Google Selects Six Nigerian News Creators for Africa Growth Lab
Google News Initiative has selected six Nigerian independent news creators for its Emerging News Voices Growth Lab, placing Nigeria prominently within a wider programme supporting digital-native journalism across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Nigerian participants are Onlinebanker, Adetunji Films, More Branches TV, Wearegst, Iswellthecapitalist and The Republic. They are part of a group of about 20 emerging news creators from across the region participating in the multi-month programme, which runs through late September 2026.
The programme focuses on four areas that are increasingly important for independent digital publishers: artificial intelligence, video and audience growth, direct relationships with readers, and sustainable revenue.
Participants are being trained to incorporate Google tools including Gemini, NotebookLM, Google Trends and SynthID into newsroom tasks such as research, transcription, translation and verification.
Video strategy is another major part of the programme. Creators will work on approaches for growing YouTube channels through both Shorts and long-form video while also developing newsletters and open-web platforms that can reduce their dependence on social networks for audience distribution.
Google is also placing greater emphasis on the business side of independent media, with sessions covering monetisation, product development and audience growth.
Marianne Erasmus, Google’s News Partnerships Lead for the Middle East and Africa, said independent creators and digital-native newsrooms are increasingly influencing how people across Africa discover and understand news. Google says strengthening those businesses requires not only technology but stronger audience relationships and clearer routes to revenue.
The Growth Lab developed from the Global News Gap Project, an initiative involving the Google News Initiative, Project Oasis and Code for Africa that mapped independent African news creators and examined the challenges facing emerging digital newsrooms.
Google says it has trained more than 1,500 Nigerian journalists and editors since 2024 in areas including online safety, advanced Search, digital verification and audience analytics. That figure is company-reported.
The latest programme comes as creator-led media continues to grow across Nigeria. Independent publishers, YouTubers and social-first news brands are increasingly competing with traditional outlets for younger audiences, but building dependable revenue outside social platforms remains a significant challenge for many of them. Independent reporting earlier this year also highlighted the monetisation difficulties facing Nigeria’s broader creator economy despite its rapid audience growth.
For Google, the Growth Lab extends its involvement beyond supplying publishing and advertising technology. It also places the company directly inside the development of a new generation of African digital media businesses.
