Name a series of black African cartoons

‘Transformers’, ‘Voltron’, ‘Super Ted’, ‘Fun Factory’, ‘Thundercats’, ‘Battle of the Planets’, the list goes on. Most of us adults who grew up in Africa remember watching those shows when we were kids. Those programs helped teach us everything from arithmetic and English to being able to defeat a very powerful decepticon robot should the need arise. In fact, shows like Sesame Street taught us general life skills.

Now fast forward a few years. Now she has her own young family and wants to watch cartoons with her young children. The current crop of cartoons like Dora the Explorer and Peppa Pig are great. But what if you want to see a cartoon or animation that reflects a part of your black and African heritage? How about one that is available in all major African languages ​​so children can learn their mother tongue? Can you name a truly international children’s show that was designed and produced in Africa? it is difficult right?

This brings us to the next question. Why? There are many reasons for this.

These include;

• Lack of financial support from the public and private sectors: Banks, for example, see animation as a risky undertaking. In fact, in countries like Nigeria, banks have traditionally avoided supporting the entertainment sector with financial products. They are now talking to the creative sector to see how they can collaborate in the future. Institutions like the World Bank have also pledged funds to help industries like Nigeria’s Nollywood make things better. As animation is a subsector of this, there should be a trickle down effect going forward.
• Lack of support and trust from local broadcasters: Many TV networks do not commission these types of programs. In fact, they prefer to import foreign children’s cartoons. To some extent, this situation is understandable.
• Lack of artists and technicians in fields such as animation production.
• Lack of government support: In some countries like France, companies that produce animations receive encouragement in the form of incentives and funding. Unfortunately, this is not the case in most African countries.

So it’s easy to see why there are no cartoon series from Africa that have had worldwide success. However, African animators have decided to meet this challenge head-on. In regions as diverse as Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and the diaspora, things are changing. Using the Internet and new digital production technologies, African artists and businesses are producing their own content for the world to see. The future of African animation is very bright.