Big greetings, and hello Friends of Africa Podfest,
Twice the number of salutations for this second anniversary newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and sharing this with people keen on African podcasting. Every month, you open this page and we appreciate you. Some of you go the extra step to leave us a comment, or email us directly to tell us what you think about Africa Podfest, African podcasting or to share your impressions on each month’s highlights.
I am so privileged to share my editor’s note today. I would like to thank our earliest friends, generous corporate and philanthropic partners, our advisory board, our big African podcaster family around the world for believing with us that a world where African podcasts are elevated is possible. I want to appreciate our individual contributors - ordinary people with extraordinary openness for us. These remarkable individuals send us a coffee via our Ko-fi giving platform - not just on days like Giving Tuesday today - but every month, from across Africa and the world that keeps us dreaming.
Onward!
Josephine Karianjahi
Co-Director, Africa Podfest
Two Years of Africa Podfest
Two years of making and listening to African podcasts, gatherings, learning, growth and community. Two years of high highs and low lows, late nights, busy days, laughter, phone calls, video calls with new and old friends, dance breaks and adventures with all of you! Thank you to all!
Melissa Mbugua & Josephine Karianjahi (Co-Directors)
Two years ago this week, Africa Podfest began officially in our African HQ in Nairobi, Kenya. Through the last two years, we have grown as cultural practitioners in a pandemic era economy because of YOU, our community. What does a Kenyan community driven company do? We create and connect and grow our bottom line based on members - and those members are African podcasters from within Africa and across the world. In practice, this looks like research into who is listening to African podcasts, events that meaningfully gather African podcasters, catapulting great African podcasts and strengthening the ties between the community.
New to Africa Podfest? Curious about what we have been working on? Want to see something smart and surprising? Click on the image below to explore links to our world.
2021 : Our Year In Review (Infographic)
Discovery Tour Stop #3: South Africa
Through the #DiscoveryTour, we are taking you on a journey to African podcasting hubs and shattering the single story of Africa through epic encounters with African podcast storytellers across the continent 🙌🏾🌍 We have had such a wonderful experience with our Discovery Tour Stop #1 in Zambia (Recap here) and Stop #2 in Kenya (Recap here)
Africa Podfest Discovery Tour is taking us to African podcasting hubs and allow us to shatter the single story of Africa through epic encounters with African podcast storytellers across the continent. With four stops culminating on Africa Podcast Day 2022, we are continuing our tradition of putting African podcasters first through celebration and connection. What is evident in these tours is the exponential potential and growth of podcasts in Africa.
We are just 2 Discovery Tours away from Africa Podcast Day 2022 and just a few days to the Discovery Tour stop #3 an exciting South African podcaster led gathering - the Journey Creators event. The hybrid event will be live streamed from Joburg, South Africa and available to enjoy virtually on the 4th of December 2021.
What better way to end the year than exploring what South Africa has to offer the world of African podcasting?
Our 3rd stop brings us to Joburg, South Africa for the Journey Creators Event with The Journey Podcast host Sisipho Skweyiya and other amazing South African podcasters. The event will be streamed live on Africa Podfest platforms from AMPD Studios - world class radio and music recording studio in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. We wish to thank our Discovery Tour partners for this 3rd Stop on the Discovery Tour: Africa No Filter, Digify Africa, Volume Africa, AMPD Studios, The Journey Podcast and Yellow Ray Digital
Sneak Peek: The Journey Creators Event
To hear a special episode of the Journey podcast about the Discovery Tour and hear from South African podcasters Amina Deka Asma & Aphiwe Mame : Spotify
Amina Deka Asma shares her experience as a podcaster, including what it takes to create a podcast and all the elements needed to capture a listener’s attention.
Aphiwe Mame finally addresses the ‘Brand vs Content Creator’ issue, especially for podcasting which is gaining momentum and popularity in the content space.
Melissa Mbugua (Africa Podfest) talks about the rise of influencers in podcasting, looking at how it will affect the growth of the medium but stresses that the most important thing is playing the long game, building a solid listenership and contributing the podcast community.
Josephine Karianjahi (Africa Podfest) talks about the importance of building a podcast community so that creators can learn from each other, collaborate and build together.
To watch a short video about why this is the moment for podcasting and Africa via Discovery Tour South Africa partner, Digify Africa: Watch Instagram TV
The event will be live streamed from AMPD Studios, Joburg, South Africa (Behind The Scenes Photo Below Courtesy Sisipho Skweyiya)
Events:
November Events Recap:
Google PRX Webinar: Navigating the World Of Podcast Festivals
Melissa Mbugua joined other global podcast festival conveners this month for a one-of-a-kind event, the "How to Navigate the World of Podcast Festivals" webinar that is a cooperative effort between Google and PRX to provide training, mentorship and resources for podcasters. The webinar explored the big world of podcast festivals, awards and conferences. We learnt about the event landscape, how they function, what they offer the creators and the audiences alike and how to get the most out of attending them.
With the recent shift from in-person to virtual meetings, during the webinar, it was clear that the disruption of sorts has forced us to embrace the new normal and inasmuch as we may have missed our usual in-person interactions, we have interacted with so many people that we would not have done so given the nature of our traditional meetings.
The guests included the CEO and Co-Founder of She Podcasts Jess Kupferman, Third Coast’s Co-Directors Emily Kennedy and Maya Goldberg-Safir, Co-Director of Africa Podfest Melissa Mbugua and the President and Co-Founder of Podcast Movement Dan Franks.
For those who missed it or may want to take a second look at it, you can find the recording and the transcription of the webinar on the Google PRX website.
https://googlecp.prx.org/blog/how-to-navigate-the-world-of-podcast-festivals
Africa Podcast Day Community Events 2022 - Closed
Thank you to all the podcasters and podcast teams who sent on time submissions by November 18, 2021 for the Community Events to be considered for the official February 12, 2022 program.
We are blown away by the responses. We appreciate you taking time off what has been an incredibly heavy year to submit. We look forward to making more announcements about this in mid-December 2021 - in just a couple of weeks’ time.
December Events
December 6-7: PODEXNBO at SemaBOX (in person)
SemaBOX is excited to invite African podcasters and podcast enthusiasts to their first ever PODEX Nairobi event, which will be on the 6th and 7th of December 2021. PODEX is Kenya’s premier podcast creator event that brings together podcasters, podcast producers, vloggers, aggregators and podcast hosting companies. Our goal is to build more ecosystem linkages within the podcasting community.
#PODEXNBO will feature workshops, masterclasses and peer to peer sharing sessions that are carefully curated to ensure that creators leave the event upskilled and energized. Up to 40 people can register for the event each day, this is to create a safe and friendly experience for all attendees. To sign up: Eventbrite
December 8: Podcasting and Women in Africa during the upcoming African Women in Media #AWiM21 conference Speakers: Kim Fox, Yasmeen Ebada, Dr. Jassmine L. Blanks Jones, Melissa Mbugua, Jedi Ramalapa and Msia Kibona Clark Time: 3:45-5:45pm CAT. To join, sign up for the conference here: AWIM21 website
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