YouTube Backs 2 Nigerian Organisations on Creative Economy

 

Emma Okonji

YouTube Music has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting African creative voices by providing financial grants, capacity development training and advisory to two organisations that nurture African creative talent and export it.

In keeping with YouTube Music’s commitment to the development of the African creative industry, Briteswan and iManage Africa Entertainment Limited will receive support to help them scale up their initiatives to develop music creatives on the continent.

This move is set to directly impact an estimated 300 participants in initiatives led by these organisations.
Briteswan’s ‘The Audiogirl initiative’ seeks to economically empower women by closing the gender gap in the music creation segment
iManage Africa Entertainment Limited’s ‘Music Business Academy for Africa (MBA)’, is an initiative dedicated to developing a more informed and empowered workforce for the African music and entertainment industry

YouTube’s Head of Music, Sub-Saharan Africa, Addy Awofisayo, said: “We are committed to exporting African music to listeners across the world and want to continue to play our part in the development of the continent’s rapidly growing creative economy especially with respect to music.”

Access to the internet has opened up opportunities for African creatives to display their talents to a global audience, thereby, creating jobs that can boost national economies. In Nigeria, the creative industry accounted for roughly 730 billion Naira (roughly 1.8 billion dollars) of Nigeria’s GDP in 2020. Through this initiative, YouTube will enable the two organisations to scale their ongoing work to help more young African creatives learn and acquire the skills to improve their craft, and export their music to the world.

Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said: “The rise of Nigeria’s globally celebrated musical artists points to the opportunities that exist in the creative economy. As we work towards the post-Covid 19 recovery of industries, it is important to be intentional about unearthing brimming talent and potential among creative – many of whom are young people. YouTube Music’s dedication to the growth of music creative in the region is well-timed and commended.”