Ntone Edjabe


Ntone Edjabe is a Cameroonian writer, journalist, DJ and founding editor of Chimurenga magazine.

Life and career

Ntone Edjabe was born in Douala, Cameroon, and he moved to Lagos, Nigeria, where he began his studies. In 1993 he interrupted his studies to move to South Africa. He works as a journalist, writer, DJ, and basketball coach.
In 1997 he became co-founder and manager of the Pan African Market, a commercial and cultural space located in Long Street in the centre of Cape Town. In 2002 he founded Chimurenga magazine. In 2004 he was facilitator of Time of the Writer, and in 2007 he participated in its 10th edition at the Centre for Creative Arts of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Edjabe is co-founder and member of the DJ collective Fong Kong Bantu Soundsystem. In 2009 he was Massachusetts Institute of Technology Abramowitz Artist-in-Residence.
In 2011 Edjabe won the Principal Award of the Prince Claus Awards, with his Chimurenga platform.

Works

In 2002, Edjabe became founder and director of Chimurenga magazine and curator of the series of publications African Cities Reader with Edgar Pieterse. He co-presented the radio programme Soul Makossa on Bush Radio 89.5, a station based in Cape Town. He is curator with Neo Muyanga of the Pan African Space Station. Among the publications to which he contributes are Politique africaine, L'Autre Afrique and BBC Focus on Africa.

Essays and articles