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How the MAMAs is connecting Africa by Monde Twala [Pulse Interview]

The Senior Vice President & General Manager, ViacomCBS Networks Africa speaks to Pulse about the MAMAs and the network's role in championing entertainment from Africa.

Monde Twala breaks down Viacom's impact on the success of Afrobeats (Twitter/ViacomCBS Networks Africa)

It may have been lost on many, but through it's MTV Base platform, Viacom was hugely influential in breaking Nigerian music that grew to become Afrobeats.

From its demand for quality visuals that drove Nigerian artists to shoot better music videos to the exposure it gave the scene, Viacom was at the forefront of Nigeria music culture and the continent at large.

Even with the MAMAs four-year absence coupled with the digitalisation of content that made TV less relevant, Viacom continues to push Nigerian and African music through its several platforms.

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BET (also owned by Viacom) has been celebrating African artistes with its BET Award for Best International Act: Africa category and the African Acts category of the MTV EMA.

Monde Twala, the Senior Vice President & General Manager, ViacomCBS Networks Africa, was very detailed about Viacom's contribution to music in Africa and pop culture.

In this interview with Pulse, he also spoke on the upcoming MAMAs,

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"The Mamas is about celebrating African music, African talent, African culture, it's about always trying to see how we can use the platform to just elevate the African narrative and make sure we can celebrate African talent in music along with international standards and practice," Twala said.

"We started the MAMAs, 15 years ago, it kicked off in Nigeria and moved to Kenya, and we have had about two other MAMAs in South Africa.

"We have always shared this vision to create the MAMA as a platform for Africa, by Africa, so that we give almost every part of the continent to host the MAMAs.

"The MAMAs also depend on partnerships, and as we have done previously, we have partnered with tourism, brands, to be able to bring MAMAs to life.

"It is a great time now if you think about the year we have had. COVID has hit the continent and young people. I think it's an opportune time to bring the MAMAs back and use it to inspire culture and entertainment and also unify the continent. That's the purpose of the MAMAs. It brings us all together; I don't think there is any other music award that has achieved what the MAMAs have been able to achieve.

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"The MAMAs going to Uganda, one of the most beautiful; countries, with amazing talents, wildlife. The MAMAs also going to different parts of the continent also makes it special and that's our vision, the MAMAs belong to African, and we look forward to finding new host countries and cities for the MAMAs. It's an amazing platform, award show and a powerful tool to encourage young people to rise above their current challenges. As a network, it is what we are committed to continuing to build on, build on the past success by making sure that the MAMA finds a home in different countries and continents."

"That can't be the decision to bring it back, I think the decision to bring the MAMA back really links back to what I just explained, just our vision for the continent and the success we have heard in promoting cross-cultural and cross border collaborations through music," he said.

"It's like a beautiful thing to have a Nigerian artiste collaborating with a Tanzanian artiste. That's the beauty of the MAMAs in bringing young people from across the continent; music lovers from across the continent, storytellers from across the continent and celebrating ourselves in our own way and signature and it's very important. From an MTV perspective, that's the power of what we bring in terms of the kind of formats and entertainment content. Content with purpose, that's the motivation for us to continue to look to bring the MAMAs.

"What we have spent time doing is reimaging and reinventing the format so that it can translate and easier to be able to give it legs to grow and find different partners across the continent to be able to do this.

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"The one thing about COVID particularly in the broadcast union and inventing and experiential space is that it has forced all of us to rethink how we can potentially do things differently and I think the innovation that has come with the time has inspired us to take this route.

"This virtual execution is an opportune time and event that gives us that leverage and ability to do the MAMA through technology. Today technology is allowing me and you to connect. We are in two different cities that are miles apart, and we are able to connect, and through technology, we will be able to produce a format that is amazing and exciting.

"If you look at Viacom and CBS at an international level, we just finished the BET Awards this year which were virtual execution, The EMAs, The VMAs, they were all done virtually as Viacom CBS proved to be leaders in the space and being able to quickly adapt and come out with fresh new innovative formats.

"Digital media is the future, I tell my team and everyone every day, innovation is the new goal, and that's what we need to focus on and be able to adapt to the current time. We will continue to build on the success of the MAMAs and continue to find partners.

"Uganda specifically is the melting pot of amazing it. Having it in that part of the continent is a dynamic move not only to just position talent from Uganda and profile them, you know part of the MAMAs, we also do workshops, skills development, where you find that you have your successful A-Listers like the likes of Burna Boy, Davido, Yemi Alade, Nasty C, etc. who will also part of the project. We want artists to share their success stories. How they got to be, and through sharing that experience, they will be able to inspire young talents across the continent.

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"We do industry workshops that will uplift and develop the young people of the continent, which is very essential to the work that we do at MTV. I'm excited at the prospect and potential.

"The MAMA is more than just a music event, the MAMAs is a platform for all of us to celebrate and engage each other. Africa must celebrate itself, and through the MAMA, that's what we are able to do."

"We kicked off 2020 with the celebration of 16 years on the continent, We kicked off in February and had a series of events across Nigeria and South Africa. The intention was to actually travel across the continent and get to different parts of the continent to continue to celebrate an amazing 15 years on the continent," he said.

"If you think about what the MTV Base managed to achieve over the last years have been really monumental and amazing. Not only are we improving the standard and quality of visual arts in terms of music videos and content, we also are spearheading a very important vision and movement, making sure that we can take African talent and celebrate them and elevate them globally and internationally.

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"I think that's the signature. No other platform like MTV Base does this. No other youth brand like MTV does it. I think we find ourselves in a unique position where we've been able to drive awareness, exposure in terms of pushing African music globally. Davido won the EMAs, Burna has an EMA, a BET award, Wiz (Wizkid) has a BET award and an EMA. African artists are being recognised globally, and through our VIACOM CBS network, we've been able to use our platform, whether it's BET or even Comedy Central.

"We are not only just about content, I think a lot of what drives the VIACOM, CBS machine globally and that's really rooted in youth culture. Look at the VJ Search that we do in Nigeria, that unearthed new talents, and that has given them more opportunities to grow and be celebrities.

"You look at fashion and how African fashion and how African fashion is popping globally, African storytelling. We have just launched on BET a new Telenovela, and we are very confident that it will have global success.

"So it's an amazing time to be African, it's an amazing time to be visibly actioning change that can benefit a continent. We work across the continent, and we really have a pan-African vision. It's something that drives and motivates us to continue to find opportunities to create, innovate and just drive creativity across the entertainment space, and that's what we have done.

"In the last five years, we have done amazing stuff. If you look at the VMAs, the EMAs have really acknowledged musicians and African talents. You had Burna, Davido performed at The O2, what an amazing achievement that was, And it sold out; an African who has managed to deliver entertaining appeal across the world and all comes with the power of our platform in terms of how we collaborate and partner with talent.

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"It is very important and how we then support them in their journey to take over the world. I'm all for Africa telling its own stories, and that's really true empowerment and true impactful change in terms of how we can then use these platforms to empower our young people across the board, I'm so excited and deeply motivated by this vision. What is important is we are open for business, for partnership, for collaboration.

"You see this across everything that we do, whether it's the kids' brand, our Nickelodeon brand, whether it's comedy central, BET, MTV, MTV Base, the network is an important platform for all of us as Africans to connect Africas globally.

"Our strength is our ability to connect Africans globally through entertainment and storytelling and that's something we have managed to change and amplify over the last five years ane beyond, we will continue to do this and strengthen our content portfolio and also strengthen our partnership with like minded brands who share the same sentiment."

"I think we are so focused at the moment on delivering an amazing Mama for the continent in February in Uganda," Twala said.

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"I think that's a key priority for us for next year and these amazing content pieces. Nominees unveiling Broadcast, Road to MAMA which is content pieces that really highlight and profile different artists. Beyond that, we are already exploring different partnerships in other regions to once again continue to leverage and position the MAMA as a platform for Africa. I think the MAMAs have to travel because the MAMAs belong to the continent, that's a key differentiator.

"No other awards show has the kind of impact and purpose and relevance in terms of just its ability to connect the continent to promote collaboration on stage, and off stage."

"I think the big news on the MTV Shuga initiative is that we are actually launching MTV staying alive Foundation officially which is an amazing opportunity for all of us because it now means that we can directly work on creating more awareness around the MTV Shuga projects which also means that we can bring on more partners directly from the continent who can then support the initiative and collectively we can then start telling stories that are more diverse," Twala added.

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