Afrobeats is one of the fastest growing musical genres in the world and the UK is home to one of its largest fan bases, but rising stars in the industry are becoming increasingly unable to perform in front of British audiences due to visa delays.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly acknowledged the genre’s enormous potential during his visit to Nigeria this week.
“From Lagos to London, Afrobeats is becoming a defining sound of this century,” he wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, while being shown how to operate recording equipment at a music studio in the Nigerian capital.
“There is no greater symbol of Nigeria’s potential. Both the UK and Nigeria benefit from this global phenomenon.”
But these words ring hollow, experts say, as Afrobeats artists continue to face challenges when they apply for UK visas.
“It has put a bottleneck on our operations,” said Jennifer Imion, operations manager at Mavin Records, a Lagos-based music label which represents world-leading Afrobeats artists.
The label is busy preparing for major Afrobeats concerts in the UK this autumn, including one featuring Nigerian singer Rema, who is set to perform for an audience of 20,000 people at London’s O2 stadium. Artist Ayra Starr will also perform at another major London venue.
The costs and delays associated with UK visa applications, however, makes the future of such performances uncertain.
“It becomes really scary for me and that’s why I ask myself how do I get ahead of the process,” Ms Imion told The National.
She estimated that for every 10 visa applications she had made in the past, four were delayed to the point of needing to postpone or cancel the trip.
The damage goes beyond the show and threatens the label’s business and lifeline.
“It causes us to lose money and makes us look unprofessional, because the artist will have to say 'sorry fans, I can’t come,' ” she said.
“If it's big festivals then [our show] cannot be postponed, and they will have to go on without us.”
Revenues from the Nigerian music industry are expected to reach $44 million in 2023, according to analysis by Statista.
The costs of a delayed application are enough to bring an independent business like Mavin Records to the ground.
“It’s not just the visa application. We may have already invested in flights and hotels,” Ms Imion said.
Some artists were left for months without a passport as they waited for their application to be reviewed – forcing them to cancel commitments elsewhere.
“One artist had his passport there for three months. So we lost a lot of shows,” she said.
Ms Imion said she has faced delays even after paying for the priority service, which claims to process an application within five working days for an additional £500.
She was now compelled to pay for the super priority 48-hour turnaround, which costs an additional £800.
“The cost of these operations has taken the bulk of [our budget]. When we take out all the costs, its really peanuts just left,” Ms Imion said.
The label team accompanying the artists on their tours also faced the same challenges and added to the visa costs.
“For the artists to be their best selves on the trip, they definitely need the label representatives or the team with them,” she said.
Such is the climate of uncertainty around the visa application process that Ms Imion declined to discuss the cases of specific artists, so as not compromise their future applications.
Though they have never had a visa rejected, after significant delays, they simply withdrew their applications.
“Because it takes such a long time, we do not wait for a decision to be made,” she said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will host the forthcoming UK-Africa Investment Summit in 2024, in which African creative industries will play a role.
But he also increased visa fees in July by up to 20 per cent to pay for the UK's public sector wage increase.
Visa applicants from Africa were the most likely to be rejected, according to an analysis of Home Office data from March 2022 to 2023 by the Lago Collective, a London-based platform for creatives, innovators and policymakers.
“It is great to see so much interest in the creative industries in UK and African relations,” said Marta Foresti, founder and chief executive of the Lago Collective and a visiting fellow at ODI global affairs think tank.
“However these will be hollow commitments without serious reforms of the UKs visa regime which discriminates against African creatives and limits opportunities for them as well as for UK audiences.”
It's not just the arts that are affected. As of Thursday, three Eritrean cyclists who were scheduled to take part in the UCI Cycling World Championships, a tournament in Scotland beginning on Sunday, had yet to receive their visas.
“Time is now very short though as these riders need to prepare and rest ahead of this Sunday’s 270-kilometre race,” said Africa Rising Cycling, an advocacy group, on social media.
“We believe there is still hope and that the UK government will expedite any review of this situation and solve it.”
These restrictions also prevent the cross-border collaborations that have been necessary for the industry to grow in both countries.
“We try to do boot camps in the UK where we get our songwriters, producers, and artists to meet our partners there,” said Ms. Imion.
“On one of these occasions, one of our artist’s passport never came. The boot camp was in June, and his passport wasn't returned until July or August. Even though it had been paid for as priority.”
Nonetheless the UK remains an important destination for Afrobeats.
“[The UK is] one of the first places where we see traction outside of the continent, and where we have a reputable fan base,” Ms Imion said.
“When we want to invest in an artist’s career to gain global relevance, that is one of our first choices.
In July, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan hailed the capital as the “undisputed world leader in live music” after a series of concerts brought in £320 million in ticket sales in one week.
Afrobeats has a huge emotional significance to UK audiences, Ms Imion added.
“People grow up with this music, and they want to see the artist in person. There are people like me who live in the UK and were born and brought up there. There’s the culture of being away from home, of not ever being at home,” she said.
“But when you see the artist live, it’s a different feeling. You can see people like you perform the kind of music you listen to at home.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Matt%20Drummond%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlyla%20Browne%2C%20Alice%20Parkinson%2C%20Sam%20Everingham%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
The biogs
Name: Zinah Madi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links
Nationality: Syrian
Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2
Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”
Name: Razan Nabulsi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links
Nationality: Jordanian
Family: Married, Mother of Yahya, 3.5
Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
The specs: 2018 Maserati Ghibli
Price, base / as tested: Dh269,000 / Dh369,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 355hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.9L / 100km
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
More on Quran memorisation:
UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EGold%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMagomedomar%20Magomedomarov%20%E2%80%93%20Judo%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20%2B100kg%0D%3Cbr%3EKhaled%20Al%20Shehi%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-62kg%0D%3Cbr%3EFaisal%20Al%20Ketbi%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-85kg%0D%3Cbr%3EAsma%20Al%20Hosani%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Women%E2%80%99s%20-52kg%0D%3Cbr%3EShamma%20Al%20Kalbani%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Women%E2%80%99s%20-63kg%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESilver%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EOmar%20Al%20Marzooqi%20%E2%80%93%20Equestrian%20%E2%80%93%20Individual%20showjumping%0D%3Cbr%3EBishrelt%20Khorloodoi%20%E2%80%93%20Judo%20%E2%80%93%20Women%E2%80%99s%20-52kg%0D%3Cbr%3EKhalid%20Al%20Blooshi%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-62kg%0D%3Cbr%3EMohamed%20Al%20Suwaidi%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-69kg%0D%3Cbr%3EBalqees%20Abdulla%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Women%E2%80%99s%20-48kg%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBronze%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EHawraa%20Alajmi%20%E2%80%93%20Karate%20%E2%80%93%20Women%E2%80%99s%20kumite%20-50kg%0D%3Cbr%3EAhmed%20Al%20Mansoori%20%E2%80%93%20Cycling%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20omnium%0D%3Cbr%3EAbdullah%20Al%20Marri%20%E2%80%93%20Equestrian%20%E2%80%93%20Individual%20showjumping%0D%3Cbr%3ETeam%20UAE%20%E2%80%93%20Equestrian%20%E2%80%93%20Team%20showjumping%0D%3Cbr%3EDzhafar%20Kostoev%20%E2%80%93%20Judo%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-100kg%0D%3Cbr%3ENarmandakh%20Bayanmunkh%20%E2%80%93%20Judo%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-66kg%0D%3Cbr%3EGrigorian%20Aram%20%E2%80%93%20Judo%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-90kg%0D%3Cbr%3EMahdi%20Al%20Awlaqi%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-77kg%0D%3Cbr%3ESaeed%20Al%20Kubaisi%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Men%E2%80%99s%20-85kg%0D%3Cbr%3EShamsa%20Al%20Ameri%20%E2%80%93%20Jiu-jitsu%20%E2%80%93%20Women%E2%80%99s%20-57kg%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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