Get Guardian on GoogleIndigenous socio-economic enterprise, WAWU, has launched a digital platform aimed at tackling revenue losses in Africa’s creative economy. The new platform will enable creators, professionals and intellectual property owners to establish verified ownership of their works, access global markets and receive payments across borders.
The platform, WHO MADE THIS? (WMT), is designed to address a longstanding imbalance in which African creators generate music, films, digital content and other intellectual property consumed globally but often struggle to secure proper recognition, commercial rights and financial returns from their work.
WAWU said the platform would provide digital infrastructure for identity verification, intellectual property protection, international payments and commercial transactions, potentially expanding income opportunities for African creators and professionals.
Speaking at the launch, WAWU Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Lennox, said the challenge facing African creators was not a shortage of talent or global demand but the absence of systems capable of converting their creative output into sustainable earnings.
“Attention is not income. African creators have never lacked talent or audience. They have lacked infrastructure. WHO MADE THIS? gives them a place to put their name on their work and be paid for it,” Lennox said.
He explained that the platform would enable creators and professionals to establish verified digital identities, commercialise their intellectual property and receive payments from international markets.
According to him, WMT goes beyond a conventional digital marketplace by integrating financial services, creative production tools, professional networking, commerce and learning facilities into a single ecosystem.
Its features include cross-border fund transfers and payments in multiple currencies, alongside WAWU Creative Studio, which provides artificial intelligence-powered tools for voice, music, video, image and writing production.
The platform also incorporates an all-in-one digital hub for professional networking, digital products, financial services, learning and commerce.
The economic significance of the initiative lies in its attempt to address the gap between Africa’s growing creative output and the ability of its creators to capture the financial value generated by their intellectual property in international markets.
By providing access to global customers and payment channels, WMT is seeking to reduce barriers that prevent independent creators, entrepreneurs and skilled professionals from monetising their work beyond their immediate geographical markets.
Lennox said the platform was launching with an established network of institutional and private-sector partners, supported by WAWU’s previous involvement in the Federal Government’s 10 Million Youths and Women Upskilling and Empowerment Initiative.
The initiative, launched through the Office of the Vice President and coordinated by the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), was designed to expand access to digital skills, financial literacy, creative arts and entrepreneurship training.
WAWU said it collaborated with global learning partner, Alison, and six professional bodies, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Chartered Risk Management Institute of Nigeria (CRMI), Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) and Nigeria Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NIIE).
The company said the WMT platform would provide an avenue for beneficiaries of skills acquisition programmes to translate their newly acquired competencies into commercial opportunities and income.
Its launch partners and collaborators include Afreximbank, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), Innovation Support Network (ISN), Pistis Life and Leadership Institute of The Elevation Church, WACCIMA, Business and Professional Women (BPW) Nigeria and Wallx, which provides digital tools for small businesses.
Lennox said the platform was free to join, although users would pay a nominal fee for verification, which unlocks global selling and monetisation features.
He also invited universities, innovation hubs and other organisations to participate as founding partners to expand the platform’s reach and strengthen its commercial ecosystem.
He said the ultimate objective was to ensure that African creators could retain greater control over the economic value of their intellectual property, rather than merely generating content and audiences for others to monetise.
“Now, when the world asks who made it, the answer will be an African name, and the payment will go to an African account,” he said.
