7 people. 7 stories of hope, change and opportunity. 

Written by Ferdy ‘Ladi Adimefe, CEO of Magic Carpet Studios and winner of the YouthConnekt Sahel Innovate Challenge

As the CEO of one of the continent’s most audacious emerging startups in the field of animation, I easily recognize the desire of the international market for African themed stories and content. Investors recognize this as well, as do many investment companies hungry for vibrant emerging markets, offering a long-term value and access to high growth opportunities.

To invest in Africa is a sustainable corporate strategy. Africa is a prime investment destination and will continue to be for a while since it plays host to half of the world’s fastest-growing economies. With the growth of Africa’s middle class, we’re seeing a development of new expectations.

Creative industries are certainly our future; a continent grappling with one of highest unemployment rates needs to embrace more creative ways to empower our young people.

It is expected that the post-industrial economy will be a creative economy, but the structures and current set-up is limited. Many creatives cannot find the enabling environment to create, and many others are locked out of the economic ecosystem getting the short end of the stick.

With new distribution platforms comes increased demand. The penetration of mobile devices, access with multimedia devices and growing popularity of streaming video consumption will increase the demand for animation and Vfx content to power immersive experiences such as augmented reality, virtual reality and games, cloud computing for character rendering and modeling processes.

In 2018, we pivoted into a full creative technology incubator hub, housing multiple subsidiaries in marketing communication, media production, content strategy, development and tech. The first product from our incubator was Magic Carpet Studios, an innovation storytelling company focused on translating the best of African stories into world class export through the medium of digital art, animation, CGI and games.

In a bid to fill a growing gap in the creative industry and leverage blockchain technology, we launched our second product – Artist3 – an ecosystem for artists and digital creators to curate African-themed NFTs for the global market.

Read more stories in The People Edition.