Afro British Culture On A Rise – YANGA! The first commercial entertainment destination for the African Diaspora Launches Today

• New research recognises how African culture has influenced our lives – from food and music to fashion and entertainment

• New research looks at cultural diversity in the UK, how we celebrate it and whether it’s accurately represented in the media

• Over a fifth of people (21%) say they feel the influence of other cultures in their day-to-day lives

New research recognises how Afro/Caribbean culture has made a great impact on our day-to-day lives, from what we watch, eat, shop for and listen to.

With cultural diversity in the UK more prevalent than ever before the study identifies how African culture has influenced modern-day Britain. The findings revealed that almost half of brits 42%) think the UK has a great mix of cultures that should be celebrated.

Specifically evident through recent successes from African musicians, actors and comedians in the past few years. British-Nigerian, John Boyega has taken over Hollywood with his role as Finn in recent Star Wars films, online viral sensation Micheal Dapaah taking over the internet with Big Shaq #MansNotHot and Drake’s massive number-one hit ‘One Dance’ featuring Nigerian artist, Wizkid, who also sold out the Royal Albert Hall last September – to name just a tiny fraction of African-influenced achievements.

In recent years there has been a surge of multiculturalism within the UK, with rapid growth in the African/ Caribbean diaspora as seen in cities such as London, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester and Ireland.

21% of people in the UK admit to already feeling the influence of other cultures in our everyday lives, with African culture being a prime example of this – from music to fashion and entertainment.

Almost a quarter (24%) have sampled African influenced food such as Jollof rice, fried plantain or pounded yam. Just under one in five (19%) listen to music of African influence and over one in ten (13%) have attended events influenced by African culture, with a further 10% admitting their fashion sense features African influences.

According to the survey, 41% recognise the importance of cultural diversity, with almost half of those surveyed (46%) believing it is important to teach children about other ways of life and over a quarter (28%) expressing an interest in learning more about other cultures around the UK.

In bid to continue celebrating Afro – Brit culture, next month Chiswick Park Studios, a new African media hub based in West London will launch YANGA! The first commercial African entertainment channel, with original content reflecting the lives, issues and vibrant energy of the African Diaspora.

YANGA are bridging a huge gap in British television as there currently aren’t any African TV channels in the UK which ingeniously develop original content to and focus and mirror afro-brit society. Over the years people have experienced African TV through low budget studios, poor quality camera’s and questionable narratives. A lot of the what was shown had been old shows from Africa of mediocre standards. YANGA have recruited some of the best African talent in the UK as well as top notch producers and editors to deliver never seen, world class quality shows to our screens.

The brand new channel has a range of entertaining shows which include “NUMBER 6” a free-spirited nightly comedy show. Presented by the witty and charming Mansour Bellow welcoming some of the most popular Afro-brits black comedians. YANGA will also be showcasing “FIZZI" a childrens program which consists of singing, dancing and African nursery rhymes from various countries. Presenter, Gbemisola takes kids on an exciting and imaginative adventure through the shows ‘The Adventures of Lola and Chuchu', 'Turtle Taido’ and more. These are just a few of the many great shows launching on the platform.

YANGA! means "self-pride" in West African Pidgin and is an expression of self-confidence, rather than arrogance (a crucial distinction). When the channel launches, a campaign will run featuring Afro-Brits , from all walks of life, who will express what "yanga" means to them.