By Amin Kef Sesay
During a Press Conference held at its Bai Bureh Road offices, at Mamboreh on Friday 9th October, the representative and Manager of Techfrica Sierra Leone, Abdul Aziz Koroma, told journalists that they are here to promote the Sierra Leonean entertainment industry in the country.
Welcoming guests to the program, Madam Kadijatu Cashor-Wellington, Senior Board Member, said that this is the very first press conference held by the company is Sierra Leone. Techfrica, she maintained, is a platform created for entertainers and artists in the country. She called on all to embrace Techfrica, and revealed that though other countries like Nigeria and Ghana are requesting for their presence, the CEO, Hassan Aziz Bakarr, decided to introduce the company in the country, his motherland.
He decided to create an app to help promote artists and ensure that they benefit from their work. She further disclosed he had also developed an app that will help to develop young minds of kids between the ages of 2 – 6 years. This app is in line with the President’s flagship project of Quality Education. At a young age, if the kids are given access to this ABCFrica app, they will be familiar with the foundations of the educational system and work in the early learning stages.
Giving an overview of the company, Manager Abdul Aziz Koroma said that the CEO, Hassan Afiz Bakarr is a Sierra Leonean living in the USA and went there at a very tender age. During his stay in the US, he fell in love with technology and after practicing technology, he decided to engage in the development of technology for the benefit of Africa. He then became the first African to own an on line radio in the US, known as Africa radio.
He started with a single engineer in 2007 at his home and was live on line. He then had a greater desire to start a media company known as Africa radio to give voice to African music. As demand rose in 2006, he created over 20 franchises across the world. In 2012, he created the first website where all can stream live and for the first time broadcast the SLBC live and the general elections.
Azix furthered that in his bid to give voice to African music, he created Techfrica and developed the platform for music known as audiofrica, which provided the opportunity for artists to up-load their music and make money from their work. The Videofrica was also developed to provide the platform for artists to get their music heard and get people to buy them and make money from their music. These apps, he went on, operate in the similar way as the youtube, where people can subscribe and download music. It is the digital revolution.
This platform, Aziz disclosed, will enhance the musical career of the artists, as it further exposes them to the outside world. CEO Bakarr is said to be passionate about promoting Sierra Leone’s entertainment and this app will further empower more artists and entertainers to get wider recognition and viewing and at the same time make money.
He described how interested artists could access their platform. He further encouraged journalists to spread the news that the time is now for the development of the entertainment industry. He also disclosed that some artists have already signed up and are benefiting from the platform. Techfrica has transportation services known as ridefrica and operates like that in the UK, known as ‘Ubber’. Customers can call the office and request for a vehicle to take them to whatever destination they chose and payments be made as is done in the UK and in some African countries.
In his observation, the Chairman of the ceremony, Abdul Rahman Kamara of Star Television, encouraged journalists to embrace their compatriots, stressing that this is Local Content Policy in operation. He called on artists to embrace Techfrica and see their businesses grow.
The show was climaxed with performances by three artists who have joined and are making money through Techfrica.
