Africa No Filter, a donor collaborative working to transform stereotypical narratives of Africa, recently launched the Tony Elumelu Storytellers Fund.
The Tony Elumelu Storytellers $30,000 Fund was launched as a standalone initiative to catalyse a redefined African success story, powered by Africa’s youth and their creative ideas. The Fund calls on content creators of all kinds; journalists, filmmakers, content producers, and visual and performing artists to submit multimedia creative ideas that tell the stories of inspiring entrepreneurs and showcase the true and positive spirit of entrepreneurship in Africa. The fund will award grants ranging from $500 to $2000 dollars to successful applicants.
The fund is named after African business leader and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, and is sponsored by Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance, the insurance subsidiary of the pan-African investment group, Heirs Holdings.
Speaking on the Fund, Tony Elumelu said: “I have always believed in the potential of young African entrepreneurs to transform Africa. This initiative aligns with our belief and extends the work that we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation. Empowering young creative entrepreneurs and the creative sector provides a channel for us to project Africa’s positives globally. We need their voices to tell our often less-told stories of triumph, resilience, hard work and innovation.”
Applications opened on June 30, 2022 and will stay open for a month, till July 29, 2022. If you are considering applying for the grant, or have possibly run into some difficulties while trying to apply, this article is for you.
Eligibility
You should check the criteria below to be sure that you are eligible to apply for the fund.
You should be between 18 and 35 years and living on the continent or in the Diaspora.
You should have a platform or portfolio of work that shifts stereotypical narratives about youth and entrepreneurship in Africa.
This project will be funding content creators in two categories – Media and Arts. The Media category covers Bloggers and Journalists; while the Arts category covers creators like photographers, filmmakers, sketch artists, painters, and digital artists. Be sure that you fall into a category before you apply.
How to Apply
- To start your application, click HERE.
- The first page will require you to fill out your full name, personal details, and contact (email and phone number)
- Next, you’ll click on Your Profile to move to the next page where you will fill in your age, country of residence, social media handles, and links to your portfolio. Take note; although the age shows categories up to 65 years and above, the fund is only meant for people between 18 – 35 years.
- You can fill all of the social media categories if you have a presence in all of them, or just fill one or two if that is what you have. There are no restrictions here.
Click on the Your Creative Practice tab to fill the next page or just click the Next button below.
- This part of your application says how long you have been in your creative practice, and what type of content you create (blogs and writing or visuals, etc).
- The categories available here are Content creators, visual artists, wordsmiths, media, and performance artists. You will find details on the people that fall under each category on the page. Pick the one that best describes you.
- Note that you will create content (on entrepreneurship) for the purpose of your grant application. This should cause you no worries at all. It is what you already do. The only difference is that you would be doing it specifically to shine a light on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa.
Click on Your Project Idea or click the Next button below to go to the next page.
This is where you get to give all the details of your project idea. If you are a blogger for instance, you could decide to create a publication series identifying innovative tech entrepreneurs, a vlog that showcases entrepreneurs in underrepresented areas, or maybe a blog that shines the light on new African innovation.
For those in the Arts category, like the photographers, filmmakers, sketch artists, painters, and digital artists, an example of a project could be a photography series of Africa’s Top entrepreneurs, or a light-hearted, comedic short film telling the story of an 11-year-old budding entrepreneur. The idea is that the project has to revolve around or shine the light on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa.
- First, you will talk about yourself. You can choose to write (300 words), or go for an audio or video recording not longer than 3 minutes. It would be reasonable to pick a format that is similar to the kind of content you regularly create. So a video content creator could do the video format, while a blogger would just write. This would give you a good opportunity to show off your muscles in your area of strength.
- Next, you talk about the project you want to create or the idea you want to bring to life. The same thing applies. You can either write or go for audio or video format.
- State how much you are applying for (from $500 to $2,000) and in the next line, briefly describe what you would use the money for.
- Lastly, state what message your project will pass across to the audience. Remember to estimate your audience reach, proposed dates and project duration, etc.
- After this, click the checkboxes to subscribe to the newsletters.
Now, click SUBMIT.
Tips and reminders
- After going through the writeup above, prepare all you will need before you start your application. It will not be a good idea to start thinking of what to write on the spot, or to start making your audio and video recording midway into your application.
- Applications are currently open and will close on July 29, 2022. Ensure to complete the process before the deadline.
- By August 31, 2022, you would be informed if you were shortlisted.
- On September 23, 2022, the successful applicants will be announced.
Did you find this article helpful? Then share it with your friends and other creatives who meet the eligibility criteria.
