FG Partners Google on Empowering Young Creatives in Nigeria

The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced a partnership with American technology company, Google, for the empowerment of 2,500 young creatives nationwide.

This much was confirmed by Google in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The programme is set to be delivered through Del-York Creative Academy and executed through the National Council for Arts and Culture.

The company say they hope to swell the number of trainees to 10, 000.

The partnership aims to boost the Nigerian government’s Creative Leap Acceleration Programme (CLAP), aimed at promote skills development, foster innovation, and advance public-private partnerships in the creative sector in Nigeria.

Participants of the programme will be trained in various disciplines including, film, animation, music, content creation, live production, and audio.

The search engine notes that the objective of CLAP is to, not only create employment opportunities, but, also, diversify the Nigerian economy and boost its potential for cultural export.

In her remark, the Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa-Musawa, lauded the government for constantly seeking to groom creative talents in Nigeria.

“By empowering our youth with the skills they need to excel in the creative industries, we are not only creating jobs but also positioning Nigeria as a global leader in cultural exports.

“In line with the president’s Renewed Hope agenda, this programme will empower our youth to become even more active contributors to the economy, driving innovation and economic growth,” the Minister stated.

Core areas of the six-week training programme include integrating AI in creative process, visual storytelling and creative video content production, storyboarding, shooting, editing and motion graphics.

From the pool of participants, a few will be handpicked to take part in a three-week intensive course which will result in the production of a high-quality visual content.

In turn, the Manager of EMEA Music & Culture at Google SSA, Olumide Falegan, pointed out that the initiative will greatly help the creative industry.

“This initiative is about recognising and equipping the unsung heroes of our creative industries.
By empowering these 2,500 professionals, and eventually 10,000 across Nigeria, we are investing in the future of Africa’s cultural influence and economic prosperit,” Falegan said.

The Executive Chairman and CEO of the Del-York Group, Linus Idahosa, also noted that the programme will equip “young talents with industry-relevant skills.”