“For the music video, we asked ‘where do we shoot’?” Alec says. “It wasn’t a business decision; it was more of a creative decision. How can a music video feel authentic for the song if it’s not shot in Kenya? It didn’t feel like there was anywhere else in the world that made sense to shoot it and get the authenticity of it, which I think was important.”
Africa’s creative economy is growing, generating billions but in comparison with the rest of the world, the uptake is slower. The continent’s share remains significantly low, accounting for only around 2.9% of global creative goods exports, representing $58.4 billion and less than 1% of the African GDP, according to the United Nations Development Programme report on Accelerating Creativity and Innovation in Africa. And when projects do emerge, their coverage demonstrates that notonly is Africa misrepresented, it is underrepresented. Furthermore, negative stereotypes, poor narratives, and mystifying clichés continue to be propagated in the stories that come out of the continent.