Africa's first digital domain Africarare is a 3D virtual reality immersive hub that houses a metaverse marketplace set in Ubuntuland.

Investing in the first African metaverse allows M&C Saatchi Abel and its partners access to a global network through social technology designed to remove terrestrial borders and open up trade, collaboration and regional or global partnerships.

Ubuntuland aims to showcase some of the best of:
  • African art
  • fashion
  • entertainment
  • sport
  • tech, and
  • creativity.
This will provide a platform for artists from across the continent to showcase their work.

"The unique afro-themed metaverse establishes local representation in a growing global digital universe and will open our continent up to significant digital and economic growth opportunities for both talent, clients and industry colleagues. [We will] come together to solve business and even societal challenges with creativity," says Mike Abel, M&C Saatchi's group South Africa founding partner and CEO.

"This aligns with our own very clear commitment to pushing the bounds of South African capabilities and creativity in the work we produce across the continent. We love a good problem as a team, and we believe that creativity is the most significant key to solving these. Creating a virtual home for this is a very natural and fluid extension of our ability to do exactly this," says Abel.

Beyond just business opportunities and social interaction experiences, M&C Saatchi Abel Ubuntuland unlocks an accessible home for economic opportunities such as:
  • decentralised access to global creativity and best practice, as well as
  • skills and knowledge sharing.
Ubuntuland is created by Mann Made and will be open to public land sales from the second or third quarter of 2022 as the team continue to work on the build for their Afro-futuristic world of proudly local creativity. Together with Mann Made, M&C Saatchi Abel and Africarare will create a cultural, social and commercial destination for African creativity in the metaverse.

"For us, it's all about building a thriving engaged community and ecosystem in Ubuntuland as we develop this new metaverse. We are thrilled to be working with one of Africa and the world's most talented creative agencies as we focus on unlocking Africa's best talent and connect Africa to the global digital economy," says Mann Made Media and Africarare CEO Mic Mann.

This planned inclusive world for African creativity will allow creators to be inspired by, and add to, cultural experiences as well as contribute to and profit from various commercial opportunities.

The virtual hub is also intended to:
  • house the largest collection of African contemporary art from the M&C Saatchi collection
  • host sport and entertainment experiences
  • establish an open-source platform to share skills and learnings, and
  • host workshops from agencies across the M&C Saatchi Group.
Central to interacting in the metaverse are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). These digital assets or tradable tokens can be bought and sold online and are created from:
  • art
  • music
  • videos
  • pop culture references or
  • unique creative creations.
"We aim to give Africans the access and resources they need to unlock their creative firepower from the home base of Africa's digital creative destination — M&C Saatchi Abel Ubuntuland. Using our capabilities as industry leaders, we can enable and empower Africa to grow and flourish on a global playing field," concludes Abel.

For more information, visit www.mcsaatchiabel.co.za. You can also follow M&C Saatchi Abel on Facebook or on Twitter