SICA has just closed the doors on its second edition. Can you explain your role in organizing this event?
I am a consultant and have led and participated in major events such as MIPTV, MIPCOM, MIP CANCUN/MIPIM, MAPIC, and Propel NY, connecting global companies with the right strategic partners around the world.
With my expertise in event management and the audiovisual industry, I now advise local authorities and media companies across Africa, helping them to increase their international presence while supporting African events to attract a global audience.
I am currently advising the Ministry of Communication of Côte d'Ivoire on SICA, the African Audiovisual Content Market held in Abidjan. SICA's main mission is to promote African content and support African creators on the global stage.
This is part of a much broader and more ambitious roadmap involving not only the Ministry of Communication but also the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Technical Education, and the Ministry of Tourism. Each ministry will implement a strategy that will enable the entire creative ecosystem, whether cinematographic or audiovisual, to perform well in the years to come.
This involves promoting the attractiveness of the region and training professionals and young people.
In a way, SICA is the end of the chain of this ambitious vision.
Its creation is certainly linked to the disappearance of Discop.
Yes, absolutely. Discop was held in Abidjan for several years, and there was talk of making it a permanent fixture there. But 2022 was a difficult year for Discop Africa, so Côte d'Ivoire decided to keep the event anyway, and to that end, the Ministry surrounded itself with professionals to launch the event last year.
The first edition was somewhat rushed, as we at Adweknow were only informed about it a month before the event. This year, things seem to have been better planned in advance.
Indeed, this year, quite a few things have been adjusted, even though we are still in the early stages of something that is really set to grow year after year.
SICA's goal is to bring together the entire sub-region and perhaps one day become the Mipcom of Africa, if I may refer to an event with which I am familiar.
I really want to emphasize this point, because I often discuss it with the Ministry: the goal is not to organize an event where everyone comes to sell their content to African buyers. The real aim is to structure an African content market, which is still small today in terms of both purchasing power and production capacity, but is growing. The goal is really to create opportunities between French-speaking Africa, English-speaking Africa, and Portuguese-speaking Africa, to generate synergies and create a marketplace where major international players will come to shop for content.
Do you think it is possible to influence English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking markets, which are much more structured than the French-speaking market?
It is true that sub-Saharan Africa is very divided by language, but that is precisely the goal of SICA: to try to bring together all three linguistic Africas.
The aim is still to unite the continent in order to create opportunities for collaboration and co-production. For me, the future of major productions in Africa lies in co-production between African countries. There is not yet an event that brings together actors from the three linguistic zones. I want this to happen at SICA, and I will work to make it happen at SICA because it is also the will of the local authorities.
Kunlé Afolayan, a Nigerian director, actor, and entrepreneur, one of our keynote speakers this year, said he was interested in this diverse Africa and wanted to work with other talents who were culturally different from him but just as talented.
These are discussions that are taking place at SICA today, between English speakers and French speakers.
It's comforting and promising.
That's promising. I think we shouldn't be too hasty, we need to be patient, but today there is an expectation of creativity from Africa, of new things, new stories. Of course, these exist, but not enough.
But isn't it a question of resources?
Yes, of course, it's a question of resources, but it's true that Africa has a talent for creating well with less. At the last SICA, we launched the Financing Conference, which aimed to discuss public-private partnerships, but also to showcase all the incentives that are in place to facilitate filming, for certain parts of the financing, or tax exemptions. That's also a way of securing financing.
Financing can also be structured in other ways: contributions from banks, insurance companies, and private enterprises. AfrexiBank is a perfect example.
In each territory, we must evangelize, seduce, and convince these private financial institutions, which must understand the economic model. It is up to us to explain to them that the economic model is viable.
We also had a masterclass on Branded Content, which is another way to obtain funding.
Do you have any attendance figures to share?
Yes, in terms of participants, I don't know the exact number, because I'm waiting for them myself, but what I can say is that we had more participants than last year and that there were between 320 and 350 participants with a lot of local involvement this year. There was greater awareness and greater mobilization, especially among festival organizers and associations.
In addition, we had 98 speakers and 37 conference sessions over two days, and almost half of those in the exhibition area were international.
What are your goals for 2025?
I think we need to seek out participants from Portuguese-speaking countries, try to bring in more professionals from the diaspora, and also raise awareness in other regions such as Latin America and North Africa.
However, we will not be increasing the number of conferences because this can become difficult to manage and can even create frustration.
Next year, SICA will be held in June due to the presidential elections. Do you know the exact dates?
Yes, it will be from June 26 to 28, 2025, and we will keep this year's model, which may not be very visible from the outside but has been very successful.
SICA takes place over three days: the first two days follow the traditional format for a trade show, with conferences, stands, screenings, etc., and the third day is dedicated to visits. The Ministry of Tourism takes over and takes those who wish to visit or explore locations that could be used for filming. This format allows for the creation of different kinds of connections. People come back with their eyes shining.
We received feedback from participants who told us that this was the first time they had attended such a high-quality event in Africa.
Such quality, from what points of view?
Incredible hospitality, excellent organization, wonderful people, a great venue, pleasant conference rooms with good sound systems, beautiful stands, and a great crowd from both Côte d'Ivoire and abroad.
It's a whole package, and it helps to promote Côte d'Ivoire.
Thank you, and see you next June in Abidjan.