Doja Cat performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Last week in Pretoria felt like one of those moments you know will be talked about long after the lights go down. Global Citizen brought its Move Afrika tour to South Africa for the first time, and with Doja Cat headlining, it was never going to be a quiet arrival.

The night carried a certain weight. For Doja Cat, it marked her first performance on a South African stage, but not her first connection to the country. “For a place I’ve never been to, it feels like I’ve been here before,” she told the crowd, before moving through a set that included “Paint The Town Red,” “Woman,” and “Kiss Me More.” It was a full-circle moment in more ways than one, but the story here goes beyond the music.

Doja Cat performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Move Afrika, now in its third year, is being positioned as a long-term effort to build a proper touring circuit for international artists across the continent, in partnership with pgLang and Kendrick Lamar. The idea is simple but ambitious: invest in infrastructure, create jobs, support local talent, and open up more opportunities within the live events space. Since 2023, the tour has created over 3,000 job opportunities across Kigali, Lagos and Pretoria.

In Pretoria, that approach was visible from the ground up. Working with local partner Big Concerts, the entire production was delivered using a 100 percent local crew and equipment. It was a clear demonstration of what is already possible within South Africa’s live events industry when the right investment and trust are in place. Local vendor Mushroom Productions also played a key role in bringing the show together.

That focus on local capacity extended to young people looking to enter the industry. Through the Youth Technical Production Pathway, launched in partnership with Gearhouse South Africa Group and the Gearhouse Kentse Mpahlwa Academy, ten young people from Johannesburg and Pretoria, aged between 18 and 26, received hands-on training in lighting, audio-visual systems and stage rigging. They were also part of the build for Doja Cat’s show, giving them direct exposure to what it takes to deliver a production at that scale. The programme is designed as a pathway into accredited training and long-term careers in live event production.

From Pretoria, the story moves to Kigali, where the same vision is taking shape in a different context. Move Afrika: Kigali, delivered with Done and Dusted and the Rwanda Events Group, has steadily increased its use of local crew, moving from 75 percent in 2023 to nearly full localisation in 2026. A small group of international specialists supported the production, providing training and technical guidance along the way.

The scale of what was built in Kigali this year says a lot about that progress. The entire stage was sourced locally, including 880 LED panels, making it one of the most ambitious productions ever staged in Rwanda. Audio and lighting fixtures were 98 percent locally sourced, while rigging was 95 percent provided locally, installed alongside partners from the UK’s Unusual Rigging. Local crews also worked closely with teams from PRG and Done+Dusted across different areas of production.

There was also a strong focus on safety and operations. Local private security teams received additional training through a collaboration between Crowd Minders and Global Citizen’s Safety and Security training team, with Cohort Security Group delivering a tailored programme to more than 112 personnel. The training covered pit management, backstage security protocols and scene management, all aligned with international standards.

Beyond the technical side, the tour continues to open up opportunities within hospitality and the wider events space. Through its partnership with the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, Move Afrika has trained over 120 young people in Rwanda since 2023, giving them experience across event production, hospitality and the creative industries. This year, some participants moved into paid roles through collaborations with local businesses, including female-led enterprise The Financial Boutique, which employed five youth ambassadors in operational positions.

Back in Pretoria, the stage also made room for homegrown talent, with performances from Moonchild Sanelly and The Joy adding another layer to the night. It is part of a wider approach that places African artists alongside international acts, rather than as an afterthought.

For a long time, Africa has sat at the edges of the global touring map, often left out of major circuits. Move Afrika is attempting to change that by building the structures that make large-scale touring possible, while still delivering the kind of live shows audiences expect.

As the music carried through Pretoria, it was clear that something larger is taking shape. The performances may draw the crowds, but it is the systems behind them that will determine what comes next—and right now, those systems are being built in real time.

See more photos:

Fans attend the Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Moonchild Sanelly performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

The Joy performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Doja Cat performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Doja Cat performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Fans attend the Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Fans attend the Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

A view of the audience as Doja Cat performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Doja Cat performs during Global Citizen’s Move Afrika: Pretoria on March 20, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

The post Move Afrika Is Expanding Across Africa With a Focus on Jobs and Infrastructure appeared first on BellaNaija - Showcasing Africa to the world. Read today!.

As Netflix and Amazon Prime retreat from Nigeria’s original content scene, two of Nollywood’s biggest players, Inkblot Studios and Filmhouse Group, are betting that the time is finally right for a homegrown streaming service. Their joint venture, Kava, is set to launch in August 2025, promising a curated library of Nollywood films and series backed by scale, strategy, and a touch of realism.

At first glance, it’s an ambitious leap. Kava enters a streaming landscape littered with cautionary tales—iROKOtv chief among them—while global streamers pull back on African investments and creators increasingly pivot to YouTube in search of monetisation and autonomy.

But Kava’s founders insist they’ve learned from past failures. And rather than chase Netflix’s scale or Iroko’s first-mover status, they’re building for depth—with a model that leans on high-quality local content, diaspora appeal, and a sustainable, multi-platform ecosystem.

“We’re not just streaming films. We’re fueling careers and building an infrastructure for African storytelling,” says Kene Okwuosa, Kava’s co-CEO and head of Filmhouse Group.

Filmhouse boasts West Africa’s largest cinema chain and controls a vertically integrated studio-distribution network through FilmOne. Inkblot Studios, behind hits like The Set Up and Up North, was the first Nigerian production house to ink licensing deals with both Netflix and Amazon.

The platform launches with over 30 premium Nollywood titles and promises fresh drops weekly. Featured titles include Alakada Bad and Boujee, Owambe Thieves, What About Us, and House Job. Originals are in the pipeline, and Kava eventually plans to scale beyond Nigeria to tell stories across Africa.

But more than content, the founders say, Kava is a “digital infrastructure” project; a way to centralise Nollywood’s fractured monetisation channels, serve fans directly, and offer creators fairer economics than the ad-driven instability of YouTube or the bureaucratic lag of foreign licensing.

“When we deliver content at scale to audiences beyond ourselves, they’ll fall in love with the stories. They just don’t know it yet,” says Inkblot’s Chinaza Onuzo, who serves as Kava’s co-CEO.

Kava arrives at a transitional moment. Netflix and Prime Video have dialled back their local originals after a brief Nollywood shopping spree between 2020 and 2022. What’s hitting screens now, like Kemi Adetiba’s To Kill A Monkey, are the last remnants of that era. New commissions have slowed to a crawl.

This vacuum has driven creators to YouTube, where lighter, faster productions offer greater creative control and instant ad payouts. But the economics remain brutal. CPMs in Nigeria hover around USD 1.00, and a star actor might cost millions of naira, meaning millions of weekly views are required to break even, let alone profit.

Subscription platforms (SVODs) aren’t much better. iROKOtv, once hailed as the “Netflix of Africa,” spent over USD 100 M trying to crack the Nigerian market, only to retreat in 2023 and pivot to diaspora users in the U.S. and U.K. Its active user base peaked at under 200,000. Even its founder Jason Njoku now insists: “SVOD can’t work here.”

Fresh attempts at wooing the diaspora indicate a push for untapped opportunities, however. Roughly five million Nigerians live abroad, sending more than USD 20 B home every year. They’re already used to subscriptions and hungry for high-quality content that reflects their culture. Kava, along with other newcomer rivals, such as EbonlyLife ON Plus, is chasing that niche.

Kava’s leadership sees itself less as a Netflix clone and more of a niche but deeply committed hub for loyal fans. Product chief Damola Ademola compares the model to anime or horror streaming services like Shudder: “African movies can easily be just like that,” he told TechCabal.

Funding is in motion. A friends-and-family round has already closed, with institutional backing from TLG Capital and VestedWorld. More capital will be instrumental in expanding Kava’s footprint across Africa and into the U.K. and Europe. Yet even with funding, no one is pretending this will be easy.

Feature Image Credits: BusinessDayNG

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