Africa

While many journalists tire of the relentless armies of public relations professionals who clog their inboxes everyday with press releases and announcements, it’s clear that PR people play an important role in the communications ecosystem. A new survey of more than 3,000 communications professionals in 29 African countries seems to suggest that in fact many of them are worrying about some of the same challenges that journalists in the continent are facing. The Africa PR and Communications Report 2022-2023 was carried out by Lagos-based BHM Research & Intelligence and various professional bodies.

We’re looking for a dynamic, entrepreneurial Business Development and Partnership Lead to build our growing global and pan-African advertising sales business. The role spans all our digital platforms and live-in person event audiences across the continent and beyond. In just eight months, Semafor Africa has become the continent’s leading, high-quality journalism brand with over 100,000 newsletters subscribers and hundreds of thousands of web users. You would preferably have a graduate degree from a global institution and experience working for an international or blue-chip organization. You should be based on the continent, ideally with knowledge of Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Candidates with French language skills will be looked on favorably.

🟡 To apply, please send a memo outlining your vision for how you would excel in this exciting role to apickens@semafor.com.

Young Zambians want to make Lusaka an African animation hub

THE NEWS

LUSAKA, Zambia — When Netflix launches Supa Team 4, its first-ever original African animated series, it will be a significant milestone for young Zambian animators who have turned the southern African country into an unheralded animation hub.

Supa Team 4 was created by Lusaka-based Malenga Mulendema who has spent the last few years working with her co-producers and Netflix to bring the show to life. “The show, to me, is like a multi-layered cake. I want the audience to dig in and discover the flavors for themselves,” Mulendema told Semafor Africa.

Mulendema is not a one-off, Lusaka is home to a quietly bubbling scene of mostly self-taught animators who are trying their hands at bringing shows to life independently. A few months back Tabitha Mwale, 22, launched The Super at local cinemas to much acclaim here. She described it as Zambia’s first-ever anime series, as a dedicated fan of the Japanese animation style. “It was a love letter to the art form from a Zambian,” said Akende Muyumbana, the 25-year old director of The Super. “It was meant to show people that Zambians can make something that has international appeal.”

KNOW MORE

Supa Team 4 will finally debut on July 20 and is co-produced by South African animation studio Triggerfish, and London-based kids specialist Cake Studios. Set in a futuristic Lusaka, the series follows four school-age teenagers recruited to become superheroes by a retired secret agent.

The eight-part series features African voice actors including South Africa’s John Kani, who played T’Chaka in the Hollywood blockbuster Black Panther, and Nancy Sekhokoane (Woman King), with a theme song by Zambian rapper/singer Sampa the Great.

ZANJI’S VIEW

The excitement building up ahead of Supa Team 4’s release shows the importance of diverse creative storytelling, representation, and highlighting the immense well of talent that exists within the African animation community. Zambians will be keen to claim the spotlight and firmly establish their creators as a rising force in the global animation arena.

Supa Team 4’s breakthrough not only elevates Malenga Mulendema as a trailblazer within the Zambian animation scene but also paves the way for aspiring animators and other creators across the continent.

This rise of Zambian animation represents not only opportunities for individual animators but also contributes to the cultural representation and diversity within the animation industry as a whole, say long-time animation fans and experts. And the success of getting Supa Team 4 on to Netflix is expected to encourage other local animators.

“The number of people trying to get to the top in animation has increased,” said Caleb Mutale, 32, a Lusaka-based animator. But he worried that since many Zambian animators are self-taught the local scene would need both better technical infrastructure and education to become a globally regarded hub. “The challenge is that there are some artists that don’t look at animation as a full-time career and have held themselves back from fulfilling their full potential.”

Muko Tsubusa, 27, who taught himself animation by obsessively watching YouTube instruction videos, said he’s seen a rise in local interest in professional animation around Lusaka but feels more international production companies should take a chance on the local talent and “dip their feet in the water.”

But even without the guarantee of the kind of funding, compensation, and glamor a Netflix-produced show might promise, most of the animators here were keen to keep developing their craft. The Super’s Mwale said her motivation sprang from a deep desire to bring her stories to life and showcase the rich cultural heritage of Zambia. She said it’s an inspiring period for Zambian animators who often had to give up on their dreams. “A lot of people were waiting for this change in the animation industry and fortunately it has started.”

THE VIEW FROM CAPE TOWN

African animation continues to face significant obstacles that hinder its growth and competitiveness, said Stuart Forrest, CEO of Cape Town-based Triggerfish Animation, which also runs a non-profit academy dedicated to stimulating the growth of animation on the continent. “This is a huge barrier to a first-time producer who has to prove that they can be trusted with a large budget, when they haven’t done it before, and in a country that may have currency volatility risk,” he said.

Read and share the full story here

Seswaa and pap is the national dish of Botswana and is not so much a street food as the kind of meal served at major events like weddings and other celebrations. The key ingredient is meat on the bone boiled with salt in the huge traditional three-legged cast iron pots common in southern Africa. After a few hours it is taken out and allowed to cool down. Afterwards the meat is placed in a mortar and pounded with a pestle until it looks a bit like shredded beef. But we mustn’t forget that in the northeast region there’s a preference for making Seswaa with goat meat. The meat is served with cornmeal (phaletshe) or sorghum-based pap and steamed greens called morogo, also sometimes known as African spinach.

*When do we eat? (Setswana)

— Yinka

A physical space for Nigerians to ask questions about the feasibility of electric vehicle adoption is under construction in the capital city Abuja, promising test drives in cars already on the premises.

Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC), as the project is called, is located within Art Tech District, a private property that also includes a one-story art exhibition space and museum of replica Benin bronzes. When fully built, EVEC hopes that visitors who walk in with skepticism that an electricity-poor Nigeria is conducive to electric vehicles would leave with aspiration for personal ownership.

“We need people to understand that charging EVs can be similar to how we charge phones, and that maintenance is cheaper,” Mosope Olaosebikan, founder of Art Tech District and the experience center, told Semafor Africa.

The recent hike in the price of petrol due to the government’s termination of a decades-old subsidy program is fuel for amplifying the EV message, Olaosebikan said. A crucial target audience of the center is policymakers because EV adoption around the world has typically been government-led.

Early visitors to EVEC can expect free rides in models made overseas (a Tesla is expected in August). But to be sure, it is part of a for-profit venture that has launched a local taxi service consisting of EVs, and wants to build a car manufacturing plant in Nigeria. Both are under the banner of a company called Possible EVS that has “raised pre-seed money for our proof of concept but we are still speaking to investors,” Olaosebikan said.

— Alexander Onukwue

🇨🇲 Cameroon’s President Paul Biya remains a controversial figure, even after 41 years in power. The 90-year-old, who has built a political structure anchored in stability, has recently shown a desire to find a political stand-in who can effectively perpetuate his rule in the future. “As a result, the succession battle has found its stage on social media, igniting a whirlwind of conspiracies, betrayals, and political maneuverings,” writes Eric Essono Tsimi in African Arguments. He adds that Biya’s long absence from the national limelight and the large amount of time he spends overseas have inspired the national character, as many Cameroonians seeking to distinguish themselves often seek refuge abroad.

🇳🇪 Agadez, Niger’s fifth largest city, was bustling back in 2015. The city, about 450 miles northeast of the capital Niamey, served thousands of migrants heading to Europe each year from West African countries. However, deteriorating conditions in neighboring Libya and the arrival of millions of undocumented migrants in Europe led to Niger’s adoption of a law which banned migrants from passing through the city. Niger’s adoption of the law around five years ago was tied to European promises of funding. The Washington Post looks at how, despite this, Agadez’s economy is dwindling, with many people whose businesses relied on migration counting their losses.

🌍 At independence in the 1960s, most African countries were expected to align with Western powers or the Soviet Union. However, there were African leaders like Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah who ardently pursued neutrality and the dream of non-alignment, argues Frank Gerits in Africa is a Country. He says the geopolitical realities faced by African nations after independence forced many nationalist leaders to seek alignment to benefit economically, politically and, crucially, militarily.

🇿🇼 Job Tawengwa took a high risk job as an explosives disposal expert to provide for his family in Zimbabwe’s harsh economic environment. Many others have simply chosen to leave the country over the past 20 years of economic decline. Citizens have endured high unemployment and, at times, hyperinflation. “More than two million Zimbabweans have also fled to the larger, more progressive South Africa next door, for better opportunities. Another million Zimbabweans are also estimated to have left Africa entirely,” according to Al-Jazeera, which focused on the southern African country as part of a series on intra-African migration.

• The U.S.- Africa Financial Inclusion Conference organized by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency will take place in Cape Town, South Africa. (July 17-18)
• United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai will co-lead a meeting of the U.S. – East African Community (EAC) Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council in Nairobi, Kenya. During the meeting, which is in its fifteenth year, Ambassador Tai will meet President William Ruto, trade secretary Moses Kuria, and EAC secretary Rebecca Miano to discuss opportunities for increased cooperation with the U.S. (July 17-19).
• A delegation of African ministers from over 10 countries, including Egypt, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Kenya, will participate in the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Africa Ministerial Roadshow on ‘Industrial Decarbonisation’ in London. (July 18-26).

• The co-founder of one of AI’s hottest startups says he was tricked into selling his 15% stake in a company that is now worth billions — for just $100.
• A focus group of evangelical voters in Iowa whose participants weren’t thrilled about Donald Trump returning to office offers hope to his Republican opponents hoping to secure the party’s ticket to contest next year’s U.S. presidential election.
• A big legal win may save the U.S. crypto industry. The victory was described as a “landmark ruling” by a representative of the company involved.

If you’re enjoying the Semafor Africa newsletter and finding it useful, please share with your family, friends, Zambian anime aficionados, and aspiring EV owners. We’d love to have them aboard, too.

You can reply to this email and send us your news tips, gossip, street food recommendations and good vibes.

— Yinka, Alexis Akwagyiram, Marché Arends, Alexander Onukwue, and Muchira Gachenge.