The woman behind the scene

  In 2010 when she served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Entertainment, developing and exporting African content was her agenda. Working behind the African entertainment scene, she sees beyond the TV screens to cheaply-produced films becoming better and getting more attention than their days of little beginnings.

Though she is soft-spoken, Biola Alabi’s voice gets firmer any time the discussion is on moving African movie industry forward. For the managing director of MNET Africa, the movie industry is part of the creative industry that has the capacity, especially in Africa, to redress Africa’s image problem, discover and nurture talents, get many out of the streets by creating jobs, develop skills, reduce crime and restiveness and also contribute a lot to the African economy.

Since 2008 when she was poached by M-Net Africa from her New York base, television content and programming on DSTV, particularly Africa Magic, have never been the same.

“We are developing programmes that have wider family appeal and are engaging for all. We have different platforms to engage different audience,” the 2012 Young Global Leader (by the World Economic Forum) says.

From Tinsel, Jacob’s Cross, Isidingo, Jara African Magic in Yoruba, Hausa, Swahili and, of course, Igbo that is waiting for more content to become a channel of its own, Alabi has championed quest for local content like no other manager of the multi-national cable and satellite content company.

As Africa Magic celebrates its 10 years of quality content programming, she insists it is about time more eyes are glued to the television sets across Africa with quality content programming and viewership options that are now available to those who hitherto could not afford the subscription fee. They can now excite themselves in the pocket-friendly options available in the different bouquets on offer at different DSTV offices and super dealers.

At a get-together for winners of the recently concluded Africa Movie Viewers Choice Awards, Alabi reiterated the commitment of M-Net Africa to building on entertainment, the continent’s strength. “It was for that singular reason that Africa Movie Viewers Choice Award came on board. If you want the best from African movie industry, you need to challenge the industry, get the stakeholders involved in a healthy rivalry and reward the best.” That, for her, would encourage industry practitioners to go for the best exposure, training, equipment, and manpower that will produce local contents that will sell beyond African shores.

While the whole continent prepares to celebrate 10 years of Africa Magic on DSTV, remember Alabi and her team have been behind making sure that the continent watches more of its own than foreign contents that pose threat to African TV business and, most importantly, cultural heritage.

However, the 10 years of programming on Africa Magic have seen strategic expansion of the Africa Magic brand as the home of African entertainment. The many local contents, localised foreign contents, improved viewing and sustained excitement on DSTV channels were made possible by the dexterity of Alabi and her team.

Though she hopes for the best, especially for African-produced films to take centre stage at Oscars, the empowerment, recognitions, exposure and jobs that come to Africans courtesy of the growth of the movie industry give her joy.

“African movie industry is often the reason Africa is discussed positively across the world. The industry is growing, and we need to encourage and improve on the developments in the industry in our own little way, which is the healthy rivalry, improvement in quality, global exposures and empowerment the industry gets on the Africa Magic platform,” the MD notes.

She insists that M-Net Africa’s commitment to producing engaging and entertaining content is not a farce. “You witness just that right on your TV screen,” Alabi says, while assuring even more value-for-money programming in partnership with Multichoice, its sister company.

The glamorous MD is looking forward to more challenges in the future. Of course, like her role models – Helen Johnson Sirleaf, first African woman president, Oprah Winfrey, one of the most passionate black persons on earth, Margret Albright, and even her mother – she is optimistic about weathering the storm successfully.