As part of its community service, the Kefiano Global Foundation launched a creative hub in Jos Plateau state on December 1, 2024. The Kefiano Creative Hub shares goals for 2024 with TechPression in an interview.
The Hub Manager, Levi Stephen, and the Human Resource Manager, Palang Malo, gave enlightenment on the need for a creative hub in Plateau state, the goal of the hub this year, how they plan to keep up with technological advancement and how to become part of their mission as partners or interns.
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Why a creative hub?
Malo: Why not? What else? The world has gone global, and we want to jump on that trend.
We chose a creative hub because it provides a collaborative and supportive environment for individuals interested in the creative field to network, learn, collaborate and grow. No Creative is an island, and without such, no one can move forward.
So I think when you say, ‘Why a creative hub?’ The answer is: ‘Why not?’ ‘What else?’ Because that’s a trend, the world is going global. So we have to jump on this trend because we have a lot to offer.
We realise that no one can do it all alone or win alone. So basically, we’re bringing in an opportunity and building a community of people who can come together to learn, collaborate and grow.
What is its relevance in Plateau state and its impact on the youth?
Stephen: You can not talk about creativity in Nigeria for up to 10 minutes without mentioning Plateau state. Plateau has contributed so much to the creative industry. If we have to start counting, we’ll probably start with P-square, Ice-Prince MI, and this is just music, right?
When it comes to tech, we have people like Jerry Mallo, even the Blockchain industry, and the entire technology industry is being fueled by a lot of professionals from Plateau State. Plateau has a reputation for creativity as one of the most creative states in Nigeria.
In order to sustain the creative spirit, this hub aims to bring back that faith in Plateau State as a leading state in Nigeria for creativity. We can’t talk about creativity without mentioning the youth because the youth make up over 70% of the creative industry. So, if we intend to create value in the creative industry, we are inevitably saying we’re trying to build our youth to become more productive.
So the target is to make sure that we provide the infrastructure and structure for our youth who are creative, for we are not lacking in talent, but structure. The provision of structure for those talented youth would enable them to become national and global successes in whatever they do.
In line with this, how do you address the situation of insecurity?
Security is truly a significant factor, not just in Plateau but across the whole country. The hub intends to engage the youth in productive ventures so they may shun other vices that push for these insecurities. However, that is not a guarantee but a measure.
Our hub is located in a very secure area, so we guarantee the security of people present and those coming in.
Additionally, we are not limited by location. This is a technological age; you can be a member of the hub from anywhere across the world. We also guarantee the safety of our hub.
What are your goals for 2024?
We don’t want to bite more than we can chew. We have very feasible goals for the year. One of them is to become a talent outsourcing body, especially for creatives in Plateau, which has to do with linking our creatives to national and international jobs where they can exhibit their talent.
Our target is to outsource a minimum of 100 talents this year. The second objective is that we intend a tech and a creative incubation hub where startups within the creative industry can leverage our structure to strive.
We are working to ensure we produce a minimum of three of Nigeria’s top 20 successful startups of 2024. Watch out for us! We are going to have three names on that list by the end of the year.
We want to pay more attention to music because we have proven to be better than other states in the country. We are good, particularly in raw talent.
How does the Kefiano Creative Hub intend to handle technological advancements such as AI?
Although you prioritised music, AI is currently impacting all sectors, so you may answer with respect to your focus. For instance, Google just laid off hundreds of its ad marketing team.
Stephen: I probably buttressed a lot on the music; however, our goals this year actually involve the tech aspect: outsourcing tech talent and networking with tech-focused businesses. The HR would share more on this.
Malo: Okay, thank you very much for the question.
I think the first thing we should even be looking at is if we use the word handle; it looks like AI is actually overpowering. But I don’t even look at it in that way. First of all, I think it should be: how does the hub intend to embrace AI?
I personally observed that AI is a threat which caused the downfall of a lot of great writers. We can go on the social media handles of people who used to write great stories. When you read the first three or four lines, it would be clear that this is ChatGBT speaking. A lot of these writers lost what we call ‘originality’. I can spot this because every writer has a voice.
If you pick a piece by Chinua Achebe, you know that this is Chinua Achebe. If you pick a piece by Wole Soyinka, you would know that this is Wole Soyinka speaking.
One thing the hub intends to do is to go ahead of AI. I mean, it’s a computer; it’s garbage in, garbage out. This year, we intend to partner with a lot of companies. We are already in partnership with a B2B creative company. We intend to leverage their community of prompt engineering, because one cannot understand AI without understanding prompt.
We intend to train people on prompt engineering. Prompt engineering places you ahead of AI; it gives you the power to control AI. We would be organising a lot of workshops to help individuals leverage AI for skill advancement to avoid job layoffs.
AI does not have originality; it lacks the ability to connect with a human. Now, imagine the power we intend to give a creative who already has a voice by merging prompt engineering.
Corporations may try to cut down costs of labour and all that, but there is still a need for human touch.
Stephen: Yes, we need to acknowledge that someone built the AI. So, while some are being fired, someone else is being hired. I don’t see it as a problem. I see it as a paradigm shift that we just need to align with.
For instance, if AI is now replacing marketers, we need to teach people how to incorporate AI in marketing. We need to raise more AI developers to fit the market. So, I see it as an opportunity instead of a threat.
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To the final question, what are the requirements to be part of the hub? This is in terms of partnership and becoming an intern or a student.
Stephen: Basically, we don’t have requirements; everybody is welcome. In terms of partnerships, we are reaching out to organisations that hire tech staff. We have the community here to offer any kind of tech talent they want. So, we’re looking to partner with companies who want to reduce their costs of recruitment by just reaching out to us and supplying the required talent to them, especially within the creative industry.
We are also interested in organisations who intend to do their part of the corporate social responsibilities by training tech talents; they can also partner with us, and we can handle that responsibility for them.
The hub manager concluded by addressing those who intend to learn:
“As for learners, our online training platform will be free and open to anybody who wants to register. So you can just go online and register. For those creatives who want to network with other creatives or need a structure, whether as a business or as a professional, they can also log into our website to register or reach out to us directly to be part of our community. Actually, you don’t even have to be a professional; if you’re just an enthusiast, you can join the training.”