Nigerian artistes, Ahmed Ololade popularly known as Asake, and another Afro Beat Singer, Benson BNXN, have been chosen by Youtube as grant recipients of its 2023 Youtube Black voices creators and artist cohorts.
According to youtube Managing Director of Emerging Markets, Alex Okosi, the initiative was a follow-up to the global Multi-year commitment made in 2020.
Through the campaign, YouTube will give creators and the African creative sector, respectively, $20,000 and $50,000 as seed funding through the 2023 #YouTubeBlack Voices creators and artist cohorts.
Okosi, who noted that the goal of the grant was to support and advance Black songwriters, producers, creators, and artists on the platform, revealed that 40 creators from Sub-Saharan Africa would be part of the 135 #YouTubeBlack Voices Creators selected globally and enrolled in the cohort.
Among the 23 #YouTubeBlack Voices artists selected were African fast-rising musical artists Kamo Mphela from South Africa, Gyakie from Ghana, BNXN and Asake from Nigeria.
The selected would also enjoy dedicated partner support for six months with 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 #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund,” Okosi stated.