YouTube unveils new initiatives to support Nigerian content creators

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

YouTube’s content creators span music artistes, entertainers, movie industry experts, social media influencers, media professionals and individuals of other factions who leverage on the platform in maintaining a “constant presence in their viewers’ lives.”

In a Lagos event, which held on Monday, the platform launched its promotional campaign featuring upcoming content from top local YouTube channels and a partnership with MTN to provide these content creators with free data subscription for three months.

According to the platform, the campaign would also showcase “a vast array of verticals and local content from genres like entertainment, food, beauty, comedy and sports” and enable Nigerians to watch many more favourite contents.

“YouTube is doing this to help people discover the content they love on the platform. 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,” Olumide Balogun, Google’s marketing manager in Nigeria, said while speaking at the event.

“In addition to YouTube Week in June and the Mr Eazi emPawa Africa partnership, we have also awarded Play Buttons to Creators as they hit subscriber milestones this year. Into 2020 and beyond, we will continue to showcase local artists as we did with Burna Boy’s Spotlight Story documentary and continue hosting training and skill acquisition programs. 

“Over 5000 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. YouTube attracts a global generation that has grown up watching what they want, whenever they want, on whatever device is closest. What happens on YouTube is a reflection of what is important and relevant to the world.

YouTube has a large and passionate community of people who express themselves, share experiences, and reflect on what they care about from moment to moment. We are very excited to be able to extend our support of this community in Nigeria.”

In August, YouTube partnered with Mr Eazi, Nigerian Afrobeats singer, to support upcoming talents in the Nigerian music space — after the video-sharing platform had featured Burna Boy in an 18-minute documentary that put him in the global spotlight.

It also featured Teniola Apata, Nigerian vocalist better known as Teni, as a 2019 ‘Artiste on the Rise’ in what appeared to be its way of promoting the videos of deserving music stars on its US trending page, in social media ads and in “YouTube Spaces”.