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AnimaxFyb Studios, an Accra-based animation company, is seeking fresh investment to scale its projects and bolster Africa's creative industry after winning three TAIDO African Animation Awards in Tokyo earlier in March.

Footage from the studio on Friday shows CEO and Creative Director Francis Y Brown directing staff and touring facilities lined with AnimaxFyb characters and their awards. Various cartoon projects previously created by the studio were also displayed.

"This recognition means a lot to us [...] If I see anime community, I'm talking about some of the world's leading animation studios based in Japan, like the Bandai Namco, like Toei [Animation] and the rest. They were all in the room whilst we were there, and we got awards from some of the top institutions too," Brown spoke about the studio's recent success.

The CEO highlighted the company's collaboration with Japanese animation studios, notably the TAIDO Project, which provided staff with technical training while preserving Africa's distinct creative identity.

"With the TAIDO initiative, it allowed us to see how we can place subtle things within character development, character ideation, conceptualisation of the stories and also the world building to make it appealing to anyone in the world," Brown explained.

While praising local talent, Brown warned that Africa's creative sector lacks infrastructure, training programmes and investment, urging greater support for the industry and encouraging young people to help build a homegrown animation ecosystem.

"We need investment that goes into building animation studios, animation schools, and also building curriculums that will enable us be on par with some of the international schools that are abroad [...] once we get that proper and the right investment for them, we'll be able to play ball," he underlined.

"Before we start telling stories from abroad or from anywhere, it needs to start with us. So, we need to start looking into the Ghanaian mythologies, the folklores and even our daily social lives have a lot of stories that we can tell," the CEO added.

The global animation market is expanding rapidly and is estimated to reach around $895 billion in 2034, according to reports. The sector in Africa, meanwhile, is also witnessing significant development, accounting for an estimated $15.7 billion in 2025.

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Transcript
00:17This recognition means a lot to us. It is somewhat a validation that Animax FYB
00:24Studio's quality and also workflow has been recognized internationally especially by the
00:32anime community. If I say anime community I'm talking about some of the world-leading
00:39animation studios based in Japan like Bandai Namco, Toye and the rest. They were all in the
00:49room whilst we were there and we got awards from some of the top institutions too from Japan.
00:59So this goes a long way for us and we've used all these years in our establishment to build
01:07this type of reputation and also pipeline for us to get to a stage like this.
01:20Animax FYB Studios is aggressively positioning itself to be a lead player in the African continent
01:30for animation. This particular initiative which is the title and also the work that came with it
01:38shows how ready we are as a company and as a studio to play in the international leagues.
01:45So apart from the fact that we are producing, we are also very interested in training. We are
01:51constantly training new talent and also looking for new talents to train them to come into the ecosystem.
02:03In regards to the storytelling, it was quite open for us. We were allowed to just express ourselves
02:13creatively, which was very open and it wasn't so much about us trying to look and feel like Japanese,
02:22but rather it is more about the pipeline and also the technical and behind the scenes type of things.
02:39It can be sometimes difficult for people who are not Africans to consume African content because perhaps
02:47when we are producing we are critically thinking about what we are very much related to or what is very
02:56much
02:56relatable to us. But with the title initiative, it allowed us to see how we can place subtle things within
03:05character development, character ideation, conceptualization of the stories and also the world building to
03:13make it appealing to anyone in the world, not just people that we are seeking to our prime audience, which
03:21is the Africans.
03:27The talent is not a challenge. We do have a lot of talented youth and talented people on the continent,
03:34but then most of them are not trained. They are not going through the mill where they can all come
03:43together to produce something which is unison. But then with training like COLICO program that we have, we are
03:52constantly shaping up this particular challenge. We also don't have proper infrastructures like animation school.
04:00For example, in the whole of West Africa, we do not have a properly set up animation school that is
04:06training
04:07talent that will come and also produce world-class content that will go into the market to compete with
04:14the big studios out there.
04:20We need investment that goes into building animation studios, animation schools,
04:28schools, and also building curriculums that will enable us to be a par with some of the international
04:37schools that is abroad. We do need some investment in content creation. When I say content creation,
04:45I'm talking about IP generation and also management. And with these things, once we get the proper and the
04:53right investment for them, we'll be able to play ball.
05:04We need to also really read more about our history and also pay attention to the stories that happens
05:11around us. Because as a people, before we start telling stories from abroad or from anywhere, it needs to
05:18start with us. So we need to start looking into the Ghanaian mythologies, the folklore, and even our daily
05:29social lives has a lot of stories that we can tell. So through this, we will be able to be
05:35very authentic
05:35and produce work that the world hasn't seen before. And I believe this is what audiences are looking for.
05:54Charlie.
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