My Quest for African Talent
I’ve been blown away by what I’ve found
One of the most exciting parts of the aKoma Media start-up roller coaster is the discovery of new talent on the African continent. In building a content and storytelling platform for Africa, our team was determined to discover, spotlight and develop talent that demonstrates the dynamism and diversity of fifty-four countries inside Africa and millions more people in the diaspora.
The last few months have shattered the myth of the ‘single story’ that Africa = disaster. Disaster stories are important and should be appropriately covered, but there does exist, a concurrent narrative that should have more airtime. That’s the raison d’etre for aKoma Media.
We made a call for pitches: video, photography and written stories and have been blown away at the talent on blogs, local platforms, Facebook and Instagram. We are bringing creators we love under the aKoma umbrella and making them part of our tribe.
The aKoma content team and I have been on Skype calls, on Uber conference bridges, on the lookout over cocktails, Media partners with TV networks such as Bloomberg, and hosted gala events and are attracting creatives.
We are testing out a handful of commissioned content where we can help train both digitally and practically. We are developing relationships with global brands that are excited about local talent creating stories themselves, with our aKoma flair and experience. We have built an enviable database that’s growing each week with some seriously badass folks.
So who have we found so far?
Awesome photographers and videographers that show a beautiful and untapped side of Africa
Building a start up is the hardest experience I have ever undertaken. There are many moments where it would be easy to throw in the towel. It’s a total roller coaster. No one every hold me just how high the highs go, and how low the lows dive. But when we speak to African talent, and see what is being created, we are inspired, energized and reminded why we are doing what we are doing. We want to make our Africa come alive to the world. If you want to join this ever growing network of talented creatives go to www.akomanet.com/pitch-us, fill out the brief form and you’ll hear from someone on the team shortly.
