Our Story
From shared struggles to building a movement for young African creators.
Young creators across Africa have the talent and drive to change their lives through their creative work. With more internet access, affordable smartphones, social media and new creative programs, content creation is now a viable path for many Africans to build a future. It lets them showcase their work, express who they are and earn from brand gigs and the content they post. But for most, the reality is still far from ideal. Access to quality production equipment, high-speed internet, professional editing tools, safe spaces to learn and share their work, and chances to build their digital literacy and skills is still out of reach for many.
With limited resources, many creators are forced to work with basic tools, limiting the scope and scale of their content production. All these make it hard for many creators to earn a stable living from what they love. The World Bank estimates that the global creative "orange" economy supports around 50 million jobs and employs more young people (15-29 years) than any other sector. Despite this tremendous potential for growth, many young creators remain locked out of these opportunities because they lack support and connections to brands and audiences.
Empower Studios~Africa grew out of our own journey as young creators. Long before we came together as a team, we made content with borrowed gear, improvised setups, learning through mistakes and late-night experiments, with little support. As film and content students, young creators would come to us with ideas they believed in, hoping we understood the journey and could help. Most times, all we could offer was encouragement, not support they really needed. Seeing a talented young fellow give up simply because the support they needed wasn’t there stayed with us.
