Bryan King Zella Uyanwune Is Building Africa’s Biggest Global IP Franchise Across Comics, Animation, Music, And Gaming – AfroTech
Bryan King Zella Uyanwune is passionate about building a global IP franchise in Africa that he hopes will be as impactful as Disney.
Born in Jos, Nigeria, Uyanwune spent part of his college years at Covenant University in Lagos studying industrial physics.
During his time, he started a clothing brand with his friend and developed his interest in music and writing. He began singing at age 11. In college, he released his first single, which he said went viral and boosted sales of his clothing brand.
Uyanwune, who later spent time in the U.S. completing his education at Texas Tech University, earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, went on to gain experience at companies including Accenture, where he worked in blockchain innovation and management consulting.
Uyanwune left to become a co-founder of Kora Technologies, a B2B payments infrastructure platform powering African businesses and processing over a billion dollars in transaction volume with operations across 15 African countries and growing, Uyanwune told AFROTECH™. His involvement with the company ended in 2021.
He never lost sight of the creative landscape, and he is now betting fully on ZellaStudios, a Pan-African multimedia and interactive entertainment company founded in 2021 that is building Africa’s biggest global IP franchise across comics, animation, music, and gaming.
“There’s IP everywhere, but why is there no African IP that’s huge like that? Why is there no Disneyland in Africa? … What’s going on? We have all this land,” Uyanwune told AFROTECH™. “We have the people … 250 million people … I dug deep, did the research and everything, and I found out that, for it to work, people have to fall in love with the story and the characters, right? And not only that, they have to be connected to or love their roots and understand their mythological culture and where they come from.”
ClubZella
That vision inspired Uyanwune to create ClubZella, a multidisciplinary creative hub home to the sci-fi action-adventure fantasy series Orisha Wars, centered on African mythology. Its launch was accompanied by Uyanwune’s Afrobeats EP, Orisha Warz Soundtrack Vol. 1, which was intentional as he seeks to create “a sanctuary where mythology and modern culture collide to reclaim our narrative,” according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
“The overarching mission is just to be able to change the narrative around Africa’s mythological heroes,” Uyanwune said. “The same way people rally around Thor and Doctor Strange and everything, and they don’t think that that’s weird or demonic or juju. They should rally around their own culture and mythological figures here in Africa and feel positive and proud about it. That’s the mission of ClubZella. By 2050, the population here is gonna be bigger than that of the U.S., and it’s all young people. Like, 80% to 90% of that population is all young people. So, they’re definitely gonna need to tap into their history and their culture and their own stories.”
Expect to find music on ClubZella, whether by Uyanwune, with the help of sound director Suka Sounds, or from artists across the diaspora. The platform also features podcasts, with the most recent guest being Chopstix, the producer of Burna Boy’s hit single “Last Last.”
This content is all free to access. In the summer of 2026, Uyanwune said that trading cards would be released and that games were in the works.
“Imagine a Mario Kart-style type of game, but then it’s Orisha Wars characters or a Mortal Kombat type of style fighting game, but it’s Orisha Wars,” he said. “Once the IP and the brand are really popular and out there, we can partner and license to different gaming, movie, animation, or film studios to create more different verticals.”
ClubZella Marketplace
Taking it a step further, ClubZella will also offer a marketplace with a creator and vendor program. Creators can submit designs for sculptures, paintings, T-shirts, action figures, and other products, but they must align with the Orisha Wars theme.
Vendors will help bring creators’ designs to life through their print shops or fulfillment centers. At this time, vendors must be based primarily in Lagos.
Reflecting on his overall efforts, Uyanwune said, “I plan to work with everyone and anyone who would tap into this vision and love to see this impact for Africa.”
