By Grace Alegba
Founder of Woof Studios Africa, Ms Adetutu Laditan, says Africa risks missing out on the estimated 250billion-dollar global creator economy without stronger focus on monetisation and structured growth.
Laditan said this at the unveiling of the ECHO Creator Accelerator induction and news conference in Lagos, aimed at training a select cohort of 21 of Africa’s next-wave creative entrepreneurs.
She said Africa currently accounts for about 30billion dollars of the market, in spite of its large youth population.
According to her, the disparity reflects gaps in monetisation knowledge, audience strategy and content structuring, rather than platform bias.
“Creators must understand that platforms are driven by audiences, technology and advertisers. Without advertising spend, there is no revenue,” she said.
Laditan said African creators were yet to fully benefit from global earnings on platforms such as YouTube, noting that only a small fraction of payouts to creators worldwide reaches the continent.
She reiterated that the challenge lies in limited understanding of monetisation systems and audience-driven content strategy, rather than platform bias.
Laditan explained that the ECHO programme is a five-week accelerator designed to equip creators with skills in storytelling, strategy and revenue generation.
She urged creators to move beyond reliance on advert revenue by diversifying into brand partnerships, products, licensing and affiliate marketing.
“Followers are not necessarily your customers; community is what converts to revenue,” she said, warning that social media audiences remain “rented” rather than owned.
The media entrepreneur stressed the importance of thought leadership, noting that brands now prioritise clarity of expertise and digital presence over follower count.
“Your thought leadership can be more powerful than your numbers. Brands are now looking beyond vanity metrics to value and positioning,” she said.
Delivering a keynote address, Chairman of AW Network, Mr Adebola Williams, said the global content space is increasingly competitive, with only creators who build clear identities able to capture value.
“The real question is not how much content you create, but why anyone should care,” he said.
Williams urged creators to focus on niche authority, consistency and emotional connection, noting that clarity and visibility often outweigh talent in a saturated market.
He added that Africa’s young, mobile-first population positions the continent for rapid growth if creators adopt business-driven approaches.
He also said closing the gap between Africa and advanced economies would depend on creators treating content as a business and leveraging global distribution opportunities.
“The creator economy will reward those who are intentional and strategic,” Laditan said.
One of the cohort members, Ms Oluchukwu Chiadika, founder of Your Personal Finance Girl, said the ECHO Accelerator by Woof Studios Africa would strengthen her content creation and message amplification.
Chiadika told newsmen the programme had exposed participants to monetisation, storytelling, positioning and treating content as a business.
She described the insights shared as “mind-blowing” and commended the organisers for strong curation and attention to detail.
Chiadika added that the initiative also offers valuable networking opportunities and expressed confidence it would be life-changing.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Olawunmi Ashafa
