Sony Music Entertainment, the second largest record company in the world, opened an office in Lagos, Nigeria, in February, with plans to partner with African artists, deliver African and global success stories, and make money, according to Complete Music Update.

The sudden interest in West Africa makes sense considering West Africa’s rapid growth in the entertainment industry, Bella Naija reported.

West Africa has always been a creative hub for innovative music. Names like Fela Kuti, Baaba Maal, and Nneka have pushed the region into the spotlight and brought global recognition.

Michael Ugwu, the face of Sony Music West Africa, talked about the progress and partners, social impact, challenges and the future of Sony Music West Africa in an interview with African Business Review.

The creative industries accounted for about 1.3 of the country’s gross domestic product when Nigeria’s economy was rebased in 2014, The Guardian reported. Private-sector collaboration is needed to take it to the next level.

New York City-based Sony also has plans to set up a base in Nairobi, Kenya, as a West African hub. It’s part of efforts to step up operations in emerging markets, where Sony seeks new opportunities in recorded music. A big draw is mobile music services in countries where the global record industry has not previously seen much revenue.

Ugwu was appointed Sony Music’s general manager for the West African region, Nigerian superstar artist Davido was signed to a worldwide deal to help herald Sony’s arrival in the region.

“Expansion in Africa has been part of our strategy for several years,” said Adam Granite, Sony’s president of Northern/Eastern Europe and Africa. “As the region continues to grow, we see significant opportunities to market the incredible local talent in Africa to the rest of the world as well as import our repertoire and exploit it on emerging digital platforms.”

Ugwu says Sony Music West Africa is technically a one-man operation for now. “I’m trying to start building a local business before I start building a team,” he said.

Here’s more from African Business Review. Interview by Wedaeli Chibelushi.

Sony Music was the first international record company to “put boots on the ground.”

Why did Sony choose to invest in the music industry when West Africa, specifically Nigeria, has such a commodity-driven market?

Ugwu: “The music industry is a massive employer of labor. We know there’s massive youth unemployment. For us it’s about trying to formalize a structure in the market where we are creating markets that are taxable. Once you create those platforms and the government benefits, the right government will be able to give back and obviously create the right business environment for more creative businesses to grow.”

“We’ve gone from a loss-making startup to a break-even type business, and now we’re working towards the real growth that we’re looking for,” Ugwu said. “It’s only with this growth that we can reinvest back into the market.”

Ugwu said he has made substantial progress with officials, first by signing deals with telcos through so they can distribute ringtones with South Africa’s giant (MTN), and market its content to the telco’s 60 million-plus subscribers. Sony Music West Africa also distributes to Airtel, a global telco that operates in 18 countries across South Asia, Africa and Channel Islands. As for music platforms, Ugwu says he has clinched contracts with iTunes and VEVO.

Why do you focus mostly on local artists like Wizkid as opposed to the likes of Beyonce and Usher?

Ugwu: “We want to be in a situation where we’re actually taking talent from Africa, actually trying to create a global contemporary Afropop Superstar. I think we’re at that age where we have that possibility.”

What are some of the challenges?

Apple Music is live in the West African Market but collaborations with Sony Music have been hindered, Ugwu said. Apple requires users to register with a bank card and as Ugwu points out, not everyone in West Africa has a bank card. “We’re discussing with Apple and we hope that at some point they can come closer to the market with regards to payment. That would allow us to grow their services,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Ugwu said he’s positive about the future of Sony Music West Africa. “We’ve been pretty aggressive, we’ve been spending money in the market and that can only grow,” he said. “It sounds a bit cliché or ambitious but music actually has that power within the local context of things.”

Read more at African Business Review.