Africa Digital Media Foundation - creatives without borders
Across Africa, we have cripplingly high rates of youth unemployment, as a result of the youth bulge and a mismatch between skills, and the demands of the labour market. This problem is exacerbated for women and disadvantaged youth (from minorities, from low-income backgrounds), as they particularly lack access to digital media, to opportunities to learn and work, and to financing.
For young men and women across Africa who dream of earning an income from their passion for the creative arts, the Africa Digital Media Foundation (ADMF) is a non-profit organization that creates the enabling environment for young African creatives to turn their passion into a profession. Unlike other digital media organizations, we create and provide access to opportunities for youth who have talent but few resources or opportunities, to not only learn, but also earn, work, access financing, and get their work in front of a global audience.
In Kenya, more than 17% of youth are unemployed. This problem is set to get worse, as the youth bulge is growing, with 500,000-800,000 youth entering the job market every year. This is compounded by a lack of skills amongst youth, especially digital, technical, and soft skills such as communications, customer service and business skills.
This problem is exacerbated for women and disadvantaged youth, for example those from low-income backgrounds, and individuals with disabilities. They particularly lack access to digital media, to opportunities to learn and to work, and to financing.
The digital era has created a massive opportunity to expand the creative ecosystem in East Africa. 90% of creative content consumed in Africa comes from outside of Africa, and young Africans do not have the skills and tools necessary to produce content for their own home audiences, and yet the creative arts offer huge potential for economic growth. As a result, creative entrepreneurs lack access to both investors and global markets, meaning that they do not generate the jobs their counterparts do elsewhere. Sadly, this also means that Africa’s contribution to the global creative and tech sector’s remains disproportionately low, leaving the African story largely untold.
We address the 20% of youth, aged 18-25, who find themselves unemployed and struggling to earn an income. For school leavers, we know that they need core skills to know what path they want to follow, and so we offer six-month foundation courses, to provide basic digital and marketable skills, and the confidence to pursue the next steps in their trajectory.
For young professional graduates, our technical-focused curriculum offers them an edge in the job market. We call these ‘upskillers’ and to meet their needs we offer professional courses with flexi-hours, as well as two-year diplomas which go deeper in their field of study.
For all young people looking to enter the job market, they ask for practical experience, to develop the soft skills that they know they need in today’s workplace. For this reason, we offer placements and pathways, as well as professional experiences during their studies.
We also know that many young people with enormous potential and willingness to work, and with stories to tell, do not have the resources to pursue further education, and so we offer scholarships as well as learn and work models where students can work for the organization in exchange for subsidized fees.
We have a mission to build a global hub for African creatives – with the clout to build the next Pixar, produce the next Black Panther and win the next Pulitzer.
Our long-term vision is millions of creative technology professionals and entrepreneurs creating content for profit and impact across the world.
WE ARE FUELLING A POWERFUL ECONOMIC FORCE -
The Africa Digital Media Foundation believes that the continent’s creative industries have the potential to be an economic powerhouse: a creator of thousands of high-quality jobs, and powerful wealth-creating new markets. Investing in educating Africa’s future creative leaders isn’t an act of charity – it’s an investment we are convinced will drive direct returns.
WE ARE CREATING HIGH-QUALITY, WORLD-CLASS CONTENT -
We are working to create nothing short of world-class creative content from Africa: from film to music to apps to journalism. We don’t compromise on delivering industry-quality training, with the latest equipment and innovations to ensure that all ADMI alumni have the skills to create globally-competitive content, work across the globe, and exchange techniques and content with creatives across the world.
WE ARE TELLING A POSITIVE FUTURE-FACING STORY -
We exist to give young people across Africa the tools to tell new, future-facing positive stories about Africa on a truly global stage. With a focus on cutting-edge innovations, technologies and jobs of the future, we have the potential to be a leading part of the global ‘Afrofuturist’ creative movement.
What we are providing young African men and women with is skills, support and platforms for them to secure income and prosperous, gainful employment for the rest of their lives, and create content and creative work that tells important stories and share crucial messages that contribute to the development of their communities. All this while offering a window to the outside world, through opportunities for international travel, exchanges and mentoring through international learning partners.
- Increase opportunities for people - especially those traditionally left behind and most marginalized – to access digital and 21st century skills, meet employer demands, and access the jobs of today and tomorrow
- Upskill, reskill, or retrain workers in the industries most affected by technological transformations
- Growth
Head of Foundation