Universal Music Group has elevated Manusha Sarawan to oversee its efforts and market-leading label roster across southern and eastern Africa. In her new Johannesburg-based role as managing director, Southern and East Africa, Sarawan will continue to work closely with Adam Granite, UMG’s evp of market development, who said she was “ideally suited” for the role.
Sarawan was most recently chief operating officer at UMG Sub-Saharan Africa, where she oversaw day-to-day operations and helped steer the company to a digital-first approach in the fast-expanding region. Prior to that, she spent a decade at Sony Music Africa, where she rose to director of commercial and business development.
“She’s someone I’ve known since her days at Sony,” commented Granite, “and during her time at Universal she has repeatedly shown her leadership skills and strong business acumen.”
Universal has been aggressively expanding its presence and reach on the African continent, in part by opening regional headquarters in Johannesburg (South Africa) and Abidjan (Côte D’Ivoire), as well as offices in Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Kenya and Morocco. A year ago, UMG inked a deal to license its catalog through Mdundo, a popular music streaming service that ended 2022 with over 23 million monthly active users.
The label group has also launched dedicated genre labels, including Def Jam Africa, Blue Note Africa and Motown Gospel Africa.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for African music, as it continues to build new audiences both here and across the world,” remarked Sarawan. “We have an amazing roster of talent here, and it’s a huge privilege to get to work with our artists and our talented team to promote African music on the world stage.”
