SA artists, listen up: YouTube has made its Black Voices Fund available for South Africans

YouTube has long had various funds in place, to fund its creators and produce better content for the service, while also uplifting its users. One of those funds is the Black Voices Fund, an initiative that launched this year with $100 million in backing from YouTube. And YouTube has just announced that it’s now available to South African artists as well.

Granted, it’s pretty cool

Black creators in the States, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria and now South Africa are all eligible for funding. No other countries will be added to the multi-year initiative before years-end, it seems, but we’d expect a few more African countries to crack the nod in the new year.

Head of Emerging Markets for YouTube EMEA Alex Okosi said that the fund hopes to “…present fresh narratives that emphasise the intellectual power, authenticity, dignity and joy of Black voices, as well as to educate audiences about racial justice.”

“Our goal is to expand funding to more countries over the course of the next three years. Additionally, we hope to provide a consistent drumbeat of educational training, workshops, and community events to Black creators and artists globally,” he continued.

If you’re keen (and it’s a share of $100 million from YouTube so of course you’re keen), you can apply for the YouTube-funded grant here. It’s a simple web form, which changes based on whether you’re a YouTube creator or a music artist, but you shouldn’t have any issues submitting your details. Then, the waiting begins.