Historically, international media has marginalized voices from the global south, leading to biased perspectives and limited representation. Yet, empowering underrepresented communities in the film industry presents an opportunity to promote diversity and inclusion in storytelling.  

Axum staff supported one of our partners to design and disburse funds under a creative equity scholarship program for West & Central Africa. This program aims to effectively distribute grants amongst 52 film students across the region to build a diverse pipeline of creatives by closing capacity and skills gaps. 

Axum staff supported the partner to accomplish this by effectively disbursing funds to ensure support for students, developing career development pathways within the scholarship program enabling practical learning experience for students via placements in available productions, and maintaining ongoing communication with four cohorts of students. 

As a result, and with the help of Axum staff, our partner disbursed over US$400,000 of funds over two years, enabling 52 students from 5 universities in West and Central Africa (Benin, Gabon, Ghana, and Nigeria) to benefit from financial aid. These funds managed essential expenses such as tuition fees and stipends, ultimately facilitating their pursuit of higher education in film studies. The program also enabled meaningful engagement and network-building in the film industry for students both in primary school and for post-graduates.