The Founder and Chief executive officer of Bebuzee says the Bebuzee Super App is designed to empower African youths and creatives through multiple income-generating opportunities across its digital ecosystem.
Onyero stated this at the unveiling of the Bebuzee Global App at Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Saturday.
He 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’re empowering the youth and everybody by creating Bebuzee. There are a lot of things that people are going to be benefiting from 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.
He said the project eventually evolved into the Bebuzee Super App, which he described as a platform designed for Africa and the global community.
Onyero said the application was free to use, subject to users complying with its privacy policy and other requirements.
He added that the company had faced several challenges during the development process but remained determined to create a platform capable of benefiting people in Africa and around the world.
Speaking on the platform’s distinctiveness, he said its integrated ecosystem was designed to offer more than conventional social media services.
Also speaking, Dr Shaibu Husseini, Director, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), has urged digital platforms to prioritise fair monetisation and protection of intellectual property in Nigeria’s creative industry.
He said 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 said.
Husseini identified copyright, licensing, contracts, revenue-sharing, transparency and accountability as important issues for stakeholders in the industry.
He also stressed that digital platforms distributing or exhibiting films in Nigeria must comply with applicable regulatory requirements.
He called for accessible, transparent and technology-enabled regulation that would support creators across the country.
Husseini urged Bebuzee to innovate responsibly, respect intellectual property, protect audiences and create value for creatives.
Also speaking, veteran actor and Bebuzee ambassador, Jide Kosoko, described the innovation as timely, saying it could expand the global distribution of Nigerian creative works.
Kosoko said the platform appeared 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 said.
He expressed his commitment to promoting the platform and making its opportunities known to Nigerians.
Also speaking, veteran actress Patience Ozokwor called for a fairer royalty system that would ensure artistes and other contributors to film productions benefit financially from the success of their works.
Ozokwor said the revenue generated from digital platforms such as YouTube was often inadequate compared with the cost of producing films.
She explained that a movie could cost between N9 million and N12 million to produce while generating only a small amount from online views.
“I knew that I wasn’t going to be the only one to benefit from it in the industry,” she said, explaining her decision to support Bebuzee.
According to her, the platform’s proposed revenue model could provide better financial opportunities for artistes and other people involved in film productions.
Ozokwor said she was particularly interested in a system that would ensure that actors and other contributors received royalties from films in which they participated.
She noted that such arrangements could also provide financial benefits to the families of deceased artistes through continued earnings from their creative works.
“We are looking for people that will not only give money to people who spend money but also to the people that are in the movies,” she said.
Ozokwor 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.
