In 2017, Beninese President Patrice Talon launched Le Benin révélé, a vast and ambitious government action program to accelerate Benin's economic and social development.
One of the first achievements in the field of creation and culture was the construction of Sémé City, an eco-city covering more than 350 hectares in Ouidah, with the ambition of becoming a center of excellence in the fields of cutting-edge higher education, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
It was therefore in Sémé City that TV5MONDE, Mediawan Africa, and the Beninese government, represented by Jean-Michel Abimbola, Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Arts of Benin, announced their partnership to develop the first season of an ambitious original daily drama series consisting of 220 26-minute episodes entitled "Le meilleur est à venir" (The Best is Yet to Come).
This ambitious industrial project will contribute significantly to the structuring of the sector by providing jobs for several hundred authors, artists, and technicians, and by contributing to the training of many emerging young talents in Africa.
The creative teams at Keewu Production (Mediawan Africa's production division) and TV5MONDE will work hand in hand with talented individuals who have benefited from training (writing workshops) organized by the Agency for the Development of Arts and Culture (ADAC), which ensures the professionalization and promotion of talent in the sector.
"The Best Is Yet to Come" features students who, caught between tradition and modernity, explore adult life: five young people who have nothing in common are forced to live together in a villa while waiting for their university housing to be ready. This explosive situation will have consequences for all the characters in the series: teachers, other students, parents, and the residents of the town where the campus is located.
Sèmè City will be the ideal setting for the filming locations of this fictional campus, nestled in a green setting on the outskirts of a small town rich in history.
"We are proud to be at the dawn of a new era in Benin's screen industries thanks to this unprecedented partnership with Mediawan Africa and TV5MONDE. By supporting this innovative project, Benin is establishing itself as a new cultural hub in Africa, ready to share its exceptional heritage with the rest of the world. Le Meilleur est à Venir is much more than a series, it is a celebration of Beninese and African talent, and we are eager to see this inspiring collaboration come to life," summarizes the Minister, who, with the launch of this initiative, is positioning Benin as a new major hub for audiovisual production in Africa.