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Idris Elba Aims to Build Studio Firms Across Africa, Starting with Zimbabwe
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Idris Elba Aims to Build Studio Firms Across Africa, Starting with Zimbabwe 

Idris Elba, a renowned London-born actor, is currently focusing on changing the entertainment sector in Africa.

Elba intends to build film studios around Africa, beginning in Zanzibar, a Tanzanian semi-autonomous island known for its white sand beaches. The idea originated last year when Elba met Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Their discussions resulted in plans for the first studio in Zanzibar, which Elba believes may be the foundation of a worldwide entertainment group.

“Idris Elba will be building a modern studio similar to Hollywood, Nollywood (in Nigeria), or Bollywood,” Zanzibar’s Minister for Investment, Shariff Ali Shariff, announced. He even joked about naming the industry “Zallywood” or “Zawood.”

The project goes beyond film. Elba believes Africa’s creative sector is under-represented globally.

“Much of the imagery about Africa isn’t even generated from Africa,” Elba told CNN at the Stellar Development Foundation’s Meridian conference in London this week. “A lot of media is centred around negative depictions of Africa. But the median age in Africa is 19; these young people are optimistic and deserve the chance to tell their own stories.”

According to a recent UNESCO report, Africa’s film and audiovisual industries have the potential to produce 20 million jobs and contribute $20 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2030. Global players such as Netflix and Disney have already made significant investments in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Elba added that many governments in emerging economies have failed to grasp the creative sector’s economic potential. The absence of regulation and investment, notably in copyright and financing, has hindered progress.

He sees possibilities similar to South Korea’s tremendous entertainment sector expansion. From 2017 to 2021, Korean pop-culture-related exports increased at an average annual rate of 13.7%, which was 2.5 times faster than total export growth. The Korean Economic Research Institute believes that this contributed $27 billion to the GDP.

Tanzania is already looking towards that model, partnering with South Korea to send African actors for training in Busan. 

In a separate but related effort intended at resolving the payment issue, Elba collaborated with Stellar, a blockchain-based platform, to launch Akuna Wallet, a digital wallet created specifically for the creative economy that allows artists, filmmakers, and musicians to manage payments and royalties without relying on traditional banks. By enabling peer-to-peer transactions in digital currencies, it provides a secure payment system in regions with limited financial infrastructure.

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