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For Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Bebuzee, Joseph Onyero, the Bebuzee Super App has been designed to empower African youths and creatives through multiple income-generating opportunities across its digital platforms.
Speaking at the Bebuzee App launch in Lagos recently, Onyero said the platform was developed to integrate social networking, entertainment, creator monetisation, artificial intelligence, e-commerce and other digital services.
According to him, Bebuzee has seven to eight sections where users can make money beyond posting videos and other content.
“We are empowering the people, most especially, the youth by creating Bebuzee. There are lots of things that they are going to benefit by using Bebuzee. Again, the most important thing is earning what they deserve,” he said.
Onyero said his inspiration for creating the platform was rooted in an earlier messaging service he developed with friends in Cambridge in 2004, which they did not launch.
He explained that when a similar service emerged in 2007, the experience motivated him to begin developing what he considered an ideal social media platform in 2012.
The Bebuzee boss said the project eventually evolved into the super app, a platform designed for Africa and the global community.
Speaking further, Onyero stated that the app was free for use but subject to users complying with its privacy policy and other requirements.
He added that his organisation had faced several challenges during the development process, but was determined to create a platform capable of benefiting people in Africa and globally.
Also speaking, the Director/CEO, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Shaibu Husseini, emphasised that digital platforms must prioritise fair monetisation and protection of intellectual property in Nigeria’s creative industry.
He added that digital platforms provided opportunities for Nigerian filmmakers to reach wider audiences, build direct relationships with viewers and generate revenue from their content.
According to him, the creative economy cannot be sustainable if creators do not benefit from the commercial success of their intellectual property.
“The creative economy cannot be sustainable if everyone in the value chain makes money except the person who created the intellectual property,” he noted.
Husseini identified copyright, licensing, contracts, revenue-sharing, transparency and accountability as important issues for stakeholders in the industry.
He, however, called on Bebuzee to innovate responsibly, respect intellectual property, protect audiences and create value for creatives.
Veteran actress, Patience Ozokwor, advocated a fairer royalty system that would ensure artistes and other contributors to film productions benefit financially from the success of their works.
According to her, the revenue generated from digital platforms such as YouTube was often inadequate compared with the cost of producing films.
She explained further that a film could cost between N9 million and N12 million to produce, while generating only a small amount from online views.
On her decision to support Bebuzee, the actress said she knew she’s not going to be the only one to benefit from the app.
“I’m particularly interested in a system that would ensure that actors and other contributors received royalties from films in which they participated,” she stressed. “Such arrangements could also provide financial benefits to the families of deceased artistes through continued earnings from their creative works.”
Ozokwor, however, expressed optimism that Bebuzee would help address some of the challenges facing practitioners in the Nigerian film industry, particularly inadequate remuneration and the absence of sustainable royalty arrangements.
On his part, veteran actor and Bebuzee ambassador, Jide Kosoko, described the innovation as timely, saying it could expand the global distribution of Nigerian creative works.
To him, the platform appears to offer improvements over some existing platforms based on the features presented at the launch.
“Bebuzee is one of those things that we’ve been expecting. I see it as coming at the right time,” he stated.
