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A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities

Mini Dissertation (MPhil (International Business))--University of Pretoria, 2025.

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Other Authors: Ruiters, Michele
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2026
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Ruiters, Michele
author_browse Ruiters, Michele
author_facet Ruiters, Michele
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2025 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MPhil (International Business))--University of Pretoria, 2025.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/109179
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:58.345Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2026
publishDateRange 2026
publishDateSort 2026
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/109179 A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities Ruiters, Michele ichelp@gibs.co.za Makhubela Mandla UCTD Soft-power Amapiano Cultural products Digital Mini Dissertation (MPhil (International Business))--University of Pretoria, 2025. Amapiano, a South African-originated music genre, operates as an emergent form of Soft Power for South Africa, which, through its global rise, has created a pathway for foreign market access for South African cultural businesses. The research paper explores three interlinked themes behind the global increase and internationalisation of Amapiano (1), South African soft power projection through cultural expression (2), Amapiano evolutions into a cultural ecosystem with local and global network links, and (3) the role that digital platforms play in the international acceleration of the genre. The research paper leveraged an interpretivist qualitative design. Key insights were collected from 12 semi-structured interviews with three practitioner groups in the Amapiano ecosystem: talent management, interdependent record labels, brand and marketing agencies, and digital distribution companies. A narrative analysis approach was used to study and extract insights from the collected data. Findings in the research paper demonstrated that Amapiano functions as a bottom-up soft power that translates visibility into commercial activities. The findings revealed that global collaborations are at the centre of this global rise, but weak industry professionalism risks the genre's global sustainability. The research paper offers a framework for the internationalisation and global rise of Amapiano and its soft power. Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MPhil (International Business) Unrestricted Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure 2026-03-23T09:37:15Z 2026-03-23T09:37:15Z 2026-05-05 2025 Mini Dissertation * A2025 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109179 en © 2025 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Soft-power
Amapiano
Cultural products
Digital
A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
title A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
title_full A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
title_fullStr A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
title_full_unstemmed A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
title_short A study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to South Africa’s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
title_sort study of how the internationalisation of amapiano has contributed to south africa s soft power and created foreign market access opportunities
topic UCTD
Soft-power
Amapiano
Cultural products
Digital
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109179