Communiqué without walls

As we enter a new phase of growth and expansion, we are making changes to how you experience Communiqué.

Writing to you about what we are doing at Communiqué is one of the most therapeutic things I get to do. It’s a good way to put things into perspective and let you in on how we are building this machine. It also helps take stock of how far we have come and what we’ve learned along the way.

So, here we go.

This month marks a year since I decided to turn my once side project into a full-time business. It’s been excruciating, to say the least. But it’s also been absolutely worth it. Anyone who’s ever built anything can relate to this: One minute, you feel like you’re dying and have made a terrible mistake; the next, you’re soaring on the wings of adrenaline because you’ve just pulled off the most insane manoeuvre ever. That’s the summary of my experience building this company over the past year.

Within that time, we have published 45 flagship newsletters (what you know as the weekly essays), with an average of 1,250 words per edition, totalling approximately 56,250 words. Enough to make up a book. We’ve launched two more newsletter series—Communiqué Digest and Offscript. We’ve built the largest database of African creative economy players, with over 1,000 entries. We co-published the first-ever Africa Creator Economy Report, which was featured in The Guardian and Semafor and has reached over 1.5 million people. We crossed 47,000 subscribers—6,000 more than we had a year ago—with readers from 106 countries. And, this week, we will launch the first-ever nationally recognised Nigerian Creator Economy Report. We have accomplished a great deal in a short period.

As a company, we have partnered and worked with organisations such as Moniepoint, Afripods, Filmmakers Mart, TM Global, Gatefield, the British Council, Alliance Française, the French Embassy in Kenya and Somalia, Blueline Gifts, Bota House, the Nigerian Communications Commission, and the National Council for Arts and Culture. We have hosted events in Lagos and Nairobi, curated the first-ever Creative Economy Track at Gitex Africa Morocco, and contributed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s new UK-Africa strategy sessions.

I could go on, but you get the gist. Our cute little newsletter is becoming quite the force, and we are just getting started.

As we grow, however, we must also adapt. We have to pay attention to signals and read between the lines. When you—our audience—speak, we must listen, because we are nothing without you.

If these walls could talk

In October last year, we introduced a paywall for Communiqué. It was an experiment: we wanted to see whether the subscription model could work for us.

Personally, I’ve never hidden my scepticism about the model’s viability in Africa. A few years ago, I wrote, “By asking your audience to pay for content, you are competing with the necessities of life – food, shelter, health, leisure, etc. It’s tough when most people don’t have substantial disposable income. What’s more? The number of people who do is paltry.” But I put up the paywall anyway because I had to figure out how to make the newsletter pay for itself, given that I no longer had the “comfort” of a 9-5.

At the time, it was just “me.” Now, it’s “we.” Communiqué has evolved from a one-person operation to a full-fledged media company, with a larger team and a more expansive voice.

After a year of testing and iterating, we’ve realised that while the paywall brought in a small, loyal core—who paid us enough to power our editorial operations at least—it also narrowed our reach. Our mission has always been to connect and amplify Africa’s media and creative economy.

To truly do that, our stories and insights cannot live behind walls.

So, beginning September 2025, Communiqué will be completely free to read. This is not a step back. It’s a push for scale and growth. It means our work will have the chance to reach millions of people across Africa and the diaspora.

However, it also means we must reimagine how we will build a sustainable business, one that enables us to continue doing great work and contributing excellently to the ecosystem.

But first, let’s talk about you, our audience.

What does this mean for you?

You can expect the following benefits going forward:

1. Unlimited access, no barriers

As of now, all essays, reports, and analyses we publish will be freely available to read and share. No locked insights. No missed opportunities because of a paywall. Whether you’re a creator, policymaker, investor, or student, you’ll have open access to the ideas shaping Africa’s creative economy.

2. A bigger, stronger community

By removing the paywall, our community expands. Imagine the conversations we’ll have when tens of thousands more voices across Africa and the diaspora can join in. That means more perspectives, more collaboration, and more opportunities.

3. More ways to engage, online and offline

You won’t just be a reader. You’ll be part of a growing movement. From gatherings in Lagos, Marrakech, Nairobi, and Johannesburg, to mixers, conferences, and workshops across Europe and North America, you’ll have more opportunities to learn, network, and build with peers who care about the same future you do.

4. Tools that help you grow

We’re building digital products—playbooks, datasets, dashboards—designed to help you make more brilliant career and business decisions. Whether you’re figuring out funding, building your creative practice, or investing in the space, you’ll get resources that go beyond articles.

What does this mean for us, the Communiqué team?

This version of the future means we must reimagine how we sustain ourselves and build a healthy company. We’ve spoken to many of you at length, and we understand better what you want and what you expect from us.

As we drop the paywall, we will move forward with a version of Communiqué that supports memberships and prioritises connections over transactions. Membership is not the same as subscriptions. Subscribers pay for access. Members care about community.

As we build out our membership network, we will continue to deepen the business models that have worked for us so far:

1. Partnerships – Long-term collaborations with institutions, platforms, and organisations aligned with our mission to strengthen Africa’s creative economy.

2. Consulting & Advisory – Applying our deep ecosystem knowledge and understanding to help investors, companies, governments, and development organisations that value actionable insights.

3. Events – From mixers in Lagos and Nairobi to high-end summits, our convenings will grow as a revenue engine and community glue.

4. Advertising & Sponsorships – Thoughtful brand integrations that don’t dilute our voice but spotlight initiatives our readers care about.

5. Digital Products – Playbooks, toolkits, and datasets that help our audience make more intelligent decisions about their careers and businesses.

Why this matters

Moving away from subscriptions frees our voice and stretches our arms wider. It enables us to become the default publication for anyone seeking to understand the business of Africa’s creative economy.

At the same time, building toward membership ensures that we don’t remain solely dependent on partnerships, ads, or consulting, which can be cyclical.

What’s next?

Over the next 6–12 months, we will:

1. Position Communiqué to reach millions of Africans at home and in the diaspora.

2. Expand our events portfolio to include more sector-focused gatherings.

3. Roll out our digital products to help creators, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers make smarter decisions.

4. Introduce a membership model, starting with voluntary support, to anchor a sustainable, community-driven future.

This, for us, is what evolution looks like. It is proof that we will always listen to you and are not afraid to respond to your needs.

As a show of faith, you could help propel us on this new journey by donating here.