Kenya quest to host Africa Recording Academy HQ gets a boost

Kenya’s quest to host an Africa Recording Academy headquarters received a boost Friday when the Recording Academy officials said plans to set the ball rolling on key milestones were underway and that Kenyan mentee artists would travel to the United States next month.

Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay, speaking after a meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday, said Africa’s place in the global music industry was a project that could not be measured by a single launch date, but by the work being put into building the foundation.

At a panel discussion with various creative economy actors, he compared the process to gardening, saying all the necessary conditions had to be in place before the final harvest.

“I like to tell people it’s like gardening,” he said. “For things to happen, you need conditions, you need persistence. You need pruning.”

The Recording Academy has made several moves towards expanding the global reach of African music.

Four years ago, the Grammys introduced the Best African Music Performance category and later formed an American Music Mentorship Program in partnership with the US State Department.

The Recording Academy, which organises the Grammys, now want to expand their presence in Africa by establishing an Africa Recording Academy headquarters, a bid that Kenya won to host. The Kenyan government has invested $3.9 million towards hosting the Hub.

President Ruto, speaking Wednesday during a business summit, said the investment was aimed at transforming Kenya’s creative economy into a viable source of income for artists.

Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, said Africa’s push to establish a stronger presence within the Grammys should be viewed as a long-term project.

He compared it to the development of the Latin Recording Academy, saying it also took years to build the structures and networks needed to establish a strong presence in the global music industry.

Abud, Panay and Media Executive Nicholas Weinstock have been on a week-long meet-and-greet in Nairobi, as part of the US Embassy-Kenya creative economy collaboration.