You have just launched a new program called "Télé-confinement." What exactly does it involve?
"Télé confinement" is a program produced by Gondawa City Production. It is a program confined to the home, in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the cancellation of all live shows. We wanted to show that comedians can adapt to the situation. Each comedian contributes a video or column, filmed from their home, in which they recount their lockdown experience in a humorous way. I introduce the columns under the name "Mr. Loyal." The columns include "La vie rêvée de Prisca" (Prisca's dream life), "Le dictionnaire de Boukary" (Boukary's dictionary), "Assistance confinement" (Lockdown assistance) with Les Zinzins, and Agalawal's diplomatic column.
I am confined to Niamey in Niger, while the comedians are confined all over the continent. We started with comedians in Côte d'Ivoire, but we will gradually expand to other countries with comedians from the Parliament of Laughter.
The program began airing on April 19 on CANAL+. We have had very good feedback on this program, particularly on social media, especially for "The Dictionary" presented by comedian Boukary, which has recorded over a million views.
What are the ambitions of such a program?
The ambition of a program like "Télé-confinement" is to show the responsiveness and, above all, the adaptability of our comedians. Together, we must reflect on this new situation: there is a before Covid-19 and an after, and the situation will never be the same again. The entertainment industry, like the tourism and restaurant sectors, which have already been severely affected, will be greatly impacted by this health crisis. It will be difficult to get audiences to return to a "confined" venue. In this context, we wanted to show the resilience of artists and Gondwana City Production. We are not content to be involved in just one activity; we are in the entertainment business, but we also do television, film, and radio with the program "Il faut sauver Willy" on Africa Radio and "La chronique de Mamane" on RFI.
We are also working on projects for television series and digital platforms. We know how to adapt and be present across the entire spectrum of entertainment.
How do you view this health crisis? What is your vision of the impact of the crisis on Africa?
This health crisis is "unique" in that it is global; no country has been spared. As for its impact on Africa, unfortunately, we are used to dealing with health crises: we have been dealing with malaria for a very long time, amid general indifference from the rest of the world. A disease which, let's not forget, kills more than 400,000 people every year. As we are used to living with these diseases, we have developed a certain resilience, lifestyle habits, and defensive behaviors in the face of an epidemic. My fears are more about the aftermath of coronavirus: I am afraid that, economically, the crisis will be more devastating in terms of unemployment and the coming food crisis, as many African countries depend on imports and exports of their raw materials.
It is up to Africa to prepare itself. As for me, I am hopeful about the lessons we can learn from the situation.
What are your future projects?
We are working on video projects and awareness-raising projects, particularly on the coronavirus. We have produced awareness-raising videos for the Niger Ministry of Health. In Côte d'Ivoire, we are currently working on a project in collaboration with UN Women for an awareness-raising video project on gender-based violence in Africa.
In Niger, we will be working with UNICEF on issues such as girls' education and early marriage. In general, we are committed to many social causes in Africa. In terms of pure entertainment, we are working on three series projects for CANAL+ and platforms such as Netflix and Amazon. We are currently in the writing stage, waiting for the end of this health crisis to move on to the production phase.
As for radio, the program we produce for Africa Radio will continue, and season 9 of Parlement du Rire will begin soon, even though we are waiting to see what the consequences of this crisis will be on all these different media. In any case, there are plenty of projects in the pipeline and we will keep an eye on all these events to adapt to the new situation created by the coronavirus, which has completely disrupted the cultural landscape. This landscape is particularly devastated in Africa, where there is no state aid as in other countries.