Opportunity knocks for young creatives

The high level of youth unemployment in Kenya is a matter of deep concern to many families. There are far too many well-educated young men and women who do not get the opportunity to put their education to good use.

The government has been making great efforts to tackle the issue of job creation across various fields. But the private sector and development partners, too, have also been seeking new ways to address this challenge.

In this context, we are pleased to point out an emerging field which offers just such opportunities: In the entertainment field of animation.

MOVING IMAGES

Now, to most people, “animation” suggests the cartoons you see on television or in movies. But there is far more to it than that. Animation, properly understood, is “a method in which pictures are manipulated to appear as moving images”.

The global market for such animated movies is not only vast but also intercultural. Animated movies are not limited only to the movies based on characters and events in the United States, as so many Hollywood movies with flesh and blood actors are.

Technology is also making a huge impact on the industry with most animations today made with computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Another advance is the relatively new “video streaming” technology. Back in the 1980s and ‘90s, companies which offered video entertainment had physical shops, where you could go and borrow a DVD or a video cassette.

REDUNDANT

But streaming made all that logistics capacity redundant. Now, provided you have a computer — or a tablet — and access to Wi-Fi, you can have an account with a video streaming service that works all over the world.

In Kenya alone, the entertainment and media industry had a turnover of $2.2 billion (Sh226 billion) in 2015. Since then, the average growth rate is estimated to be 8.3 per cent, mainly driven by the Internet and TV.

With Kenyan law requiring local content to represent 60 per cent of the programming broadcast, the creation of original content will experience significant growth and create job opportunities for highly skilled professionals.

And this is where the Africa Digital Media Institute — or ADMI — comes in. With support from the French Development Agency (AFD) in the form of an €800,000 (Sh91 million) grant from France, ADMI has joined forces with the top-ranked French animation school Rubika to establish two world-class programmes in Nairobi for the creative professions.

ANIMATORS

Animation movies from France and the know-how of the French animators are recognised worldwide with several international successes in the past few years. With 5,000 persons working in the animation sector, France is the third-largest producer of animated movies in the world.

The same applies to the video game industry: With approximately 1,000 companies working in this sector in France, some of them, like Ubisoft, recognised internationally, the sector is an important source of employment.

Rubika is ranked as the number one school of animation and video games in France. Its students and alumni have received many awards for short animation movies and video games.

Thanks to this high recognition, 90 per cent of the students get a job less than six months after being awarded their diploma.

The joint ADMI-Rubika animation training programme will start in January 2020 in Nairobi with the selection of students by the end of this year.

It will include classes taught by Rubika faculty at ADMI as well as student, faculty and staff exchanges between France and Kenya.

TRAINING

Another ongoing project funded by AFD and the European Union will support an incubator by Kenyan-based Heva Fund for animators in East Africa working alongside ADMI students.

Most significant is that the students who complete this course will not then be left to make their own way. Based on the core philosophy shared by ADMI and Rubika, the project will support promising animators along every step of the production supply chain: Training, apprenticeship, incubation, investment and distribution.

Africa is on the cusp of an animation revolution. From the world-famous Tinga Tinga Tales, produced in Kenya and syndicated worldwide, to Nigeria’s Malika: Warrior Queen, demand is growing for African stories told in a unique style.

Dr Macharia is director, ADMI. Mr De Valon is director, AFD Kenya. Mr Andre is CEO, Rubika