France has pledged 450,000 euros (R7.1 million) to the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct at the University of the Witwatersrand to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries.
For the second time, Tshimologong, Agence Française de Development (AFD), and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) have renewed their partnership, which will see the gaming industry transform and grow for another two years.
In 2018, the Digital Content Hub was launched by the two parties. Tshimologong received R14 million to launch an incubator for innovative and creative audio-visual content.
This partnership enabled them to connect with industry experts in animation, video, gaming, virtual reality, digital arts, and music, opening the hub as a gateway to new connections in the African and French markets.
The hub combines creativity and digital creation as a digital content cluster that aims to foster innovative digital content creation among the youth. They expose young talent to the growing industry while focusing on critical skills through their academies and incubators.
The hub will establish a gaming incubator, among other projects and programs, as part of its renewed partnership. According to Newzroom Afrika, the incubator will provide training to help start-up gaming studios develop commercially ready products while also improving their entrepreneurial and technical skills.
Tshimologong’s CEO, Lesley Williams, explains that South Africa must meet the demand for creativity and digital convergence. “There’s a huge demand for African aesthetics in creativity, and the world is clamouring for African digital content, and we need to meet that demand,” she said.
