The business of creating digital content is becoming more and more successful. Statistics estimate that worldwide, content marketing sector generated around 66 billion dollars in sales in 2021. It is expected to rise to 76 billion in 2022 and keep expanding over the following years to reach 137 billion in 2026.
With influencers and creators taking this opportunity to promote Africa to the globe, content creation has become a powerful force on the African continent. Young people in Uganda are taking advantage of this chance to gain global exposure on social media sites like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, among others. Most people enter this field to profit from their creativity.
Making and sharing content is easier thanks to the availability of smartphones and internet access. The monetization process is difficult, however.
In addition, it is challenging for creators to profit directly from their audience because of Uganda’s low disposable income. Opportunities like brand advertising, sponsorship deals, and affiliate marketing are brittle because the creator is only as relevant as the buzz they create. Because sponsorship deals depend on brands, creators have no ownership or equity. They are completely under the control of the organizations that pay them to promote their goods and services. Uganda lacks the instruments to compensate inventors like the Western developed nations.
YouTube, the largest video-sharing website in the world, announced a $100 million YouTube Fund in September 2021, to be distributed between 2021 and 2022. This will be a reward for content creators that produce interesting and captivating content. Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya were among the nations with a large presence. The absence of Ugandan representation highlights a few gaps. This is partially because Ugandan material is mostly only consumed domestically and has not yet gained international attention, something the Afro Mobile app is working to remedy by rewarding Ugandan content creators.
Kevin Kaija, the general manager of Afro Mobile, believes that paying content producers will encourage them to invest more and raise the standard of Ugandan media. But perhaps more crucially, doing so will undoubtedly help it develop into a lucrative industry like those in other areas. For instance, if you Google “The Guardian,” you must first pay subscription to access the website item fully, and they go one step further and explain why you must subscribe.
With the move to commercialize the Afro Mobile App, Ugandans can support their favourite content producers by giving them as little as UGX 500 per day, UGX 1500 per week, and UGX 5000 per month in Uganda. Those who live abroad can do the same by giving as little as $2.99 per month, $7.99 per quarter, and $34.99 annually.
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Paying content creators is a fair reward for their efforts and time, says Danze Edwin, a game content creator and the head of digital marketing at Next Media. Additionally, it encourages competition, which results in better material. Danze points out that having content on the Afro Mobile app enables authors to reach the 250,000 monthly active users. Because free advertising is offered on the app’s social media platforms and other third-party websites, being on the app has significantly reduced the developers’ need for advertising.
A Twitter discussion about paying content creators, organized by one of Uganda’s media outlets, NBS Television, revealed that there is still much to learn about this profitable industry, including what content creation is, how to monetize it, and how to market oneself to be noticed globally. Raymond Kahuma, who in January 2022 received a Guinness World Book of Records Certificate for creating the world’s largest Rolex that weighed 204 kilograms, is one of Uganda’s well-known content producers, others include Uncle Mo, Louis Lwanga, Nadia Mbire Matovu, and Lucy Bunyenyezi.
Afro Mobile is a complete digital content distribution platform with a mobile phone app. It is now also available on the Web and TV via www.afromobile.com, delivering material in audio, text, and video, with over 250,000 monthly active users and 920,876 downloads! The most recent upgrade to the app now lets you stream live content from your laptop, tablet, or TV, giving you access to all of your favourite content producers wherever you are and whenever you want.
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