Empowering African Creators through Financial Accessibility

By: Peculiar Ibeabuchi; Brand Communications Assistant, Yellow Card

The African continent has a very young population, 60% of the population below the age of 25, making it the youngest continent in the world compared to its general population makeup. It is no wonder that industries like entertainment are thriving on the continent.

With this in mind, Creators Connect Zambia, an event designed to connect creatives, artists, and brands across different networks, was recently held in Lusaka, where conversations around personal branding, international brand deals, and securing the bag were covered. The event brought together some of your favourite brand influencers and content creators from within and outside the continent, such as  Patricia Bright; YouTuber and beauty influencer from the UK, Landiwe Gama; YouTuber and content creator from South Africa, Xoli Gcabashe; YouTuber, beauty and fashion influencer from South Africa,  Zama Marubelela; Beauty influencer and Content Creator from South Africa, and Joshua Harris from the UK to share their insights and experiences in the industry.

Attendees at this event were creators at all levels from beauty and fashion influencers to financial literacy champions as well as aspiring creators all brought together under the same roof with the goal to learn about ways to put themselves out there as an authentic brand, network, and earn some good money in the process. And let’s just say they were dressed to impress.

As part of the activities, attendees engaged in several discussions revolving around the African creative industry and some of the challenges that creators face when interacting with global brands. One of the key challenges raised was Financial Isolation. Africa, as a continent,, faces several limitations when it comes to how people handle their finances due to high fees for sending and receiving funds across different countries. To shed some light on this and proffer possible solutions, the largest and only licensed pan-African Fintech company, Yellow Card, had some representatives in attendance to answer some burning questions about financial accessibility, scams and cyber security. 

The participants had the opportunity to sit with Tamale Shapi, the Yellow Card Country Manager for Zambia, and Jayne Mazimba, a Financial Literacy Champion, where they expressed a keen interest in understanding the legitimacy of transactions and security measures put in place on Fintech Apps like Yellow Card to ensure that their funds are safe. This one-on-one session lasted for 40 minutes, and as each attendee sat and interacted with them, it was clear that there is an urgent need for African creators to overcome financial barriers and leverage their audiences to secure partnerships that enhance their international presence and one way that this can be achieved is through the proper understanding and use of Stablecoins.

One of the key highlights of the event was understanding that Stablecoins which are a type of digital asset where the value of the asset is supposed to be pegged to a reference asset, which is either a local currency or exchange-traded commodities such as USDT, USDC, etc. could be used in making, and receiving payments across the globe seamlessly and at almost no fees unlike traditional banking systems like Yellow Card’s Yellow Pay feature. Yellow Pay is a seamless, secure way to send and receive money across borders instantly, for free, powered by Stablecoins

Speaking on how Yellow Card can help promote access to better and safer payment technology for the creative industry, Tamale said, “The creator economy is brimming with potential however there remains a great need for further demystification of Stablecoins and other digital assets”.

“Yellow Card can both provide for and take advantage of opportunities to showcase relevant use cases to creators and other professionals who offer their services globally, for example, demonstrating how service providers can receive payments more efficiently and access their funds faster than traditional banking methods would allow,” she said.

The event ended with lots of pictures, huge smiles, and a more enlightened group of people who were excited about the possibilities that the digital economy offers and the knowledge that they no longer had to miss some huge opportunities because of financial isolation. There is a lot of potential within the African Creative industry and by making conscious efforts to integrate into the booming community, we can unlock those full potentials and create opportunities for growth and collaboration on a global scale. As we continue to explore solutions that promote inclusivity and accessibility, let us strive to create a future where all individuals and communities have the opportunity to thrive and succeed.