Held at Villa Tahiba in Abidjan, the three-day event aimed to foster collaboration and strengthen ties between Côte d’Ivoire, the broader Francophone region, and the rest of Africa.
By Korede Owoeye
Warner Music Africa Francophone (WM AFR) has officially launched with a high-profile songwriting camp, bringing together over 20 artistes, producers, and songwriters from across the continent. Held at Villa Tahiba in Abidjan, the three-day event aimed to foster collaboration and strengthen ties between Côte d’Ivoire, the broader Francophone region, and the rest of Africa.
The camp featured an impressive lineup of artistes, including Hyce, Jeriq, Black K, Ch’cco, Herc Cut The Lights, Kold AF, Kouz1, Paulo Chakal, Ste Milano, and Yumbs, who worked together to create new music.
Additional talents such as Akim, Ayanne, Beeztrap, Dorty, G6$, Kemuel, Kiff No Beat, Mac Abel, Mr Behi, Nikanor, Remy Baggins, Shaun, Spy Shitta, Suspect 95, Tamsir, and Yilim participated in various activities designed to bridge connections between artistes from the Francophone region and the wider African music industry.
The songwriting camp served as the concluding event for WM AFR’s official launch, which drew key industry executives, including Warner Music Africa Managing Director, Temi Adeniji, Africori CEO, Yoel Kenan, and Warner Music France President, Alain Veille.
The event was led by the Minister of Culture and Francophonie of Côte d’Ivoire, Madame Françoise Remarck, alongside political and music industry stakeholders from across West Africa.
Minister Remarck expressed her ministry’s commitment to collaborating with WM AFR in the coming months, exploring innovative partnerships to support and develop local talent.
Yoann Chapalain, co-director of Warner Music Africa Francophone, highlighted the event’s significance, stating: “It’s been powerful to see such a wide mix of artistes join us here in Abidjan, with people flying in from all over Africa. Warner Music Africa Francophone exists not just to sign talent but to connect artistes from French-speaking regions to the rest of Africa; it’s in our DNA to take a pan-African approach with all of our artistes”.
Co-director, Marc-André Niang echoed this sentiment, noting: “The blueprint for Warner Music Africa Francophone was to connect the best French-speaking talent with the rest of Africa, so I’m proud to see us do just this at our first songwriting camp. This was a truly pan-African experience and certainly the first of its kind in Francophone Africa”.
The launch comes amid growing global interest in French-language music. In 2024, over 83 million hours of French-language tracks were streamed across 180 countries.
Spotify previously reported that between August 2023 and July 2024, more than 100 million users worldwide listened to at least one piece of French-language audio content, underscoring the increasing consumption of music in the language.