Global streaming platform, Netflix has announced the extension of its Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF) to film and television students in the West and Central Africa region.  The Fund, which was launched in 2021 and will be distributed to various initiatives over the next five years with the goal of building a strong, diverse pipeline of creatives around the world, includes a US$1 million scholarship fund for students from Sub-Saharan Africa.

The scholarship fund will be available to students who have obtained admission to study in various film & TV-focused disciplines, for the 2022 academic year, at the following partner institutions: Institut Philippe Maury de l’audiosuel et du Cineim, Gabon; Institut Superieur des Metiers de l’Audiovisuel, Benin; National Film and Television Institute, Ghana; National Film Institute Jos, Nigeria and Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria.

Announcements were made at institutions in Burkina Faso, Bénin, Cape Verde, Côte D’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. 

The scholarship fund will cover tuition, housing, study materials, and living expenses at selected partner schools in Nigeria where beneficiaries have been accepted to pursue a programme of study in the television and film disciplines in the 2022/2023 academic year. 

The Netflix CESF is set to launch across the region in the academic year beginning in 2022, and Netflix will partner with Dalberg as an implementation partner and fund administrator in the West and Central Africa region. 

The Netflix CESF is intended to provide financial aid in the form of full scholarships at partner higher educational institutions in Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Gabon to help ambitious creatives from West and Central African countries obtain official qualifications and training