which invested in improving the environment and involving people in the community, is how we are still making it today. From Day 1, you have to plan for how your work will survive in the worst case scenario. We need to see public-private partnerships to ensure that the world’s underprivileged children have access to education and opportunity. This will be even more important in the coming years where we will experience some economic challenges in the wake of this pandemic. How does this space move forward? There is so much strength in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I have no doubt that Malaika will be able to rebuild and continue our mission to support the next generation of female leaders in the country. Many aspire to take on roles that they wouldn’t have 26
believed would be possible before they started their education at Malaika. Anna wants to be a pilot. Ilunga wants to be a business woman. Louise, a computer network engineer. Ester wants to become a doctor. During this pandemic we have been able to take opportunities to share our girls’ stories and their talents and a spirations with the world. We hosted three ‘Malaika Speaks!’ webinars, each hosted by an incredible woman and supporter of Malaika (June Sarpong, Eve Cooper, and Thandie Newton). The students and staff shared about their experiences during the pandemic. They also displayed their vivid personalities and creative talents by performing music and spoken-word poetry. In your opinion, how will global covid 19 lessons affect Africa? Do you foresee global lessons being forced on the continent? Well, we’re still in the middle of every thing, so it’s hard to
say. But I would argue that there are lessons to be learned in the other direction. I think what we’re seeing on a global level is that a successful defense against the spread of COVID-19 relies on being able to care about your community and the impact that your decisions can have on them. I think we are seeing the world come together and Kalebuka is a great example of a community coming together to fight for one cause and protect one another. Maybe the world can look at Malaika, at Kalebuka, and at the DRC as an example of the power of community and empathy. www.malaika.org Facebook: @malaikadrc / https:// www.facebook.com/Noella-CoursarisMusunka-1599180837064466/ Twitter: @malaikadrc / @Noellacc Instagram: @malaikadrc/ @ noellacoursaris L i n ke d I n : M a l a i ka D R C / N o e l l a Coursaris Musunka tapmagonline.com/tap/interviewwith-noella-coursaris-musunka)
DAILY FLIGHTS TO LAMU
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AGRICULTURE
Africa’s Agribusiness and food supply chain in the Covid-19 Era
Food is Life…literally. If that’s true, then agriculture is our lifeline. Thanks to Covid-19 our ability to adapt is being tested and agriculture, just like every other sector, has found itself at a crossroads. How well the sector adapts determines the future of the world. To quote Henry Kissinger, an American politician, “who controls the food supply, controls the people…” This is made more poignant when you think about agriculture in the context of the African continent. To help us with insights on our economies and the food supply chain with respect to Covid-19 and Africa, we spoke to John-Paul Iwuoha; founder of Smallstarter and business transformation specialist. “Covid exposed the vulnerabilities we had all along. But before, there was no incentive to do anything about it.” 28
John-Paul Iwuoha Founder of Smallstarter and business transformation specialist.
Africa was hungry way before the Pandemic. For Africa, the topic of food can sometimes leave a bitter taste in the mouth. It’s 2020 and food insecurity is an unfortunate reality that we live in. If you’re lucky enough to not experience it, you definitely have witnessed its effects first-hand if you live on the continent. Before the beginning of this nightmarish hellscape we found ourselves in at the beginning of 2020, Africa’s food situation was probably as unfortunate as it is now: For context, Africa has a landmass of 30.37 million km2 and a population of 1.2 billion people. About 874 million hectares of land is considered arable, most of which is found upcountry. An estimated 70% of Africans and 80% of Africa’s poor live in rural areas and of the total population on the continent, approximately 40% to 50% is young and considered of working age. What these stats make clear is that this is a continent full of the right input we need to become agriculturally independent. The climate is right, the soil is fertile, human capital is abundant yet Africa still imports majority of its consumables while locally produced food goes to waste before hitting the kitchen. As of 2018, Africa was importing food worth 35 Billion USD and losing food worth approximately 48 Billion USD annually. That’s a total of 83 Billion US Dollars lost that could help local farming industries. What’s worse, the loss of food and exportation of jobs has added to the disenfranchisement of Africans who are increasingly looking for ways of leaving the continent for greener (and more cared for) pastures. While Africa stayed dependent on imports and aid to fill-up the food need, international companies, other Western and Asian governments and individuals were moving in to fill-in gaps where local agribusinesses and governments had left open.
To yield or not to yield. “We’re sovereign countries. If someone comes in and takes some of our economies away, it’s because we let them. Africans are playing on home turf. We have everything to gain. Yes, the problems are there but we need to also acknowledge the opportunities sitting on all those problems.” says Mr. Iwuoha To understand how deep the food supply problems run, John-Paul helped breakdown the agriculture value chain to highlight some of these areas: 1. Production For the continent, subsistence farming is king. Many farmers produce just enough for them and their loved ones to partake and sell-off the excess to market. It’s thousands of these farmers who produce the food we eat in Africa. This is in addition the billions of dollars of imported raw and processed food from outside the continent. In response to Covid-19, borders between (and even within) countries were closed. This meant that importing food reduced or stopped altogether. Logistically, relying on international trade routes cost us more than it helped us in the past, but this didn’t necessarily mean that our own produce got to the market any faster. “Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of tomatoes. Of all the tomatoes produced, 40% to 50% goes bad even before they make it to any kitchen. If tomatoes aren’t preserved in other forms like puree, paste or ketchup, they won’t last long.” John-Paul reminds us. Additionally, many of these smallscale farmers don’t have access to market since the most profitable businesses are found in the urban areas. Without proper road networks in most African countries and the ever-increasing cost of
transport, it’s no wonder why so much of it rots before it goes anywhere. 2. Processing This is by far the biggest missing link in our value chain. We produce enough food to feed ourselves but because systems are not put in place at the foundational level, waste increases. Dependence on very perishable goods or produce only in their raw forms doesn’t end well. Importing processed food ensures increased cost of finished products which does nothing for the overall situation. “If we’re planning on processing enough food for 1.2 billion people, a population expected to double in size over the next 30 years, we need to look beyond what and how we’re producing now. The size of the land is fixed but we can improve the use of land by making sure we’re optimizing what we get from the ground.” From John-Paul’s earlier example about tomatoes, preservation through paste and other tomatobased products will prolong the shelf-life of a food that’s in high demand all year round. This will also aid in reduction of cost of importation as well as increase market activity within the continent. 3. Marketing: In Africa, most people get their food by congregating at a ‘Market’. If it’s not an open-air market, then a mini-mart close by or a supermarket. Thanks to the internet, the market doesn’t have to be a physical place anymore, we have seen the rise of WhatsApp stalls and online trading groups and because of Covid-19, a lot will definitely change about how Africans get their food. The rise of E-commerce is now, and like everything else the tech-world touches, the opportunities for growth are seemingly endless. Where farmers and customers had to look for each other at the
market, technology makes it easier for both parties to meet safely and conveniently. Expanding the market within the continent means widening the space to meet the needs of all consumers, farmers and sellers combined. Because food is a basic need, there will always be a market for it. If we use every available resource to reduce waste as well as cost of production, increase yield and improve supply infrastructure, the market could expand and flourish like we know it’s meant to.
“Covid-19 can fill our bellies… If we’re smart about it…” Dwelling on the issues doesn’t help solve them. It only helps magnify them in our minds. But now that it’s clear, what would be the next logical step to take? Working together is the only way the world is going to come out of the other side of this pandemic in one piece. Just like the novel Coronavirus, Africa too needs to pull together to ensure that food security isn’t a forever issue that we will always have to deal with. To conclude John-Paul posits, “It’s unfortunate that Covid happened because of the loss of life, negative impact on the economy, loss of jobs and livelihoods, just to name a few, but I say there’s a duality in life. Every crisis comes with problems and opportunity. We can complain about the problems Covid-19 came with but we cannot deny all the good it could do, especially for Africa’s agricultural sector. So, if there can be any winners to this crisis, it should be Africa.” Someone once said, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, and with everything our continent has been through, we definitely should not waste this one. 29
Tech
The state of tech in Africa
T
he age of technology has been with us for the better part of five decades. That’s more than 50 years of digital change that has rocked every industry globally. Gone are the days where paper ruled the day. News, communication, travel and even money has found a way to evolve into the digital space. Though the definition of technology has changed quite a bit, its impact cannot be understated. The internet and its ever-changing nature is proof alone that future generations are not afraid of something new. Being the youngest continent in the world, Africa’s adaptation to technology has made its own contribution to the world. From SMS alerts that help farmers with weather information to mobile-money solutions that make financial inclusion a reality for even those with simple tech, Africa has used technology to find solutions to her challenges and to innovate for her future.
With the Covid-19 outbreak, tech is more important than ever especially since no one knows exactly how the foreseeable future will look like. Many sectors such as medicine and education have already had to adjust quickly to these new times, something that would not have been possible if the continent had not set down its digital roots from decades before. 30
To understand the state of tech in Africa pre covid-19, the lessons that the pandemic will teach the continent and the future of Tech in Africa, we spoke to Karim Sy, Founder of Jokkolabs and an Afro tech enthusiast and ambassodor. The digital space was somehow booming pre Covid-19. From the beginning, we were more about telecommunication instead of texting and it’s interesting to see that more and more we’re talking about [tech] startups. We have more programs compared to what we had years back. In recent years, we’ve seen a lot of people coming up with ideas and new things without them having to wait for the ‘big guys.’ To me this means Africa is real coming up.” Karim is a Techpreneur who provides online and offline meeting spaces for young African business people. Being in the tech space and having a history with the open source movement, Karim used his knowledge to fix inefficiencies in how we work by encouraging collaboration, exchange and community. When the virus started to spread earlier in 2020, it wasn’t hard for him to see where the industry was going, especially in Africa. “It was very interesting because people were not used to the concept of social distancing, then there
Karim Sy, Founder of Jokkolabs and an Afro tech enthusiast and ambassodor.
were the lockdowns in some areas, movement was restricted in others and then digital became a national response to everything (for example students could not go to school). This changed the whole perspective on the space.” “Digital also came with new types of organizations that we never talked about before. Some sections of government and some volunteers have come together to form some kind of national collusion where everyone brings ideas for free to find solutions for all. The idea of only having local capacity is very interesting. All sectors are turning digital and all I can say is that, to me, digital was the winner over Covid-19.”
Of course, talking about winning over Covid-19 feels like a discussion for a future that we can’t see yet, but it’s not hard to see what Karim is talking about. Online services like Amazon have seen an increase in profit since not as many people are willing to queue at shops or malls. Order-in services for food have taken over going to restaurants and watching Live videos are a stand-in for going out to watch a show.
world and our way of living, it also served as a lesson. When it comes to Africa, adversity seems to be a lesson that we keep learning from over and over. Technology and the pandemic are no different and our resident techie already has a few ideas about what the continent can learn from this current epidemic.
“...Covid-19 isn’t just here to devastate the current world and our way of living, it also served as a lesson.”
This seems like our reality for a while and even after the pandemic blows over, some things may never go back to ‘normal’. However, Covid-19 isn’t just here to devastate the current
“There is a need for increased local capacity to respond to a crisis. It’s very clear that during Covid-19 every country was on its own. No country could employ or get specialists from abroad as we used to before. Every country was struggling to cap coronavirus on their own,” Says Mr. Sy.
Every news report about the pandemic around the world has a hint of comparison. A sense of competition on how our countries and governments have dealt with this pandemic. The world of tech suggests where our energies should be instead since the industry has so much room for growth. “We need to put more energy and resources on the digital system to make it more workable. We need to digitize education, health systems and encourage more people to get the skills on how to work online.” In the next five years, chances are a lot will have changed because of the pandemic. What that change means for Africa, only time will tell. As it stands, many of our industries have adjusted to digital but many more are still struggling to. With time, technology is only going to get better which means more change is coming soon. We may not see the future, but Karim Sy had few guesses about the digital space of tomorrow. “We need to focus more on startups that can solve our problems and bring solutions. As Africans we don’t have a lot of resources so we need to strategize on the same to make it easier for more ideas to be actualized. Having seen that the digital space is the future, more skills should be encouraged around tech.”
“We need to digitize education, health systems and encourage more people to get the skills on how to work online.”
If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that we need to be able to change to survive even the most difficult situations. Fortunately, the digital space is one that allows for limitless change. This means, if you’re open to transformation and learning new things, Africa and the world of tomorrow can be yours even during a pandemic. 31
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