11 Kenyans receive YouTube’s ‘Black Voices’ funding

YouTube has announced the expansion of its efforts to support creators and the creative economy in Africa through the 2023 “YouTube Black Voices” programme.

Now in its third year, the initiative from YouTube is a follow-up to a global, multi-year commitment made in 2020 to uplift and grow black creators, artists, songwriters, and producers on the platform.

Forty creators from Sub-Saharan Africa will be part of the 135 Black Voices creators selected globally who are enrolled. Of the 135, 23 creators are among Africa’s fast-rising musical artists including Gyakie from Ghana, Kamo Mphela from South Africa, Asake from Nigeria, and BNXN from Nigeria.

The cohort will also include Hip Hop producer MashBeatz from South Africa and Nairobi-based producer Ukweli, who will be joining 17 songwriters and producers globally.

With support from YouTube, grantees will receive $20,000 and $50,000 as seed funding, dedicated partner support for six months and have the opportunity to participate in programmes including bespoke training, workshops and networking programmes spread out across the year.

“We are excited about the creators, musical artists and producers from Africa joining others from across the world in the 2023 YouTube Black Voices Fund. The initiative is dedicated to equipping up-and-coming black creators and artists with the resources to succeed on our platform,” says Alex Okosi, MD, Emerging Markets, YouTube EMEA.

The artists, songwriters, and producers joining the YouTube Black Voices Music Class of 2023 will be required to set goals, develop a content strategy, and engage with their fans on YouTube, with the assistance of a YouTube partner manager. There will be networking opportunities with other artists, songwriters, and producers included in the YouTube Black Voices Fund, and a chance to maximise the impact of their channels as they provide catalogue-development opportunities.

“We are seriously interested in the growth of the creative community in Africa. For the creators, artists, songwriters and producers that will be joining this third cohort, we will go beyond the initial training to measure our success with them over a long-term period, thereby ensuring that they achieve sustained success,” Okosi adds.

Over the next few years, YouTube will be directly investing in more than 500 creators and artists from across the world to support, grow, and fund their channels and content development through the YouTube Black Voices Fund.

Below is Africa’s full list of the YouTube Black Voices Class of 2023 (in alphabetical order per country).

 

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