Peexoo reimagines African narratives with the support of Canon
Peexoo reimagines African narratives with the support of Canon
A young technology start-up in Lagos has taken on the task of reimagining African narratives produced on the continent through the lens of a talented pool of visual storytellers.
Peexoo, in collaboration with Canon, a professional and consumer imaging solutions company, will provide photographers with ample resources to help them project their work to a wider audience.
The vision of co-founders Kelechi Nwadike and Wande Adams is to replace visual stories of language loss, poverty, and brokenness in Africa with a compelling stock of images ranging from landscape to culture and businesses that rarely have a digital footprint.
The partnership enables local photographers to compete on the platform while utilizing Canon's top-of-the-line professional imagery equipment.
This also means that, while photographers focus on the artistic quality of their work, Peexoo will be on hand with a structured approach to exposing such creativity to an off-take market.
Professional services such as content creation, along with consumer packaged goods, consumer financial services, and advanced manufacturing, lead a social economy estimated by Mckinsey & Company to be worth over $1.3 trillion annually.
According to a 2012 report by the international consulting firm, social technologies can generate two-thirds of value by enhancing communication and collaboration within and across enterprises.
In other words, commerce may be suboptimal without professional collaboration between colleagues and businesses.
Tosin Osunkoya, co-founder and lead investor of Peexoo, stated that such capability is what the platform seeks in its partnership with the multinational corporation during a briefing announcing the partnership at the multinational corporation's Lagos office.
Transition of Peexoo
For the astute investor, Peexoo will transition from providing resources for expansion to providing a competitive advantage for booking to business management, connecting with users, and retaining all content in its database for decades.
“At Peexoo, we recognize technology as the next frontier and the future. Additionally, we support Canon's corporate philosophy of "kyosei," a Japanese term that refers to living and working cooperatively for the common good and a better future. You've demonstrated that in your partnership with Peexoo, and we hope to maintain a strategic relationship in the future,” Osunkoya said.
Canon Nigeria Country Manager Omotayo Omodia expressed similar sentiments, stating that Canon is optimistic about the future.
“I believe it is incredible, and we at Canon look forward to assisting people in telling their stories, encouraging skill development, and knowing that Canon is a brand that empowers them,” Omodia said.
Kelechi Nwadike's dream of empowering photographers began when he won The Bulb challenge, a three-month mentorship program that allowed him to continue building his initiative until it was ready for investment in 2018.
He identified a gap: most photographers, despite being exceptional artists, lack business acumen.
Almost 2,000 users currently use the platform, which provides an end-to-end software as a service tool for managing their business processes.
“Through a collaboration between Canon and a bank, photographers can purchase equipment and pay in installments. Over a thousand photographers indicated that the initiative was necessary in a survey we conducted. They can pay 25% of the cost of equipment up front and the remainder in instalments,” Nwandike explained.
Additionally, Peexoo has an e-commerce channel for financing options; "Explore Peexoo," an Instagram-like social media feature that is accessible only to professional photographers; and "Peexoo Cloud," where photographers can upload event photos for owners to view.
According to Wande Adams, Africa has a negative image, and "it is our responsibility to create a platform that enables our storytellers to tell a more positive story about Africa."
In Conclusion
Peexo will also be bolstering an industry that is Nigeria's second largest employer. By 2025, the creative sector in Nigeria has the potential to generate 2.7 million jobs and contribute N5 trillion to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
“We're going to assist photographers in financing their work in order to enable them to do a better job. We looked at ways to help photographers earn more money outside of events last year during Covid-19. You can imagine how many people were harmed by the absence of an event. However, there is documentary and filmmaking, which are activities that people can do in conjunction with product photography,” Adams explained.
