An international advocacy organization that uses live music to champion its causes is building a pan-African ticketing platform as part of a wider push to support an international touring circuit on the continent. Global Citizen, whose Move Afrika show took place in Rwanda’s capital Kigali last month headlined by hip-hop star Kendrik Lamar, is working on a broader plan to ensure the live music business creates long-term jobs and boosts local economies, according to Liz Agbor-Tabi, it’s vice president of global policy. Global Citizen says building a pan-African ticketing platform will make it easier for both international and African artists to plan their tours around the continent rather than the current “siloed” model with each country having multiple systems. It will also be easier to integrate different currencies and payment systems, such as mobile payments, onto such a platform. But it is just one piece of an ambition to make touring a seamless reality across Africa and enable platforms to create long term partnerships.
SOURCE: SEMAFOR