Sony Music has appointed Christel Kayibi to its Africa & Continental Europe team as director of repertoire strategy for Africa.
Based in London, Christel Kayibi will work alongside the major’s teams in South, East and West Africa, as well as French-speaking Africa. She will develop Sony Music’s rosters and network, identifying catalogue, label and other investment opportunities in order to support the company’s advance into new markets across the continent.
Kayibi will report directly to Daniel Lieberberg, president, Continental Europe & Africa, in close coordination with Sean Watson, managing director of Sony Music Africa. She will also work closely with the regional and local Africa teams to assist with the signing of artists in partnership with Sony Music labels worldwide.
Kayibi previously served as senior legal and business affairs manager and A&R at Columbia Records in the UK, after joining the company in 2019. She worked closely with finance, sales and marketing for labels including Columbia Records, 5K Records, Robots and Humans and Dream Life Records.
In 2017, she became the global legal counsel to Nigerian artist Mr Eazi, and was instrumental in building his Banku Music label and Empawa music distribution company. As his lawyer, she successfully negotiated various commercial, publishing and licensing deals with labels and distribution companies in Africa, the UK and the US.
Prior to joining Sony Music, Kayibi was a corporate finance lawyer, having trained at Slaughter & May and qualified as a solicitor in 2014. She subsequently worked at White & Case and Hunton Andrews Kurth, and undertook a secondment to Accra, Ghana to work at Kimathi and Partners.
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