French government signs R7 million partnership with Tshimologong digital hub to benefit SA content creators
This is phase two of the partnership between Agence Française de Développment (AFD), French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and Digital Content Hub (DCH) based at Tshimologong in Braamfontein
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
On Thursday, April 7, 2022 all the good people of Johannesburg, Pretoria and France converged to witness one of the major agreements this year, that will see many creative working in the space of story telling in the digital space benefit immensely.
In fact this important collaboration is part 2 of a solid relationship between the Digital Content Hub at Johannesburg based digital hub Tshimologong and the government of France through the French Institute in South Africa and French Government’s development agency’s collaboration in this project.
On the day Agence Française de Développment (AFD) and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) signed this phase two of their partnership agreement to the value of EUR 450,000 (R7,200,000) to support the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) in Africa in general and story telling through digital technology in particular..
Since the Hub (DCH), is an incubator for innovative and creative audio/visual content. The initial 3-year partnership was enabled by a grant from AFD, which has provided access to industry experts and markets across Africa and France in the audio/visual sector, namely animation, video gaming, virtual reality(VR), digital arts, and music.
The French Ambassador to South Africa Ambassador Aurelien Lechevallier, during the signing ceremony said that ”Usually the French Government does not give financial support twice, but this time around, this should be considered an exception. And this has been made possible because all the French agencies in South Africa , including the French Embassy supported the proposal for phase two funding.
The idea usually is that the initial funding should be used to start a project, and by the time the funding period ends, such projects must be self-sustaining,” the Ambassador told guests. The event which had well known radio presenter Thabiso Sikwane as the Master of Ceremony, was also attended by academics from Wits University (as Tshimologong is attached to the university), the media and creatives, some of whom are previous beneficiaries of the digital incubation programme at the DCH.
Senior executives at Tshimologong including Lesley Donna Williams and Joy Mawela Mawela spoke glowingly of the success of some of the beneficiaries of this relationship. Some of them are making a break through internationally through their animation projects, some of which have found their way into the eco-system of global streaming company Netflix.
Also in attendance were Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Jandrell, Head of AFD operations in South Africa, Audrey Rojkoff, and of course Ambassador Aurelien Lechevallier.