Adebola Williams, chairman, AW Network and co-founder, RED | For Africa; Kevin Hart, entrepreneur and founder, Hartbeat; Ned Mitchell, head of originals for Africa and the Middle East, Prime Video and Amazon Studios; and Monique Nelson, chair, Uni World Group Inc. (UWG) will be speaking at the Advertising Week Africa in South Africa.
Advertising Week Africa is an offshoot of Advertising Week, a worldwide gathering of marketing, advertising, technology, and brand professionals. From daytime seminars and workshops featuring some of the industry’s brightest minds to organized networking and world-class entertainment, Advertising Week debuts on the continent with the mission to scale Africa’s cultural influence, talent, and solutions to the world.
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“Unlike before, the world has now taken notice of Africa and the talents that abound in it,” saidWilliams. “We must therefore take advantage of our current positioning as the emerging creative capital of the world to establish the continent and its people, and make it the powerhouse of innovation for generations to come.”
As part of the Advertising Week Africa events, Williams will be on a panel to discuss the topic, ‘African Culture = Pop Culture: The African Currency’, where the speakers will explore how Africa’s creativity has become the center of the world’s pop culture, with Afrobeats running up the music charts globally and Afrofuturism influencing fashion designers and filmmakers.
They will discuss how this new currency can be monetized and what steps should be taken to extend African culture beyond the continent.
The panel which will take place on Stage 2 of the Innovation Factory on March 22, 2023, will also include Preetesh Sewraj, CEO of The Loeries; Nthabi Motsoeneng, managing director of Pernod Ricard; Nomsa Mazibuko, general manager of Brand and Communication MTN; and Zizwe Vundla, CMO of Safaricom.
Key takeaways from the discussion will include the importance of investing in African talent to authentically tell our stories and create financial returns for the continent, increasing awareness of African culture through advertising and marketing to evolve the way the world views Africa, and the opportunity for African brands to benefit by celebrating our culture with the world.
