Africa, the cradle of many civilisations, is in the process of reinventing its music. The CANEX Music Factory, an ambitious project to promote cultural exchange, plays a central role in this dynamic. By bringing together artists from all horizons, this programme encourages the creation of new sounds and raises the profile of African music on the international scene. From the Maghreb to sub-Saharan Africa, musical frontiers are disappearing.
Today, Africa is emerging as an increasingly dynamic creative hub for music. This dynamism, driven by a connected youth, is supported by initiatives such as the CANEX Music Factory, which encourages the emergence of talent and collaborations between African artists. However, despite visible progress, the cross-fertilisation between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa is still developing, and faces linguistic and cultural challenges.
« North Africa and South Africa are generally cut off from each other by distance and many other factors, but I believe that this gap has just been broken so that we can find ways to exchange ideas and find an alternative way of combining the music of North Africa and the music of South Africa, generally South Africa.
Amine Dehane, Music producer – Algeria
New bridges are gradually being built. Festivals such as Visa For Music, the Gnaoua Festival in Morocco and the Festival International de Carthage in Tunisia bring together artists from different regions of the continent, encouraging exchanges and strengthening intra-African musical cooperation. The rise of streaming platforms and social networks has enabled artists from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Algeria to reach audiences far beyond their respective borders.
« What I like is that he’s trying to put several African countries together, South Africa, Egypt, a lot of African countries are here as well as Algeria. He’s showing us unity and that’s what we need to hear from the industry, not just in music in all the different sectors. «
P RISER, Afro kind music – Kenya
« I want to become the best artist of my generation. I’m taking part in the CANEX Music Factory. I usually do Rap with my guitar. »
Skandy, Rapper – Algeria
Despite this momentum, challenges persist. Artist mobility, copyright management and unequal access to technology are holding back the integration of the African music industry. To fully exploit the economic and diplomatic potential of African music, governments must recognise and support the creative industries. The development of pan-African initiatives could be the key to propelling African music onto the world stage. With growth of 10% in 2023 and a 34.7% increase in revenues in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, the African music industry is showing promising signs of global expansion.
