South African companies, telecommunications giant MTN and advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel, have become among the first to acquire virtual land in Africa’s first virtual reality metaverse, Africarare.

Africarare announced this month that it plans to commercialise the three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality experience set in Ubuntuland, a virtual world that “marries creativity, cryptocurrency and commerce”.

Ubuntuland allows users to create, experience and monetise content and applications and provides a platform to showcase some of the best African art, fashion, entertainment, sport, technology and creativity, besides others.

Only 204 642 plots of land will be made available, made up of different village sizes in various community hubs and positioned and priced according to a tiered value system.

M&C Saatchi Abel entered the metaverse as the first South African agency with the acquisition of an undisclosed amount of land.

“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 to come together to solve business and even societal challenges with creativity,” says M&C Saatchi Group South Africa founding partner and CEO Mike Abel.

The virtual hub is intended to house the largest collection of African contemporary art from the M&C Saatchi collection, host sport and entertainment experiences, and establish an open-source platform to share skills and learnings. It will host workshops from agencies across the M&C Saatchi Group, he notes.

MTN’s acquisition will result in it owning 144 plots of virtual land in Ubuntuland, with an overall area of 12 m × 12 m.

“This is an exciting moment for us as we lead businesses on the continent to enter the metaverse marketplace. This is exactly what our Ambition 2025 strategy is premised on – leveraging trends that amplify consumers’ digital experiences and engagement. We have always been at the forefront of technological and digital changes and we remain alive to the exciting opportunities the metaverse presents for us and our customers,” says MTN Group marketing executive Bernice Samuels.

“This investment demonstrates MTN’s commitment to supporting African innovation as it is the first company on the continent to support an initiative of this kind. Through its presence in the metaverse, MTN intends to increase its customer attractiveness through a series of experiences merged with consumer passion points, like gaming and music.”

Landholders in Ubuntuland will be able to customise their 3D land spaces, including hosting shops, producing resources, renting virtual services and developing games or other applications.

Designated spaces will serve the community for work, play and wellness purposes and include meeting rooms, online therapy rooms with optional anonymity, concert stages, film festival spaces, meditation lounges and other dynamic interactive environments.

“The possibilities for meaningful metaverse experiences are almost endless for the creation and monetisation of whatever digital goods and services translate into the world of the metaverse.

“Africarare will connect Africa to this booming arena of the global economy, stimulate growth and create multiple new jobs such as digital designers, creators and architects ” says Africarare cofounder and CEO Mic Mann.

The currency in Ubuntuland will be the $UBUNTU token, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain and will be available later this year.

“Everything in Africarare can be bought, sold or traded using $UBUNTU tokens, including buying, developing, selling or renting plots or villages in Ubuntuland, and the in-world purchases of digital goods and services.”

In the Africarare marketplace, where creators and developers can trade in in- world assets such as land, avatars, avatar additions and other goods and services, focuses on four main areas: Art, Ubuntuland, Avatars & Skins and Digital Services. Users will also be able to trade on secondary platforms such as Opensea.

The Central Hub land area is reserved for Africarare custom-made experiences, including galleries, live performances, stand-up comedy, video content channels, film festivals and safaris, besides others.

“It will enable South African artists to showcase their talent to the world and monetise their distinctive creations,” he adds.

Renowned South African artist Norman Catherine has developed a unique collection of avatars – a 3D graphical representation of a user or the user’s character or persona – for the metaverse, which will shortly be available to buy.

“The Normunda tribe is based on the artist’s signature lexicon, which has fetched record prices in galleries around the world.”

In addition, South African television personality, rapper, actress, businesswoman and model Boitumelo Thulo, known as Boity, revealed her first virtual reality music video.

The Boity tribe of 10 000 avatars will soon be available for fans, with a Boity village currently being developed and plans for virtual concerts under way.

Two art galleries will feature in Africarare, dedicated to showcasing Africa’s prolific creativity.

The Mila gallery (Swahili for ‘tradition’), already open, will host curated collections by some of Africa’s foremost artists, while the Inuka gallery (Swahili for ‘rise’) will feature works by emerging African artists from later in 2022.

Both galleries will stage various exhibitions on an ongoing basis, with art pieces being be sold as non-fungible tokens.

“With Africarare being built on collaborative partnerships, the possibilities for commercialisation are endless,” concludes Africarare cofounder Shayne Mann.