Africa’s film industries could quadruple their revenue to $20 billion and create an additional 20 million jobs. A recent UNESCO report found that Africa’s film industries could quadruple their revenue to $20 billion and create an additional 20 million jobs. (Hopps, 2021).
- In 2019, only about $22 million, or 1.1 percent of total investment in African start-ups went to entertainment companies. In contrast, $800 million in venture capital was invested into American and other creator economy startups between October 2020 and August 2021 (Hopps, 2021). Despite having a large and diverse population, African entrepreneurs are not receiving the same funding as their Western counterparts.
- The biggest obstacle for Africa’s creator economy is the population’s low accessibility to the internet.
Data costs and rural areas make traditional social media platforms ineffective and costly for both the creators and users. - Content coming from African creators is mostly consumed by local audiences.
Regardless of the internet’s ability to give people an international voice, content coming from African YouTubers and creators is mostly consumed by local audiences, due to location algorithms (Adeleke, 2021). Because of this, they are unable to generate as much reach as American or European creators. - Africa has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations.
Statistics show that in over 40 African countries more than 50% of the population is under 20 (Mwotia, 2022). And as we know, it is the youth that drives creative endeavors. As we have witnessed on TikTok and Instagram, most users and creators are either Gen-Z or Millennials. - African creators have been responsible for many viral moments and cultural trends.
African creators have been responsible for many viral moments and cultural trends, such as Nimco Happy’s viral hit and the “Don’t Leave Me” challenge created by comedian Josh2Funny (Onibada, 2022). Senegalese-born creator, Khaby Lame, has recently become the most followed TikTok creator, due to his universal and relatable sense of humor. In addition to these digital trends, there have been endless fashion trends that originate from African culture. Giving African creatives a proper digital platform would allow them to showcase their innovation and artistic visions to the world, which would ultimately help them gain equal opportunities and the recognition they deserve. - How is StarNews Mobile changing the creator economy in Africa?
Star News Mobile is giving African creators a real voice and a real opportunity to monetize their fanbases. Our subscription model makes monetization easy for our creators and our partnerships with the largest and most popular mobile providers allow us to provide exclusive video content directly to mobile users – without using as much data as would be used on Instagram, Facebook, or Youtube. With StarNews Mobile there’s no limit on how much the creator economy can grow and expand in Africa!
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