Amobé Mévègué is an audiovisual producer. He is the founder and CEO of the Ubizznews television channel, available in Africa and Europe via satellite. He is also active in the Afro media world in France, having worked since the 1980s on the first diaspora radio stations, Tabala FM and Tropic FM. Amobé has also been named the most widely broadcast African journalist on the continent, producing and hosting programs broadcast on RFI, TV5Monde, Canal France International, MCM Africa, France 0, France 24, and other public and private channels on the continent.
What motivated you to launch such an initiative?
My professional career has allowed me to get to know all the Afro and international media outlets that have an impact on African populations. This has enabled me to meet leading figures in the artistic world who are now like a second family to me. I am a content producer and I pride myself on my commitment to causes that are close to my heart. As such, I have created a foundation called Mobaday, based in Burkina Faso, the land of Thomas Sankara. The foundation has a pan-African vocation and aims to create jobs in the creative industries. The WAN project is led by this foundation.
Before this project came to fruition, we were already working on a WAN project, designed in a different form, initially intended to create a hub of artists, region by region, in partnership with Afrobytes.
Can you tell us about the WAN 2.0 project?
After a call with Youssou N'dour, a few days after Manu Dibango's death, I had the idea for the WAN project. I called many artists from across the diaspora, and they all responded positively. So we built a vast solidarity network to bring the WAN project to fruition: content that we will aggregate and broadcast in partnership with the African Broadcasting Union on all African channels on May 25, International Africa Day. In a symbolic sense, we want to invite participants to think about the new Africa after this health crisis that has affected the continent and the rest of the world. The coronavirus has impacted the entire world. On the continent, a social and economic crisis has also taken hold. Perhaps it is time to rethink Africa, in terms of governance, education, and health. To this end, we are offering an initial meeting through the WAN project, consisting of a day of debates on various topics on social media with the hashtags #JeSuisWan and #IAmWan, and a 2.5-hour virtual show hosted by major artists (mini concerts).
How will it be broadcast?
The WAN (Worldwide Afro Network) project brings together for the first time around 100 artists, leaders, and innovators from Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, the Americas, and beyond. UNESCO has also joined the project as it supports the "Don't go viral" campaign.
The 2.5-hour show will be broadcast on television, where we are aiming for 500 million viewers thanks to the network of public and private channels brought together by the UAR. The channels will broadcast the show on the evening of the 25th after the news and will rebroadcast the program in the following days. We hope to achieve the largest spontaneous audience ever for a television event.