Celebrating Opportunity
Celebrating Opportunity
Reflecting on the African Podcaster Showcase, representation in media and opportunities to sharpen your podcasting skills.
Hey friends! Welcome to the end of August (already)! We are well into the final third of what has felt like several years wrapped into one. It feels both unreal and too real at the same time. With so many in the community grieving loss and struggling to cope with all the uncertainty, we are also grateful every day for another opportunity to create, express ourselves and connect with each other. We get to make podcasts and listen to podcasts, which is part of what keeps us afloat during these chaotic times.
As we leave August and enter into September, what would you still like to say to the world? Who would you like to connect with? What's an adventure that you haven't yet embarked on? Maybe this is the perfect moment to start with what you have. It only takes one step to get started.
Wishing you connection, opportunity and courage.
Melissa Mbugua,
Co-Director, Africa Podfest
African Podcaster Showcase
This week we come to the close of our African Podcaster Showcase campaign that has been running for the past 12 weeks. The campaign, centred on our Instagram page, introduced the world to podcasters from across the continent and diaspora. They shared about their podcasting challenges, successes and dreams. What are some insights from the stories? Well for starters, podcasters are leading the way when it comes to crafting unfiltered, thoughtful media experiences that truly bring a fresh narrative to the world about African people. Some, like 2 Broke Twimbos (Zimbabwe) have been at the podcasting game for many years, having started their podcast from a radio studio, while others like The Girlfriends Series (Botswana) and Moments with Nderru (Kenya) started during the pandemic and have grown fast in a short period of time. Cross-country collaborations are also happening like with Just Nabz Podcast, whose hosts met on Twitter and have been making their podcast remotely since 2020 from South Africa and Italy. Others are making waves in industry, like the Tourism Entrepreneur Podcast (Cameroon) which is an award-winning podcast in the tourism industry started in 2020 as a platform to talk about trends in travel and hospitality and future possibilities for the sector. But don't just take our word for it, check out the stories for yourself!
Head on to our IG (@africapodfest) for a treat! The feed gives you a guide to podcasters and their countries, while the IGTV gallery gives you access to recordings of live chats with each of the featured podcasters.
Whose Voice is Heard in the Media?
One of the reasons that Africa Podfest exists is to elevate African podcasters so as to center their voices, which have for so long been in the margins of the media universe. A good example of how this is possible is this story about police brutality in Kenya by Stoneface Bombaa, host of the podcast Until Everyone is Free. The story highlights the perspective of young men in Mathare, a hotspot for targeted violence by police against the community. This is an issue currently gaining momentum in the national conversation and Stoneface's podcast is one of the few places where the public can learn about the history of marginalisation and police violence in urban Kenya. He was a speaker at the 2021 Africa Podcast Day celebrations that we hosted in February.
In Case you Missed It
September is upon us, which means that it's time to celebrate International Podcast Day on 30 September! After many years of bringing a nurturing spotlight to the global podcasting community, this year the fanfare will be different from before, as the organizers of the day announced that they will not be running their usual 30+ hour programme. Instead, they will leave the global community to create their own events and provide promotional and connection support through their social media platform.
International Podcast Day has been an inspiration for us to start Africa Podcast Day. They have been taking their unique spotlight to podcasters around the world, and they stopped by Africa Podfest in January 2021 where we had a great conversation on “Where's The Money in African Podcasting?” available on You Tube. We are grateful for the platform they have built! We will be celebrating International Podcast Day in true style with a special event this month, details to come soon.
Follow the global celebrations at International Podcast Day
Resources and Opportunities
Looking for sounds of real African city life to use in your podcast? Sound of Nairobi is an open-access archive where you can get a range of free sound recordings of everyday life like traffic, conversation, music and more.
Sharpen your writing skills with this self-paced course on News Writing: the Art of Storytelling facilitated by top journalists from around the world, including friend of Africa Podfest Christine Mungai, curator of Baraza Media Lab.
Get really good at the details of how to make your podcast excellent with expert help from The Podlab, a podcast from Podcast Movement. This is a real treat!
Partner with us
Africa Podfest inspires and elevates African podcasters to build a sustainable and inclusive podcasting industry across Africa. Our intention is to achieve this by simplifying podcast learning, placing a spotlight on African podcasters, and centring voices that have been in the margins. We welcome support from individuals and institutions. Email us to inquire about institutional partnership hello@africapodcastfestival.com