Universal parent Vivendi has made further moves into the African entertainment business with the launch of four entertainment and music venues.
The theatres are part of the CanalOlympic network that first arrived in the Cameroon capital Yaounde last year. There are plans to open 100 in total, with four arriving in January and February.
The CanalOlympia theatres will screen 18 films over six days a week, and concerts by African and international artists are also in the works.
Those will be organised by Universal Music Group, acting as a catalyst for talent development in Africa.
The first venue opens today in Conakry, Guinea, and will be followed by Douala in Cameroon on January 18, Niamey, Niger on February 1 and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on February 25.
Universal has been making moves into the growing African music industry in recent years after launching a pan-African mobile music streaming service called the Kleek in partnership with Samsung in 2013.
Since then, the major label has signed partnerships with South African record label, Inhoud Huis, and campaign specialist TLC Marketing.
In March, having confirmed the departure of Randall Abrahams, Sipho Dlamini was appointed Managing Director of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa (English-speaking).
[Pictured: Performers at the opening of CanalOlympic venue in Yaoundé last year]
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