Cynthia

The last 4 months of my life has been a mix of confusion and direction. Confusion from a place of being loaded with ideas and direction from a place of executions. @cbaforafrica has been crucial in shaping these realities for me. Personally I’ve been the type to always thrive better in an environment where there’s a structure. This experience isn’t just shaping my realities but it is also helping me exercise my emotional intelligence dealing with my colleagues from different spheres of work, from dealing with tasks which you can be assigned a group lead, to communicating, to negotiating work terms, and to building a relationship outside the whole scope of work. It is becoming clearer with every step forward that the creative industry is one that cannot be sustained without a proper structure being established in our fast pacing continent Africa. There is the “show” and there is the “business” and both can only survive when strategically approached. One thing that’d always live with me is that, you cannot overemphasize the importance of having a legal backup (an entertainment lawyer) who would stand for the best of your interests. Without that, everything you have ever worked for can just fall into shambles. CBA is a “community” that breeds “competence” and “leadership”. The moment your colleagues and team mates can assign you to tasks continuously, it is safe to say the impact is slowly becoming evident. Lastly, the support services industry exists for a reason and I am still glad to be walking this with talent and business managers, lawyers, A&Rs, marketing experts, and sound engineers. There’s absolutely no show without these sets of support. To the founder @GodwinTom who is a light in this path, I quote “The world you are training to enter is not gentle. The creative industry, in Africa and globally, is fast, unforgiving, and quick to move on from people who are not ready for it. It will hand you an incomplete brief and expect a complete result. It will shift the rules mid-project and call it business as usual. It will judge your failures before it has finished applauding your wins. I am not telling you this to frighten you”. Without any doubt, we’re threading in the footsteps of giants. To the whole @CIIFAfrica team, this wouldn’t be possible without you. Love🤞🏽 #CBAforAfrica2026