New initiative to support local creators launched in Lagos

To encourage local creators, the American video-sharing platform, YouTube, has unveiled two new initiatives to support the growth of content creators in Nigeria.

Launched in Lagos at an event tagged, An Evening With YouTube, the programme was attended by top Nigerian creators, entertainers, movie industry experts, influencers as well as media.

At the event, creators were presented with MiFi devices and free Internet access for the next three months to help them share more content, more conveniently.

This is the follow-up on the first YouTube Week, hosted in Lagos, in June, and the support for 10 creators through Mr Eazi’s emPawa Africa Initiative, announced by Google for Nigeria in July 2019.

Speaking at the event, Google’s Country Marketing Manager in Nigeria, Olumide Balogun, said, “helping more creators to get discovered and succeed, and making it easier for more people to be able to access YouTube through affordable data plans is important to us. 

“We are committed to supporting more creators to develop locally relevant content,” he said.

On her part, the product marketing manager of the company in Sub Saharan Africa, Adetutu Laditan, said, “we are running this promo for the next six weeks on every platform, promoting locally relevant content and creators. And the cool thing about it is that we have partnerships from telecoms in Nigeria. So we are rolling this out to create more publicity for the creators. Hopefully, it motivates them to continue on the platform, they are able to monetise more of their content and inspire them to be better creators.”

On what has changed in the last two years for content creators, she said, “a lot of them have shared their stories. They have a lot of visibility from the platform, why most You Tubers are more popular than Nollywood actors. So they are getting visibility, brands are reaching out to them. They’re making money. And this is not just locally, we have creators that are working with some of the biggest brands in the world, like Disney and that’s because they are on the platform. They have been discovered by international brands in America and in Europe.

“So, I think in the last two years, a lot of them have benefited from the platform to grow their skill set, but more importantly, grow their brand as well.”

On his part, General Manager for Data and Devices, MTN Nigeria, Abiodun Ajayi, said, “we are trying to make it easier for creators to get into YouTube because we know that content is king. And it drives a lot of education and awareness in Nigeria.

“We are increasing data volumes across different bundles. So we are trying to bring the price of data lower by reducing the cost. “

“So we’re sort of democratising the internet. Content creators have more data to do as much as they want. Our consumers also have more data to consume as much content as they want. So, it’s a win-win situation for everybody.”