New scramble for Africa: IFAAP Secretary Chikwendu tasks filmmakers to save continent
* Calls on AFREXIM Bank to access to USD$1b fund
* Urges urgent action against illegal broadcast, streaming
By Editor
ON the sidelines of the ongoing ZUMA Film Festival, frontline filmmaker and Secretary General of Accra, Ghana-based International Federation of African Audiovisual Professionals (IFAAP), Madu C. Chikwendu has called on African filmmakers in the mother continent and beyond to save the continent from the new scramble for Africa by wealthy nations. Chikwendu said call has become imperative during the of his presentation of the lead paper at the just concluded Kano Indigenous Language of Africa Festival that has as theme ‘Decolonizing the African Mind Through Indigenous Language Films.‘ this was contained in a release from IFAAP Media Office and signed by Nkosi Muwanda.
According to Chikwendu, “It is very tragic that more than half a century after their so-called independence, African countries continue to depend on the export of raw materials for foreign exchange earnings, and the continent continues to be in the stranglehold of cultural imperialism .The increasing importance of strategic natural resources like Coltan, Lithium, Uranium, etc, the abundance of our human resources and the largest youth population on the planet have galvanized a new scramble for Africa .This time we are not confronted by Western European countries alone but also their cousins in Russia, the United States, and more recently, China.”
IFAAP Secretary, Madu C. Chikwendu
The creative industries specialist and public policy adviser further expressed his views on the new frontier of colonisation going on in the creative industry sector of Africa’s economy, particularly the Africa’s gifted storytelling ability that must now transcend to a higher level.
According to him, “Telling our stories is great, but now we need to tell stories with a purpose. It is now very important for us to make films that will decolonize the African mind. This important task cannot be executed independently but must be accompanied by the development and revitalization of the infrastructure for cinema particularly in the areas of financing and distribution, accompanied by robust action against illegal broadcast and illegal streaming of content created by filmmakers with their sweat and blood. Within this framework, African Export Import Bank AFREXIM must move beyond organizing expos to take concrete action that will ensure access to the much publicized one billion United States dollar (US$D1b) fund .”
The IFAAP Secretary-General further revealed plans to strengthen the capacity of the federation through a membership call in the coming weeks. Whilst in Abuja Chikwendu will hold talks with critical state and non-state actors.
