Nigeria’s Jola Ayeye and FK Abudu of the I Said What I Said podcast, Taymesan of Tea with Tay and Feyikemi Akin-Bankole, and Simi Badiru of F&S Uncensored have become recipients of Spotify’s new Africa Podcast Fund initiative.
Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Lagos.
“This is the first-of-its-kind podcast initiative on the continent, the Africa Podcast Fund, this is with the goal of supporting podcasters and further amplifying their stories,” Ms Muhutu-Remy said. “The $100,000 fund aims to bolster the careers of these podcast creators through financial grants, workshops and networking opportunities.”
Spotify, one of the most popular streaming services in the world, has dedicated its efforts to helping African artists succeed on and off the platform since it first launched on the continent. It aims to help promising podcasters from all around the continent with a grant.
In keeping with this, the business has unveiled the Africa Podcast Fund, the first podcast program of its type on the African continent. The goal of the $100,000 endowment is to help podcast producers advance in their fields by providing them with direct financial support, professional development opportunities, and access to an extensive network.
The Africa podcast fund was offered to selected creators from African countries with the biggest podcast listenerships, namely South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.
Africa Podfest, a Kenyan organization with the mission of fostering the growth of a sustainable and inclusive podcasting business across Africa, would be in charge of administering the fund.
“Africa Podfest is excited about the development of podcasting in Africa. Particularly because the medium allows underrepresented African voices to tell the story of Africa,” says Melissa Mbugua, Co-Director, of Africa Podfest.
In alphabetical order according to countries, the 13 recipient podcasts are:
CAMEROON
Si Maman M’avait Dit is hosted by businesswoman, journalist, and art collector Diane Audrey Ngako. Diane Audrey opens up the floor on her podcast to ask guests about the life, work, and love lessons they’ve learned.
GHANA
Popular among Ghanaian podcast listeners is Sincerely Accra, which is set in and around the country’s bustling capital city. Mostly in English with some Pidgin, Twi, and Ga thrown in here and there, episodes alternate between vox pops and in-studio interviews. The podcast, hosted by Joseph Nti and produced by Kwame Asante, is lively and eclectic, including a wide range of interesting guests who explore timely and topical issues and cultural phenomena.
KENYA
- Joan, Kibz, Nyamita, and Owen host The Sandwich Podcast, the most popular podcast in Kenya. Podcast episodes are delivered in a trilingual (English, Swahili, and Sheng) format and are based on the personal experiences of the hosts and the people they interview.
- Lydia Mukami and Murugi Munyi host the podcast The Messy Inbetween. All the things that make life worth living—love, money, work, and life—are discussed, along with sound counsel gleaned from experience. TMI is where women may feel comfortable sharing their stories without fear of judgment.
- The Kenyan hosts Eli Mwenda and Oscar Koome created Mantalk.ke because they saw a need for male-driven discussions of topics including toxic masculinity, fatherhood, feminism, dating, and self-care. The hosts strive to have uncomfortable conversations, even if that means putting themselves on the spot. The hosts aim to have awkward conversations, even if that means putting themselves on the spot.
- Kevin Mwachiro, a Kenyan author, journalist, and queer activist, hosts and narrates the podcast Nipe Story, which gives a platform to written African short stories. Short stories written by African authors are given a voice in Mwachiro.
NIGERIA
- Feyikemi Abudu, an entrepreneur who is enthusiastic about supporting the growth of small enterprises, and Jola Ayeye, a storyteller deeply interested in current African culture, co-host one of the most popular podcasts in Nigeria called I Said What I Said. Every week, they discuss current events in Nigerian society from the perspective of young people living in Lagos.
- The Nigerian content creator Taymesan hosts a show called Tea With Tay, in which he discusses social topics and his own life humorously and engagingly. Taymesan talks to famous people and other guests about current events, highlighting their fascinating life stories.
- The music, pop culture, and life stories discussed on F&S Uncensored. The podcast is hosted by Feyikemi Akin-Bankole and Simi Badiru. It provides comments on current events and pop culture, as well as informed opinions on how these issues affect regular people in Nigeria.
SOUTH AFRICA
- Gugulethu Nyatsumba’s podcast, After School Is After School with Sis G.U, seeks to be more forthright and honest about Gugulethu’s struggles even now, in her twenties. The podcast hosts hope to develop meaningful relationships with their listeners by imparting useful information and encouraging personal development.
- The Journey Kwantu, hosted by Vusumzi Ngxande in South Africa, delves into and challenges issues related to African spirituality and cultural identity. Each episode of Vusumzi has a dialogue between the host and a special guest, with the goal of exploring the most nuanced and controversial topics related to African religious beliefs.
- Mpoomy Ledwaba’s Wisdom & Wellness with Mpoomy Ledwaba is a web series in which she hopes to inspire her audience by having meaningful talks with her guests about life lessons and their personal journeys.
- The popular South African humorist Lesego Tlhabi, who created the character Coconut Kelz, hosts the podcast Convos & Cocktails. Lesego’s podcast focuses on candid conversations that “we, as black women, want to have… but often don’t”.
The fund’s grantees are up-and-coming independent podcasters with a strong track record of audience growth; priority was given to those that promote gender and linguistic diversity in their programming..
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