In a conversation with Bloomberg, Nigerian producer Mo Abudu said distribution remains a challenge for African projects.
During the business-focused interview, she also spoke about some of her moves across the continent. “I was invited by the African Development Bank and the African Investment Forum to present an investors boardroom at their conference in Morocco,” she said. “And I was presenting to a room full of investors about the Afro Film Fund, which is the film fund that I’m working on in partnership with some number of DFIs.”
“What’s important,” she added, “is that everybody sat in that room and I was able to share the story and create scenarios with financial information on return on investment and the opportunities that exist around our film industry and making films across the continent.”
Abudu highlighted the advantages of African storytelling, noting that the continent has been silent in global narratives. “Now one of the major advantages we have, storytelling is about telling authentic stories, and Africa has been silent in telling those global stories,” she said. “And that’s where we have a mindful of stories that we can mine and mine for years to come.”
“And I think investors realise that and they understand that there’s real potential, and as I said earlier, independent films are making a huge comeback.”
She, however, acknowledged that distribution remains a significant challenge for African content. “Another challenge that African content has is distribution.”
To address this issue, Abudu’s team is working on opening EbonyLife Place and EbonyLife Cinemas in London. “That’s why I’m here in London. We’re opening EbonyLife Place in London, with EbonyLife Cinemas, where for the first time in the United Kingdom, you can walk in and watch an African film,” she said.
“It’s gonna be the first time in the United Kingdom where you can watch an African film every single day of the week. That’s never happened before. Again, that’s a big change.” The venue is set to launch in December this year.
Speaking on how to convince international investors to invest in African films, Abudu believes that Africa’s youthful population and growing market make it an attractive proposition for investors. “We know that we have the youngest youth population in the world. We know that by 2050, 1 in 4 people across the world is going to be African. So there’s already a market and investors are looking for markets no matter where the market is. So we know that Africa in itself is a market.”
She encouraged investors to tap into the continent’s creative potential, citing the success of emerging markets and the potential for returns on investment. “Investors need to realise that we aren’t saying invest everything here, but we are saying we know there’s going to be a return because it’s an emerging market and we know that emerging markets work and there’s going to be a return on that.”
