Cameroonian music has been on the rise and has arrived amazing heights in the past couple of years. Cameroonian artistes have been able to sell their music and expand the influence of Cameroonian music, the amount of tours both in and out of Africa with Cameroonian artistes shutting down several shows off our shores. With this kind of exposure, we can say without fear of contradiction that the Cameroonian entertainment industry though being very young is on its way to greatness and Cameroonian artistes such as Stanley Enow, Daphne, Tzy Panchak who by the way is the first ever Afropop artiste to perform in South Korea; have proven their worth in the international market and now more than ever the views Cameroonian music is getting on YouTube are on an all-time high with more than 60% of these views coming from foreigners, given that the greater part of the Cameroonian population is not online.

With all this growth and exposure in the Cameroonian music industry we are left to wonder why no Cameroonian artiste is scheduled to perform at the One Africa Music Fest holding on 16th Of November 2018 in Dubai. The biggest names in Africa will be on that stage and it is quite fitting for it to be that way, and to call it “One Africa” music festival means it will make sense for all countries to be represented, or at least for all vibrant music industries to be represented.

Arguably Cameroon can be rated somewhere in the top 7 most vibrant entertainment industry in Africa and despite the fact that we agree Cameroon still has a lot of growing to do. Although there has been a reasonable amount of growth recorded lately, it seems like we are the only ones here in Cameroon who find it hard to notice its growth.

Stanley Enow for example is doing great getting collaborations with foreign artistes and getting to meet big names in the most influential music industries in the world, yet even he was not selected to perform at this so-called “One Africa” music festival. It is quite surprising to me and it should be to most of the stakeholders in Cameroonian entertainment industry. So we are left to wonder from who the error is?

Is it that the Cameroonian music industry has not yet arrived at the level where some of our artistes can represent us at a music festival to showcase the oneness of Africa or were some artistes contacted and later turned down the invitation or was Cameroon simply ignored? I think the absence of Cameroon in such an event should be indicative of the fact that those in charge of linking Cameroonians with international events are lacking somewhere and there may be something about music which Cameroonian artistes are missing out on. What do you think can be the cause of the sidelining of the Cameroonian music industry in such an event? Drop your thoughts on this!

Written by

Emmanuel Asafor