Africori
Johannesburg distributor and rights manager founded in 2009, wholly owned by Warner Music Group since February 2025.
- Based in
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Founded
- 2009
- Founder
- Yoel Kenan
- Website
- africori.com
Africori is a digital music distributor and rights manager founded in Johannesburg in 2009 by Yoel Kenan, set up in response to how little of the early digital market was open to African artists. It provides distribution, rights management, label services and artist development, and works with several thousand artists and labels, with additional offices in Lagos and London.
Warner Music Group took ownership in three stages: a minority investment in 2020, a majority stake in 2022, and full acquisition completed on 11 February 2025. Africori continues to run as a standalone company, feeding its recordings and A and R into Warner’s international network. Yoel Kenan stepped down as chief executive, and in June 2026 Adam Tiran, previously director of operations and international lead, was named general manager, reporting to Warner’s president of EMEA recorded music.
Its catalogue includes Master KG’s Jerusalema and amapiano releases from Kelvin Momo, Nkosazana Daughter, Oscar Mbo, Wanitwa Mos and TitoM and Yuppe. Africori is the case that shows the endpoint of the distribution consolidation this directory tracks: the largest independent African distributor is now wholly owned by a major.
