Prolific Nigerian musician Banky W will join more than 80 prominent speakers at this year’s Music In Africa Conference for Collaborations, Exchange and Showcases (ACCES) in Accra, Ghana, from 28 to 30 November. He will take part in the ACCES Conversations series where he will talk about his immense involvement in the Nigerian entertainment industry as well as his entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities.
ACCES Conversations has previously featured renowned music industry professionals such as Mr Eazi, Blinky Bill, Blick Bassy and former Fela Kuti manager Rikki Stein.
Banky W joins in Accra fellow African musicians Sarkodie (Ghana), Samini (Ghana) and Efya (Ghana) as well as music industry professionals including Chocolate City vice-president Aibee Abidoye (Nigeria), Boomplay Ghana manager Elizabeth Ntiamoah (Ghana), Simfy OTT music services head Oye Akideinde (Nigeria), Ditto Music Founder Lee Parsons (UK), Airforce1 Records managing director Joe Chialo (Germany), broadcaster, DJ and curator Rita Ray (UK) and Grammy-nominated musician, author and rights activist Mark Levine (US).
A leading pan-African trade event for music industry players to exchange ideas, discover new talent and create business linkages, ACCES will take place in Ghana for the first time at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Alliance Française and The Goal Coast Hub. This year’s event will host informative panel discussions, networking sessions, exhibitions and showcases by artists from across the African continent and diaspora.
Born Olubankole Wellington in 1981, Banky W grew up between Nigeria and the US where he launched his music career after co-founding the Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E.) record label in 2002 while studying at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York state. In 2009, he moved to Nigeria and established the label in Lagos where he signed Wizkid, Niyola, Shaydee and Skales.
Banky W’s own music career gained momentum in 2005 following the release of his Back in the Building debut album. Other albums by the ‘All I Want Is You’ hitmaker include Mr. Capable (2008), The W Experience (2009) and R&BW (2013).
He is the founder of I Am Capable, a scholarship that seeks to provide tuition fees for underprivileged pupils who meet the requirements to study at private universities. He is also involved in the Light Up Nigeria project, which aims to encourage the Nigerian government to provide steady electricity in the country.
ACCES is a pan-African trade event for music industry players to exchange ideas, discover new talent and create business linkages. ACCES is held in a different African city every year, attracting active music industry players from across the globe.
ACCES is organised by the Music In Africa Foundation, a non-profit and pan-African organisation, in partnership and with the support of Siemens Stiftung, Goethe-Institut, Reeperbahn Festival International, Alliance Française, BMG, MediaSound Hamburg, the Multimedia Group, Africa Art Lines, Afrikayna, the Gold Coast Hub, the Year of Return, the Prince Claus Fund and the ANT Mobility Grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
This year ACCES has a partnership with Reeperbahn Festival. The partnership creates a framework for the festival to collaborate with ACCES in facilitating sustainable business engagements and exchange between European and African music businesses and professionals, as well as the provision of performance opportunities to musicians in both territories.
BMG is the new model music company founded in 2008 as a response to the challenges of the digital revolution in the music industry. As part of its unique approach, BMG represents the traditionally separate music publishing and recording rights off the same platform internationally. The company is the world’s fourth biggest music publisher and one of the first new global players in the recordings business. BMG has 15 offices across 12 core music markets, representing over 3 million songs and recordings, including the catalogues of global stars such as Chrysalis, Bug, Virgin, Mute, Sanctuary, Primary Wave and Talpa Music, as well as thousands of artists and songwriters.
