It is said that 22 of African artist were Grammy-nominated this year, particularly from Nigeria and South Africa, which is unprecedented.
For the first time in markets like Nigeria and South Africa, African content creation, particularly in music with the Afrobeat movement has generated more export revenue than cotton, cocoa and coffee put together.
The talents of Africa has done it on it’s own. Talents like Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Mr Eazi and Tems have taken Afrobeats to a global level.
Afrobeats music is currently breaking records on streaming services and amassing massive followings on social media sites like Tiktok and Instagram. It is also receiving support from international music stars like Rihanna, Beyonce, and P. Diddy, among others.
Burna Boy, whose 2019 albums Outside and African Giant, a fusion of afrobeat, dancehall, pop, and hip pop, brought him to the attention of the world, reaffirmed his genius in 2020 with “Twice as Tall.”
Twice as Tall, which was released in August 2020, broke a lot of streaming platform ceilings this time. The album received 175.3 million streams overall in its first month. In addition to Boomplay’s 10.5 million streams, it received 25 million streams on YouTube, 50.2 million on Audiomack, 34.5 million on Spotify, 18.4 million on Music Africa, and 31 million on Music World.
With 64 million streams, Spotify declared it the most streamed album of 2020, surpassing Wizkid’s Made in Lagos, which came in second with 31 million streams. On YouTube, all 15 of the songs from the Twice as Tall album have amassed roughly 1 billion views as of November 4, 2021.
Twice as Tall reigned supreme on international music charts, reaching the top spot on the Billboard charts in the World Albums category.
But Wizkid went above and beyond to break the record. Since Drake included him and Kyla in the hit song One Dance in 2016, Wizkid has undergone a transformation unmatched by any other Afrobeats musician. He was chosen to play Beyoncé Brown Skin Girl in the 2019 film The Lion King: The Gift. SAINt JHN and Blue Ivy Carter were also featured in the song.
Wizkid’s two songs earned him his first Grammy nomination (for One Dance) and a Grammy victory for best music video (Brown Skin Girl).
Wizkid dropped the song Essence on October 30, 2020 featuring Tems, and it has the entire music industry hooked. Justin Bieber, was featured in the song’s remix. Essence became the first African music to ever have a song in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart when his song entered the chart’s Top 10. The Billboard Hot 100, which is released each week by Billboard Magazine, is the benchmark ranking for the American music industry for songs.
Wizkid was one of the highest-nominated artists for the BET Soul Train Awards 2021 on Wednesday, November 4, 2021. He received five nominations, including The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter’s Award, Album of the Year (Made in Lagos), Video of the Year (Essence), Best Collaboration (Essence), and Song of the Year (Essence).
The value of cotton, coffee and cocoa to Africa
The World Bank announced in mid-August that it would invest $300 million in the Ghanaian cocoa industry from 2019 to 2024 in order to add value, including by encouraging processing and manufacturing. Too little West African cocoa is used to make chocolate in the region, just like with so many other African commodities. Only 7% of the $9 billion generated by the global cocoa industry actually reaches the producers.
Cameroon, the third-largest cocoa producer in Africa, is investing in more manufacturing, if not processing. A new 30,000 t/y plant has opened in Kekem, and the Barry Callebaut plant has increased its capacity from 35,000 t/y to 50,000 t/y. Additionally, one of the first tenants at the brand-new industrial zone in Kribi port is Atlantic Cocoa Corporation. Its factory is currently being built, with a 32,000 t/y production capacity that could increase to 60,000 t/y in the second phase.
The project will support the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority’s (ECTA) initiative to market Ethiopian coffee to more affluent coffee drinkers worldwide with a total investment of US$50m over the following three years.
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