{{Short description|US-based website (since 2010)}} {{Multiple issues| {{Advert|date=February 2024}} {{Essay-like|date=February 2024}} }} {{Infobox website | name = OkayAfrica | logo = OkayAfrica logo.png | language = English | headquarters = Brooklyn, New York | country_of_origin = United States | url = https://okayafrica.com | launch_date = {{start date and age|2010}} }} '''OkayAfrica''' (stylized as '''okayafrica''') is a digital media platform dedicated to African culture, music and politics. Founded in 2010<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 15 Defining African Moments of the Last 15 Years {{!}} OkayAfrica |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/okayafrica-15th-anniversary-african-moments/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=www.okayafrica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OkayAfrica.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools |url=https://whois.domaintools.com/okayafrica.com |access-date=25 June 2025 |website=whois.domaintools.com}}</ref> by Vanessa Wruble and Ginny Suss as a sister site to The Roots frontman Questlove's Okayplayer, the site has become a popular destination for Africans on the continent and in the diaspora.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/career/okayafrica-ceo-abiola-oke-wall-street-career-transition-global-jobs/ |title=Young & Disrupting: Okayafrica CEO Talks Journey From Wall Street to Emerging Culture Brand|newspaper=Black Enterprise|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> {{asof|2020}}, OkayAfrica is the largest US-based website focusing on new and progressive music, art, politics, and culture from the African continent.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://worldfellows.yale.edu/forum-art-gallery-party|title=Rethink Africa Party |publisher=Yale Greenberg World Fellows |access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> It is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Contact {{!}} OkayAfrica |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/contact/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=www.okayafrica.com |language=en}}</ref>
== History == In an interview with ''The One Magazine'', ''OkayAfrica''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Vice President Ginny Suss, stated,<blockquote>We realized that there is no place on the web that acted as a hub for all the new [African] music, culture, art and politics and the amazing culture that was being generated on the continent that was really relevant to youth culture today. We came up with the concept of creating a one-stop shop, interactive community where our main focus is new progressive African music and also feature culture, film, art and lifestyle.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.one.org/us/2013/06/27/okayafrica-staying-in-touch-with-youth-culture-in-africa/|title=Okayafrica: Staying in touch with youth culture in Africa|date=2013-06-27|newspaper=ONE|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118113703/https://www.one.org/us/2013/06/27/okayafrica-staying-in-touch-with-youth-culture-in-africa/|archive-date=2017-01-18}}</ref></blockquote>OkayAfrica created a digital space for modern African music and culture.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201608221049.html|title=Africa: Okay Africa Wants to 'Project African Talent to a Global Audience in a Different Way' - Online and Video Site With a Million Uniques and Live Events|date=2016-08-22|newspaper=Digital Content Africa (London)|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> In an interview with ''Black Enterprise'' Magazine, former CEO Abiola Oke underscores the sites popularity as a sign that African entertainment and music culture is going through a golden age online.<ref name=":0" /> At the age of 34, he was appointed CEO of OkayAfrica.
OkayAfrica is one of the few websites that predominantly cover and center modern Afrobeats.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
OkayAfrica is also an event promoter and producer. On July 29, 2016, OkayAfrica organized ''Okayafrica: Afrobeat x Afrobeats'', a concert headlined by Nigerian pop star Davido and Brooklyn-based Afrobeat band Antibalas at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors, America's longest running free outdoor festival. This was the first time in history that African musicians had headlined the festival.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.okayafrica.com/video/afrobeat-afrobeats-davido-antibalas-lincoln-center-recap/|title=NYC Will Never Forget 'Okayafrica: Afrobeat x Afrobeats' with Davido + Antibalas at Lincoln Center Out of Doors|date=2016-09-09|newspaper=OkayAfrica|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref>
== Audience == Since its founding in 2010, OkayAfrica has gained a strong following with Afropolitans, particularly those in the diaspora.<ref name=":3" /> The term is used to describe OkayAfrica's target audience, a new generation of Africans who are creative, politically aware, multicultural, and with roots firmly on the African continent.<ref name=":2" />
The site allows young people living in the diaspora to stay abreast of what's happening in their home countries.<ref name=":2" /> Oke says the site's main age group is 25–35.<ref name=":3" />
The site attracts 1 million unique page views a month, mostly from the United States, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.{{cn|date=October 2025}} Additionally, the site offers different editions, covering all 54 countries in Africa to cater to the complexity of the continent.
OkayAfrica's popularity is also reflected in the site's social media presence. {{asof|2016}}, it had 250,000 likes on Facebook, 100,000 followers on Instagram and 50,000 + followers on Twitter.<ref name=":3" />
==100 Women== In 2017 okayafrica created a platform to highlight 100 leading African women.<ref name=okayafrica>{{Cite web|url=https://100women.okayafrica.com/the-campaign|title=OKAYAFRICA - 100 WOMEN|website=OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-22|archive-date=2020-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413002054/https://100women.okayafrica.com/the-campaign|url-status=dead}}</ref> The list has been published each year since then. The list is assembled in ten categories STEM, media, music, literature, TV and film, sports and wellness, style and beauty, business and economics, politics and activism and art.<ref name=huff18>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2018/03/05/south-african-women-shine-on-okayafricas-100-women-list_a_23377002/|title=South African Women Shine On OkayAfrica's 100 Women List|date=2018-03-05|website=HuffPost UK|language=en|access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref> The 2019 list was dedicated to youth culture and it was announced at the BAMcafe featuring Moonchild Sanelly. The emphasis was to find women who were disrupting their own local youth culture whilst at the same time demanding equal access to the global stage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bam.org/music/2019/moonchild-sanelly|title=Moonchild Sanelly|website=BAM.org|language=en|access-date=2020-05-02|archive-date=2020-09-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921152551/https://www.bam.org/music/2019/moonchild-sanelly|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Accolades from African writers and intellectuals== The site has received praise from African artists and intellectuals. Nigerian sociologist Oreoluwa Somolu Lesi notes that one of the biggest selling points is that it's made by Africans for Africans.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Somolu|first=Oreoluwa|date=2007-01-01|title='Telling Our Own Stories': African Women Blogging for Social Change|jstor=20461231|journal=Gender and Development|volume=15|issue=3|pages=477–489|doi=10.1080/13552070701630640|s2cid=71871265}}</ref> She believes OkayAfrica allows Africans to exercise control over their own narratives in mainstream media. Congolese Author, Alain Mabanckou writes that platforms like OkayAfrica are important because they promote accessibility to information and participation in cultural, political, and social dialogue.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mabanckou|first1=Alain|last2=Thomas|first2=Dominic|date=2008-01-01|title=New Technologies and the Popular: Alain Mabanckou's Blog|jstor=30135303|journal=Research in African Literatures|volume=39|issue=4|pages=58–71|doi=10.2979/RAL.2008.39.4.58|s2cid=144482747}}</ref> Cameroonian Intellectual Achille Mbembe praised OkayAfrica at the Goethe-Institut’s African Futures Festival in Johannesburg for promoting knowledge production amongst African youth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.okayafrica.com/news/achille-mbembe-african-futures-interview/|title=Discussing African Futures With Achille Mbembe|date=2015-11-09|newspaper=OkayAfrica|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.okayafrica.com}}
Category:African websites Category:American websites Category:Music websites Category:Internet properties established in 2010 Category:2010 establishments in the United States