Koffi Da Guru, JanethMwasuka and OtuNjama are just three out of thousands of African creatives generating and pushing content on Ogelle, Africa’s pioneer user generated content (UGC) online video sharing resource and entertainment platform for African content only.
Ogelle, a platform with pan-African coverage in terms of diversity of content themes, content creation and representation in languages, is designed to support the African creative industry for the enjoyment of Africans in Africa, those in the diaspora, and lovers of African content globally. And many forward-looking African creatives have embraced the platform that is constantly pushing the boundaries.
Koffi Da Guru, Nigerian entertainer, comedian, musician and actor, has been creating content on Ogelle for about a year now and currently has over 40 videos on the platform ranging from comedy skits to movies, sitcom and variety shows.
The Lagos-born entertainer, whose real name is KoffiAyindeIdowuNuel, says being a content creator on Ogelle has been worthwhile and fulfilling, especially “the experience of being seen across Africa without hindrance”, which he says is quite encouraging.
“Ogelle is the future of our expressions and the chronicle of our legacy and culture. We all need to pull up and push it to the prime. No one can tell our stories and showcase it better than ourselves,” Koffi counsels Africans, the African diaspora, and lovers of African content.
For JanethMwasuka, who lives in Tanzania, East Africa, the journey as a content creator on Ogelle began almost a year ago. She has basically created content for entertainment and education, both hosting and producing them, like food content, education and street show. Interestingly, it’s all in Swahili.
At first, she says, the platform was not easy for people to use, especially on phone, but with the new version, it is much easier and you know where to find everything.
Today, when Janeth speaks to Africans, at home and in the diaspora, and lovers of African content, about Ogelle, she says, “Nyumbanikumenoga.” That’s a Swahili expression that tells of how good things are at home.
“The content world has taken a U-turn. Everything you need can be found in Africa, and by Africa I mean Ogelle platform. Ogelle can quench your thirst,” she says.
OtuNjama, scriptwriter, director and actor, who began pushing content on Ogelle about three months ago, mostly reality shows, movies, and web series, shares a similar experience.
Njama, whose well-known productions include “Experience Marathon” (2015) and “Inhibition” (2019), which was described in a report as “phenomenal” and a “daring tale laced with visual opulence”, says creating a channel on Ogelle was a smooth process.
“Ogelle also gave an advance payment to facilitate promotion of the content on social media; first-of-its-kind treatment in Nollywood,” he says.
His advice to Africans, whether at home or in the diaspora, and lovers of African content globally, is to get a daily dose of Ogelle.
“Ogelle is premium. Ogelle is the future of entertainment. Ogelle has come to stay. Everyone needs a daily dose of Ogelle,” Njama says.
Launched in Lagos, Nigeria, in April 2019, and Kigali, Rwanda, in November 2019, Ogelle has so far recorded 2,149,080 general users and 70,036 content creators. The platform targets 50 million general users and 1 million premium users by 2025. It is on the way to becoming the highest aggregator of African resource and entertainment platforms in the next few years.
