On Thursday, forty digital artists attended a one-day Training of Trainers (ToT) NFT Workshop in Darsaalem, Tanzania, as part of the NFT Afrika Initiative.
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The event organized by Africa Blockchain University (ABU), in collaboration with BlockTech, was financed by Yield App.
Hosted at the Tanzania National Museum, it was facilitated by some leading Blockchain thought leaders and NFT artists in Africa and abroad.
Participants explored areas like Blockchain Technologies, Crypto, Securing IP through NFTs, Tools for Starting NFT Journey, How to Mint NFTs, Branding your Work & Storytelling, Cashing Out your Earnings on Exchanges, Investing in DeFi Ecosystem, among a few.
Participants ranged from Visual Artists, Musicians, and Videographers from art cooperatives, studios, associations, and academia. These leaders received training and tools to, in turn, train their community members to enter the NFT space.
African Artists Deserve Better:
In an interview after the workshop, Afrikanus Kofi Akosah, founding President of Africa Blockchain University, Stated:
“ABU wants to work with artists to build a movement of NFT African artists, creating wealth and securing our heritage. We provide tools and networks for artists to enter the NFT market seamlessly. The participants will form a nucleus of the Network for African NFT Artists (NaNa), will eventually become a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).”
Sebastian Savolainen, YIELD App’s Regional Director For Africa, noted,
“Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) present a global opportunity to advance artists into a Global Marketplace and secure their intellectual property. While many people see NFTs as a fad, or perhaps an art collector or gamers’ oddity, their potential to open up the global economy to people in developing countries is manifold.”
On the part of Mrs. Sandra Chogo, an author of a Blockchain book written in Swahili and the CEO of BlockTech, the technology has so many utilization, and Tanzanians are willing to take advantage of that. She appealed to the global Blockchain community to support their efforts to educate people about the Blockchain.
NFT Africa Initiative:
The NFT Africa Initiative features projects and a series of workshops organized around the continent for African artists. ABU aims to support artists in securing and gaining an international marketplace for their work in partnership with Yield App and some local partners in various African countries.
Artists are underrated in Africa, with their works struggling for recognization and proper exposure. They are talented but lack a global marketplace to present their work, which means little appreciation for what they do in economic terms.
They have no robust means of protecting their artistic expressions from theft, consequently limiting their rights to enjoy the fruits of their labor. NFTs present a solution to this challenge, and the initiative is changing that course.
By the end of 2021, the workshop will travel to countries like Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Ghana. After a review, more workshops will take place in Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Lesotho, and Cameroon in the 1st quarter of 2022.
Workshop Outcomes:
During the training session, attendance working in groups came out with various business plans around the NFT space. The partners will work with the different groups for implementation.
Akosah also said there would be continued online and onsite education to engage the artists to share their stories, successes, challenges, and opportunities. As a ToT workshop, the participants will get support and resources to reach out to other artists in their community.
African artists in other countries should watch out for the NFT ToT Workshops Series in their country and take advantage of it. NFTs have come to stay, and our African artists shouldn’t be left behind at all costs.
