South Africa-based Malawian musician Zani Challe claims the corporate world has failed Malawian artists in general due to its lack of support.
Zani Challe, real name Zani Chiumia, was speaking during a Facebook live interaction with her fans on Saturday.
“There’s so much talent in Malawi. The unfortunate thing that holds Malawian artists back is lack of support from the corporate world. Our friends from other countries are getting sponsorship from big companies,” she said.
Zani said the entertainment industry requires you to put in so much money before you start making your own money, but a lot of corporates in Malawi don’t take the entertainment industry serious and they are not willing to invest.
The artist also shared her misgivings with Malawian music promoters for settling for international stars at the expense of locals.
The live chat took an interesting turn when a fan, Jemu Jaxon Tyler, asked the musician which female artist she would love to collaborate with in Malawi to which she responded: “Nobody.”
She, however, said: “I would love to work with Gemini Major. It’s just that I am always travelling in and out of South Africa and he is so busy.”
Zani Challe also took time to respond to her critics over some of her recent raunchy pictures which have attracted criticism.
The artist said how she dresses does not define who she is but, her craft as an artist.
Though some artists have complained of lack of support from the corporates, history has recorded some major collabolations between artists and companies.
Recently National Bank of Malawi plc sponsored live perfomances of Find Codi and Piksy at its premises in Blantyre, FDH Bank plc hired Patience Namadingo as its brand ambassador while Standard Bank has until recently was sponsoring the annual Standard Bank Jazz Nights. Other institutions that have sponsored artists are Airtel Malawi, Lilongwe Dairy Limited, NBS Bank plc, MultiChoice Malawi and Unicef, among others.
