YouTube Music confirmed on Tuesday that it will be committed to providing proper backing to African creative voices. It announced that it will do this through provision of financial grants, capacity building as well as advisory to two Nigerian organizations that build up creative talent and export it to other countries.
The Head of YouTube’s Music for Sub-Saharan Africa, Addy Awofisayo stated that iManage Africa Entertainment Limited and Briteswan would be receiving support from YouTube for its backing for the development of the creative industry in Africa.
Awofisayo said at a YouTube event which she joined virtually that the support provided by YouTube was simply to assist the selected organizations in ramping up their initiatives to help develop music creatives across the continent. She also went ahead to say that the plan was set to have a direct impact on an estimated 300 participants in the initiatives which these organizations spearhead.
She talked up Briteswan’s ‘The Audiogirl Initiative’ as one which looks to empower women economically by closing the existing gender gap in the music creation area. She then went ahead to talk about iManage Africa Entertainment Limited as an initiative which is focused on building up a well-informed and more empowered workforce for the African entertainment industry, especially the music sector.
Awofisayo also said that the access to the internet has brought out more opportunities for these African creatives to showcase their talents on a global stage, to a global audience which has in turn created job opportunities which can help boost national economies.
She said that in Nigeria, the creative industry accounted for close to N730 billion of the country’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) back in 2020.
Awofisayo mentioned that YouTube has over the past few years been helpful in giving a spotlight to the African culture while also exporting it to the global audiences. She put forward the example of Burna Boy, who won a Grammy with his acclaimed “Twice as Tall” album and has been nominated for a third time. She stated that Burna Boy was given the spotlight by YouTube as an Artist on the Rise in 2018.