Africa in animation: Afrotoons launches animation platform to showcase African stories

CHENNAI: While the global market for children’s entertainment and educational content is valued at more than $100 billion, African stories continue to have only a limited presence.

Seeking to bridge this gap, Afrotoons, an animation company dedicated to African storytelling, has been launched with the aim of bringing the continent’s stories to children across the world.

The management team includes members from Africa and India and the company aims to produce animated series, digital storybooks and other children’s content featuring African stories and characters. It says the initiative seeks to help African children see their own cultures reflected on screen while introducing those stories to global audiences.

The team recently held its pre-launch event in Accra, Ghana, where it screened the first episode of its debut English-language animated series, Selase’s Adventures. Afrotoons’ first animated series for children aged 4-7 years, ‘Selase’s Adventures’ follows Selase, a girl who travels to a different African country in each episode, introducing viewers to its culture, traditions, history and way of life. The first season has 13 episodes. The first two episodes have been released and are available on Afrotoons’ YouTube channel.

The event was attended by Kafui Danku-Pitcher, CEO-Ghana National Film Authority; Karl Amba, UNESCO Cultural Programme Officer; Tonya Eldridge, Cultural Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Ghana; Nee Tettey Nettey, Public Affairs Specialist at the embassy; Sonya Sagan, Social Manager at UNICEF; and finance expert Espen Mørkborg, among others.

Speaking at the event, Adhavan Adityan, director, Daily Thanthi Group and Chief Operating Officer of Afrotoons, said, “This is not just the pre-launch of a company. It marks the beginning of a new effort to take Africa’s stories to audiences around the world. Our goal is to introduce children to Africa’s rich history, culture and heritage in an engaging way. To achieve that, we plan to produce high quality animated series, digital storybooks and several other creative works.”

“The goal is to ensure African children have the opportunity to see themselves as the heroes of their own stories,” said Ama Addy-Takor Seydu, Chief Content Officer of Afrotoons. Meanwhile, CEO Esther Paul said, “When I was growing up, there were no cartoons centred on Africa. That made me realise we needed to create our own stories for our children. That thought eventually led to the creation of this company.”