A data angel for Africa’s creative economy
For decades, Africa’s creative sector has been rich in talent and innovation, but poor in one crucial resource: reliable, accessible and actionable data. From theatre companies juggling spreadsheets to festivals struggling to prove their impact to funders, the lack of structured evidence has long undermined the sector’s visibility and financial sustainability.
Now, a new platform promises to change that story. Malaika, launched by Andani.Africa and powered by Amazon Web Services, is positioned as a sectoral gamechanger — a data management tool built specifically for Africa’s creative economy.
A solution born from the sector
Executive Director at Andani.Africa, Lonwabo Mavuso, explains: “It is designed to address the unique needs of organisations working in the creative sector or supporting the creative sector across the continent and transform how they manage, organise and analyse their data to drive informed decision-making.”
The platform’s first workspace, Malaika Evaluate, targets funders, investors, programme managers, researchers, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) officers. In other words, those who most often wrestle with fragmented spreadsheets, scattered reports, and the pressure to demonstrate impact.
A data angel
Mavuso says the “aha moment” that sparked Malaika came after years of research across the continent’s cultural and creative industries: “While more research is being generated today than ever before, the process of finding, consolidating and using this data is still extremely difficult.”
Malaika means “angel” in Swahili. Mavuso says the symbolism is deliberate: “An angel is both a messenger and a guardian. Malaika embodies both by carrying impact stories — clean, credible and contextual — to the audiences, funders, partners, and policymakers who need to hear them, while safeguarding fragile proof such as testimonies, financial records and learning outcomes.”
Turning frustration into empowerment
During the demo, Andani’s team illustrated how organisations can use the platform to build theories of change, set up log frames and automate reporting in real time. Instead of battling through spreadsheets and email attachments, organisations can create reporting templates that feed directly into a centralised dashboard.
“What excites us most is the confidence it gives creative practitioners,” Mavuso says. “By replacing the chaos of scattered spreadsheets with clear, accessible evidence, Malaika allows people to make braver, smarter choices in the moment, knowing they can back up their instincts with data.”
Why data matters for creatives
For many artists, data and creativity seem like strange bedfellows. But Mavuso argues that if the sector is to thrive, these two cannot be separated: “Data is how we transform ‘we believe’ into ‘we can show.’ This makes artistic, social and economic impact visible and understandable across teams and over time.”
Without it, organisations risk leaving funding on the table, repeating mistakes and underselling their community impact. With it, they can sharpen programming, demonstrate return on investment, influence policy and unlock multi-year investment.
Imagining the future
How might this look like in practice? Mavuso envisions a small-town music festival in South Africa a few years from now: “Using Malaika, they track inclusion metrics, capture data on artist livelihoods, monitor audience sentiment and record local economic spend. The dashboard reveals that rural youth aren’t attending weekday events, so organisers pivot, introducing Saturday concerts and transport vouchers.”
By the festival’s end, they can auto-generate a living impact page filled with stories, images, quotes and verifiable indicators. “Because of this, funders renew their support as results are transparent and comparable year after year — and the community sees itself reflected in the impact story and not hidden in the footnotes.”
Shifting how governments and funders see the arts
Malaika also has ambitions beyond individual organisations to shift the way governments and funders engage with Africa’s creative economy by turning anecdotes into evidence.
With robust data, policymakers could design tax incentives, invest in infrastructure or embed arts into education systems. Funders could move beyond short-term grants to multi-year, outcomes-based support. And with solid numbers and case studies, governments might finally recognise the creative economy as an export-driven growth engine that generates jobs, drives tourism and contributes to community identity.
Ten years from now
Looking ahead, Mavuso dreams of Malaika becoming the continent’s go-to platform for creative economy data: “A space where information flows seamlessly through data-sharing agreements and comparable datasets across countries, sectors and disciplines. Malaika becomes the common language of impact, interoperable with ticketing systems, education platforms, tourism databases, and even municipal planning tools.”
For creators, it could function as a living portfolio, turning their work, gigs and impact into data-backed stories that travel with them. The result, Mavuso says, would be a more resilient creative economy: one where individuals and organisations enjoy stable livelihoods, take braver risks, and operate within policies and funding frameworks that finally reflect their contributions to Africa’s development.
Making impact visible and fundable
Mavuso sums up Malaika’s promise in one sentence: “To transform Africa’s creative economy by turning data into a powerful ally for growth, visibility and sustainability.”
For Africa’s creatives, Malaika may well live up to its name — guiding the sector into a future where its impact is no longer hidden, but celebrated, measurable, and fundable.
https://www.malaika.cloud