Actor Thomas Gumede recently signed a mega international deal with Emmy award-winning content studio GRB Studios and is on a mission to showcase Africa to the world.

A multi-year licensing and distribution deal between GRB and BLACK TV, spearheaded by Thomas, was announced this week.

BLACK TV is an African pay TV channel broadcast on satellite service Starsat and features original African series, movies, music, documentaries and non-scripted shows.

Thomas told TshisaLIVE this was a historic move and that he's super excited about it.

"This is a deal for all of Africa, something we can all celebrate. It is a global deal. We will be able to deliver to the whole continent and beyond."

Despite the increased demand for new content from the deal, Thomas is determined to stay true to Africa and its roots. He is passionate about telling African stories that have not been told up until now.

"We want to create local content that can compete internationally and be as compelling. We want to set a new standard."

Thomas said the goal now was to make sure that African producers own their work and take their place at the international table.

"Content is king and Africa is an untapped kingdom. There are so many stories to tell. We have great concepts, we need to take it from concept to screen."

- TshisaLIVE