Noel Tadegnon - Africa Connected Success Story

Noel is a citizen journalist who has utilised YouTube to upload his videos and attract the attention of, and become a correspondent for, international news agencies. He has had the opportunity to travel abroad to cover international news events creating a name for himself in journalism. Now, Noel’s goal is to help educate other young aspiring journalists to expose them to the power of expression and help build the journalism community in his native Togo.

Naa Quartey - Jewelry Maker

Naa is a young jewelry designer who built a successful online store using a website to showcase and sell her handmade Ghanaian jewellery. She learned how to set up a business using Google Search and says that Google and the internet have made it possible for her to make a thriving business out of her passion. Google analytics also allows her to see website trends among both her local and international customers. Because of her website Naa people as far as the UK, US and Canada get to wear her jewelry. She joins Mdu Ntuli and others as an inspiration on the Africa Connected website competition by Google. Check out some of her jewelry in our gallery and her video below.

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Chike Maduegbuna

Chike, a businessman and his family, created a popular mobile app on Anroid to enable mobile users in Africa to watch short video content on their mobiles. This has transformed Nigeria’s Nollywood film industry by creating a platform for featuring movie trailers to a completely new audience. The Afrinolly app has already received over 2 million downloads. Chike also created the Afrinolly Short Film competition and runs Master Classes with Nollywood and Hollywood experts to help young African filmmakers create new short film content for the growing mobile phone movie audience.

Mdu Ntuli - Animator

Mdu is a young artist who grew up loving comics and trained himself as an animator using tutorials for both 2D and 3D animation on YouTube. He now runs a successful YouTube channel showcasing his animated films in his local Zulu language which has received millions of views. Mdu has become a culturally important figure in his community, influencing young people about the ways of the world through his animated characters.

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Asurf - Self Taught Filmmaker

Amuwa Oluwaseyi Asurf is a self-taught film producer who started out by spending late nights in Internet cafes, so that he could watch YouTube videos to teach himself how to shoot and edit films. Now, he runs a successful film and video production company in Lagos where he employs 10 people. His company is courted by Nigerian celebrities to film their music/entertainment videos locally and internationally. He also runs workshops in Lagos to help teach the next generation of aspiring young film professionals all that he has learned.