MIP Africa’s debut is set for August 24-26, 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa, thanks to RX Africa, part of the RX Group, which organizes, among other TV markets, MIPCOM in Cannes.
“We’re in the business of growing businesses,” said Sisanda Henna (pictured above), the 40-year-old recently appointed MIP Africa chairman of the advisory board, during a Skype interview. “The market is no longer segregated (e.g., Nigeria serving Nigeria or Ghana selling to Ghanaians), but international, and our object is for Africa to do global business.”
From Amsterdam, Holland, where he attended a conference before flying back to his base in Johannesburg, he spoke to VideoAge to explain that, “People don’t fly 10,000 kilometers to just listen to conferences.” He then added: “The way we make [our] conferences relevant [to buyers and sellers] is to define what the next 50 years of the industry business in Africa will look like, because we are different from Europe and America.”
About the market’s buying and selling aspects, his take was that, even though terrestrial television isn’t going to die (“there are government mandates to keep doing it”), MIP Africa’s strategy is to attract more streamers because that “is the new wave and by far the biggest size of direct investment coming to the market.”
The South Africa-born Henna’s professional background is mainly as an actor (he has 21 movies to his credit), but he has also produced and directed films. Henna is also familiar with the way that Hollywood works, having moved to Los Angeles in 2007 for one year to assist the director of the Pan African Film Festival.
MIP Africa will feature four country overviews: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania, and will follow the November MIP Cancun format of up to 15 pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings of 25 minutes each.
According to an RX Africa press release, 85 exhibitors are expected to rent meeting tables, and will meet with 60 hosted (all expenses paid) buyers, as well as some of 240 “member” buyers (who will attend at their own expense). Overall, 2,500 participants are expected.
The first “guest country” is going to be the U.S., which is well acquainted with South Africa’s strong service industry (Henna pointed to the talent that starred in Marvel’s 2018 film Black Panther as an example of this).
The full interview will be featured in the June/July Issue of VideoAge, which, after NATPE Budapest, will receive bonus distribution at MIP Africa, as well.
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