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African creatives trained on business structuring, access to finance

By Ngozi Egenuka
06 September 2022   |   1:33 am
As part of efforts to achieve sustainable growth, African creative have been trained on business structuring access to funding. This was at the week-long Africa Creative Market (ACM) conference held, last week, in Lagos.

Akintunde-Johnson

As part of efforts to achieve sustainable growth, African creative have been trained on business structuring access to funding. This was at the week-long Africa Creative Market (ACM) conference held, last week, in Lagos.

The summit also had 25 people from the film industry, selected by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be trained in the act of filmmaking and each of them recieved £1000, while for music, out of numerous applications, four people were selected for Music Pitch Competition, themed ‘Take Back the Mic’ and the winner went home with N2million.

Country Manager, Paramount Africa in Nigeria, Bada Akintunde-Johnson, said the workshop-led programme was motivated by the need for creatives to increase capacity and upskill individuals who require ways to grow in their areas of creative interest/enterprise.

He noted that ACM, a convergence of creative professionals of African descent and the rest of the world, focused on capacity building, access to financing, networking and mentorship. “It was also a place to share future-proof business models, provide access to trade, increase creative export and standards, and promote data-led understanding of creative trade,” he said.

The one week event, which had at least 10 other African countries represented, had professionals majorly from film, music, dance, fashion and photography.

According to him, ACM may have multiple executions within the same year, in different locations, in its subsequent editions.

Akintunde-Johnson called for deeper collaboration between the government and private sector in the creative space, stating that the government has to recognise there are certain roles it cannot delegate such as regulations and policies and its enforcement.

“Also, in building structures, in other climes where these things work, the government has a key role to play, by offering incentives, such as tax breaks to private organisations to get involved in funding and sponsoring ventures in the creative space,” he added.

During the event, the Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI) summit 2022, was held for the first time in Africa, since its 25 years of existence.

Founder, Poshclick Portraiture, Joketade Shonowo, speaking on Guide to Creating a Sustainable Photography Business, urged the creatives to take their business seriously by nurturing clients, volunteering and collaborating.

“Pay mind to people and network because people make you grow. Make people feel special, volunteer, nurture your clients, collaborate with other brands outside of your industry, share your journey and constantly post your events on your platforms,” she said.

She emphasised that the photographers shouldn’t neglect the legal aspect of their business and can start by engaging their lawyer friends and google on how to go about getting contracts.

The ACM Music Day included a live Musicology session featuring Larry Gaaga, Foza Fawehinmi, Nelson Jack among others. There was also masterclasses hosted by diverse industry leads like Segun Ogunleye of Seven Up Bottling Company; Head of Global Business, The Bridgelight (New York), Ernest Audu; Entertainment Lawyer, Yemisi Falaye; Strategic Advisor, AMP Global Technologies, Marc Byers, and more.

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