A super digital app, Bebuzee, designed to empower African youth and creatives through multiple income – generating opportunities was unveiled in Lagos.
The App integrates social networking, Artificial Intelligence, entertainment, streaming e-commerce, creator monetisation and other services into a single ecosystem.
The Bebuzee platform also unveiled seven Nollywood actors as brand ambassadors.
The film stars include Prince Jide Kosoko, Patience Ozokwor, Segun Arinze, Ebele Okaro, Zubby Michael, Destiny Etiko, and Paul Obazele.
Speaking at the event, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bebuzee, Joseph Onyero, said that the idea behind the platform dates back to 2004, when he and some friends in Cambridge developed a messaging-service concept that was never launched.
Onyero states that the long-term vision is to build a digital utility platform for Africa, with Bebuzee targeting more than 400 million users across the continent as it expands its services and reach.
He said the platform was designed to enable users to communicate, create content, access entertainment, shop, work and earn income. He noted that Bebuzee currently offers more than 15 products and services, providing income opportunities through content creation, freelancing and other digital activities.
Onyero added that Bebuzee streaming, which he said is based in Amsterdam, focuses on African films and provides profiles that connect actors and actresses with their movies.
Delivering the keynote address, the Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Dr Shaibu Husseini, said the major challenge facing Nigeria’s film industry was increasingly shifting from production to distribution and monetisation.
Husseini traced the evolution of Nollywood’s distribution channels from videocassettes and traditional film markets to VCDs, DVDs, cinemas, satellite television, YouTube and streaming platforms.
He said digital platforms had created opportunities for Nigerian and African stories to reach global audiences, but stressed that global reach must be accompanied by quality, originality, strong intellectual property and effective monetisation.
He urged digital platforms to ensure that value generated from creative works flows back to creators through proper contracts, copyright protection, licensing, revenue-sharing and transparency.
The NFVCB boss also reminded digital platforms that online distribution does not remove regulatory obligations, noting that films distributed or exhibited digitally remain subject to applicable laws and classification requirements.
The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board, Mrs Bukola Agbaminoja, said that AI could assist creatives in areas such as generating songs and voices, preparing reports and transforming scripts, stressing that the technology was already becoming part of the creative process.
Veteran actor Jide Kosoko recalled that there were initially fears that new technologies could displace practitioners, but said the industry had repeatedly adapted.
Other participants discussed the possibility of creating voice banks where voice artists could register their voices and receive
Participants also called for collaboration with relevant regulatory and technology institutions to develop safeguards around AI-generated content, voice cloning, deepfakes, copyright and data protection.
The Zonal Director of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Lagos Network Centre, Dr Evelyn Nwosu, said the broadcaster was open to strategic partnerships capable of advancing Nigeria’s digital media ecosystem.
Other notable personalities at the event included Anita Joseph, Fred Amata, Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, Mike Nliam, Don Pedro-Aganbi, among others