Public voting is now open until April 28 for the 30 African creatives selected to compete at the Digital Lab Africa (DLA) Online Pitch Competition.

The DLA is a springboard and an incubation platform for African creatives in digital content. Initiated by the Embassy of France and French Institute in South Africa (IFAS) in 2016, the programme has been managed by Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct since 2018. This year, the third edition of DLA, is a fully-fledged programme of the Digital Content Hub of Tshimologong which is supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

The Digital Lab Africa (DLA #3) call for projects closed on 31 January 2019 with around 500 entries from over 30 Sub-Saharan African countries including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Republic of the Congo, Mali, Senegal, Gabon. Of these, 30 finalists who best represent the new generation of talent in creative industries ranging from virtual reality, web creation, digital music, video game and animation, were chosen by DLA digital content industry experts to compete in the DLA Online Pitch Competition.

Lesley Williams, CEO of Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and Director of Digital Lab Africa, says the digitisation of Africa will only work to the benefit of the continent if there are more contributions from talented content creators. “We would like to thank all the candidates who applied for the DLA call for projects. We recognise the importance of taking ownership of the narrative in our own stories and we’re delighted that so many candidates stepped up to the plate.”

Fans and followers can watch and vote for their favourite video pitch via a dedicated online platform, www.vote.digilabafrica.com. Developed by Zakhele Technologies, a Tshimologong based IT company, the platform is open until 28 April. In addition, all video pitches will be housed and showcased at the Tshimologong Source Code Gallery for the duration of the competition. The project with the most online votes will be awarded the DLA Audience Award which includes an invitation to a prestigious DLA industry event in France or in the Sub-Saharan African region.

Chosen by the DLA Selection Committees, the 10 winners of the Pitch Competition will be revealed on 30 April. The 10 winners will each receive a guaranteed R42,000 cash prize and a tailor-made incubation programme to accelerate their project development with mentors from French and Sub-Saharan creative industries, a residency period in France within a digital cluster, and participation at industry events in France as well as in the Sub-Saharan African region.

The 30 finalists in the DLA Pitch Competition include:

Animation

Baba by Justus Macharia (Kenya)

Frozilla by Komborerai Chapfika (Zimbabwe)
Herbbeings - The Mind Tea Leaf by Abisola Aboaba (Nigeria)

Little Little Orishas by Archange Kiyindou (Republic of the Congo)

Ringa Mzansi by Lwazi Msipha (South Africa)

Uzi by Naddya Adhiambo Oluoch-Olunya (Kenya)

Web Creation

Cartographie Des Régions Musicales Du Mali by Tiécoura N’Daou (Mali)
Man Walks Into A Bar by Matthew Cuthbert (South Africa)
Meet The Artist by Okuhle Magcaba (South Africa)
Pendo by Wako Sefara and Muendo Mullei Muindi (South Africa)
Re/Member Your Descendants by Xabiso Vili (South Africa)
Reunion by Bokang Lehlokoe and Nomonde Jele (South Africa)

Digital Music

Akulele Programme by Tabitha Karaba (Kenya)
Frontline Session by Norton Nyandeni (South Africa)
Jokko Text by Mamadou Dione (Senegal)
Streambeats Live by Cédrick Mezui Beckdan (Gabon)
Sunkambe by Shaka Ramulifho (South Africa)
Swaggify by Marvin Madyara (Zimbabwe)

Virtual Reality

I Am A Woman Defined / Stories About Her by Charmaine Chitate (Zimbabwe)
Phendula by Gugulethu Duma & Regina Kgatle (South Africa)
Siya Khumbula by Isaac Zavale & Antonio Marin (South Africa/Mozambique)
The Afrocyborg Vr Film Collective by Shmerah Passchier & The Afrocyborg Collective (South Africa)
TRVLR by Komborerai Chapfika (Zimbabwe)
The Crossing by Tafadzwa Hove (South Africa/Zimbabwe)

Video Game

Ahkunobi by Ebube Ofili (Nigeria)
Mancala Plus by Setriakor Nyomi (Ghana)
Precious Cargo by Simone Beneke-Graham, Shannon Bennetts, Rowan Brough & Niall Graham (South Africa)
Riziki by George Ahere (Kenya)
Wahenga - The Lost Ancestors by Salim Burusu (Kenya)

Visit www.vote.digilabafrica.com to vote.

Ends

About the Tshimologong Digital Content Hub

Established in 2016 in the vibrant inner-city district of Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct incubates digital entrepreneurs and grows the skills pipeline for the digital economy through collaboration with academia, corporates, government and entrepreneurs. In July 2018, Tshimologong launched a Digital Content Hub, an incubator of innovative and creative audio-visual content, in partnership with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). The idea of establishing a Digital Content Hub is born from an existing collaboration between Tshimologong and Digital Lab Africa, an initiative launched by IFAS in 2016 to support African start-ups creating multimedia content. Tshimologong and IFAS have thus joined forces to integrate the existing Digital Lab Africa program within the Digital Content Hub.

About Digital Lab Africa

Digital Lab Africa: the reference platform for next-gen content

Digital Lab Africa (DLA) is the 1st platform dedicated to creative content (web creation, virtual reality, video game, animation, digital music) linked with innovation in Africa. The very idea of DLA is to incubate emerging talent by offering them a springboard to jumpstart and accelerate their projects with the support of DLA partners & creative industries ecosystem (studios, events, producers, broadcasters, distributors, experts...)

Digital Lab Africa Call for Projects

The Digital Lab Africa call for projects targets artists, producers, designers, startups, students in the creative industries. The call is open to any individual from Sub-Saharan Africa having an innovative project in 5 categories of content production: web creation, virtual reality, video game, animation and digital music.

The partners

Created in 2016, Digital Lab Africa is an initiative of the French Institute and the French

Embassy in South Africa managed by the South African innovation hub Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct since 2018. The program is supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), SACEM, Lagardère Studios, TRACE, DISCOP and a number of French and Sub-Saharan African partners.