The 15th edition of Femua accepted from April 25th to 30th. Having become an unavoidable meeting point for music in Côte d'Ivoire, I intend to increasingly position itself on issues of economic and social development. Interview with Salif Traoré, aka A'Salfo, its general commissioner.
Young Africa: How did you keep up with your schedule?
A'Salfo: Femua aims to be a musical meeting platform. We invite leaders from different musical styles. Booba, in rap, is adored by part of the population, like his colt Didi B. With Ferre Gola, we invite the rumba, with Baaba Maal, the mbalax. We wanted an even more diverse 2023 edition.
How would you define urban music today?
Urban music is music that touches everyone. Today, even so-called traditional music has become popular and modernized. The gospel, sincerely religious, is heard far beyond this prism. All types of music have their place at Femua: rap, zouglou, coupé-décalé, rumba, reggae, etc.
What's new in this edition?
We will install, with our partners, MTN, a technology village with space for training in digital tools. also the launch of a tourist pass with the Ministry of Tourism. This pass offers discounts for more than a year at various hotels, restaurants and maquis.
On the Ivorian scene, there is room for Didi B, Roseline Layo, Safarel Obiang…
These are artists who have performed live on stage in The big room. They were selected for their punctuality, consistency and professionalism. Didi B, representative of Ivory rap, has already participated in Femua with her group Kiff No Beat. Today, he leads a notable solo career. Safarel Obiang is one of the coupé-décalé tenors. His last show, last year at the Palácio da Cultura, surprised more than one.
I had discovered Roseline Layo with her group Bella Mundo. He is someone who learned to persevere in his field and who, today, is the rising star of the young generation of singers in Côte d'Ivoire. Samy Success was on the small stage at Femua last year and the audience applauded him. Today, he is one of zouglou's worthy ambassadors. KS Bloom is a gospel that meets urban music. He went on an African tour and a big concert at the Casino de Paris, which confirmed his talent.
Booba is currently the target of protests in Morocco, ahead of a show scheduled for June. How do you react to this?
Femua's programming has been stopped for a long time and the story between Booba and Magic System is not new. When we arrived in France at the beginning, he was one of the rare artists to agree to record a video with us and share a little of his notoriety. It's not a return to sender, but since then, Booba has managed to build her path. He is worshiped in Ivory Coast and Africa. It's an honor to have an artist of this caliber on the set of our festival and share the stage with other artists who just started. Femua is also an intergenerational meeting.
After DRC in 2022, Togo is the guest of honor of this edition.
Togo and Côte d'Ivoire felt bonds of friendship and brotherhood that were consolidated with the latest political events. Togo was a mediator in the release of our 49 soldiers in Mali. By inviting you, we want to strengthen cultural relations between our countries and thank you.
Political news and music news meet on Femua?
Femua is a pan-African integration festival. It is commendable when we emerge from this political crisis thanks to the mediation and wisdom of the various heads of state. It is an action of peace and social cohesion that we want to promote. Congratulating Togo is part of the objectives of promoting social cohesion that we have defended since the beginning of the festival.
Being a pan-African integration festival, what does it mean?
Femua has become an African Cup of Musical Nations. Côte d'Ivoire is the country in Africa that welcomes the most communities and the festival manages to federate this diversity around it. In Femua, you will see Togolese, Cameroonians, Congolese, Burkinabe, Malians, Guineans, Ghanaians…. It is in fact to reinforce this cohesion that every year we highlight a country.
The theme of this 15It is editing east food security. How can artists act on these issues?
They are megaphones. They can challenge and raise awareness. The Covid-19 health crisis and Ukraine make us wonder that we still depend on Western countries for food. We had the impression that all of Africa's basic needs came from other places, with incredible inspiration. Our strength in Africa is a population made up of 70% young people.
They are the ones who should be challenged and advised about agricultural entrepreneurship. Africa must invest more issues to avoid a food crisis. At Femua, we create meeting spaces around the evolution of our agricultural sector, strongly involving young people, offering them investment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
How can we raise awareness about these issues in a metropolis like Abidjan?
We are fortunate to welcome 30,000 young people a day to the site. Abidjan is a meeting center where rural and urban populations can meet to talk about agriculture. And the festival is broadcast live on television. It is also an opportunity to send messages that will affect not just Côte d'Ivoire, but all of Africa. And Femua doesn't just happen in Abidjan.
Africa must invest more in agricultural issues to avoid a food crisis
We will also be in Bouaké, the second city in Côte d'Ivoire, a city that is being reborn from the ashes, with a dynamic development that we want to support. It was a martyr city, which went through difficult times during the 2002 crisis. We will have debates with young people at universities, schools...
While the first editions were funded by Magic System royalties, Femua is today supported by dozens of public and private partners..
Today, people have understood that it is a unifying festival. If there is so much enthusiasm in following it, it is because the partners understand that culture can meet social needs. All Femua actions are of a social nature. This year we will lay the foundation stones for two primary schools, one near Bouaké, in Borobo, the other in Badikaha, in the north-central part of the country. These are the ninth and tenth schools we are opening.
You resumed your studies at HEC to train yourself in cultural and creative challenges. How does this echo with Femua?
At the end of this April, I defend my thesis regarding the automated security of broadcast programs. We have a real problem here, for songwriters, charging royalties. We are often in social offices where the sum is divided according to the number of artists. I am therefore working on how to find a technological solution that makes it possible to recover automated programs to distribute rights fairly. These are issues that we will also address at Femua with the presence of SACEM and the Ivory Coast Lawyers Office Copyright (Burida).
