9 ^ast%_rooin_ Õde t y pically h ave ab ou t 2 5 produ ct ion Y et , t h e employ ment pot ent ial of t h e in\ustrq companies each . B u t t h e b ig st ories in cu lt u ral sect or remains largely u nt apped. 9frican file are t`e rike of Follyoood Africa h as plent ifu l ent repreneu rial F ilm produ ct ion and view ing h ave grow n in Angloph one N igeria, w h ich is now energy and t alent , b u t needs t o rapidly over t h e past 1 0 y ears, and are reck oned t o direct ly employ 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 overcome t h e h andicaps of poor driving employ ment grow t h in t h e CCI. people ( see focu s on N igeria) , and t h e infrast ru ct u re, relat ively small and A decade ago, t elenovelas from Lat in eeer_ence of a dynaeic file indmktry impoverish ed mark et s, and t h e lack of America w ere common T V fodder. B u t in S ou t h Africa. F avored b y good t raining and t ech nical facilit ies. H ow ever, African view ers h ave increasingly b een infrast ru ct u re and a dry climat e, Cape as b roadcast ing and t h e int ernet demanding local cont ent , inspiring t h e T ow n h as b ecome a preferred locat ion develop, t h e advert ising indu st ry rides development of local series produ ct ion. for sh oot ing commercials and movies, on t h eir coat t ails. and h as acq u ired a repu t at ion for sou nd T oday , F rancoph one African cou nt ries t ech nical sk ills, fu nding and eq u ipment . su ch as Cô t e d’ Ivoire and S enegal Hrenieo Mneiuade\ ahhetite Doo costs an\ s`are\ eit`er ori_inal or eodified content$ are ^or cudturad _oo\s an\ nadues \rine cross%bor\er view ed avidly in E ast and Cent ral Africa. M eanw h ile, t h ey h ave b ecome so popu lar sernices econoeies in F rancoph one W est Africa t h at t h e Africans are increasingly consuming N olly w ood T V ch annel now commands Cultural content is increasingly being t h e region’ s b iggest au dience. culture, be it ultra-local, national, sold across African frontiers. African foreign or digital. Lib eraliz at ion of T V , movie and mu sic produ cers realiz e African cultural content is also t h e au diovisu al sect or in many M iddle t h at t o offset produ ct ion cost s in a price- increasingly being exported E ast ern and African cou nt ries in t h e sensit ive mark et , t h eir b est st rat egy is t o internationally t h ank s t o b ot h local and early 2 0 1 0 s — enab ling t h e int rodu ct ion max imiz e au diences b y cat ering t o pan- glob al play ers. Local T V ch annels are of privat ely - ow ned radio st at ions African t ast es and selling across b orders. st art ing t o t h ink glob al. R T I, t h e main and T V ch annels — and t h e arrival of Fi_erian filek and koah oherak$ oit` T V ch annel in Cô t e d’ Ivoire, h as set u p video and mu sic digit al plat forms h ave aided more b roadcast ing of local and Dial- up : number of smartp hones connections in A frica ( in millions) foreign cu lt u ral cont ent across t h e region. T elecoms infrast ru ct u re, t h e 1 , 1 5 2 1 , 2 1 3 cornerst one of t h e digit al t ransit ion, is 1 , 0 8 6 also improving fast . T h ou gh int ernet 1 , 0 1 2 availab ilit y is poor in mu ch of Africa and 9 3 1 u naffordab le for many , su b marine cab les 8 3 9 and ph one relay s are, at last , providing 7 4 2 t h e commu nicat ions b ack b one t o link Africa t o t h e int ernet . T h is development w ill su rely prove t ransformat ional for CCI 4 1 2 across t h e cont inent . 3 3 4 The appetite for culture will strengthen 2 0 4 2 6 4 fast as a y ou ng popu lat ion acq u ires 1 1 2 1 5 4 b u dget smart ph ones and t ab let s. T h e 7 9 t ot al popu lat ion, ab ou t 1 . 1 b illion t oday , 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 is ex pect ed t o grow b y 4 0 0 million over t h e nex t t w o decades, providing an army S mart ph ones All mob ile of k een cu lt u ral consu mers. S ou rce: Informa t elecoms & media | /* Cultural times L`e Õrst _dobad eah o^ cudturad an\ creatine in\ustries