Peexoo Reimagines African Narrative With Canon
Peexoo reimagines African narrative with Canon
Unknown to most people outside of Nigeria, a burgeoning technology start-up in Lagos has taken on the task of reimagining perspectives on African narratives produced in African using the power of a talented pool of visual storytellers from across the continent.
Photography will benefit from the partnership between Peexoo and Canon, a professional and consumer imaging solutions company, which will provide photographers with ample resources to help them project their work to a wider range of audiences.
The project, which is the brainchild of Kelechi Nwadike and Wande Adams, both co-founders, aims to replace the visual stories of languishing, poverty, and brokenness that are sprouting out of Africa with a compelling stock of images ranging from landscape to culture and businesses that do not typically have a digital presence.
As a result of the partnership, local photographers will be able to compete on the platform on the strength of their access to top-notch professional imagery equipment, which will be provided by Canon.
Moreover, it means that, while photographers concentrate on the artistic quality of their delivery, Peexoo will be on hand with a well-structured system for exposing such creativity to a market for off-take images.
Professional services such as content creation rank first in a social economy estimated by Mckinsey & Company to be worth more than $1.3 trillion per year. These services are followed by sectors such as consumer packaged goods, consumer financial services, and advanced manufacturing.
The International Consulting Firm found that improving communications and collaboration within and across enterprises accounts for two-thirds of the value creation opportunity afforded by social technologies in a 2012 report.
To put it another way, commerce that does not involve professional collaboration between colleagues and businesses may be suboptimal in nature.
Tosin Osunkoya, co-founder and lead investor of Peexoo, stated that the platform seeks the ability to do much more as a result of its partnership with the multinational corporation, which took place at the company's Lagos office during a briefing announcing the partnership.
If you're a savvy investor, you'll see Peexoo evolve from providing players with resources for expansion to providing a competitive advantage for booking to business management, connecting users, and retaining all content on its database for decades.
"At Peexoo, we've come to the realization that technology is the next frontier and the future of business. The "kyosei" corporate philosophy of Canon, which is a Japanese word that means "living and working together for the common good and a better future," is something we support as well. In this partnership with Peexoo, you've demonstrated your capability, and we hope to continue to have a strategic relationship," Osunkoya said.
A similar sentiment was expressed by Canon Nigeria's Country Manager Omotayo Omodia, who stated that the company is optimistic about the future.
'I think it's fantastic, and for us at Canon, we're looking forward to assisting people in telling their stories, encouraging skills development, and knowing that Canon is a brand that is committed to empowering people,' Omodia said.
A three-month mentorship program that provided him with a space to continue building his initiative until it was ripe enough for investment in 2018, according to Kelechi Nwadike, sparked the idea of empowering photographers. After winning The Bulb challenge, he was able to fund his dream of empowering photographers.
According to him, there is a gap in the market: despite being outstanding artists, the majority of photographers lack sound business acumen.
Users have access to an end-to-end software as a service tool that helps them manage their business processes on the platform, which currently has nearly 2,000 users.
"Through a partnership with Canon and a financial institution, photographers will be able to purchase equipment and pay in installments. An online survey we conducted revealed that more than 1,000 photographers agreed that such an initiative was necessary. "They can pay 25 percent of the total cost of the equipment up front and the rest in installments," Nwandike explained.
Aside from that, Peexoo has an e-commerce channel for financing options, "Explore Peexoo," a social media feature similar to Instagram where only professional photographers can post, and "Peexoo Cloud," where photographers can upload event pictures for owners to view.
Wande Adams believes that Africa has a negative image, and that "it is our responsibility to create a platform that allows our storytellers to tell a better story of Africa."
While doing so, Peexo will be helping to grow an industry that is the second largest employer in Nigeria. The creative sector in Nigeria has the potential to generate 2.7 million jobs by 2025 and is expected to contribute N5 trillion to the country's gross domestic product by that time (GDP).
"We're going to focus on assisting photographers in financing their photography so that they can do their jobs more effectively. At Covid-19, we looked at ways to help photographers make more money outside of events, and we came up with a few ideas. You can imagine how many people suffered as a result of the absence of the event. "However, there is documentary and filmmaking, which are things that people can do with a product shoot," Adams explained further.
