52 Africans Get Netflix Scholarships
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
Leading streaming entertainment platform, Netflix has announced 52 beneficiaries of its Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF), for the West and Central African region – Benin Republic, Gabon, Ghana and Nigeria. The announcement was made at a stakeholder event, hosted by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) in Lagos.
The two-day event, which took place in Lagos engaged policy, regulators and partners on important discussions including Nigerian storytelling as soft power and hard currency; inclusion of women in the creative economy; the need for strengthening Nigeria’s creative pipeline, and Nollywood’s contribution to global perception.
The CESF will provide financial support to its beneficiaries including access to quality tertiary education in film and TV-focused disciplines.
The scholarship for Sub-Saharan students is part of Netflix’s global Creative Equity Fund launched in 2021 which is a dedicated effort to help build new opportunities for underrepresented communities within entertainment.
Announcements were made at institutions in Burkina Faso, Bénin, Cape Verde, Côte D’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, following which applications were opened in August, 2022.
The Netflix CESF is intended to provide financial aid in the form of full scholarships at partner higher educational institutions in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Ghana and Gabon to help ambitious creatives from West and Central African countries obtain official qualifications and training.
The scholarship fund will cover tuition, housing, study materials, and living expenses at selected partner schools where beneficiaries have been accepted to pursue a programme of study in the television and film disciplines in the 2022/2023 academic year.
Through the fund, Netflix supports external organisations committed to creating equitable opportunities in the TV and film industries, as well as bespoke Netflix programmes that help to identify, train and provide job placement for up-and-coming talent globally.
The programme is currently being administered by Dalberg in partnership with the five institutions of higher learning in the region that will support the formal qualification and training of aspiring creatives from the region.
