Tshimologong Precinct renews partnership with AFD and IFAS

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The initial three-year partnership was enabled by a grant from AFD to the value of EUR 950,000 (R 14,500,000) and provided access to industry experts and markets across Africa and France in the audio-visual sector, namely animation, video games, virtual reality, digital arts and music.

Digital Content Hub has had a number of successes, including ‘Mollo Animation Academy and Studio’ which provides professional animation development in 2D animation with a focus on African aesthetics while bridging the gap between tertiary education and the workplace.

To date, the academy, in partnership with Gobelins Animation school has served 44 participants who have had access to the market through their own studios or Tshimologong procuring production work for them to collaborate on.

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In addition to this, DCH has industry support initiatives such as ‘Road to Animation’, an Animation Pitching Incubation Programme in collaboration with Annecy Animation Film Festival (MIFA) and with The Novembre Numerique Animation Jam.

‘Digital Lab Africa’ is an exclusive global mentorship programme that gives digital creatives access to experienced mentors, experts and studios from around the world. The programme has been revived to offer more intense and impactful programming for beginners and experienced creatives in animation, music, visual arts, video gaming and extended reality.

The idea of DLA is to offer emerging talents a springboard to fast-track their project’s development, with the support and expertise of DLA creative industries ecosystems in France and in sub-Saharan African countries. It has incubated 48 projects since 2016 and in 2022 will see a new cohort of six acceleration and 50 bootcamp participants.

The new partnership agreement will enable the Digital Content Hub to launch a gaming incubator based on a gaming report that Tshimologong convened with local and international industry experts to grow and transform the South African Game Development Ecosystem.

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The incubation programme will offer training that allows start-up gaming studios to develop commercially viable products and refine their entrepreneurial and technical skills.

DCH is also the custodian of the annual Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival and this year will be launching its 9th edition.

Tshimologong Precinct CEO, Lesley Donna Williams, said that this is a new model for effective partnerships between an African and European nations. “We have proven that development finance blended with commercial activity can bring both inclusions to digital arts and provide sustainable growth opportunities for the projects of creatives.”

Ambassador of France to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier, said, “This extended partnership testifies to the deep involvement of France in the creative industries, as powerful tools to create works and to stimulate economic growth. It also testifies to the strong support of France to innovation, creativity and talents.”