A new virtual concert in Africa is in the works.
Hosted by MTN Group, a company known as “Africa’s largest mobile network operator,” the concert is scheduled to take place on Nov. 30. Through the event, the company will be working with The Mic: Africa, a music competition, to showcase artists on the metaverse to promote the new technological platform.
“Many people still see the virtual worlds and environments as confusing and inaccessible, and so we are very proud to bring the altMTN experience to market in a way that can be accessed via mobile, tablet, PC or VR handset,” said Bernice Samuels, an executive of group marketing at the company, in a statement. “The metaverse holds a wide array of opportunities to further enhance and showcase African innovation and are excited to be pioneers of this journey on the continent.”
altMTN is the name of the platform where the concert will be held. First reported in late February, MTN became the first African company to join the metaverse with the formation of altMTN. The company’s venture is the first to purchase land in Africarare, the first 3D virtual reality metaverse on the continent.
Created in 2021, Africarare offers users the chance to explore the fictional online world of Ubuntuland. Anyone who buys land in this fictional world through the land’s currency, $UBUNTU Token, can use it to show art exhibits, open stores and offer games as well as social interactions.
Through this metaverse, Africarare’s main mission is to provide a place for Africans to share their creative ideas.
“Africarare is focused on building and uplifting Africa,” said CEO and co-founder, Mic Mann, in a statement.“Our metaverse will connect Africa to this booming arena of the global economy, stimulate growth and create multiple new jobs such as digital designers, creators and architects,” he explained.
“Aside from the fact that Africa is our home, we’re doing this because we’re extremely bullish about the future of the continent,” added co-founder, Shayne Mann.
First mentioned in the 1992 book Snow Crash, the idea of the metaverse- later given its name by Facebook’s name change to Meta and the subsequent Metaverse announcement- has been around for a while. In 2003, companies began to draw inspiration from the idea that people can create communities online through avatars and created online spaces such as Second Life.
Online reality has continued to expand in recent years with many companies working to expand on the idea of the metaverse.
Alongside Meta, Epic Games, Roblox, Microsoft and Unity are the companies that are currently working on developing the metaverse.
