Nigerian producer to launch NFT platform for African creatives

Founded in 2020, the platform’s architects say it was spurred by the global excitement around NFTs in the creative economy. It is open to creatives across music, art, film, sports and real estate, among others, and will help curate content online and list members’ NFTs across multiple digital collectable marketplaces.

An NFT is a digital asset representing real-world objects like art and music. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptocurrencies.

“There currently exists extremely high barriers to entry for African content creators into the metaverse,” Leriq, who is known for his work with Grammy-winning Afrobeats star Burna Boy, told Disrupt Africa this week. “AVC aims to assist content creators making and selling digital assets by providing a seamless and frictionless platform. In addition, we also want to educate content creators on the opportunity to sell digital assets like NFTs.”

Based in Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana, AVC is expected to expand across the rest of the continent, following an undisclosed amount of funding from investors, including Kepple Africa Ventures, Cameron Hejazi and Ronald Chagoury Jr, among others. The cash injection is geared towards driving growth in onboarding creators.

Ahead of its launch, Leriq said AVC would be home to top content creators in Africa. “We intend to create a novel community around AVC creators, members and the public, utilising a token to facilitate a thriving ecosystem. The goal is to fully secure these content creators as part of the collective now that we have completed fundraising and are about to launch.”

To join AVC, creators must create a profile on the AVC platform to upload their assets and generate an NFT, which will be listed on various marketplaces. Once an NFT is sold, creators will receive their funds. The platform also allows participants to track their sales via their profiles.

In related news, Nigerian producer Don Jazzy and rapper MI Abaga this week secured crypto branding deals with startup Quidax to help demystify the technology while driving the use of cryptocurrency and associated products in Nigeria. Fellow artists including Oxlade, Bnxn and Rema are also due to release NFT collections.