“Most of mine Anita Ashiru said: “The work started in Lagos, but it won’t be long. Shooting music videos in South Africa.
She said Ashiru’s work was largely not there a decade ago, but the recent growth in the West African music industry has allowed her to live, work and travel across the region, often finding herself working for weeks at a time in Johannesburg. “South Africa is a different creative hub,” she told Condé Nast Traveler. “In Nigeria, we really don’t have that system. It feels like stepping into a designer’s dream.”
Traveling between Nigeria and South Africa is not always easy. Domestic travel in Africa has been a challenge due to continental infrastructure issues, including bureaucratic barriers and a lack of connectivity between countries. But in recent years, the rise of transcontinental industries such as e-commerce, fintech and arts has allowed new flight paths to cater to business travelers like ashiru.
South Avrica Airways, the preferred carrier of Ashiru, has particularly focused on family services to Africa by the end of 2024, adding to its flights to Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airline also flew its Lagos four times to Johannesburg in November last year. Long-distance airline links to the mainland have also increased: Delta Airlines recently resumed seasonal service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Lagos, while United Airlines has a brand new route from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Dakar in Senegal in May.
Of course, face-to-face meetings and the return of meetings have also inspired a rebound in air travel and promoted more traditional business hubs. Direct flights from Newark to Singapore on Singapore Airlines are only configured for business and premium economic seats, or five service from Chicago to Zurich. “This is not a tourist looking for Swiss chocolate,” said aviation expert Mike Arnot,. “It’s a business need. Every airline is trying to drive such routes.”
A Delta spokesman told travelers that the airline will focus on Rio de Janeiro as a “strategic company and commercial market” due to its recent growth among business travelers in 2025. Delta has expanded its existing partnership with the Latam Group this year to increase connectivity between Brazil and the United States, including the launch of a new Boston route to include New Boston. This runs with regular flights to Rio de Janeiro, which connects to dozens of international airports via Delta’s Atlanta hub.
Alex Green
While making documentaries and organizing nightlife events, writer, filmmaker and label leader Jesse Bernard often flies from London to Rio through the LATAM network. He is the head of Comovocê, a transatlantic record company that works in the cultural capitals of London and Brazil.
“I noticed that when you fly to countries within the African diaspora, in a sense, most people on the flight are not on vacation,” he said. “There is a sense of familiarity; it is the people who go to London to work or travel back. They are not necessarily tourists.”
