Vivendi Opens Four Venues In Africa

New CanalOlympia entertainment venues in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea and Niger are the first of “several dozen” to follow in the coming months.

The first venue opened its doors Jan. 11 in Conkary, Guinea. The next one was in Douala, Cameroon, Jan. 18. The CanalOlympia in Niamey, Niger, is due Feb. 1, and the fourth in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, is to open Feb. 25.

The venues get their name from Vivendi-owned Canal+ Group, which is France’s biggest pay-TV operator, and also serves markets in Africa, Poland and Vietnam. A statement by Paris-based Vivendi reads: “The CanalOlympia venues aim to facilitate access to culture and entertainment in countries that are often lacking such facilities and to stimulate talent development in Africa.

They have a unique architectural design, which permits them to accommodate 300 people indoors and several thousand outdoors. The premises are outfitted with state-of-the-art digital projection and sound equipment. They use solar panels and storage batteries, allowing each location to be energy self-sufficient.” The French media giant plans to open a whole network of CanalOlympias in Central and Western Africa over the course of 2017.