URTNA

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In all the continents of the globe closer unity is a major goal. Europe, Africa, Asia and America have made this a trans generational project gaining more intensity in the new millennium. There are several implications for continental unification. One positive circumstance is the revival and continuity of economic development in lacklustre economies within respective communities of the specific continent. For regions of a continent that are prosperous economically the development of such overtures broadens the scope of marketability for their products. There are other key areas like security where continental unification is of advantage. Instability in member countries can be averted or suppressed by the organs of such close unions.

The need for greater integration of what was perceived as fractured African social, economic and political boundaries by the colonial project began shortly before the pronouncements of independence for many African states. Upon the ‘freedom’ of the bulk majority of African states in the 60s there was an extension of this emphasis to the institution of the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) modeled on the United Nations and its predecessor The League Of Nations. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s central figure in the aspiration for autonomous rule proposed the formation of a United States of Africa.

Nkrumah’s proposal of this entity of similar embodiment as the United States of America was earth moving in the quest for unification. Diasporic Africans Marcus Garvey and William Dubois were other important contributors to the pan African unification debate with the former suggesting the ‘return to the motherland’ of all Africans in the Diaspora. With the advent of independence in Africa, the O.A.U. furthered the realization of the dream of a unified Africa on May 25th 1963.Whereas this was initially a loose union other forms of unification took shape. ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) and the EAC (East African Community) were some regional bodies of unification.

In the wake of such overtures the African media was considered a logical site for the advancement of such unification and the development of the newly independent states. This led to the aggressive establishment of the URTNA (Union for Radio and Television Networks for Africa) in 1962 whose members were drawn exclusively from the OAU .It however encouraged associate membership from some media agencies from non- African countries to promote its trans-cultural appeal. Its funding was sourced from its members and international agencies such as the United Nations. URTNA also forged a working relationship with the International Telecommunications Union. Towards the development of an African Popular Music Industry, URTNA was a reliable partner as will be stated later.

With headquarters in Dakar Senegal from 1964, URTNA had the objective of developing African broadcasting in all aspects of form and content. This would be through a concrete network of member countries with the focal point as indigenous programming via satellite and videocassette distribution. These programs contained audiovisual recordings of indigenous musicians from member countries of URTNA whose music gained consistent exposure in the places where these programs were broadcast.

URTNA as a media unit ‘of’ the O.A.U. countries also assumed the status of a negotiator for the block of Africa in the attainment of preferential satellite tariffs for the broadcast of programs from Africa and the rest of the world (through associate members).

Cognizant of the polarization of Anglo and Franco Africa, the body was interested in serving the linguistic divide of Africa with the two foreign languages: French and English predominantly as well as recognizing the indigenous diversity of Africa (through local languages). Such an arrangement for the African Popular music industry was a fortification of efforts towards global promotion as URTNA developed a patrimonial working relationship with African Popular Music to further this objective.

URTNA created branches that governed the various operational areas that it undertook which assisted in meeting its objectives and also provided the decentralization away from the headquarters that the association required for credibility of an all-exclusive pan African character. It is imperative to note that URTNA had a particular focus on Rural Broadcasting with the expectation that a strategy that empowered rural communities was a gateway to Africa’s development.

The URTNA technical center was created in the 60s in Bamako Mali to deal with frequency regulation, radio station monitoring and evaluate rural telecommunication. For the purpose of streamlining the program exchange the ‘Program Exchange’ center was instituted in Nairobi Kenya in 1977.This center was later involved in screening festivals by URTNA.

In Ouagadougou Burkina Faso (former Upper Volta) there was the establishment of the Inter-African Centre for Rural Radio studies. This was in 1978 and catered for professional training of radio personnel involved in rural radio production to broadcasters from Francophone Africa. The Television News coordinating center was set up in Algiers in 1991 to coordinate Television news transmitted via satellite. These branches were valuable to the coordination process of the URTNA enterprise with both the technical and creative sectors effectively sustained and evaluated in African broadcasting

URTNA emerged as one key partner and very useful coordinator of African cultural unity and in the area of African Popular music it successfully dispersed sounds and images from member countries into the broadcast media of other member countries as well as the globe. This coped with the impending dilemma of the absence of music distribution channels for many African Popular musicians.

A good number of African Popular Musicians from the 60s to date were household names through publicity arising out of URTNA’s programmes disseminated throughout Africa and globally. Zimbabwe’s Thomas Mapfumo, Franco (from The Democratic Republic Congo formerly Zaire), Yvonne Chaka Chaka (from South Africa) were some musicians who garnered heavy rotation on URTNA and continental as well as global recognition. The major promoters of African Popular music in the 80s and 90s such as Tamukati Ndongola relied on URTNA to assess the popularity of musicians that were scheduled for performances both in Africa and outside Africa.

Whereas URTNA was not a single network but a syndicate project it was and still is a platform for the broadcast of African Popular music. Its merger of the popular and the traditional signified the interrelated course of African Popular Music evolution and the urbanization effect on the growth of African Popular musics. The non-commercial policy of the music showcased on the URTNA offered an opportunity for the musical heritage of these member countries to be unearthed at a continental and global level. Depending on the submissions of local national broadcasters African Popular musicians had an opportunity for exposing their musics with or without hits in their respective countries.

The 41st General assembly of URTNA