Kicking off from February 16th till February 19th in Nairobi, Kenya is the ONGEA, Eastern Africa’s Music Summit. The event, formally known as the Kenya Music Week will take place at Sarit Centre Expo in Westlands, Nairobi.
From Rwanda, artistes who include Angel Mutoni, a Spoken Word artiste and Rapper, Deo Munyakazi, a Inanga player and Eric Kirenga, a Deejay and events organizer will take part in this summit, which is organized by PHAT Music & Entertainment Limited, where they by will present AGROGROOV‘s project components.
Rwanda’s Instrumentalist Deo Munyakazi is to Perform
On top of live music performances, the summit will feature 58 exhibitors, 8 industry panels and 32 showcases.
Kirenga has been at several panels and festival showcases such Doa Doa 2016, the East African Music Festival Circuit in 2014 both in Kampala or Sweden @ Rwanda in Stockholm (2015) & Sweden @ Kenya in Nairobi (2016). With in the last two years, Mutoni has showcased in East Africa including at the Amani Festival in Congo, while Munyakazi is to perform for his first time outside Rwanda.
ONGEA is aimed at bringing together of industry players together into a platform, where new markets are opened up. Activities include live performances, open mic sessions, where the best acts are selected to stand a chance of taking part in various festivals across Africa.
Discussions at ONGEA summit
Observation
Mr.Kirenga believes that there should be more working synergy between related Rwandan industries and institutions to optimize these opportunities,
“The Rwandan Development Board(RDB), Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC), and concerned ministries are absent from these East African Community industry events and have tendency, yet they are aimed at working on similar objectives like growth of creative, cultural and tourism industry, which is an aberration. It would best if Rwanda was the main investor and stakeholder in the growth of this industrial sector,” he explains
ONGEA is projected at being the main source of new innovations, tends and content for regional and global players, who are setting pace for strategic and focused growth of the music and entertainment industry across East Africa.
