A low-key start for the 6th season of MTV's sex edutainment drama series, Shuga Naija, on MTV Base that is set in Nigeria.

The new 6th season of MTV Africa's sex edutainment show Shuga, entitled MTV Shuga Naija has quietly started on 7 March on MTV Base (DStv 322) at 21:30.

Besides a Nigerian media launch, and with no media statements or quotables from either Viacom Africa or the producers to the press, there's been little fanfare about the new season filmed and taking place in Lagos, Nigeria, along with the Northern Kano and Kaduna regions.

In the new season, 4 characters return, including Tobi (Timini Egbuson), Leila (Jemima Osunde), Princess (Sharon Ezeamaka) and Weki (Olumide Oworu), alongside new characters played by Nigerians, including Rahama Sadau and Sharon Jatto.

The decidedly low-key debut of Shuga Naija is odd given the attention that Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) gave the show ahead of, and during, previous seasons of the show.

Unlike in the past there's literally nothing from the production company touting its season of this show, nothing and no quotes to the press from the stakeholder organisations funding it like the MTV Staying Alive Foundation or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, or even Viacom Africa executives, like Alex Okosi, who previously chimed in with comments for other seasons.

There's been no episodic teasers or really any kind of overview summary about the themes and what this season will explore or try to do in terms of this youth drama.

The 6th season of MTV Shuga Naija was produced by Chris Ihidero who was responsible for the 4th season, together with Emma Uduma and the Nigerian directors, Tolulope Ajayi, Ishaya Bako and Tope Oshin.

Fifth season of MTV Africa's Shuga sex drama filmed in South Africa will be set in a fictionalised Soweto called Zenzele; adds Nigerian artists.

The 5th season of MTV Africa's Shuga, filmed for the first time in South Africa, is bringing a South African flavour to the mix but is toning down its overt "South Africanness", adding Nigerian artists and setting it in a fictional township doubling as Soweto.

While MTV's Shuga is being filmed in South Africa for the first time, MTV Africa wants the pan-African edutainment sex drama to remain relatable to a broad African youth audience base that will be broadcast in several African nations.

Quizzical Pictures, producing the fifth season of Shuga entitled Shuga: Down South, for Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa), decided to create and set the new season in the clubs and schools of "Zenzele" - a fictionalised version of the sprawling South African township of Soweto, bordering Johannesburg's mining belt in the south.

Nigerian artists are part of the latest season to keep a pan-African feel to the gritty series that in its new 8-episodes will continue to tell cautionary tales around HIV/Aids and youth sex, drug use, teen motherhood and unplanned pregnancy, and other relational issues young African people are confronted with.

South African actors Given Stuurman (soccer player Reggie struggling with his sexual identity), Stephanie Sandows (mercenary teenager Tsholo), Ayandai Makayi (possessive boyfriend Sol) and Winnie Ntshaba (religious mother Neliswe) have been added to Shuga: Down South.

They join Vanessa Mdee (Storm), Clint Brink (Rakeem), Thuso Mbedu (pictured) (Ipeleng), Mohau Mokoatle Cele (Bongi), Jezriel Skei (Quinton), Lerato Walaza (teen mom Zamo) and Phila Mazibuko (DJ Coalstove).

Nigerian actors Emmaniel Ifeanyi Ikubese (Femi) and Adesua Etomi (Sheila), as well as Kenya's Nick Mutuma (Leo) will also appear. The Nigerian artist Seyi Shay and South African rapper Kwesta will make guest appearances in Shuga: Down South as themselves.

After open auditions, six more people were added to the cast: Samkelisiwe Makhoba as troubled teenager Kensai, Cebo Zikhali (Kitso), Sphelele Mzimela (Sis No'xolo), Herbert Sibanda (Fentse), Eve Rasimeni (nurse) and Thabiso Seboka (soccer player).

Production on Shuga: Down South started in December 2016 and will be broadcast  from 8 March on MTV Base (DStv 322). Shuga will also be shown BET (DStv 129) and on SABC1 later in 2017.

Upcoming 5th season of MTV Base's sex edutainment drama series, Shuga, will be shot in Johannesburg, South Africa; Quizzical Pictures producing.

The fifth season of Viacom International Media Networks Africa's (VIMN Africa) sex edutainment drama series Shuga will be filmed in South Africa for the first time later this year, following seasons in Kenya and Nigeria.

The South African production company Quizzical Pictures - also producing e.tv's Rhythm City and Umlilo, Intersexions for the SABC, MasterChef SA for M-Net and several others shows - will be filming the 8-part 5th season of Shuga for MTV Staying Alive Foundation and MTV Base (DStv 322).

Like what SABC1's Skeem Saam did for South Africa, Shuga, which started in 2009, is doing in a more broader pan-African version, in a series targeting young people that focuses strongly on spreading public health messages around sex through telling stories linked to subjects like drug use, HIV status, sexual assault and unplanned teen pregnancy.

Besides being shown on MTV Base on DStv across sub-Sahara Africa, seasons of Shuga have been broadcast on SABC1, e.tv, MTV and M-Net in South Africa.

The 5th season of Shuga will be filmed in Johannesburg in a few months with pre-production that has already started.

Several roles must still be cast, but the new season will include Mohau Mokoatle as the schoolgirl singer Bongi who gets pulled into a world she's unequipped and unprepared to handle in storylines that will focus on adolescent girls and their vulnerability to HIV infection and unplanned pregnancy.

"Shuga is a trailblazing edutainment property that has had real world impact and changed lives by making viewers reflect on their life choices," says Monde Twala, the vice president for the BET channel and youth and music at VIMN Africa.

"We look forward to working together with Quizzical Pictures to evolve the franchise in a South African context for the first time."

"We have always admired the Shuga project so we are excited to be part of its South African season," says Harriet Gavshon, Quizzical Pictures managing director.

Nigerian sex and relationship edu-drama, Shuga, back for a new 4th season on MTV Base from Sunday 13 September at 22:00.

The 4th season of MTV in Africa's edu-drama series Shuga is set to start on Sunday 13 September at 22:00 on MTV Base (DStv 322), adding new actors and characters to the sex and relationship drama which is both a social and educational campaign but surprisingly also turned into good television.

Shuga, which started in 2009 using television for helping to spread a public health message around sex and aimed at young people, is back for a 4th season from this Sunday with repeats on Mondays at 22:30.

The South African actress Tunbosun Mohau Mokoatle is joining the drama series which originally starred the then little known Kenyan actresss, Lupita Nyong'o.

Season 4 of Shuga picks up the story some months after the end of the third season and the new episodes will explore storylines like first sex, grooming of adolescent girls, disclosure of HIV status, sexual assault within relationships, mentoring and the use of helplines to seek support.

The 4th season of Shuga was also filmed in Lagos earlier this year after production of the drama from Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) moved to Nigeria for the third season after the first two were filmed in Kenya.

The new season will also be translated into French and Portuguese versions, the first time ever for the show.

In the new season, Sophie, who ended the third season of Shuga with a life-threatening gunshot in the finale, has been profoundly affected by her close brush with death and has vowed to turn her life around. She now works for a helpline.

Besides this storyline Shuga's fourth season has a businessman predator, a pregnant HIV mother-to-be, and a man trying to keep his HIV positive status a secret from his girlfriend.

Besides MTV Base, earlier seasons of Shuga are shown on South Africa's SABC1 as well as on etv.