Africa Podfest Turns Three
Africa Podfest Turns Three
Look back At Africa Podfest In The Last Three Years of African Podcasting
In This Very Newsy Newsletter
Giving Tuesday | 29 November | Buy Us A Coffee
By Threes: Africa Podfest Turns Three + A GIVEaway for you
Podcast Opinions: Africana Woman’s Chulu Chansa | Zambia 🇿🇲
New Audio Producer Resources: Funding, trainings and more
Giving Tuesday | 29 November | Buy Us A Coffee
Africa Podfest is only as strong as it’s individual investors. That is you. Thank you to those of you who have stepped up to share your resources with us, and by extension the Africa Podfest community.
We have not been spared the impact of the current economic recession. We will not go far without your individual fiscal support. We have shared some fiscal and non-fiscal ways you can support Africa Podfest - either one-time or in a recurring way (e.g. monthly)
By Threes - Some Important Takeaways In The Last Three Years
Take a moment and reflect with us about our journey to date
Reflecting on our last 3 years
Who we are: We simplify podcast learning, placing a spotlight on African podcasters, and centring voices that have been in the margins.
Our Why: Opening up fresh perspectives to how people see themselves, express themselves, and with that, create room for more people to understand the rich diversity of perspectives and experiences across Africa.
1. Data Led
We seek to to understand African Podcast Listenership and encourage podcast fans to listen to African podcasts via the 400+ podcasts in The African Podcast Database. We make our research we do publicly accessible to spur growth across industries.
With The Right Partners
We keep seeking out likeminded partners who share our interest in a more inclusive African podcast ecosystem. As a women-led and cofounded company, we have worked with a host of global partners, particularly around our gatherings and especially Africa Podcast Day - Take a look at Africa Podcast Day 2022
Capturing The Shift In New Media
We engage with audio colleagues around the world and in traditional media. Catch up on some of the stories we have been featured in here: Africa Podfest in the media
Listen to a new episode of the Unlocking Africa podcast featuring our cofounder Melissa Mbugua via Buzzsprout (Click here or on image below)
2. Towards A More Sustainable Livelihood
Centring African Podcasters
We continue championing the people behind the African podcasts themselves: The African Podcaster. As Africans moving in a world that persists with singular narratives about Africa, we are betting on ourselves, our voices and the perspectives of under-resourced podcasters from Africa and the African diaspora.
Connecting Responses Across Africa
We are proud to be pioneering original research about different African countries, such as the 2022 Discovery Tour: Data Edition that focused on Kenya, Nigeria and South African podcasters
A New Chapter Of African Podcast Investment
In 2022, Spotify launched the Africa Podcast Fund. We are proud to be the administrators of this first significant investment of US$ 100,000 into 13 teams of African podcasters building phenomenal podcasts from Africa to the world. Get to know the 13 teams (via Spotify Newsroom)
3. Together
Unconference on African Podcasting:
We could never have imagined that getting friends together in Nairobi would lead us and many of you to amplify and convene others around podcasting. We are moved by how many collectives have come up in the last three years alone.
Virtual Gatherings
When we started, we did not know what a world shifting three years it would be. We connected virtually around the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic, and will continue to do that as we recognise the real challenges of travel to meet across Africa and the African diaspora
Back In Person
We are planning a special time together around Africa Podcast Day 2023 on 12th of February. We know how precious the time together can be - and we want as many of you to join us as possible. Please consider purchasing a virtual or inperson ticket for yourself or another podcaster through our Access Grant fund.
Giveaway: Founderland x Africa Podfest Virtual Ticket
Africa Podcast Day 2023 is coming up on 12th February. Here is what past attendees have to say about the day
We want to also give you a chance to win a ticket.
Our cofounder Josephine is a member of Founderland, a community for EU based startup founders. This holiday month of December, Africa Podfest is featuring in the Founderland Holiday Gift Guide, which features amazing gift ideas for your loved ones - including Africa Podcast Day 2023. We are also taking part in their super holiday giveaway contest with a chance to win a virtual ticket to Africa Podcast Day 2023
For a chance to win a virtual ticket (US $ 75) to Africa Podcast Day 2023,
a. follow Africa Podfest on Instagram
b. follow Founderland on Instagram
Check from December 1 -31, 2022 for chances to win this amazing ticket. Good luck!
Podcaster Opinion
Africa Podfest puts African podcasters at the centre of the conversation. Powered by our editorial consultant, Maryanne Emomeri, in this new section, we get to hear the opinions of different podcasters on the different monthly themes. This month we feature award winning Chulu Chansa | Country: Zambia 🇿🇲 of the Africana Woman with Chulu podcast Instagram: Chulu by Design, Africana Woman Twitter: @AfricanaWoman_ Her podcast won the APVA Best Society and Culture podcast in Africa 2022
Topic 1: Do you earn money from your podcast in any way? Yes? How?, No? What monetization tactics are you willing to explore?
Most podcasters get caught in the trap of trying to build their numbers before they monetise their podcast. That’s because they see corporate advertising as the main way to earn an income. That is a Lie. There are two things you can advertise on your podcast: you can either advertise someone else’s business or you can advertise yourself.
If you have an engaged audience who values the content you make, it doesn’t matter what size they are, they are already more likely to purchase something from you. That is the direction I have taken. When I started podcasting, I was not famous (still not), I did not have a big following or platform to bounce off of. Therefore, I took time to create a community around the podcast, listened to their needs and created products based off of their feedback. The Africana Woman community has a mix of products, including: A Book Club, Courses, Retreats, Masterclasses, and a Networking Group. All of which I advertise on the podcast.
My advice to up and coming podcasters is, do not wait to become famous before you monetise your podcast. There are only a handful of people who become famous in any industry but everyone has the potential to monetise their podcast. Instead, make a connection with your audience to learn what they would want to purchase from you. Then create an amazing product. It can be anything from a digital product, a service, a community or a physical product. Have fun with it.
Audio Producer Resources by Talia (FREE)
Thank you Talia Augustidis for sharing this bumper (50+ pages) of resources for Audio Producers - for now mainly for UK and US based producers. We know many of you are located in these regions. Talia shared these with Africa Podfest via our website: www.podcasting.africa
You can find the full document here: Helpful Resources for Emerging Radio/Audio Producers Google Doc -FREE
Podcast Workshop Johannesburg (PAID)
Podmeets is hosting a workshop in Johannesburg on how to start your first podcast led by Elna Schutz at (R550 | approx US $32) For questions and further info: Contact Podmeets via podmeet@journalism.co.za.
To advertise your event or resource with Africa Podfest, contact us hello@africapodcastfestival.com