By Dipo Olowookere
An opportunity has opened for creators in Nigeria and South Africa to take their content creation to the next level and boost their YouTube careers through an initiative called the YouTube NextUp programme.
Business Post learned that content creators will receive a $1,000 stipend mainly for the procurement of production equipment in addition to a week-long creator camp, among other benefits.
It was gathered that 20 creators with eligible channels would be selected for this production equipment stipend and they must have 10,000 to 100,000 subscribers and at least 3 pieces of original and native video content uploaded in the past 3 months.
In addition, channel accounts must be compliant with the YouTube community guidelines and have no strikes, though participation in other YouTube creator masterclasses is also a basis for acceptance.
According to YouTube, at the creator camp, participants will learn new skills and access support by the YouTube partnerships team.
Applications for the YouTube NextUp programme are currently open and to enter, each creator must submit an entry form along with the video they are most proud of and that best represents their technical production skills, creativity and storytelling ability.
They also need to answer either of these essay questions in 200 words or less: Why should you be selected? How do you collaborate with other channels? or What are your plans for the next 2 years?
Judging will involve the evaluation of the creator’s submitted video and essay along with a general evaluation of their channel, the organisers stated.
Commenting on the scheme, the YouTube Content Partnership in Sub-Saharan Africa, Addy Awofisayo, stated that, “We believe that the next generation of successful creators are already honing their skills on YouTube.
“We are excited that the YouTube NextUp programme will help take creators to the next level in their YouTube careers, enabling them to develop whole new genres and online experiences for audiences around the world.”
YouTube, through programmes like YouTube NextUp, has a long-standing commitment to being an advocate for, and ally to, the diverse communities that reside on the platform and will continue to expand its efforts to support marginalised and underrepresented communities.
In Nigeria, over 500 channels now have over 100,000 subscribers while in South Africa over 250 channels now have over 100,000 subscribers. This is an increase of over 60 per cent, year on year.
As of June this year, the percentage of YouTube channels in Nigeria making 7 figures or more revenue in Naira has now increased by 100 per cent year-on-year.
South Africa also now has an increase of 70 per cent in channels making 6 figures or more in revenue in Rands, year-on-year in the period under review.
“YouTube creators are already doing what they are passionate about and making money from it. YouTube NextUp aims to take them to the next level in terms of income generation and professionalism,” Awofisayo noted.
Business Post Contributor