The world’s leading entertainment streaming service Netflix has announced a commitment of US$1 million towards the newly-established Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund(CESF) for film and TV students in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The scholarship fund will cover the costs for tuition, accommodation, study materials and living expenses at institutions where beneficiaries have gained admission to pursue a course of study in the TV & film disciplines in the 2022 academic year.
Netflix CESF is targeted for rollout across the region in the academic year commencing in 2022, starting with an open call for applications in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, in partnership with social investment fund management and advisory firm Tshikululu Social Investments as implementing partner/fund administrator in Southern Africa.
Fund administration partners for East Africa and the West and Central Africa regions will be announced in due course.
The Netflix CESF is designed to provide financial assistance, through full scholarships, at partner higher educational institutions (HEI) in South Africa to support the formal qualification and training of aspiring creatives from a SADC region country that wish to study in South Africa, and are able to obtain the necessary permissions to do so.
The following countries will be eligible: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Netflix is the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with over 214 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages.
On 16 December 2020 Netflix appointed Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa to its board, adding its first African director.
