Cameroon International Music Festival : Fertile Ground For Nurturing Upcoming Artists

All roads in Cameroon will in November 2 to 10, 2024 be leading to Buea to enjoy good music. It will be the fourth edition of Cameroon International Music Festival (CIMFEST). It has been scheduled to run for eight days at Molyko Omnisport Stadium, Buea Mountain Hotel and at a beach in Limbe. The organiser, Prince-Michael Enobi, says he is planning to make it big this year. International musicians from Afro Nation music industry, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria among others will be bringing in their collaboration. There will also be a football encounter between former Indomitable Lions and CIMFEST artists. The funs raise from the encounter will be used in assisting those who are greatly affected by the socio-political crisis rocking the North West and South West Regions. CIMFEST too will also act as a platform where musical talent will be groomed. The President of CIMFEST explains the details of the November musical jamboree in the following interview.

CIMFEST 2024 has been announced for November 2024 in Buea. How will the event look like?
Cameroon International Music Festival 2024 will run from November 2 to 10, 2024. Our team is expected to bring in vibrancy, engagement, and to also bring back life fully to the city of Buea and the entire South West Region. It is going to be fun. We are hoping to out beat our record of last year and to probably double it in terms of numbers, activities, drives, and energy. It is going to big, great and the team is excited. Personally, I have been doing a lot of work like travelling, getting partners, ideas and stuff.  There is a whole lot of things we are to bring to the table. 

How has CIMFEST contributed to the growth of Cameroonian Music?
CIMFEST has contributed greatly to the entire music industry.  You will be shocked to realise that since after CIMFEST 2023, there has been no major music gathering in the entire region and country to that magnitude. We are coming again this year. Most of our artists don’t have access to big stages where they can perform and do great things. But we have been able to bridge the gap between our industry and other musical industries in the world.  We have had some partnership with South Africa music industry. They will partner with us in CIMFEST this year. We have got to make some strives with Afro Nation. It is the biggest Afro festival in the world. We are creating bilateral partnerships such that we can feed from their expertise and also open up our industry.  At the level of the master class, there has been a lot achievements for students. CIMFEST has been able to open doors for many. We have started conversations on the different ways we can be able to push the industry at the level of marketing Cameroonian songs out there. We are having conversations with major monetising platforms like YouTube on how we can better our user experience in Cameroon music industry. 

Who are the Cameroonian musicians standing tall in the World of music thanks to CIMFEST? 
Last year we had breakthrough from a couple of young artists. CIMFEST is for everybody. Some of the artists that actually did well and it was a good experience for them. We have artists like Elisha K. He has been doing well, touring Africa. He was in Ghana an...